The AI PC Revolution - Hands on with Samsung’s Galaxy Book6 Pro & Ultra

The tech world is buzzing at CES 2026, and for good reason. Samsung has officially pulled the curtain back on the Galaxy Book6 Series, and it isn’t just a simple spec bump. With a radical redesign of the keyboard, the debut of Intel’s "Panther Lake" architecture, and a battery that refuses to quit, the Galaxy Book6 Pro and Book6 Ultra are setting a new high bar for Windows laptops.

Here is everything you need to know about the new kings of the Galaxy ecosystem.

1. The Design Shift - "MacBook Vibes" and Symmetrical Perfection

The first thing you’ll notice about the new 16-inch models is what’s missing. Samsung has finally ditched the offset number pad on the larger units. By moving to a tenkeyless, centered keyboard layout, Samsung has achieved perfect symmetry.

This change isn't just aesthetic; it allowed engineers to place high-fidelity, top-firing speakers on either side of the deck. The result is a cleaner look that many are calling "the MacBook of Windows," featuring a sleek, two-tone Pro keyboard and a massive haptic touch trackpad. Even the chassis has undergone a diet; the Galaxy Book6 Pro 16" is a staggering 11.9mm thin, while the Ultra remains incredibly portable at 15.4mm despite its heavyweight internals.

2. Performance - The 1.8nm Breakthrough

Under the hood, the Galaxy Book6 series is the first to utilize the Intel® Core™ Ultra Series 3 (Panther Lake) processors, built on the cutting-edge Intel 18A (1.8nm-class) process. This represents a massive leap in transistor density and efficiency.

For the average user, this translates to 60% faster CPU performance compared to last year. More importantly, the integrated NPU (Neural Processing Unit) now delivers 50 TOPS, enabling lightning-fast, on-device AI that doesn't need the cloud. For the creative professionals, the Galaxy Book6 Ultra can be configured with up to 64GB of RAM and the new NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 5070 with GDDR7 VRAM, making it a beast for 8K video editing and AAA gaming.

3. Thermal Engineering - Cool Under Pressure

With all that power comes heat, but Samsung has introduced a major engineering first for the series. For the first time, the Galaxy Book6 Pro features a high-efficiency vapor chamber, a luxury previously reserved for the Ultra.

The Ultra model itself has been redesigned with a larger heat sink and a new fan structure that disperses heat through the rear and sides more effectively. Samsung claims thermal efficiency has improved by over 35% across the lineup, ensuring that the laptops can maintain peak performance during long rendering sessions or gaming marathons without loud fan noise or thermal throttling.

4. The "30-Hour" Battery & Rapid Charging

Battery life has long been the Achilles' heel of high-performance Windows laptops, but the efficiency of the 18A silicon has changed the game. Through a new dynamic refresh rate that can drop as low as 30Hz when the screen is static, the Book6 series targets 30 hours of video playback on a single charge.

When you do run low, you aren't tethered to a wall for long. The Ultra’s 140W fast charging can get you back to 63% in just 30 minutes, allowing a quick coffee break to turn into several more hours of productivity.

5. Visuals & Audio - Dynamic AMOLED 2X

The displays remain the best in the business. The Dynamic AMOLED 2X panels now feature 1,000 nits peak HDR brightness, making them perfectly usable for outdoor work. They are protected by Corning® Gorilla® Glass with DXC, which reduces reflections by 75% a feature you'll appreciate the moment you sit near a window.

On the audio front, the Ultra features a six-speaker system with force-canceling woofers. The sound profile is rich and deep, delivering a bass response that genuinely rivals high-end external speakers and provides an immersive Dolby Atmos experience for movies and games.

6. Galaxy AI - More Than a Buzzword

Samsung is leaning heavily into "on-device AI" to keep your data private and your workflow fast. These aren't just software gimmicks; they are deeply integrated tools designed for the modern professional:

• AI Select - Use the touchscreen to highlight any text or object and get instant context, search results, or even shopping links.
• AI Cut Out - A godsend for creators, allowing you to instantly remove backgrounds from images for quick presentation mocks or social media posts.
• Note Assist - Provides real-time summarization and translation for meetings, even identifying different speakers in a transcript.
• Storage Share - Seamlessly access and edit photos stored on your Galaxy phone directly on the laptop's larger screen without cables.

Verdict... Should You Wait?

If you are a professional who needs the absolute peak of Windows efficiency and power, the answer is a resounding yes.

The Galaxy Book6 Pro is the ultimate choice for the frequent traveler who values a feather-light design and all-day endurance. Meanwhile, the Galaxy Book6 Ultra stands alone as the power user's dream, combining the centered keyboard, Intel 18A efficiency, and RTX 50-series graphics into the most significant laptop release from Samsung in years.

Availability - Expect the Galaxy Book6 series to hit shelves in Late January 2026 for select markets, with a wider "Spring 2026" rollout for the US and Europe.

Stay tuned for our full deep-dive review once we get these units in the lab!