Samsung flex slim. Samsung Bespoke Jet review: aesthetic, powerful cleaning at a cost

Samsung Bespoke Jet review: aesthetic, powerful cleaning at a cost

The world has reached a point where the last thing any of us seemingly want to do is empty a dust bin.

Self-emptying stick vacuums. Self emptying-robot vacuums. They’re everywhere, and while they’re convenient, I’m not sure the feature is that much of a selling point. I’d rather see a vacuum with enough suction power that I only have to go over the floor once. I can empty my own dust bin.

Samsung sent the Bespoke Jet Cordless Stick Vacuum to me for review. I’ve used it for a few weeks now to great results. It delivers on all counts: great at cleaning, comfortable enough to use for extended periods, and — this is the big one — it also empties itself. Everything I could ask for in a stick vacuum.

But how does it stack up overall? It’s a solid piece of machinery that definitely has an aesthetic flair, but it’s brought down by the price point and the relatively short battery life.

Samsung Bespoke Jet design: It’s got that mid-century modern Jetsons-chic

Since this vacuum is part of Samsung’s Bespoke line, it. should come as no surprise that a lot of consideration was put into its design. This isn’t meant to be stashed away in some closet and only brought out when it’s time to vacuum; the Bespoke Jet looks to earn a spot in plain view.

The Bespoke Jet earns a spot in plain view.

The vacuum itself maintains the same color accents, but it ultimately just looks like a vacuum cleaner. There’s not much to say there. The only difference is that the Bespoke Jet has great color accents: either black and gold like the one I have, white and gold for the Misty White color option, or blue and silver for the Midnight Blue option.

Competitors to the Bespoke Jet, like the LG CordZero All-in-One, store accessories right beside the vacuum in doors that swing out. The Bespoke Jet includes a handy little accessory rack, but I found myself wishing it had built-in storage. While the rack is a nice addition, it’s yet another thing that takes up space on the floor, but is too small to really fit anywhere.

Samsung Bespoke Jet tools and accessories: plenty to go around

The accessory stand is nice. It doesn’t look bad; it’s just the wrong size for what it is. It falls into some weird limbo between small enough to easily store and large enough to display alongside the vacuum itself. That said, it does come with a handy set of tools.

The Bespoke Jet will likely have its standard, telescoping cleaning tool on it at all times. It’s the go-to for cleaning the floor, after all. The rack holds the crevice tool, a flexible extension tool, a brush tool, and a dedicated pet tool. The pet tool is great for getting cat hair off furniture, but I also found it to be one of the best ways to clean the stairs. It’s small enough to be flexible.

The most important accessory, though, is the extra battery pack. You can keep it charged and swap it out easily when your main battery goes dead.

The accessory rack also has a handle at the top for easily picking it up and moving it around the house as needed.

Samsung Bespoke Jet cleaning: strong enough suction that I feared for my carpet

The main event, and the key to any good vacuum cleaner, is how powerful its suction is. It has to be able to get even ground-in dirt out of carpet or suck up debris from hardwood floors (something I find many vacuums struggle with).

The Bespoke Jet delivers. It definitely delivers. I used it in its different cleaning modes on a space that should probably get vacuumed a little more often, but is often neglected: my upstairs loft.

The first time I vacuumed, I used the Minimum setting. It’s by far the quietest, but the least powerful. It did an okay job, but left me feeling like it could have done a lot more. I repeated the process with Medium and Max modes. Since the Bespoke Jet has a clear dust bin, I could see more and more material accumulating inside it, even as I vacuumed the same space multiple times.

I turned it on, and felt physical resistance as I tried to push the vacuum forward due to the level of suction. It’s the loudest, too, but it definitely cleans. I could see a tremendous difference in the floor after running over it with Jet Mode, but it comes at a cost.

Jet Mode had me reaching for the stapler to secure the carpet.

The battery life drains like water out of a sieve. Look at it this way: On the Minimum setting, the display told me I had 42 minutes of cleaning time left. On Jet Mode, I had eight minutes left. Both of these were within seconds of one another on a fully-charged battery.

Samsung says the Bespoke Jet can get up to 120 minutes of runtime, but even the lowest setting only gave an estimate of 42 minutes. And honestly? You’re wasting your time with the lowest setting. It’s good for light touch-ups or for cleaning up spills, but if you’re going to take the time to vacuum anyway, give it a thorough clean.

I ran into a few issues with the self-emptying bin, too. It did a fine job of pulling all the debris out of the vacuum. It didn’t do such a good job of shutting the vacuum afterwards; I had to apply what felt like an undue amount of force to snap it into place.

Samsung Bespoke Jet: other features

There are a lot of handy little features to the Samsung Bespoke Jet that speak to the thoughtfulness of its design. For example, the Flex Tool. It’s useful for vacuuming flat areas above your head, like the top of a cabinet. The telescopic pipe also has enough flexibility to reach deep under couches, though you might have to do a bit of what I’ve dubbed “cleaning yoga” to get there. It’s like hot yoga, but you’re only sweating because you clean the house.

removable and washable, which will become a necessity. Fine grains of dust find their way into nooks and crannies that won’t be cleared out when the Bespoke Jet empties out the dust bin.

I mostly appreciated the 5-layer filtration system. That’s the sort of technical specification that’s harped on by marketing teams, but is rarely applicable in reality. I found that the Bespoke Jet did a fine job of capturing dust particles and not spreading them. The way I could tell was simple: I didn’t sneeze nearly as much while vacuuming as I do with lower-end machines, like the Wyze Cordless Vacuum.

The included washable micro filter helps extend the lifespan of the vacuum, too. There’s just a certain annoyance that comes with spending upwards of 100 to replace the filter in something, whether that’s a vacuum cleaner or an air purifier.

Therein lies the biggest obstacle to this vacuum: the cost. While it performs admirably in everything it does, it’s hard to stomach the 900 price tag. That’s a lot of money to spend on a vacuum cleaner, even one that looks as good as this.

I can’t help but feel the Bespoke Jet cashes in on its brand. Despite the ample cleaning power, thoughtful design, and convenience, I can’t recommend a vacuum at that price point, especially when the costs of other goods are also on the rise. This is a great vacuum cleaner, but it’s not a 900 vacuum cleaner. If you can snag it on sale for 650, or even 700, that’s a more appropriate price point.

The Bespoke Jet is a great machine, and a truly powerful cleaning tool, but it should get more cleaning time on its highest settings. The aesthetic appeal of the vacuum isn’t enough to raise the price to that point. If I have a vacuum out in the living room, I would want it to look good, but I’m not going to put a vacuum on display because it looks good. In the end, it’s still a tool.

Samsung’s Galaxy Book Flex with S-Pen fills that underserved 15-inch convertible laptop market with a bold blue design and a striking QLED display.

Convertible 13-inch laptops are quite common these days, but one underserved area is the 15-inch range. HP has its Spectre x360 15, but it can be rather large and chunky. But besides that, there are not a whole lot of options.

Samsung’s new Galaxy Book Flex (which also has a smaller 13-inch model) is one of the first 2-in-1 15-inch laptops that’s not a burden to carry or flip into position. Toss in a built-in stylus for quick inking and a QLED display with great audio and battery life, and this is one fun laptop worth considering.

I’ve been using the Galaxy Book Flex 15 (1,400), which is now available, for the last few weeks. Here is what I think works and what does not.

1,400 at SamsungBottom line: The Book Flex is the rare 15-inch convertible laptop that is both slim, stylish, but also packs a lot of features. The innovative QLED display, S-Pen, and design make it stand out. Samsung’s software bundle adds value to this enchanting laptop. A smaller 13-inch one is also available.

For

• Beautiful design.
• Slim, light, and flexible.
• Bright, highly color-accurate display.
• S-Pen colossal trackpad.
• Good battery life.
• Nice software bundle.

Against

Well-rounded

Samsung Galaxy Book Flex specs and features

The Galaxy Book Flex 15 is effectively a standard 2020 convertible Ultrabook with a 15-watt Intel processor and Intel Iris Plus graphics.

The strengths of the Book Flex are apparent. The squared, silver edges and blue metallic color scheme make this one unique looking laptop that stands out from the crowd in the right way. The near-perfect symmetry and minimalist, clean design is outstanding. The metal chassis feels premium to match the look.

Samsung understands design, and the Galaxy Book Flex is a beautiful evolution from previous laptops attempts by the company.

But what makes the Galaxy Book Flex really different is two-fold: the 15.6-inch QLED (Quantum dot LED) display and the built-in S-Pen for Inking. Lenovo offers something similar in the 14-inch Yoga C940, but it lacks the punchy QLED screen from Samsung. This laptop is the first to feature Samsung’s QLED technology, and it is quite impressive.

In addition, Samsung is offering a 13.3-inch model, which is nearly identical to the larger 15-inch one, including the same size battery. For this review, the 15-inch was tested, but all the critiques and praise can be applied to that significantly cheaper 850 model as well.

While both versions do use Intel’s Iris Plus for graphics, outside the US, there is a 15-inch model that also has an NVIDIA GeForce MX250. However, that GPU is less impressive as Iris Plus nearly matches it already in performance.

Ports are modern but sparse with just three Type-C ports (two Thunderbolt 3 on the right, one USB-C on the left), a UFS/MicroSD expansion slot, and a headphone jack.

Samsung also tosses in a Type-C to Type-A converter, a Type-C to HDMI cable, and two replacement nibs for the S-Pen.

So bright it blinds

Samsung Galaxy Book Flex display and web camera

For the first time, Samsung is using its QLED technology used in its TVs for a laptop. Quantum LED (QLED) is a different way for displays to produce color compared to traditional LEDs (which use a color filter).

QLED results in less washed-out colors, more profound vibrancy, blues, and primary colors that are more saturated.

Thankfully, QLED does not come across as extreme, or as unnatural as a typical OLED display. Instead, the Galaxy Book Flex feels more organic, akin to a traditional LCD, rather than a too intense OLED experience.

Perhaps more interesting is the ability for QLED to hit higher brightness levels. Indeed, Samsung has an outdoor mode for the Book Flex that, when enabled, ramps up brightness to an absurd 623 nits. Most laptops are lucky to hit in the 400 nits range, and an HDR400 PC usually gets just past 500 nits for comparison.

On the other end, the Galaxy Book Flex can hit a minimum of 34 nits for brightness, which is decent enough for a very dark room without blinding you.

This outdoor mode can be triggered via software or a convenient keyboard shortcut (Fn F9).

Samsung has different viewing modes, including dynamic, standard, reading, natural, and professional profile. There is a high-dynamic-range (HDR) mode as well, although this is not a wide color gamut (WCG) display. To avoid eyestrain, there is even a flicker-free option, which is a common complaint with pulse-width modulation (PWM) screens.

Color accuracy is also extraordinary. Samsung manages to get 100 percent sRGB, 88 percent AdobeRGB, and a 100 percent DCI-P3 rating. Achieving 100 percent DCI-P3 is exceedingly rare on a consumer laptop at this price point.

The only issue with the Galaxy Flex display is it is Full HD at 1920 x 1080. While such a resolution is fine on a 13-inch laptop (indeed, preferred), on a 15-inch one, it starts to get noticeable. Text is not nearly as sharp, and the benefits of a larger display are not as impressive. Samsung has a history of prioritizing battery over max specs on its laptops, and that seems to be the case here.

The front-facing 720P web camera is OK and slightly better than average, but it is still miles behind what Microsoft does in its Surface line. Such a camera would have been fine in 2019, but in 2020 camera quality is suddenly much more important.

Samsung did not opt for Windows Hello facial recognition but instead uses a fingerprint reader.

Shallow but OK

Samsung Galaxy Book Flex keyboard, Qi trackpad, and audio

Samsung doesn’t quite have as much experience in making keyboards like Dell, Lenovo, or HP. Its keyboards in the past were good but mushy. Its new ones for the Galaxy Book S and now Book Flex falls on the shallow side. It’s not bad, but there is some adjustment to it.

Samsung uses large chicklet-sized keys that are well spaced. A full number pad is also present, which is a feature many users look for in a 15-inch laptop. The backlighting here is better than the Book S, which was so dim as to be almost unnoticeable. The keyboard is quiet to type on too.

Samsung Galaxy Book2 Pro 360: A slim and capable OLED 2-in-1, but screen resolution disappoints

The Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 is a frustrating mix of excellent and irritating features, but there’s plenty of choice when it comes to configuration.

Sandra is a freelance IT writer with extensive experience across both business and consumer audience. She is equally at home writing a smartphone review as a research report for an international telecoms company.

Sandra is a freelance IT writer with extensive experience across both business and consumer audience. She is equally at home writing a smartphone review as a research report for an international telecoms company.

Samsung Galaxy Book2 Pro 360

pros and cons

• Lightweight and portable
• OLED screen
• Solid performance
• Good keyboard
• Bundled S Pen
• Awkward S Pen magnet arrangement
• Average speakers
• No camera IR or privacy cover
• Moderate 16:9 screen resolution

Samsung has several Galaxy Book2 laptops in its line-up, including the Galaxy Book2, Galaxy Book2 Pro and the convertible Galaxy Book2 360 and Galaxy Book2 Pro 360.

Available in either 13.3-inch or 15.6-inch screen sizes with 12th-generation Intel Core i5 or Core i7 processors and up to 16GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD storage, there’s plenty of choice with the Galaxy Book2 Pro 360. We took the 15.6-inch Core i7 16GB/512GB model, which costs £1,249 in the UK or 1,349.99 in the US (with a 1TB SSD), for a (360-degree) spin.

If thin, light and minimalist are must-have features for you, then despite its 15.6-inch screen, the Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 is definitely one for your shortlist. My review unit had a pale magnesium grey chassis, which Samsung calls Silver. There are also versions in Burgundy and Graphite.

Either way, the build is very solid.- there was no flex in the lid of my review unit, for example, although Samsung makes no mention of MIL-STD testing. This 15.6-inch laptop measures 354.85mm wide by 227.97mm deep and 11.9mm thick and weighs 1.41kg. This weight, which is perfectly reasonable, puts into perspective just how light the 16-inch LG Gram 16 is, at 1.199kg.

If you need to travel with your laptop, there’s good news in that the power adapter is a standard phone-charger-style plug with a retracting pin, and the charge cable is USB-C at both ends, adding minimal weight and bulk to a rucksack.

Samsung bundles its S Pen stylus, which is useful for note-taking and form-filling on the touch screen, in either laptop or tablet mode. However, the stylus is too large to fit in a ‘garage’ on the laptop’s chassis, so it needs to be carried separately. Don’t lose it.

The S Pen does adhere to the chassis of the Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 magnetically, but the arrangement is unconventional. The upper section of the lid is magnetised, which means you must reach round the chassis when working in laptop mode to retrieve the stylus. I knocked it to the floor a couple of times.- something I would not want to do when working in a café rather than in my home office.

I tried getting the stylus to sit in place vertically so I could see part of it and retrieve it more safely, but the magnet system isn’t designed for vertical hold, and the stylus slipped around. It also distracted me from the screen. This is all basic ergonomics, and Samsung could do better.

The 15.6-inch screen’s width allows Samsung to put a separate number pad to the right of the QWERTY keys – laptop designers can either do this or use the space on either side of the keyboard for speaker grilles. The number pad’s keys are a decent size, and there’s a double-height Enter key that’s slightly thicker at the top. I managed to train myself to hit it accurately with relative ease, and the arrangement is better than that I encountered on the Huawei MateBook D 16.

Elsewhere the keys are all large and easy to hit accurately, and there is plenty of travel and good bounce-back. The keyboard is quiet in use, while the touchpad is large and responsive. There is a fingerprint sensor embedded in unmarked on/off key, which sits in the top right-hand corner of the number pad.

A webcam is vitally important these days and the 1080p resolution on offer here is good to see. The webcam supports Auto Framing to keep the user in frame and in FOCUS, and this worked well. There is no privacy cover or IR support, though.

The screen is an AMOLED panel, which means it delivers bright images with vibrant colour. Touch sensitivity is valuable, and not just in tablet mode: prodding at the screen can be more efficient than using the touchpad or a mouse in everyday laptop mode, too. The screen is reflective, which some might find distracting.

A 15.6-inch screen lets you work easily with two documents side by side, and in tablet mode the larger screen is great for a variety of pen-based activities. Video looks good in both laptop and tablet mode.

That said, the FHD resolution (1,920 x 1,080 pixels) is relatively low, and the 60Hz refresh rate could be higher.

Samsung’s decision to locate grilles for the two speakers on the underside of the chassis makes sense in the context of tablet mode, as grilles sitting either side of the keyboard would output audio right into a desk or the user’s lap in that orientation. As it is, sound is of a similar strength in both modes. However, it lacks the depth required for serious movie watching or music listening, with treble dominant across different soundscapes.

My Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 review unit was powered by Intel’s 12th-generation Core i7-1260P processor with integrated Iris Xe Graphics, 16GB of RAM and 512GB of SSD storage, a configuration that costs £1,249 in the UK. The nearest equivalent model in the US has a 1TB SSD and costs 1,349.99. Buyers seeking more affordability can opt for a Core i5-1240P version.

Our Core i7-1260P review unit with 16GB of RAM delivered Geekbench 5 CPU scores of 1052 (single core) and 7303 (multi core). By contrast, Apple’s late-2020 M1-based MacBook Air scored 1730 and 7590 respectively (running the benchmark in native M1 mode). In the Compute GPU benchmark using the OpenCL API, the Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 scored 18842, which is broadly on a par with the M1 MacBook Air in this mode.

Whatever configuration is selected, there’s a modest set of ports with one or two notable absentees. You get a Thunderbolt 4 port, two USB-C ports, a MicroSD slot and 3.5mm audio in/out jack. Connectors like HDMI, Ethernet and USB-A will require a hub or docking station. Wi-Fi is bang up to date, though, with Wi-Fi 6E, and Bluetooth 5.1 is also here.

Samsung is big on cross-device data sharing. So screen sharing with a Galaxy Tab 8 tablet is integrated, along with software called Samsung Multi Control that allows effective use of both screens in unison. Owners of compatible Samsung phones can share files between devices, and can even share access to phone apps.

Samsung says the Galaxy Book2 Pro 360’s 68Wh battery will provide 21 hours of video playback, with fast charging for 30 minutes delivering 8.3 hours of use. I put the laptop to the test with my usual regime of writing into web apps, streaming video and listening to music. From a full charge it lost 37% in three hours, suggesting battery life of just over eight hours. That’s a lot less than Samsung’s claim, so it would be wise not to stray far from a mains power source for too long.

To test charging speed, I started when the battery had fallen to 30%. It rose to 41% after 15 minutes, to 51% after 30 minutes and to 61% after 45 minutes.

Conclusions

Samsung’s Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 is a frustrating mix of excellent and irritating features: bundling the S Pen is a good idea, but it’s marred by the unusual magnetic attachment; the OLED touch screen is sharp and vibrant, but its FHD resolution is disappointing.

Elsewhere the keyboard is good and performance of the Core i7 model solid, and the range of configuration options, including dropping down to a Core i5 and a 13.3-inch screen, means that buyers can choose exactly what works best for them.

Samsung Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 specifications

Alternatives to consider

Convertible 2-in-1 laptops come in many shapes and sizes. Here are three leading contenders with 14-inch, 15-inch and 16-inch screens.

Samsung Jet 60 Pet Review

We tested the Samsung Jet 60 Pet stick vacuum. Did it still perform well in our tests despite being an older model? Let’s find out.

Samsung Jet 60 Pet

The Samsung Jet 60 Pet is a stick vacuum with solid performance. It comes with a single click-in battery and a 40 minute run time. In addition, it comes with 4 different accessories to assist with various cleaning situations. In our tests, it successfully removed 90.4% of all debris, cleaned 100% of long hair, and easily handled pet fur. Maintenance is easy, and overall, it’s a great stick vacuum at a great price.

Pros

• Good cleaning performance; 90.4% debris removal
• Budget-friendly pricing
• Washable filters and dustbin

Scoring

Good performance; great price

The Samsung Jet 60 is a budget-friendly stick vacuum with good cleaning performance. During our tests, it was able to remove 90.4% of all debris types across all floor types. It has a simple design with pieces that are easy to attach/detach, 3-button controls, and a 0.8 L dust bin capacity. Maintaining the Jet 60 is easy due to the washable pieces and easily accessible filters. Overall, a solid choice for a budget stick vacuum.

Performance Tests

To test stick vacuums, we put it through a series of 6 different tests to measure cleaning performance and usability.

These tests include:

• Cleaning test
• Hair test
• Pet hair test
• Runtime test
• Noise test
• Usability test

Cleaning Test

To test the cleaning performance of the Samsung Jet 60 Pet, we clean 4 different debris types (sugar, kitty litter, rice, and cereal) across 3 different floor types (hardwood, low pile carpet, and high pile carpet).

We run the vacuum on the highest setting, use the standard cleaning nozzle (the Jet Fit brush), and measure the amount of debris remaining by weight. Here are the overall cleaning results for the Jet 60 Pet.

High Carpet

Cleaning across the 3 different floor types was good. However, the Jet 60 really struggled on the hardwood floor, most notably with cereal.

When moving the cleaning head over the cereal, the nozzle would be too low to the ground and end up pushing the cereal to the edge. If we remove cereal from the equation for hardwood floor here are the new scores:

High Carpet

This problem only existed on the hardwood floor, however, a problem that persisted across all floor types was clogging. With the bigger debris types, especially cereal, we had to clean very slowly in order to avoid clogging.

Beyond those issues, the cleaning performance across the board was excellent.

Hardwood Floor

The Jet 60 Pet performed well on the hardwood floor, excluding the cereal as we mentioned previously.

Kitty Litter

With the cereal included, the Samsung Jet 60 was able to remove 74.5% of all debris, and without cereal, it removed 98.5% of debris.

Low Pile Carpet

On low pile carpet, the Samsung Jet 60 Pet removed 97.5% of debris across all types. However, we didn’t experience the same issue with not being able to remove cereal.

Kitty Litter

This is due to the rougher surface of the carpet allowing the nozzle to get on top of the cereal.

While the cereal no longer presented an issue with the cleaning head, it still was able to clog the vacuum if picked up too quickly. Make sure to move the vacuum slowly over larger debris types.

High Pile Carpet

As with the low pile carpet, the Jet 60 had excellent performance on the high pile carpet. It was able to remove 99.4% of all debris types across all floor types.

Kitty Litter

As mentioned previously, clogging is still an issue while cleaning larger debris types, like cereal, and it requires you to clean slowly.

Long Hair Test

For our hair test, we place strands of hair in the direct cleaning path of the vacuum. We then run the vacuum over it and check to see how much hair was removed, and if any tangled in the brushroll.

Samsung’s Jet 60 Pet easily removed all the long strands of hair from the ground. The real issue came with the tangling. There was a decent amount of hair tangled around the brushroll and it was not easy to remove.

Once the hair was tangled, it took 5 minutes to meticulously remove the tightly wound hair. If you clean long strands of hair often, make sure to clean the brushroll after, or use the mini motorized tool, which is designed to avoid tangles.

Pet Hair Test

Our pet hair test is similar to the long hair test. We place pet fur in the direct cleaning path of the vacuum, run the vacuum over it, and see how much is removed. For this test, we placed the pet hair on high pile carpet and ran the Jet 60 on the maximum setting.

Since the Samsung Jet 60 has “Pet” in the name I was hoping it would do well with pet hair, and it showed solid performance in our tests. The vacuum was able to remove the majority of the hair only leaving behind a few strands.

The brushroll in the Jet Fit nozzle did an excellent job of agitating the carpet and removing strands of pet fur as it passed.

Runtime Test

For our runtime test, we fully charge the battery, and let the vacuum run on each mode until the battery runs out of power.

Here are the results from our test: