With more than a month's worth of work and play on this laptop I feel confident that I can give a realistic review of my experience with this premium ultrabook. Keep in mind that the current price of this laptop definitely has an influence on my opinions about this machine.
Memory: The version that I've been using has a 128GB solid state hard drive and only 4GB RAM. I wasn't worried much about the hard drive space because most of its use would be done using Google Docs typing out papers and taking notes for college classes.
Screen: The screen is a beautiful 2560x1600, which originally concerned me with the lack of RAM and if I'd get the battery life I'd need to get through a day of college work.
Battery Life: I know for some people it's a deal breaker if they can't get through a solid day's worth of work without plugging in. In my case I've always come home with 40% or more remaining. The standby time also seems quite reasonable. I can bring the laptop home after Friday classes and turn it on Sunday night with plenty of juice to knock out a small paper while running some sort of media in the background.
Performance: My expectations for a meager 4GB of RAM and the Core m processor were pretty low. To be fair it has probably done better than I expected, without being too impressive. I've been able to play my fair share of games without too many sacrifices. Games like Sims 3 and State of Decay with graphics between low and medium will still allow for some respectable frame rates. This device will get rather warm with its aluminum build, which might be uncomfortable for some who actually use their laptop... on their lap. This is really only noticeable when playing graphic intensive games. Productivity has been fluid and without any hitches. I often have two side by side windows open with around 4 tabs each while researching and typing papers. Windows 10 has been a good experience on this device, which I swear improved the touchpad dramatically when upgrading from Windows 8.1.
Hardware: In my opinion this really makes or breaks a laptop. I had previously purchased the Asus UX305LA, which was surprisingly powerful, but had some serious build quality issues even though it "felt" good being an aluminum build and thin. The Samsung, although not nearly as powerful, manages to be beautifully designed and built without sacrificing much in the way of functionality. This ultrabook is incredibly thin and light, along with its aluminum build, makes its sub $700 price appear worth every penny (bought during a President's Day sale). The keyboard does have shorter throw than larger laptops and is slightly cramped, but the typing experience is reasonably good, and quiet which might be a personal preference on my part. The trackpad is excellent, perhaps the best I've used on a Windows laptop. It's smooth and responsive. Two finger taps and scrolling work without a hitch as does clicking and dragging windows with a single finger, something other laptops struggle with. I've already said the screen was excellent. For those who do their work outside it has an outdoor brightness mode that has you covered at a claimed 700nits of brightness, I'm pretty sure that's brighter than the sun, kidding of course. HD media is a pleasure to consume, and although it's a mere 12.2" screen its colors are vivid if not a little on the cool side. If you consume your media without headphones then the speakers here will do just fine. They're perfectly adequate for the size of this device and even surprisingly good for the form factor.
Conclusion: Keeping in mind that this is not a gaming, productivity, powerhouse of a laptop you'll be more than content with its performance. For someone who finds themselves toting around a laptop most of their days this is a great solution. It'll stand apart from the sea of Macbook Air devices and it'll do it more eloquently and with a better screen to boot. Zero regrets, this should make a good companion during my last two semesters of college.
6 Month Update: So it's been six months since I purchased this laptop, to include nearly an entire semester of college putting this device through it's paces. If you've managed to read this far then maybe you won't mind another paragraph or two about how this laptop has fared in the last the 6 months being carried around to and from campus, and what the performance has meant in real world situations.
Wear and Tear - It might be hard to believe but there is no visible wear on this device. I really thought that the dark blue coloring would show signs of wear after a few months of riding around in my laptop and being transported all over the place, but there simply isn't even a scratch. I keep my devices clean at the least, and rarely drop them, but other than that I don't take any real precautions. The laptop sleeve in my backpack isn't even lined with some sort of soft material. The keyboard is still clicky, but quiet. The trackpad hasn't scratched or discolored, and the screen doesn't appear to have any dead pixels or funky stress. I never really doubted Samsung but they really put together a nice laptop here.
Real World Performance - Like I had said in my original initial impressions of the device, nothing really here to impress. That said it did admirable during my Spring semester. Taking notes, writing papers, and heavy research using multiple remote libraries, all while listening to media or playing videos worked without much of a hitch. The only real performance snag I ran into was watching 2k videos, but this improved once I finally got a 5g WiFi connection in my house. The battery life is also still excellent after 6 months of heavy use and has never left me stranded after a long day on campus.
6 Month Conclusion - If you're a student or the traveling type I don't see how you could go wrong with this device. I think the price is absolutely fair for the 4GB model considering the outstanding build quality, 2K screen, and portability of this device. I highly recommend it.
| Standing screen display size | 12.2 Inches |
|---|---|
| Screen Resolution | 3840 x 2160 pixels |
| Max Screen Resolution | 2561x1600 Pixels |
| Processor | core_m_5y31 |
| RAM | 4 GB DDR3L SDRAM |
| Memory Speed | 1600 MHz |
| Hard Drive | 128 GB Solid State Drive |
| Graphics Coprocessor | Intel Graphics Integrated |
| Chipset Brand | Intel |
| Card Description | Integrated |
| Graphics Card Ram Size | 4 GB |
| Wireless Type | 802.11ac |
| Number of USB 3.0 Ports | 2 |
| Average Battery Life (in hours) | 10.5 Hours |
