Rosie Grace: Samsung notebook 9 pen: too good

Samsung's new premium 2-in-1 is more like a cheap Chromebook

What if you have a new type of metal material that can be used to make a laptop particularly lightweight and portable? If the same material does not feel or look like metal at all, but it looks and feels like a cheap painted plastic? Can you charge $1400 for a laptop that uses it?

These are the questions I have been asking since I have been testing the new Samsung notebook 9 pens over the past few weeks. The $1,399 notebook 9 is a 13-inch convertible 2-in-1 laptop, one of the lightest computers I've ever tested. It is made of Samsung's proprietary magnesium alloy called Metal 12, and is made using a microarc oxidation process for durability. It uses the eighth-generation Intel Core i7 processor, equipped with S Pen stylus, can be easily hidden in the computer base. Compared with other 2 in 1 computers, notebook 9 pens have a great effect on paper.

The first impression of the new gadget is important, and unfortunately, for Samsung, the notebook 9 pen does not provide a good one. It looks like a budget computer, from the rounded edge to the matt silver surface. Most of my colleagues think that when they saw that I used it, it cost $400. Most importantly, it feels like a budget computer: When you pick it up, it's bent at the top and bottom, the keyboard is smooth, and the plastic keys creak under your fingers. This does not look like a computer that costs $1,400.

The advantage is that the notebook 9 pen only 2.2 pounds, can easily light up. This is 2 in 1 or not than other 13-inch laptops. This makes it easy for Samsung to take it with him and move it from the scene to the scene - compared to other laptops, this laptop feels more like a more portable computer at this size level. But I'm not sure if the saved half pound weight is worth the computer's appearance and feel worse.

Because it is 2-in-1, the Notebook 9 Pen's display can be flipped into various tablet modes. Unfortunately, the extreme lightness of the base means that you cannot turn on the computer with one hand - it's a two-handed operation to separate the two parts. Although the number 9 pen is very light, it is still clumsy to use as a tablet on the hand or on the knees, and is more suitable for use on a table or seat tray.

The 13.3-inch display has 1080p resolution and 450 nits of brightness, both of which are suitable for this size and type of computer. My only complaint is that it has an aspect ratio of 16:9 - after using a computer with a 3:2 aspect ratio display like Microsoft's Surface line or Google Pixelbook, the 9 Pen feels like I'm passing through a narrow tunnel .

The keyboard layout is comfortable to use, but as I mentioned before, the keys are loose and plastic, which does not make them happy to type. In addition, there are some weird quirks: By default, the function keys are set to F1-F12, but if you press the Fn Lock button to use it for brightness, volume, and other more useful toggles, the Escape key Will stop working. Keyboard backlight, brightness is different, but there is no clean white, the button emits green light.

I have no complaints about the 9 Pen's touchpad: it's big enough, smooth enough, and uses Microsoft's Windows Precision driver, so it supports all the Windows 10 gestures I'm looking for.

For the port, the Notebook 9 Pen has a single USB-A port, a single USB-C port, HDMI, headphone jack, and microSD card slot. Although the computer can be charged via the USB-C port, the charger included with Samsung uses a barrel plug, which missed a chance to handle the charger of this laptop and a modern smartphone at the same time. The Thunderbolt 3 is not supported on the USB-C port, but it can be used to drive a 4K external monitor.

Notebook 9 is the only computer I have tested that offers face and fingerprint login options, and I'm not entirely sure why it does so. Both are fast and work well, but facial recognition systems are easier to use, and I don't use fingerprint scanners other than to ensure that they work properly.

Matching the aesthetics of the rest of the computer, the 9 Pen's stylus is plastic. It is basically the same as the S Pen on the Galaxy Note 8 smartphone, with 4096 pressure sensitivity levels, 0.7mm tip and built-in tilt detection. However, for occasional graffiti, signing a document or tagging an image, this is fine, but the S Pen is too thin and small to be suitable for taking notes or writing. I really like Samsung to provide a place for your stylus, so that you can use the stylus without using a pen, but I hope that Samsung will also spend some time to make the pen bigger and more comfortable.

Although the design and materials of the Notebook 9 Pen consider it to be very expensive, its internal components prove its worth. The eighth-generation Core i7 processor is as powerful as any other eighth-generation computer. It runs very fast, and you can equip the 9 Pen with up to 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. I've been using a model with 8GB of memory and 256GB of storage, and it has handled my daily workflow, including a large number of browser tabs, Slack, email, writing, social media, video watching, etc., and it doesn't beat. You won't be able to use this computer for gaming because it depends on Intel's integrated graphics, but it's certainly powerful enough for productivity.

Pen 9 is not a fanless computer, but it still runs calmly and calmly, and sometimes these fans occasionally spin up, but it won't get so loud that it's obvious in the office environment.

Sadly, I don't have the same praise for the battery life of the No. 9 pen. I can only use the charger for an average of four to five hours, which is only half of a working day, and I can't accept the computer at this price in 2018 at all. In fact, despite all my complaints about 9 Pen's hardware and design, I would say the worst thing is the poor battery life.

Notebook 9 Pen also comes with Samsung software and software such as McAfee LiveSafe. There is a utility that can take advantage of the S Pen (the popup menu is automatically opened when the pen is removed from the pen tray), but I hope that Samsung will only use the Windows 10 pen function generated by Microsoft itself, because Samsung did not add more experience. Samsung is not the only company that uses unneeded software to load a PC, but it does not help make the 9 Pen feel like it's price.

Despite the stability, high-quality display, and extremely lightweight design of the Notebook 9 Pen, I cannot overcome its cheap feel and terrible battery life. Most importantly, weird keyboard quirks and British media reports made this feel like a machine that costs as much as $1,000, far below the retail price of $1,400.

If you want a good 2-in-1 computer, or just a regular laptop, my advice is still Microsoft's Surface laptop or HP's Spectre x360, which all have better design and build quality. Only a little weight.

Rosie Grace

Monday 12 March 2018

Samsung notebook 9 pen: too good

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