Samsung outs two super-light 'Notebook 9 series' laptops
The company is obsessed with thin and light.
Samsung might blow the most minds with its TVs here at CES, but don't worry — it brought a pair of new laptops to show off here, too. The tech titan showed off its new 13.3-inch and 15-inch Notebook 9 series laptops today and we got the chance to play with them a bit before the official unveiling on-stage. It's obviously way too early to pass judgment on these things, but they might be worth a look if you're on the market for an ultra-portable PC (too bad Samsung won't tell us how much they cost).
It shouldn't surprise you that both machines share plenty of similarities — both have 1080p screens (though the dimensions may be different), both have fold-flat hinges, and both will be available with either a Core i5 or i7 chip paired with an Intel HD520 GPU. They also share a raison d'etre, which in this case is to be exceptionally light. Rather than build a chassis out of plastic, Samsung made both the 13.3 and 15-inch bodies of a magnesium alloy (though a different one than that used in the Galaxy TabPro S). That means the 13.3-inch model weighs in at a startlingly light 1.85lbs, whereas its slightly larger cousin weighs in at 2.84lbs. In fact, you can actually see Samsung's extreme slimming kick in action by looking at the screen on the 15-inch model — the bezels along the side have been trimmed down so much that Samsung says the notebook is the size of a typical 14-inch laptop chassis. Guess they figured the 13.3-inch model was already tiny enough.
The differences don't end there, either. Samsung's small laptop also comes with a USB Type-C port in addition to its two USB 3.0 ports; the bigger of the two also sports micro HDMI, mini Ethernet and mini VGA ports. It's always tough to get a sense of a device's performance while jockeying for position against a room full of reporters, both notebooks seemed plenty snappy during our brief testing periods. Alas, neither of them has a touchscreen so some of you will have to reconfigure your muscle memory if you're used to slightly fancier machines. On the plus side though, both keyboards were mostly fantastic (despite being just a hair on the gummy side) and the trackpads didn't make me want to shoot myself. That shouldn't be high praise, but man, it sure feels like it sometimes.
We'll have more for you once we get to spend a little more time with the Notebook 9 series. In the event you're already reaching for your wallet, well, you might want to hold off. Samsung says both models will hit store shelves starting in March, but the company hasn't given us firm prices yet. That could change very shortly, though, so stay tuned for more.
