Samsung Series 9 review

In the world of high-end ultraportables, few Windows laptops can rival Apple’s MacBook Air. It’s an exclusive club: Sony’s VAIO Z Series and Dell’s now defunct Adamo have provided stiff competition in the past, but few have perfected the formula. Now, it’s Samsung’s turn to see if its Series 9 ultraportable (part code: NP-900X3A-A01UK) is worthy of the luxury laptop crown.

If there’s one area where Samsung’s Series 9 really hits the mark, it’s the jaw-dropping first impression. It’s not quite as stunningly thin as the MacBook Air, but at barely 17mm thick it’s as slim and svelte as notebooks come. What’s all the more amazing, then, is that it’s just a smidgen lighter than Apple’s 13-inch MacBook Air. At 1.32kg, this is the very definition of an ultraportable.

Tumble it in the hands, and the attention to detail is impressive. Samsung touts the fact the chassis is hewn from Duralumin – a tough alloy more commonly used in the aeronautic industry – and it certainly feels pretty sturdy given the barely-there weight. It’s not as unyieldingly taut as Apple’s MacBook Air, though; grappling with the Series 9 is enough to see the lid and base flex a little to and fro.

It might struggle to match the Apple for rigidity, but ergonomically it’s right on target. The soft-feeling Scrabble-tile keys feel just as luxurious as those on the MacBook Air, but we preferred the Series 9’s more spacious layout and full-width Enter key. The multitouch touchpad also tries to emulate Apple’s glass offering. The whole surface acts as one giant button; two-fingered taps mimic a right click and four-fingered swipes in different directions swap between applications, show the desktop or activate the Flip 3D feature.

It’s seriously quick for an ultraportable, too. With a low-voltage Intel Core i5-2537M processor allied with a 128GB SSD, the Series 9 feels far faster than you’d expect. From a cold start, the Windows desktop appears in just 20 seconds, and applications spring into life with nary a delay. With an overall score of 0.43 in our benchmarks, the Samsung’s clearly no slouch.