Samsung Unveils 2019 Notebook 9 Pen 13 & 15
by Anton Shilov on December 14, 2018 1:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
- Intel
- Samsung
- NVIDIA
- Notebooks
- Notebook 9
- Core 8th Gen
- Whiskey Lake
Samsung on Thursday introduced its next-generation Notebook 9 convertible laptops that will hit the market next year. The new lineup of convertibles includes models with a 13.3-inch display or a 15-inch display. These models and are aimed at professionals who need performance of Intel’s Core i7 CPUs along with convenience of a stylus in a relatively portable package. Also notable is that the new systems are the industry’s first PCs from a renowned brand to feature a UFS card reader.
Samsung’s Notebook 9 lineup of notebooks is well known and respected for its portability and moderate pricing. The company has been expanding this product family for quite a while now, introducing the Notebook 9 Pro in mid-2017, the Notebook 9 Pen in late 2017, and the Notebook 9 Spin convertibles somewhere along the line, creating some confusion. Since the “Pro” and the “Pen” have a lot in common, it looks like Samsung is going to merge these two lineups into one starting next year. Since the new Notebook 9 Pen hybrid laptops will have to address slightly different audiences, Samsung had to significantly alter design of its 13.3-inch Notebook 9 Pen convertible machine: the new one features a higher-capacity battery, but a bit thicker profile and a higher weight (15.9 mm, 1.12 kilograms).
Despite different display sizes (yet both featuring a Full-HD resolution) and overall dimensions (see the table below for exact numbers), the new Samsung Notebook 9 Pen 13 and Notebook 9 Pen 15 resemble each other a lot. Both systems come in a CNC-machined aluminum chassis with Ocean Blue finish.
The new units ship with Samsung’s new S Pen stylus that is stored inside the chassis, can sense 4,000 levels of pressure, has tilt sensitivity, and features a reduced latency when compared to the existing model. Perhaps, the most interesting feature of the tiny device is swappable tip for different types of work. Both machines are equipped with a 54 Wh battery that provides up to 15 hours of battery life on one charge in the best-case scenario.
Hardware wise, both Notebook 9 Pen systems are based on Intel’s 8th Gen Core i7 processor (think quad-core Whiskey Lake) accompanied by LPDDR3 memory, and a PCIe/NVMe SSD. The 13.3-inch model relies on Intel Graphics UHD 620 iGPU, whereas the 15-inch SKU has an NVIDIA’s GeForce MX150 discrete GPU paired with 2 GB of RAM for extra graphics oomph.
I/O capabilities are strong selling points of Samsung’s Notebook 9 Pen. The upcoming hybrid PCs from Samsung have a 802.11ac Wave 2 Wi-Fi + Bluetooth controller featuring Gigabit-class performance, two Thunderbolt 3 ports, a USB Type-C connector, stereo speakers co-developed with AKG, a microphone, a TRRS audio input/output, and a UFS + microSD card reader. The latter deserves a special attention as this is the first time when a renowned PC maker launches a laptop with a UFS card reader. Being the main driving force behind the UFS specification, Samsung yet has to support these high-performance cards on its other products and we can only wonder why the company has not done so thus far. In the meantime, the fact that Samsung’s new laptops have a UFS card reader may indicate that the company has plans to enable UFS support on other devices as well.
When it comes to security, Samsung’s Notebook 9 Pen systems are outfitted with a fingerprint reader along with an HD webcam featuring IR sensors for Windows Hello facial recognition.
General Specifications of Samsung Notebook Notebook 9 Pen | ||||
Notebook 9 Pen 13 (2018) |
Notebook 9 Pen 13 (2019) |
Notebook 9 Pen 15 (2019) |
||
Launch | 2018 | 2019 | 2019 | |
Display | Type | 13.3" RealViewTouch | 13.3" RealViewTouch (?) | 15.0" RealViewTouch (?) |
Resolution | 1920×1080 | |||
Brightness | Typical: 350 cd/m² Outdoor: 500 cd/m² |
? | ? | |
CPU | 8th Gen Intel Core i7 (KBL-R) | 8th Gen Intel Core i7 (Whiskey Lake?) |
||
Graphics | Intel UHD Graphics 630 (24 EUs) | Intel UHD Graphics 630 (24 EUs) | NVIDIA GeForce MX150 2 GB | |
Memory | Up to 16 GB DDR4 | LPDDR3 | ||
Storage | SSD | Up to 512 GB PCIe | PCIe/NVMe SSD | |
Card | microSD card reader | UFS + microSD card reader | ||
Wireless Connectivity | 2x2 802.11ac BT 4.1 |
2x2 802.11ac Wave 2 BT |
||
Thunderbolt 3 | - | 2 × Thunderbolt 3 | ||
USB | 1 × USB 3.0 Type-A 1 × USB 3.0 Type-C |
1 × USB 3.0 Type-C | ||
Display Outputs | HDMI | DP 1.2 via TB3 | ||
Webcam | 720p webcam with IR sensors | |||
Battery | 39 Wh | 54 Wh | ||
Audio | 2 × 1.5 W speakers 1 × microphone 1 × TRRS jack |
Stereo speakers with ThunderAmp 1 × microphone 1× TRRS jack |
||
Dimensions | Width | 310.5 mm | 12.22" | 307.9 mm | 12.12" | 347.9 mm | 13.7" |
Depth | 206.6 mm | 8.13" | 206.2 | 8.11" | 229.1 mm | 9" | |
Thickness | 14.4 - 16.5 mm 0.56" - 0.65" |
14.9 - 15.9 0.58" - 0.63" |
16.9 mm 0.66" |
|
Weight | 995 g | 2.19 lbs | 1.12 kg | 2.47 lbs | 1.56 kg | 3.44 lbs |
Samsung plans to demonstrate the new Notebook 9 Pen machines next month at CES. Also at the show the company will disclose exact specs of the convertible notebooks as well as prices.
Related Reading
- Samsung Announces New Notebook 9 Pen and Three New Notebook 9 (2018) Laptops
- Samsung Announces Notebook 9 Pro 2-in-1, Includes S Pen Stylus
- Samsung Unveils Galaxy Book2: 12-Inch, Snapdragon 850 with X20 LTE, 20 Hrs
- Samsung Updates Notebook 9: Kaby Lake, USB-C, Starts at 816 Grams
- UFS - USB Bridge Controllers for Card Readers, Hosts Incoming from JMicron & SMI
- Samsung Rolls Out Its First UFS Cards: SSD Performance in Card Form-Factor
Source: Samsung
Samsung plans to demonstrate the new Notebook 9 Pen machines next month at CES. Also at the show the company will disclose exact specs of the convertible notebooks as well as prices.
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HStewart - Saturday, December 15, 2018 - link
I would agree on the resolution, so old school now a daysBut USB Type A just makes the modern notebooks fat - can be solved adapters and docks
Tams80 - Sunday, December 16, 2018 - link
For smaller displays, sure. For larger displays wider aspect ratios are better. Now there are limits, but wider aspect ratios allow for better running of programs side-by-side and allow more screen real estate for toolbars etc.4:2 and 3:2 workspaces are great (except for video work), but once you add in all the UI then they end up not being those aspect ratios. 16:10 and 16:9, on the other hand, end up giving you squarer actual workspaces. With the option to have more rectangular ones if you want.
HStewart - Saturday, December 15, 2018 - link
Dell 15 2in1 has 2 TB3 and 2 USB C on other side, of course TB3 is 100% downward compatible with USB C which can all be connected with old fashion USB Adescendency - Saturday, December 15, 2018 - link
Why is Intel (and therefore all of their buyers) stuck on LPDDR3? This was a problem 2-3 generations ago. (this is why we are capped at 16gb of RAM on most laptops... and the ones that are 32+gb are using non LP RAM).HStewart - Saturday, December 15, 2018 - link
Intel is not stuck on DDR3 and if look close at specs the 13in version is on DDR4 - so this is error in specs or Samsung decide to use DDR3 for some reasons on 15.descendency - Saturday, December 15, 2018 - link
It's not the LP variant. The LPDDR4 support does not exist on any intel chips.HStewart - Saturday, December 15, 2018 - link
Still on Intel Arc - cpu indicate either DDR4 or DDR3LP - so your statement needs be more specific and stated Intel mobile chips does not support DDR4LP - possibly Whiskey lake supports - or something even better especially ones base on Sunny Cove;HStewart - Saturday, December 15, 2018 - link
LPDDR4 memory appears to be base on manufacture of product- here is Atom based product that supports ithttp://portwell.com/products/detail.php?CUSTCHAR1=...
My XPS 15 2in1 which I am typing this on has LPDDR4 memory - so this is not Intel issue but Samsung issue.
HStewart - Saturday, December 15, 2018 - link
Also new generation XPS 15 but not XPS 13 - so since the 15in is newer CPU it has LPDDR4https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/xps-1...
On Samsung use older cpu.
sharath.naik - Saturday, December 15, 2018 - link
LG gram is 2 lb has a 73WH battery.