Samsung's latest laptops changed my mind about AI – here's why

When I came to CES last year, the focus seemed to be all on artificial intelligence (AI). And 12 months on, at CES 2025, that's even truer. But one company in particular has driven the AI message harder than others at the show – and that's Samsung. The company's press conference was focused entirely on its "AI for All" message.

That includes Vision AI, which sees Samsung's new bigger screens kitted out with artificial intelligence, and Home AI that's featured on the company's smart home devices and appliances. But new Galaxy Book AI PCs were also revealed at the show – and they might have changed my previously sceptical mind about AI.

AI features

Both the Samsung Galaxy Book 5 Pro and the Galaxy Book 5 360 bring a couple of AI features to the mix that aren't just about summarising words or writing emails for you, but improving images and advancing search powers.

I tried both laptops during a first look at CES 2025 – and both impressed me. The AI Select feature is very similar to Circle to Search on Samsung's Galaxy phones (and other Android phones), allowing you to press on the icon at the bottom of the screen when you're browsing or looking at content in order to select what you want to search.

You can use the trackpad underneath the keyboard, or more conveniently you can draw a circle around what you want to search with your finger on the touchscreen – then relevant results appear in a sidebar. It's not a fresh AI feature as it was introduced on the Samsung Galaxy S24 series at the beginning of 2024 and has since appeared on other phones, but it works well and is handy on a laptop.

The Photo Remaster feature is my favourite though, enabling you to improve low-resolution and blurry images into crisp and detailed ones. Use the settings menu to 'Remaster Picture' and you can move the slider between blurry and crisp. Again, it's something that's available on Galaxy phones, but it's more impressive on the bigger screen – and one I could see coming in handy.

Design and build

It's not just the AI features that make the Samsung Galaxy Book 5 Pro and Galaxy Book 5 360 interesting though. The specs of the Pro model put it right up against the Apple MacBook Pro, with 14-inch and 16-inch screen sizes and a claimed battery of up to 25 hours.

The aluminium build offers a premium appeal and both models are slim and pretty lightweight for their size. The 16-inch measures 12.5mm and weighs 1.56kg, while the 14-inch model measures 11.6mm and weighs 1.23kg.

In the hand, both feel portable and they both have a wedge design that's not too dissimilar from what the MacBook Air used to offer before it was redesigned in 2022.

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On the base of the Galaxy Book 5 Pro and the Galaxy Book 5 360 is what Samsung calls a Pro Keyboard – with the 16-inch Pro model and all 360 models offering a numeric keyboard on the right of the keys. I tried a little bit of typing during my hands-on time and the key travel was nice, though I am more used to my MacBook Pro (M4)'s position with the number pad.

The trackpad felt smooth and responsive, and overall, both the new Galaxy Book 5 models are lovely-looking laptops with great design and responsive touchscreen displays.

First impressions

It would be easy to think of the Samsung Galaxy Book 5 models as just another couple of AI PCs. There are now plenty of decent Windows PCs on the market after all, from Samsung and Microsoft, to Lenovo and Asus, and beyond.

The Galaxy Book 5 Pro has some impressive specs, though, with a long battery life claimed, a slim and lightweight build, and a touchscreen that automatically sets it apart from Apple's MacBook models – even without its weight and battery efforts.

The AI features worked brilliantly in my short experience with these laptops, and when you add those to the rest of the Galaxy Book 5 Pro and Galaxy Book 5 360's capabilities, you've got yourself a couple of rather exciting laptops.