Samsung Series 5 Ultrabook Review

Vishal Mathur

The 14-inch display has a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. However, Samsung deserves a pat on the back for thinking this through and ensuring that it is non-reflective. If you have ever experienced a reflective display on a laptop, you would have an idea of how much strain the reflection of almost everything on the ambience is. With this one, be it a well lighted office, or even while you may be sitting in sunlight, viewing will not be a problem. The added advantage being that you can turn down the brightness a tad and save up on the battery as well.

Ultrabooks are not meant for the gamers at all. Things could change a bit, because of the fact that this has switchable graphics - AMD Radeon HD 7550M,with 1GB dedicated memory. With the display resolution being 1366 x 768 pixels you will be able to play some games at medium-high resolutions. However, being an Ultra Low Voltage (ULV) processor, there will be distinct lack of grunt if you go any higher. Meant for the casual gamers only, for that quick one lap race before heading into the next meeting. However, the very fact that this machine has that feature and a certain amount of capability adds a lot of value to the entire package.

Having used a Macbook Pro just before switching to this for the testing, I can see a lot of similarities between the two. The keys are on a slightly depressed platform. Key size is slightly bigger than what we see in the Macbook, and with adequate palm rest real estate, typing quickly will not be an issue. However, the key press extracts a very muffled (soft, if you may) sound, which is a complete contrast to the MacBook’s chunky sound. A big touchpad means multi-touch gestures will be comfortable to use.

Speaking of which, the built-in speakers do sound a lot punchier than what the tiny speakers on laptops usually offer. While the thump is still missing (we wont really hold that against the Series 5), the clarity is quite good. But all the goodness holds true if the volume is below 80%.

The battery lasted about 3 hours in our battery test. Under standard daily usage, it will last you a bit more than 4.5 hours easily, since it won’t be taxed constantly and the display brightness will surely be lesser than 100%!

Our Take
The 1TB hard drive is something that cannot be overlooked, and neither can the comfort of using a non-reflective display, USB 3.0 ports, integrated optical drive and a very comfortable keyboard. Dedicated graphics means this one will do a bit of gaming as well. For this price, what you will get is essentially a mid-range laptop that has focused more on being slim and portable. Unless you still insist on calling it an ultrabook.

Contact: Samsung India
Phone: (Prefix Local STD Code) 3030 8282
Email: N.A.

Do also read our comparison feature, where we compare four of the latest Ultrabook models in India, based on their reviews:

Ultrabooks comparison: 4 latest models reviewed