At CES 2015, Samsung introduced the ATIV Book 9 laptop, carrying a Core M chip within a super thin, light chassis. Now, Samsung is upgrading with the ATIV Book 9 Pro, and as the “pro” name suggests, it’s got all the hardware goodies, including new sixth-generation Intel processors at a crazy, pixel-filled 4K display.
At 15.6 inches and a 3840×2160 display, this is Samsung’s first 4K laptop and joins the likes of Toshiba and Dell in the 4K laptop wonderland. It’s also the first from Samsung with a Core i7 Skylake processor, which is a huge power surge from the relatively meager-yet-power-efficient Core M processor. With a 4K HDMI port, USB Type-C connector, 8GB of RAM, 256 SSD, and a discrete graphics card included (Nvidia GeForce 950M), the $1,600 price tag starts to make sense.
There is the looming problem with battery life, which on a 4k display can be quite a problem, but Samsung says you’ll get 6.5 hours on a charge. However, you might want to take those estimates with a grain of salt—they always seem slightly optimistic.
Along for the ride is a second laptop called the ATIV Book 9 Spin. At a $200 price cut, the Spin ditches the 4K screen but sticks with a gentlemanly QHD+ resolution on a smaller 13.3-inch display. Also with 8GB and 256SSD, there not to much else different about the Spin from its more pricey big brother, other than its namesake— a 360-degree hinge that can contort into a tablet, “tent” mode, or just plain old laptop. The Pro model is the only one to come with discreet graphics, though.
Samsung says these two new ATIV updates will be available on Samsung.com and Best Buy in November.
