Tech Advisor - UK (2020-07)

JULY 2020 • TECH ADVISOR 91

laptopshipswithquick-chargingcapabilities,butthose
maygoawayifyouuseanothercharger.
Thesparseportselectionis supplementedby
thehybridexpansionslotdrawerontheunderside,
with traysforbothmicroSDandtheLTESIM.
TheGalaxySdisplayisa13.3inTFT10-pointtouch
display.Itpushesoutagenerous 355 nitsmaximum,
lettingmefindacomfortable(thoughsomewhat
shady)outdoorsitetowork.AseparateUSB-Chub
letmeoutput4K/60-fpsvideothroughHDMItoan
external4Kdisplaywithnoissue.
Thedisplaybezelsareslenderonthetopand
sides(aboutaneighthofaninch),whilethebottom
bezelisachunkier0.75inchesdeep,wideenoughto
house a720pwebcam.It’sgoodenoughforeveryday
use,thoughit lacksspecialfeaturessuchasbiometrics
oraphysicalshutter.
The glossydisplay,whilebeautiful,attracts
fingerprintsandsmudgeslikeanunwatchedburrito
luresahungryLabradorretriever.Workingoutside
quicklybecomesanexerciseindodgingreflected
backgroundobjects,too.
Thequalityaudiooptionsareanunexpected
delight.Thepairofdownward-facingspeakersblew
meaway– almostliterally– asperhapstheloudestI’ve
heardinsometime.SamsungsaystheGalaxyBook
S is tunedbyAKG,withDolbyAtmossoftwareunder
thehoodforaudioenhancement.Sure,thebassisn’t
great – not unusual in laptops – and Dolby appears to
downplayportionsoftheaudiosoundscapetoprovide
aricheroverallsound.TheDolbyAtmossoftware
provides built-in presets that detect and auto-adjust the