See page 2 of the review.
See page 1 of the review.
Battery Life
Using the built-in Windows 8 perfmon application we tracked the power drain for many usage scenarios.
- Idle: Balanced power mode, QHD res, Wi-Fi Off, Min brightness, Idle after fresh boot. 4.1W
- Idle: As above, FHD res: 4.27W
- Idle: As above, FHD res, Screen 100%: 6.8W (+59% system power over min brightness)
- Idle: As above, screen off: 1.6W
- Video playback (Modern UI) Balanced mode, 50% brightness, WiFi off, 8.34W = 6.5hrs
- Balanced Mode, Wi-Fi On, Screen on 50%, Web browsing with Chrome (*1) – 6.9W = 8hrs
- YouTube 1080p playback in Chrome (IE under ModernUI is generally much more efficient,) 50% brightness 13-13.5W (quiet fan noise) = 4hrs
For the average consumer or office usage scenario we estimate 7-10W average power usage for a maximum 7hrs 30mins battery life. (applications such as video editing and gaming will fall well short of this.)
(*1) – Chrome with GMail, G+, Facebook, Tweetdeck. Interactive usage over 5 mins.
Only the YouTube test caused an audible fan noise. (silent, cool test area.)
Wi-Fi Performance
No formal WiFi tests were completed but in our usual edge-of-reception areas the Series 9 appeared to perform acceptably but not exceptionally. Tested on 2.4Ghz network in an area with 5-10 other WiFi-connected devices. WiDi was also tested briefly. WiFi direct, Wi-USB also supported. No unexpected disconnects experienced.
Heat and Noise
Under normal conditions with a balanced battery profile the ATIV Book 9 Plus remains quiet. Low fan noise is barely audible and there’s a ‘quiet’ mode which can be used but that simply locks the CPU down to 800Mhz, as would the ‘power save’ power mode available in every Windows PC. At high load there’s a small whistling sound to the fan noise. Overall, noise control is very good in comparison with other Ultrabooks.
More images in the gallery.
Other notes
- Intel Smart Connect: Not tested
- McAfee software removed for testing.
- Intel WiDi and Wi-USB : Tested successfully.
- APT-X supported in Bluetooth headphone profile.
- Software: AllShare, Help Desk, Homesync Lite, Intel Anti-Theft, Samsung Kies, Samsung Link, SideSync, SW Update, Support Centre.
- Auto-brightness appears to be well tuned
Speaker Quality
The built-in speaker quality on the ATIV Book 9 Plus is exceptional in comparison to other Ultrabooks. We’ve got a speaker demo video here. (Watch in HD with headphones.)
Target Customer
The Samsung ATIV Book 9 is still targeted firmly at high-end private owners with a passion for style, battery life and performance. Those owners will be prepared to accept a few trade-offs though in terms of ports and perhaps a few trade-offs to have that incredibly sharp screen. Customers needing a highly portable solution with huge battery life are also well served. Customers looking for a focal-point for the Ultrabook category, look no further.
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Summary
The Samsung ATIV Book 9 is still one of the most stylish Ultrabooks out there. It combines that with performance and productivity in a well-balanced package with no major issues to speak of. Compared to the previous version of the ATIV/Series9 Haswell it offers big battery life advantages over Ivy Bridge but we question the need for such a high DPI screen considering the issues with some applications on the desktop. Touch, we feel, is becoming more and more useful as users adapt and Windows 8 Modern UI apps evolve. It would have been nice to see AC support on the WiFi, the inclusion of the important port adaptors and maybe next time round Samsung will need to think about WiGig but as it is, the Samsung ATIV Book 9 is an extremely strong Ultrabook offering that, in many respects, leads the way.
Samsung ATIV Book 9 Plus kindly loaned by Intel Germany.
