Samsung has revealed the Galaxy Book Go 5G costing US$799 with AT&T 5G network compatibility. The South Korean tech giant has now published the full product overview and specs pages for this Windows on Arm portable. Samsung launched the Galaxy Book Go Wi-Fi/4G-LTE version laptop back in June, but withheld the specs for this 5G device at that time.
As expected at the June launch, the Galaxy Book Go 5G retains most of the 4G version's 14-inch FHD screen based design, but should be significantly faster due to the processor upgrade here. I hope that is the case, because the new model is more than double the base price of the Galaxy Book Go Wi-Fi-only version ($349 launch, but $300 today with instant $50 rebate).
Key shared specs of the Samsung Galaxy Book Go models, beyond the screen, are; two USB-C ports and a USB-A port, microSD card reader, 3.5mm audio combi jack, stereo 1.5W speakers, 5,480mAh battery (18 hours video playback life), 720p webcam, 1.38kg weight and 24 x 225 x 14.9mm dimensions.
At the time of writing, Samsung has only revealed the one model of the Galaxy Book Go 5G, readied for US mobile network provider AT&T. It doesn't feature any more memory / storage than the base model (4GB LPDDR4x, 128GB eUFS), which is a bit disappointing. However, Samsung / AT&T must think people will be attracted by the faster processor and 5G (over Wi-Fi and 4G options). Another thing is that the detailed specs page might not have been updated for the faster 5G machine, as it mentions it is still powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 – a sure error as confirmed by the main product page – so please treat this specs as suspicious until a review is published by a third party.
I put together the above comparison table from NotebookCheck data. You can clearly see the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 5G has faster clock speeds, a stronger GPU, and is built on newer process technology. Qualcomm would also steer you towards considering the dedicated Qualcomm AI Engine in the SD 8cx gen 3 5G which can accelerate various processes and "turn your PC into a hub of mobile productivity and entertainment."
Ultimately, the huge gulf in pricing, that comes from 5G connectivity and the faster new SoC, is hard to swallow. Additionally, many would be OK with - or prefer to - tether to their mobile, so don't even need anything beyond Wi-Fi connectivity.
