The added energy makes a distinction: On normal, CPU-driven duties, the laptop computer turned in the perfect benchmark scores of any Copilot+ PC I’ve examined to this point, topping the Asus by a scant 1 p.c on Geekbench 6, however pulling away extra impressively versus laptops with lower-end Snapdragon chips (and Intel- and AMD-based laptops) by as much as 20 p.c. Graphics-based exams noticed muddier, extra blended outcomes, however the laptop computer held its personal with different Copilot+ PCs whereas expectedly falling effectively behind the scores that extra conventional Intel machines have turned in lately.
In the true world, the ability is noticeable. Microsoft’s real-time Stay Captions system has develop into my go-to stress check for Copilot+ PCs, as many wrestle to maintain up whereas translating fast-paced dialog. The Book4 Edge did the perfect job I’ve seen to this point at this advanced job, even dealing with thickly accented speech with out lacking a lot.
Battery life can also be wonderful, with a run time of just about 14 and a half hours on a full-screen YouTube playback check at full brightness (in comparison with 15 hours, 12 minutes on the Microsoft Surface Pro, and 13 hours, 12 minutes on the Asus Vivobook S 15). The display is not any slouch, both, pumping out vivid coloration and distinctive brightness whereas minimizing glare. The audio is strong if not precisely booming, aided by a fan that’s barely audible even beneath load. I needed to put my ear as much as the laptop computer to listen to the slightest whirr.
{Photograph}: Christopher Null
What’s to not like? The typing expertise is marred by keys with journey that’s only a bit too brief, and I discovered the tiny arrow keys exceptionally laborious to make use of. The keyboard backlighting doesn’t assist a lot to make the keys seen except the room is kind of darkish. And I’ve beforehand mentioned the touchpad, which is so wildly, overly massive it deserves mentioning right here once more. Finally these points are all comparatively minor.
At $1,500, the Book4 Edge is $200 dearer than the smaller Asus Vivobook, however on a price-performance foundation, it closes in on that machine’s excessive water mark. If you wish to reap the benefits of Microsoft’s new AI options (and I gained’t decide you when you don’t), it’s changing into clear that getting each little bit of efficiency you’ll be able to out of your {hardware} is vital. In that vein, Samsung takes the efficiency crown whereas protecting the worth fairly in examine. Whereas it’s not fairly the perfect bang on your buck within the Copilot+ PC world proper now, it does present the largest bang.
