The Samsung Galaxy Book is targeting productive types with an "extreme focus" on design, featuring an all-new S-Pen and unique inking features.
We're on the ground at Mobile World Congress 2017, and were able to get a quick look at the Galaxy Book. Here's what we learned so far.
Hands on with the Galaxy Book
Galaxy Book
Samsung's Galaxy Book will be familiar to 2-in-1 aficionados, featuring a detachable keyboard cover and the company's signature "Galaxy" design identity.
The Galaxy Book will come in two variants, one at 10-inches and the other at 12-inches. Both tablets are remarkably thin, clocking in at 7.4mm apiece. The 12-inch version sports a super AMOLED display, weighing in at 745g, while the 10-inch will feature a TFT-based display, weighing in at 645g.
The svelteness of the Galaxy Book range owes to the latest i5 Core U Kaby Lake fanless Intel processors. We don't have the full range of details on the Galaxy Books' internals just yet, but they will also come with expandable MicroSD storage, fast charging batteries, 13-megapixel cameras and LTE Cat-6 connected modems. Unlike the Surface Pro range, the Galaxy Book will also ship with its backlit keyboard cover in the box, which comes in black and white options.
Galaxy Book S-Pen
The Galaxy Book revolves around productivity focussed by the Samsung S-Pen, which the company hopes will set the standard for inking. The S-Pen features 4096 levels of pressure sensitivity with a 0.7mm rubber tip, that is designed to mimic the feel of writing on paper. The S-Pen will also work with other Galaxy-based tablets and phones, should you want to invest more broadly in Samsung's ecosystem.
Perhaps the most exciting thing about the S-Pen is its unique software features. In conjunction with Microsoft and Adobe, Samsung's S-Pen will offer a tilting experience, which the company at least says will be exclusive to its devices.
Samsung's Galaxy Book will also come with their take on the Windows Ink Workspace, giving you quick access to note taking, screen capturing, sketching, and so on. Additionally, the S-Pen will allow you to create animated gifs, annotate screenshots, and documents.
Samsung Flow
Samsung Flow will be the Galaxy Book's gateway to the wider Galaxy ecosystem. Using a Samsung Galaxy phone, you will be able to receive notifications, including third-party apps like WhatsApp. If you're familiar with Pushbullet, the concept is similar.
Samsung Flow will work via Bluetooth connectivity, and the company was keen to stress that not all apps would be compatible, but the company will no doubt work to bring more into the fold.
Samsung Surface?
There seems to be no end of Surface-like devices emerging from every major PC player in the market at this point, but the inking features on the Galaxy Book do sound as though it will give it an edge. Regardless, lending the "Galaxy" brand to Windows 10 should be a boost for the ecosystem, but it remains to be seen if it'll have any real impact.
Stay tuned to Windows Central for a more in-depth analysis as soon as we can.
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