Samsung is suggesting that its upcoming Galaxy Book Windows laptop, due to be unveiled at Unpacked on February 1, is getting the Ultra treatment, akin to the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra tablet and upcoming Galaxy S23 Ultra phone. That surely means an S Pen on board, as Samsung shut down its Note family of devices to focus on the Ultra. We could also see improved cameras, as a very, very high cost.
In a weblog post from TM Roh, president and head of the Mobile eXperiences (MX) business, Samsung delves into what it means to switch from Note-branded devices to Ultra. Roh cites the camera's performance and capabilities, then says "Ultra means big."
Ahead of the Samsung Unpacked event in San Francisco, the company is already taking online reservations for two devices, a smartphone and a Galaxy Book, presumably a Windows laptop after the Galaxy Book XNUMX Pro. fifteen inches, but we could see Samsung launching something even bigger, perhaps to compete with Apple's best Macbook Pro.
This would be a Galaxy Book Ultra
The Macbook Pro was updated with a faster M2 Pro processor today, so it would make sense for Samsung to try to build momentum in the weeks leading up to launch by introducing a new device. The company may be a more worthy Apple contender in the phone space, but its Galaxy Book XNUMX Pro performed well in our tests.
A better guess would be to add a pen, a Samsung-branded S Pen, logically, to the Galaxy Book Ultra. We're also expecting to see a camera update, and since the webcam is the most essential lens on a laptop, it's the camera that needs to be improved. We're also expecting to see a performance boost, so Intel's latest silicon on the inside would be a good bet.
Samsung talks a bit about connectivity in its blog post, so we're also expecting a Galaxy Book Ultra to come with cellular connectivity options, perhaps even speedy 5G networks. A laptop, which sits still and has a huge antenna compared to a smartphone, is a better contender for the fastest 5G mmWave, if you use your laptop in a connected area.
Of course, Samsung could simply be referring to the connectivity between the laptop and the new Galaxy S23 phones. The laptop may be totally reliant on newer phones for cellular connectivity, with a suite of software automated to establish that connection when the two are in range. We wait for the latter, as 5G laptops are still in short supply.
Lots of clues but no real details.
Unfortunately, the weblog post offers us few specific details or even deducible clues about what to expect in a new phone. We can only guess at a new laptop from the fact that there's no Ultra version of the Galaxy Book, and these are the features a Galaxy Book would need to match the Galaxy S22 Ultra or Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra.
We'll have more information on new phones and laptops, as well as any and all new Samsung devices, in our ongoing coverage of the Samsung Unpacked event. We're expecting great new cameras, great new laptops, and maybe even surprises to come.