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Samsung Notebook 9 (15-inch) review: A slim laptop that plays it safe

This 15-inch laptop isn't the thinnest, lightest or longest-running, but it comes close in each category.

Dan Ackerman Editorial Director / Computers and Gaming
Dan Ackerman leads CNET's coverage of computers and gaming hardware. A New York native and former radio DJ, he's also a regular TV talking head and the author of "The Tetris Effect" (Hachette/PublicAffairs), a non-fiction gaming and business history book that has earned rave reviews from the New York Times, Fortune, LA Review of Books, and many other publications. "Upends the standard Silicon Valley, Steve Jobs/Mark Zuckerberg technology-creation myth... the story shines." -- The New York Times
Expertise I've been testing and reviewing computer and gaming hardware for over 20 years, covering every console launch since the Dreamcast and every MacBook...ever. Credentials
  • Author of the award-winning, NY Times-reviewed nonfiction book The Tetris Effect; Longtime consumer technology expert for CBS Mornings
Dan Ackerman
4 min read

One computer design trend I've been enjoying lately is the growing number of laptops that fit big 15-inch screens into relatively thin, light bodies. For many years, a 13-inch laptop, such as the MacBook Air or Dell XPS 13, was as big as you dared go in screen size for a system intended for regular travel. Any bigger than that, and the laptop would inevitably be a 5-pound-plus monster that would weigh down your shoulder bag. We've all seen on-the-go office warriors dragging themselves, slump-shouldered, across the street -- no one wants to be that guy.

7.9

Samsung Notebook 9 (15-inch)

The Good

The Samsung Notebook 9 packs a big 15-inch screen into a slim, light body, plus a Core i7 CPU, all at a very attractive price.

The Bad

The design is bland, the keyboard is on the shallow side, and the base model has only a lower-res, non-touch display.

The Bottom Line

Despite not decisively beating the competition in any one area, the Samsung Notebook 9 comes close across the board, making it a safe, if not exactly exciting choice for a slim 15-inch laptop.

The 15-inch Samsung Notebook 9 is a key new example of a bigger screen in a smaller body. For $1,199 in the US, it includes a current-gen Intel Core i7 processor, a big 256GB solid-state hard drive, and 8GB of RAM -- that's a very reasonable price for this semi-premium configuration. (Samsung isn't currently offering this model in the UK or Australia, but that translates to roughly £817 or AU$1,566) At the time of this review, Samsung is offering a $100 discount, bringing this model down to $1,099. The display is a non-touch full HD (1,920x1,080) one, but an extra $300 gets a 4K-resolution touch version.

samsung-notebook-9-15-inch-06.jpg
Sarah Tew/CNET

This isn't the only slim, powerful 15-inch laptop we've seen lately. Dell has a very upscale-feeling version of the XPS 15, which impresses with its barely there screen bezel. Apple's 15-inch MacBook Pro has been around for a few years, and still feels very modern. The lightest in this class is the LG Gram, and the 14-inch version of it we reviewed weighs just 2.16 pounds, while LG says the 15-inch version is 2.2 pounds. The Samsung Notebook 9 weighs more, at 2.8 pounds, a hair less than a 13-inch MacBook Air.

Samsung Notebook 9

Price as reviewed $1,199
Display size/resolution 15.6-inch 1,920 x 1,080 screen
PC CPU 2.5GHz Intel Core i7-6500U
PC memory 8GB DDR3 SDRAM 1600MHz
Graphics 128MB (dedicated) Intel HD Graphics 520
Storage 256GB SSD
Networking 802.11ac wireless, Bluetooth 4.0
Operating system Windows 10 Home (64-bit)

So, the Samsung Notebook 9 isn't as light at the LG Gram, and it doesn't have the nearly bezel-free edge-to-edge screen of the XPS 15, nor does it have the multitouch trackpad chops of the MacBook (an institutional advantage Apple has held over Windows PCs for years). But, it does have excellent battery life for a 15-inch laptop, second only to the MacBook. It feels sturdy and well-built, and the lower-res 1080p resolution version tested here looks clear, bright and sharp, even from extreme side angles.

There's a hint of MacBook in the overall design, with a black island-style keyboard that sinks down a bit behind a raised wrist rest. The keys are on the shallow side, compared to Dell or Apple, but not nearly to the same extent as the 12-inch MacBook. The glass touchpad is one of the better non-Mac ones I've tried recently, and it managed to scroll smoothly on a two-finger swipe without accidentally jumping into pinch-to-zoom mode, as I've experienced on a few other Windows laptops lately.

samsung-notebook-9-15-inch-09.jpg
Sarah Tew/CNET

Ports and connections are always fighting for space on slim laptops, and we're seeing a general weeding out of underused ports across the industry. Here, there's a good balance, with two standard type-A USB ports, an HDMI output, a single USB-C port, a microSD card slot, and a micro-port for an optional Ethernet dongle. Someday, all anyone will need for data, charging and video is a USB-C port, but we're not there yet.

The current lineup of Intel Core i-series processors are called sixth-generation chips, sometimes referred to by the code name Skylake. There's a good amount of difference between the low-power "U" versions of the chips used here, and in some other very slim laptops, and the more powerful HQ versions used in the XPS 15 and MacBook Pro. But especially as this configuration isn't pushing a 4K touch display both performance and battery life are more than robust enough for heavy use in either local apps, such as Photoshop or Microsoft Office, or cloud-based tools, like Gmail or Netflix.

In fact, battery life was a pleasant surprise, clocking in at 7:10 in an online streaming video playback test, second only to the 15-inch MacBook Pro among our recent reviews of slim midsize laptops. Note, however, that based on our experience with similar products, trading up to the 4K screen option would likely have a big impact on battery life.

samsung-notebook-9-15-inch-03.jpg
Sarah Tew/CNET

Conclusion

Samsung threads the needle with the Notebook 9. It isn't the lightest or fastest; it doesn't have the longest battery life, and this configuration is missing premium options, from a backlit keyboard to a touchscreen. It all adds up to a laptop that's competent, and even practical, without being exciting.

Considering the intense competition in this category, from Dell's bezel-free displays to Razer's colorful keyboards and graphics options (Samsung also makes a heftier Pro model with a basic Nvidia GPU), it's tough to figure out who's going to be wowed by the Notebook 9. But it also strikes a careful balance between specs and performance, and, especially at the currently discounted price, it's a laptop you can appreciate with your head more than your heart.

Multimedia Multitasking test 3.0

Dell XPS 15 202Samsung Ativ Book 9 Pro 301Samsung Notebook 9 502LG Gram 14 879
Note: Shorter bars indicate better performance (in seconds)

Geekbench 3 (Multi-Core)

Dell XPS 15 13446Samsung Ativ Book 9 Pro 12543Samsung Notebook 9 7001
Note: Longer bars indicate better performance

Streaming video playback battery drain test

Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2015) 557Samsung Notebook 9 430LG Gram 14 274Dell XPS 15 241Samsung Ativ Book 9 Pro 224
Note: Longer bars indicate better performance (in minutes)

System Configurations

Samsung Notebook 9 Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-bit); 2.5GHz Intel Core i7-6500U; 8GB DDR3 SDRAM 1600MHz; 128MB (dedicated) Intel HD Graphics 520; 256GB SSD
Samsung Ativ Book 9 Pro Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-bit); 2.6GHz Intel Core i7-6700HQ; 8GB DDR3 SDRAM 1600MHz; 2GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 950M; 256GB SSD
Apple MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2015) Apple OSX 10.10.3 Yosemite; 2.5 Intel Core i7-4870HQ; 16GB DDR3 SDRAM 1600MHz; 2GB AMD Radeon R9 M370X; 512GB SSD
LG Gram 14 Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-bit); 2.4GHz Intel Core i7-5500U; 8GB DDR3 SDRAM 1600MHz; 128MB (dedicated) Intel HD Graphics 5500; 256GB SSD
Dell XPS 15 Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-bit); 2.6GHz Intel Core i7-6700HQ; 16GB DDR4 SDRAM 2133MHz; 2GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 960M; 512GB SSD
7.9

Samsung Notebook 9 (15-inch)

Score Breakdown

Design 8Features 7Performance 8Battery 8