The added energy makes a distinction: On basic, CPU-driven duties, the laptop computer turned in the very best benchmark scores of any Copilot+ PC I’ve examined thus far, topping the Asus by a scant 1 % 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 %. Graphics-based exams noticed muddier, extra blended outcomes, however the laptop computer held its personal with different Copilot+ PCs whereas expectedly falling nicely behind the scores that extra conventional Intel machines have turned in just lately.
In the true world, the facility is noticeable. Microsoft’s real-time Stay Captions system has turn into my go-to stress take a look at for Copilot+ PCs, as many wrestle to maintain up whereas translating fast-paced dialog. The Book4 Edge did the very best job I’ve seen thus far at this complicated job, even dealing with thickly accented speech with out lacking a lot.
Battery life can also be glorious, with a run time of virtually 14 and a half hours on a full-screen YouTube playback take a look at 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 stable if not precisely booming, aided by a fan that’s barely audible even underneath 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 quick, and I discovered the tiny arrow keys exceptionally onerous to make use of. The keyboard backlighting doesn’t assist a lot to make the keys seen until the room is sort of darkish. And I’ve beforehand mentioned the touchpad, which is so wildly, overly giant 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 make the most of Microsoft’s new AI options (and I gained’t decide you for those who don’t), it’s changing into clear that getting each little bit of efficiency you’ll be able to out of your {hardware} is essential. In that vein, Samsung takes the efficiency crown whereas retaining the worth moderately in test. Whereas it’s not fairly the very best bang to your buck within the Copilot+ PC world proper now, it does present the most important bang.
