Samsung Notebook 9 15 [Review]: Great power & battery life

Samsung Notebook 9 15

PC laptops tend to embrace the 2-in-1 design features arcadian by Microsoft, but there is still a significant marketplace for "traditional" styles. Lenovo has the X1 Carbon, HP has the Spectre 13t, and Dell'south XPS 13 (9370)is nevertheless quite basic.

Last year, I reviewed the Samsung Notebook nine 15 Ext and loved its simplicity and excellent fundamentals. For 2022, the company has kept the same formula just bumped the specs. It works, but the competition is creeping up on Samsung. Here is what I like and don't about this year's Samsung nine 15 (NP900X5L-K02US).

A powerful, but traditional laptop

From the exterior, nothing is shocking about the Samsung Notebook 9 xv. It is still a combo of metal and plastic, which results in an exceptionally light ii.76lbs (one.25kg) frame. That is slightly lighter than last year'south model at 2.9 pounds.

Samsung doesn't cutting whatsoever corners though when it comes to internal hardware. Make no fault this is a powerful notebook, especially with that defended NVIDIA graphics processor.

Category	Samsung Notebook nine fifteen
Processor	eighth Generation Intel Cadre i7-8550U
Memory	Up to 16GB (DDR4)
Storage	Up to 1TB SSD (NVMe PCIe)
Graphics	Intel Hd 620 Graphics / NVIDIA GeForce MX150 (GDDR5 2GB)
Display	xv.0" RealViewDisplay Full Hard disk drive (1920 10 1080)
Keyboard	Backlit KBD, Precision Touchpad
Material	Metal (Mg)
Camera	720p
Stylus	Northward/A
Ports	Thunderbolt 3 USB-C x 1, USB three.0 x 2, HDMI X1, microSD, headphone/mic
Security	Fingerprint Sensor
Power	75Wh
Weight	ane.25kg (ii.76lbs)
Dimensions (Due west ten H 10 D)	347.9 ten 229.4 x xv.4mm
Colors	Titan Silver/Crush White
Price	$1,299 (Intel Hard disk drive 620 Graphics), $ane,499 (NVIDIA GeForce MX150)

The 8th gen Intel processor is of the quad-core diverseness, though still 15W. Thermals and clocking are very good for it with Samsung not property it back.

For those who need some graphics punch the MX150 from NVIDIA replaces final twelvemonth'southward 940MX. It does quite well too and is the full 25W version (1D10) giving it 48,536 on Geekbench for CUDA compared the Huawei MateBook X Pro'due south 10W MX150, which yielded 41.593 on the same examination. That puts the MX150 shut to the NVIDIA 960M, which was considered a mid-range gaming GPU in 2022.

The SSD is likewise no slouch, with near 3k for reading and 2k for write thanks to the Samsung PM961 hardware. Users can upgrade to the even faster PM981 but make no mistake this is already a quality storage solution.

Even the RAM is at present DDR4, which is uncommon. Most laptops we've tested still come with the slower DDR3-type.

Samsung Notebook 9 15

The brandish is the one area where Samsung holds back – probable for battery life – with a 1920 x 1080 full HD semi-gloss/anti-reflective panel. It'due south a very adept LED brandish with 97 percent sRGB for color accuracy and brightness at 350 nits, but the ability to "heave" to 500 nits for the outdoor style.

Samsung Notebook 9 15

That brightness lets this exist a semi-HDR compliant display, but it's no lucifer for the official Dolby Vision HDR establish in the X1 Carbon and X1 Yoga. Nonetheless, the contrast and deep blacks are far above the average. But being non-touch and lower resolution at a truthful xv-inch size is a flake of a downer.

While Samsung does not utilise an infrared (IR) photographic camera for Windows Hello it still has its dedicated fingerprint reader on the keyboard deck. That sensor, thankfully, is a good i with very fast read times (especially compared to Lenovo's fingerprint readers).

Power, performance, and all the correct ports

Samsung Notebook 9 15

Then long every bit you lot arroyo the Samsung Notebook 9 with your expectations set correctly, zero will truly disappoint.

The keyboard is slightly mushy for some simply is all the same excellent for typing with skilful travel and response – it's one of my favorites. The trackpad is massive and full Precision, rivaling the quality of the Surface Book two.

Bombardment life is off the charts thanks to the huge 75WHr bombardment. Real-world usage is past the ten-hour mark, which is something not seen that oftentimes. Even the GPU, while non a total gaming one, is just the correct boost for spider web browsing, light gaming, paradigm editing, and more.

The ports too strike the right balance. You accept a few USB Type-A's for your peripherals, merely a dedicated USB Type-C with total Thunderbolt 3 (4x PCIe) for external GPUs, powering multiple 4K displays and more. While Samsung does toss in a small-scale butt-type Ac charger, that means you tin use the Type-C port for something else (though it can charge the laptop also). The microSD slot is a little disappointing, just common for a business concern-focused laptop.

Even Samsung'southward proprietary software is, well, helpful. You lot get a batch of security-related apps like the security photographic camera that snaps a user'southward photograph if they enter a wrong password or effort an unregistered fingerprint on the Windows login screen. At that place is also an app that adds silly "beautifying" filters to Windows Photographic camera, which we oasis't seen done before. All this software is optional and easily removed (they are apps from the Microsoft Store).

Overall, I liked the Samsung Notebook 9 fifteen for 2022. My only gripe is the full HD display, which is still very good just feels blocky at 15-inches. Then over again, the target audience for the Notebook 9 15-inch is business folks, students, writers, and anyone who needs to write a lot (or run Excel). For them, this is an splendid pick.

Some customers will want a bear on screen and pen, which is understandable. That is why Samsung also makes the Notebook 9 Pen (13.3") that supports those features. Just for consumers who prefer a straight-up, clamshell laptop with exceptional functioning, all-day battery life, the correct ports, a large 15-inch brandish, and for it all to weigh under three pounds, well this is your device. I bought last year'south model for my daily use, and I'grand tempted again with this year's refresh.

Come across at Samsung

Pros:

Precision touchpad, first-class keyboard, quality display.
Ultra-calorie-free fifteen-inch laptop.
Total Thunderbolt iii USB C port.
Very long battery life with strong performance.

Cons:

Full Hard disk display resolution is low for 2022.
Keyboard is somewhat mushy.

While I still prefer the Surface Book 2 (thirteen-inch), the Cadre i7 model with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage is literally $i,000 more than the Samsung Notebook 9 15-inch — or even more if you don't need the more powerful Nvidia GPU. The request price for the Notebook 9 15-inch is more off-white.

The Surface Book 2 will smoke the Notebook 9 for performance and features (save for Thunderbolt 3), only a lot people, including myself, simply don't demand that power for our jobs. That's an important decision to make and Samsung is conspicuously balancing bombardment life, performance, and a lightweight blueprint — and they achieve that with this laptop.

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