Samsung's big press conference is still a day away, but the company has already pulled the curtain on two of what appears to be its biggest CES announcements. Like last year, the company appears to be saving its big mobile and wearable news for the coming months, opting instead to to focus its PC offerings.
The Notebook 9 and Notebook 7 Spin mostly meet similar requirements. Both are convertible Windows 10 systems with optional pen inputs. Samsung won't talk about pricing just yet, but the 9 is definitely the higher-end of the two systems, with a thinner and lighter construction thanks a new magnesium-aluminum alloy called "Metal12".
To be perfectly honest, the material still feels a bit plasticky, which is part of the trade-off unless you're making the thing out of aluminum. But the convertibles feel super light - the Notebook 9 pen is, according to the company's lightest 360 convertible Samsung has ever made.
It's also quite thin. It feels good in the hand with the screen swiveled all the way back. Of course, there's the same problem you have with all those non-detachable systems: the keyboard is still exposed on the other side, so you hold on to that part when using it as a tablet.
The Notebook 9 Pen is the most interesting model of the range, with an S Pen slot at the front of the system. It's the same S Pen that you'll find in the notepad. In fact, you can use the same pen on both devices From a perspective this is an interesting choice as most of these PCs come with bigger pens for drawing and such.
Functionality is also more or less the same as its mobile counterpart with the same Air Commands. It's also passive, which means you don't have to worry about charging the thing. The Notebook 7 Spin, on the other hand, doesn't have its own built-in stylus option however, it can be used with the Active Pen, which is made by companies like Dell, HP, and Microsoft itself for the Surface line.
There are a few other differentiators on the 9, including a fingerprint sensor on the keyboard and facial recognition login via Windows Hello. The 15-inch model is also upgradable to an NVIDIA GeForce MX150 graphics card. The Spin, on the other hand, is coming at the moment only in one configuration. It's also noticeably thicker and heavier than the more expensive model.
The new Notebook 9 launches in the US this month - in Korea it launched before the holiday, which is why the company announced the thing well ahead of CES. The 7 Spin comes in the much broader Q1 timeframe Prices are still TBA for both, but I'd expect them to be last-gen, keeping the 7 Spin under $1,000 and making both pretty compelling models for college students.
