Samsung Ultrabook 5 series, in-depth analysis

The Samsung 5 Series Ultrabooks are not only pretty, but also tough. They are intended for mobile life. They weigh less than a kilo and a half . They are super-thin, with a thickness of between 1.49 and 1.76 centimeters, depending on the front or the back. The housing is made of aluminum with the bottom molded in carbon fiber. On this occasion, they are the Samsung NP530U3BI and Samsung NP530U3C models of the family.

These ultra-portable computers have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth wireless communication capabilities . Their screens have a diagonal of 13.3 inches , with a panoramic aspect, which is more than enough for browsing the web and for the vast majority of applications.

Design

The design of the Samsung Ultrabook 5 series is very careful. It is surprising that such thin and light ultraportables are so packed with features. The corners are rounded and the connections are located in the most accessible places, which are the two sides of the machine. Some small projections on the underside of the case act as feet, to facilitate cooling when the computer is placed on a table.

The housing is made of a combination of aluminum and carbon fiber to increase resistance. With the bright screen on, everything suddenly comes to life. The keyboard (island type) has 81 keys and is accompanied by touchpad fairly broad (touch pad) and flat type, able to recognize various gestures.

screen

The screen on Samsung Ultrabook 5 series laptops is very bright. It has a diagonal of 13.3 inches (33.8 centimeters) and a 16: 9 aspect ratio, which comes in handy for viewing videos and movies. It incorporates an LCD panel with LED backlighting ; thus it can reach a brightness of 500 candela per square meter or nits. That way, all kinds of content come out clear and vivid on the screen, be it movies, documents, web pages or photos. Offers a resolution of 1,366 by 768 pixelsso that both text and images look sharp. In addition, the manufacturer incorporated an anti-reflective treatment, which has two advantages. On the one hand, it contributes to less eye strain on the user. On the other hand, it allows the machine to be used outdoors, even in bright sunlight.

At the top of the frame is the 1.3 megapixel HD webcam with integrated microphone for video conferencing. In addition, the in-house engineers have incorporated a technology into the microphone that reduces ambient noise, so that voices are always clear. The sound, by the way, is HD Audio , and the machine integrates stereo speakers with an output power of 2 by 2 watts.

Processor, memory and graphics

Both the Samsung NP530U3BI and the Samsung NP530U3C incorporate Intel Core i5 processors, but they are different. In the case of the NP530U3BI it is an Intel Core i5 2467 M with a speed of 1.6 GHz and 3 MB of L3 cache. For its part, the Samsung NP530U3C has an Intel Core i5 2467 3317U at 1.7 GHz and with 3 MB of L3 cache. The RAM memory is the same in both models: 4 GB of DDR3 type and 1,600 MHz. The RAM can be expanded up to 8 GB. On the other hand, the graphic memory is shared in the two computers. The graphics card of the Samsung NP530U3C is an Intel HD Graphics 4000.

Samsung has included a number of solutions to get its 5 Series ultraportables immediately ready for use. An example is the fast boot , which only takes 20 seconds . And the computer wakes from hibernation in as little as 2 seconds, with the instant start function. Besides, browsing is faster, thanks to the Fast Browsing function, which allows you to load very quickly the web pages that the user usually visits regularly. Anyway, the manufacturer advises that these speeds may vary depending on the configuration, the applications used and the wireless settings.

Although the Samsung Ultrabook 5 series are very thin and light, that does not mean that they can store little data. Inside there is still room to install a super slim 2.5-inch SATA II hard drive with a capacity of 500GB and running at 5,400rpm. Other configurations can accommodate a 1TB hard drive. Likewise, there is the possibility of ordering a model that has the system in a solid state drive ( SSD ), at the cost of increasing the purchase price. Those configurations with SSDs weigh about thirty grams less.

Connectivity

The two models have the same connectivity, except in the section on wireless communication capacity. The Samsung NP530U3BI has Bluetooth 3.0 , while the version of the Samsung NP530U3C is more modern, 4.0 . On the right are two USB 2.0 ports and the memory card slot, which supports SD, SDHC, SDXC, and MMC . The rest of the connections are located on the left side of the machine, starting with the 10/100/1000 Ethernet port . Either way, these ultraportables can also access the Internet and other networks wirelessly via Wi-Fi of the 802.11 a / b / g / n specifications.

Also on the left side is the HDMI digital video output (valid for enjoying high definition images on a Full HD television) and the VGA output for an external monitor. In that same place is the only USB 3.0 port . Finally, there is a combo connection for the headphone output or the microphone input.

The lithium-ion battery is four cells (45 Wh), and provides a range of up to seven hours on a single charge. According to the manufacturer, it has a useful life of about 1,500 cycles, which is equivalent to about three years of use, thanks to BatteryLife Plus technology.

Data sheet

Data sheet