If you’re dropping over a lakh on a premium laptop in 2025, chances are the MacBook Air is on your radar. But for those who prefer Windows, Samsung’s Galaxy Book5 Pro might just be the best alternative you can get your hands on.
This machine brings MacBook-level elegance with a stunning AMOLED screen and all the performance muscle you need for work, play, and everything in between. We tested the ₹1,31,990 variant, and for that price, it stands out as one of the most polished, all-round premium Windows laptops available right now. Whether you’re editing a reel, juggling spreadsheets, or just vibing to Netflix, the Book5 Pro doesn’t skip a beat — and it looks damn good doing it.
Design
The Galaxy Book5 Pro easily ranks among the best-looking Windows laptops around. With its sleek, all-metal chassis, the device oozes premium the moment you pick it up. The matte finish adds a modern, minimalist appeal, while the subtly curved screen bezels give it a dash of personality.
Despite its solid build, this thing is featherlight. At just 1.23kg and 1.16cm thick, it’s ridiculously easy to carry — ideal for everyday commutes, campus life, or just working out of cafés.
While the bezels aren’t edge-to-edge, they’re slim enough to keep the footprint tight and the design clean. The hinge feels smooth and sturdy, and the overall construction is rock solid — no flex, no creaks, no compromises.
Samsung’s port game here is also on point. You get two USB-C ports and a full-sized HDMI on the right, plus a USB-A, microSD slot, and headphone jack on the left. So yes, you can finally skip the dongle drama.
If you’re after a thin-and-light Windows laptop that looks sharp and feels legit premium, the Galaxy Book5 Pro more than delivers.
Keyboard & Trackpad
The typing experience on the Galaxy Book5 Pro is honestly one of the best I’ve had on a Windows laptop. The keys are subtly scooped out, giving your fingers a natural landing spot, and the shallow travel feels crisp and responsive. Each keystroke has a satisfying bounce, and the backlight is bright without being distracting — great for late-night work sessions. While the keys felt a tad stiff out of the box, they eased up after a bit of use and quickly started to feel just right.
The trackpad, meanwhile, is generously sized and smooth to the touch. It tracks well, supports all the usual gestures, and handles palm rejection like a pro. The only oddity? Only the bottom half of the trackpad clicks. If you’re someone who’s used to tapping near the top, it takes a little getting used to. It’s not a major flaw, but definitely a quirk worth noting.
That said, the overall input experience feels premium. It’s reliable, it’s responsive, and for the most part, it just works.
Webcam and speakers
The speakers on the Galaxy Book5 Pro are surprisingly good — easily among the best you’ll find on a Windows laptop in this segment. Samsung has gone with a dual speaker setup, featuring two 5W woofers and two 2W tweeters, all tuned by Dolby Atmos. The result is clear, detailed audio with well-balanced highs and mids, and even a bit of low-end punch that’s rare for laptops. It won’t replace a good pair of headphones, but for casual use, it delivers a rich and immersive sound experience that can easily hold its own against even the MacBook Pro.
The webcam, however, leaves a little more to be desired. You get a standard 2MP sensor that performs well enough for video calls and virtual meetings, but the image quality is nothing to write home about. It works best in well-lit environments and holds up fine for most everyday tasks, but it doesn’t stand out in a world where premium laptops are slowly moving towards higher resolution cameras.
Display
When it comes to screens, Samsung doesn’t play around — and the Galaxy Book5 Pro is proof. With a 14-inch 3K AMOLED touch panel, you’re getting a visual experience that’s top-tier from the jump. The resolution hits a crisp 2880 x 1800 with a silky 120Hz refresh rate, and it’s even VESA-certified for DisplayHDR True Black 500. That’s no joke — it’s one of the highest HDR certifications out there.
The colour reproduction is phenomenal. This display covers 120% of the DCI-P3 colour gamut, and here’s the cool part — like true pro laptops, it lets you switch colour spaces depending on the kind of work you’re doing. Wild.
Thanks to AMOLED tech, the colours are vibrant, blacks are inky, and everything pops — even in bright lighting. Samsung’s added Gorilla Glass with DX to reduce reflections, and Vision Booster dynamically adjusts contrast and colour saturation based on ambient light.
Whether you’re gaming, editing, or just binge-watching, the display is crisp, smooth, and stunning to look at. That 120Hz refresh rate? Makes everything from casual swiping to intense gameplay feel buttery. And for creators, the colour accuracy is no slouch — this screen can easily keep up with photo and video editing demands.
Honestly, it’s one of the best laptop displays I’ve used — almost as good as the M3 and M4 MacBook Pros, which, in my book is high praise.
Performance
The Galaxy Book5 Pro doesn’t just look premium — it performs like it too. Under the hood, my unit was kitted out with Intel’s new Core Ultra 5 226V processor, 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM (soldered directly onto the SoC for better efficiency), and the Arc 130V GPU with 8GB of shared memory. Oh, and let’s not forget the dedicated AI NPU that can push 40 trillion operations per second (TOPS). That’s not just future-ready — it’s future-obsessed.
For everyday tasks like browsing, writing, working on spreadsheets, or running multiple apps at once, the Book5 Pro handled everything with smooth confidence. No stutters, no slowdowns — just clean, snappy performance. But where it genuinely caught me off guard was with how well it handled games.
This is not a gaming laptop, and it’s not trying to be. But I fired up GTA V on default settings, and it ran surprisingly well. F1 2024 felt slick and responsive, Doom Eternal held up with consistent framerates, and Valorant? No complaints there either. It’s perfect for casual gaming during work breaks or when you’re travelling without your console.
That said, where this laptop really flexes is with creative workflows. I threw 1080p video projects into Premiere Pro with layers of colour grading and effects, and it didn’t even blink. Photo editing in Photoshop? Just as smooth. It’s fast, yes — but more importantly, it’s reliable under pressure.
The Galaxy Book5 Pro is the kind of machine that lets you jump from meetings to media editing to gaming, all without switching gears. Whether you’re a student, content creator, or someone who just needs a fast laptop that won’t choke under pressure, this one’s built to keep up.
AI features
Being a Copilot+ PC, the Galaxy Book5 Pro comes with the full suite of Windows 11 AI features — like live translations, background blur for calls, image generation, and a beefed-up Paint app. But Samsung’s gone a step further with some Galaxy AI features of its own.
One of the standouts is AI Search — basically, Circle to Search from Samsung phones, now on the laptop. Just draw a circle around anything on your screen, and it pulls up Google search results instantly. It’s quick, seamless, and genuinely useful.
There’s also Galaxy Studio, which uses AI to remaster photos — fixing shadows, sharpening details, and making casual snaps look post-worthy. It doesn’t always hit the mark, but when it does, it’s a great time-saver.
Little features like these are what push the Galaxy Book5 Pro from good to great. It’s not just a powerful laptop — it’s smart, too.
Samsung’s ecosystem
What really surprised me with the Galaxy Book5 Pro wasn’t just the hardware — it was how well Samsung’s ecosystem is finally coming together. If you’ve got a Galaxy phone, features like Camera Share let you use your phone’s camera as a webcam — and the difference in quality is massive. It’s one of those small touches that makes a big impact, especially if you’re in meetings all day.
This year, Samsung’s ecosystem features feel more cohesive than ever. You’ve got Quick Share for instantly sending files between your phone, laptop, or tablet. You can take calls directly on your laptop, use your phone’s apps on your desktop, mirror your phone screen, and even extend your display using a Galaxy Tab as a second monitor. And unlike past attempts, all of it just works — consistently and reliably.
It’s Samsung’s strongest attempt yet at matching Apple’s Continuity — and if you live in the Galaxy ecosystem, this laptop feels like the missing piece.
Battery
Battery life is one of the Galaxy Book5 Pro’s most underrated wins. It packs a 63Wh cell that delivers seriously impressive endurance. While I was expecting around eight to nine hours on a single charge, the laptop consistently stretched to 12–14 hours — and that included everything from Photoshop sessions and Netflix binges to light gaming and AI-based tasks.
For a machine this slim and powerful, that’s seriously solid. On lighter days, you could easily squeeze out almost two full workdays without needing to reach for the charger.
When you do, charging is quick. You get around 40% in just 30 minutes, and a full top-up takes about an hour. If you’re someone constantly on the move, the Book5 Pro’s battery life is a genuine strength.
Verdict
If you’re in the market for a premium Windows laptop in 2025, the Galaxy Book5 Pro should be on your shortlist. It matches the MacBook Air in design and finesse — and in some areas, it might even have the edge.
It’s got the looks, the power, and one of the best AMOLED displays I’ve ever used on a laptop. Whether you’re editing content, managing presentations, or casually streaming, the Book5 Pro handles it all effortlessly.
Starting at ₹1,21,990, it’s not just a great Windows laptop — it’s one that redefines what thin-and-light machines can do. This one doesn’t just tick the boxes, it redraws the checklist.
