Builds tested
https://system76.com/laptops/galago
i7 ($1,198)
- Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics
- i7-1165G7 CPU
- 8GB DDR4 3200MHz (self upgraded to 32GB (2x16) DDR4 3200MHz)
- 500GB NVMe PCIe 3 (WD Blue)
i7 + GPU ($1,447)
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 4GB VRAM (to my surprise, I received a 1650Ti)
- i7-1165G7 CPU
- 8GB DDR4 3200MHz (self upgraded to 32GB (2x16) DDR4 3200MHz)
- 500GB NVMe PCIe 3 (WD Blue)
Pros
Port selection
- 1x Thunderbolt4/USB4
- 1x USB-C 3.1 rev2
- 2x USB-A 3.1 rev1 (I think...)
- 1x HDMI (full-size)
- RJ-45 1GBe
- 1x 3.5mm audio combo headset jack
- SDXC card reader
Performance (see benchmarks)
Open firmware
- keyboard layout customization (I've got mine mimicking my '15 MBP)
- fan curve personalization
- fan smoothing improvements
Open OS
- improved power profiles allowing better performance
Keyboard
- layout
- key travel
- typeface printed on keys
Trackpad
- size
- tap + click on trackpad itself
Customer/User experience
I've contacted System76 dozens of times (pre-sales, during assembly, technical support) and I've had pleasant experiences. Questions answered sufficiently, problems either solved or clarified and my first galp5 return accepted painlessly. Additionally, my interactions with engineers on chat and GitHub have been fantastic. I've never touched Rust (language), but there's a channel on chat just for learning Rust and with a couple of pointers I was able to submit a pull request
Cons
Battery life
While I haven't tested this thoroughly, looks like 3-4 hours of casual browser use.
Standyby battery drain
When in standby (clamshell shut), expect ~2%/hour or about 48 hours of total standby time. I'll look into implementing hiberation myself if it becomes a bother. System76 recommends shutting down rather than standby, doesn't sound like they're working on improving standby time.
Screen resolution and quality
16:9 1080p and sRGB gamut :/ Not a deal breaker thus far.
Speaker volume & quality
Truly, the low point of this package. Doesn't matter much to me thankfully.
Trackpad
It's a touch sticky and the clicking becomes "harder" towards the top of the trackpad. I've adjusted by now, but I wasn't sure that I would.
Fan noise (pitch/timbre)
While I've updated firmware to make the fan curve and smoothness of adjustment to my liking, it's true that the fan noise is a bit high-pitched.
USB headset bug (upstream pulseaudio)
If you're USB headset isn't properly recognized, you can run systemctl --user restart pulseaudio after plugging in
Benchmarks
Geekbench 5
- GB5 CPU Single-threaded: 1656
- GB5 CPU Multi-threaded: 5704
- GB5 dGPU Compute (CUDA): 45138
- GB5 dGPU Compute (OpenCL): 44401
- GB5 iGPU Compute (OpenCL): 13295
Blackmagic RAW Speed Test (8K)
- CPU: 19-29fps
- iGPU: 19-21fps
- dGPU: 20fps