Want to step up to a faster laptop? Samsung’s new Ativ Book 9 Flip and Pro could be what you need

By Brad Bourque November 4, 2015

As computer manufacturers gear up for the holidays, they start to target the lower price market for laptops and all-in-ones, but that’s not what every user is looking to see under the tree this year. Some people want a fully armed and operational computer that’s light, but doesn’t skimp on important features like the display. If that sounds like you, Samsung is rolling out two new laptops, the Ativ Book 9 Spin and Ativ Book 9 Pro, that are definitely worth a look.

For the Ativ Book 9 Spin, Samsung is doubling down on the 360-degree hinge form factor. The flippable touch display runs at an impressive 3,200 x 1,800 resolution, especially considering its 13.3-inch size. Under the hood, it boasts an Intel Core i7-6500U, a dual-core chip with Hyper-Threading, a 2.5GHz base clock, and a 3.1GHz maximum Turbo Boost.

The Ativ Book 9 Pro kicks up the performance of the Spin, while also providing an ample screen size bump to 15.6 inches. The processor in the Pro is an Intel Core i7-6700HQ, a quad-core chip with Hyper-Threading, a base clock of 2.6GHz, and a Turbo Boost of 3.5GHz. The touch display has 4K resolution. These extras add a little over two pounds to the total weight. Finally, the Pro features Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 950M graphics, with 2GB of dedicated VRAM.

Both the Ativ Book 9 Pro and Spin feature an HDR-enhanced display, offering up optimized brightness and contrast settings. There’s also an outdoor mode that raises the brightness on the Spin to 700nit, and the Pro to 500nit – a rating well above almost any monitor we’ve tested without the feature. They both start with 8GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD, a 720p webcam, and the standard connectivity suite of Bluetooth 4.1 and 802.11ac Wi-Fi.

Both the Ativ Book 9 Pro and Ativ Book 9 Spin will be available starting in November. The Pro will start at $1,599, while the Spin will start at a slightly cheaper $1,399. Neither of the models are particularly inexpensive, but both offer a solid feature set and performance level for the price point without skimping on the display quality.

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Brad Bourque is a native Portlander, devout nerd, and craft beer enthusiast. He studied creative writing at Willamette…

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