Samsung’s April 2021 Galaxy Unpacked event saw the new Samsung Galaxy Book devices with Samsung’s Galaxy integration. While you can spec them with NVIDIA’s GeForce MX450 discrete GPU, they are not really made for gaming though. For proper gaming, you need something a bit more powerful, a bit beefier. You need a Samsung Galaxy Book Odyssey gaming notebook.
The Odyssey namesake from Samsung is technically nothing new. Their very popular gaming monitor line-up bears that coveted name. Now that name comes to a gaming notebook and it seems like a no-brainer. At the same time, it is a little bit of a surprise too.
While Samsung has dabbled in gaming, they have only been dabbling in the display part of gaming. They produced the desirable Odyssey G9 ultra-wide gaming monitor, and recently made TVs that supports up to 120Hz for the next-generation gaming consoles. Still, they are no newbies to the video games industry.
The Samsung Galaxy Book Odyssey is a little odd though. It is not meant to be the most powerful gaming PC out there. It could come packing Intel’s most powerful mobile based CPU, the 11th Generation Core i7, but it does not come with NVIDIA’s most powerful GPU in their mobile GPU ecosystem. Instead, Samsung took this opportunity to introduce the world to a brand new NVDIA GPU that is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050Ti.
There is not much in terms of information on the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050Ti though. In our books, the GeForce RTX 3050 and RTX 3050Ti looks like replacement models to the older GeForce GTX 1660 and GeForce GTX 1660Ti discreet GPUs made for entry-level gaming PCs. In effect, the Samsung Galaxy Book Odyssey is made to be an entry-level gaming PC. In that sense, we do not expect NVIDIA’s highly acclaimed Ray Tracing technology to be available to the notebook.
It is still a Samsung Galaxy Book though so it still has Smart Things integration treatment. You can get your Samsung tablet to be its secondary display too, if you want. Heck, you can properly play AAA titles on your tablet if you do that. Easy Bluetooth connection feature ensures that you can easily connect your Bluetooth headphones to the PC quickly and painlessly. Your smartphone experience can easily be integrated with Link to Windows and Your Phone app on the PC.
It is, technically, the heaviest Galaxy Book that will be launched to date though. It weighs 1.85kg, which is really not heavy in the world of gaming notebooks. It is also about 17.7mm thick, which is also not all that thick for a gaming notebook. Its aluminium body looks sturdy and sleek, very much like a modern professional notebook. Its subtle logo and muted colour help it blend in your workplace and meeting room. The Pro Keyboard works with you to keep your emails churning out like a proper professional.
You can opt for up to 1TB of SSD storage for fast access to not just your files, but your games. The SSD also helps reduce loading screens. With up to 32GB of RAM, you will not be wanting more too, even if you need it for heavy video work. Speaking of videos, you are getting a 15.6-inch LCD display with Full HD resolution. No mentions on its refresh rate at this point though. We may only know closer to its launch date in August 2021.
They did not mention its battery life too, although we suspect something closer to 8 hours with 83Wh battery pack. In real life, you can expect something closer to 4 hours of battery life. It comes with a 135W fast charger though, to get the large battery quickly topped up. It is also a unique fast charger, because it is a USB Type-C charger which also means you can fast charge your smartphones with the same charger.
The Samsung Galaxy Book Odyssey will be available in August 2021 onward in selected markets. We cannot confirm if Malaysia will be part of those select markets at this point of time. The Galaxy Book Odyssey will set you back US$ 1,399 (MYR 5,742*) onward. For more information on the Samsung Galaxy Book Odyssey, you can head over to Samsung’s website.
*Based on approximate exchange rate of US$ 1 = MYR 4.10 as of 30/04/2021