The Samsung Series 7 is, in my eyes, one of the best Ultrabooks out there right now. It combines some of the best elements of Ultrabooks in one tidy package. I had a chance to check it out at CeBIT last week and I’m now sure it will be high on the list of many readers over the next 6 months.
Prices for the Samsung Series 7 start at 999 Euro (which would equate to a similar dollar price) and availability is set for this month. The non-touchscreen version has a matt FHD display and weights 1.45KG but the touchscreen version will add about 10% to that. I don’t have pricing for the touchscreen version yet.
All versions have the Radeon HD8550M, backlit keyboard and a 4-cell battery. I’ve seen some measurements at 51Wh which would give it the same battery module as the Series 5 Ultra Touch. In the video below I may have given the wrong figures on the battery so let’s wait for final confirmation on that. Models appearing in EU channels all have 6GB RAM.
Potential issues with the keyboard and trackpad are highlighted in the video but these won’t be major ones.
March 11th, 2013 at 1:13 pm
Looks nice, but I still prefer the Series 9, despite its lower resolution display. I wish Samsung released the 2560×1440 version soon, or at least the 1920×1080 version Ultrabooknews said it was going to release.
March 11th, 2013 at 2:07 pm
The Series 7 is already available in France from 950€ (touch version – 1.65kg / 18.8mm) or 999€ (non touch – 1.46kg / 17.5mm). Only 4 Go of RAM.
http://www.comparatif-ultrabook.fr/recherche.php?q=Serie+7
Many pictures here : http://www.comparatif-ultrabook.fr/samsung/serie-7-ultra-np740u3e-a01fr-272.html
Thank for your video ;)
March 11th, 2013 at 3:48 pm
Chippy what is your opinion about keyboard in this ultrabook?
Letters and symbols can be hardly seen on it (on videos and photos).
March 11th, 2013 at 4:08 pm
It didn’t feel as solid as the Samsung Series 5 or 9 but my typing test, 5 minutes, was accurate. There’s a keyboard back light. This doesn’t have Thinkpad levels of comfort but it could be as good as the series 9 which would be acceptable for most.
March 11th, 2013 at 4:21 pm
you sure it has 8550m and not 8570m?? the ones announceded at ces were having 8570m….from what i know the difference btwn these two is quite significant
March 13th, 2013 at 7:16 pm
Hey Chippy, like #1 i prefer the 9 series, any news about if or when they are going to release the two versions #1 is talking about.
Thanks for a good website
April 16th, 2013 at 5:21 pm
This may be an older review but it misses a major feature of this that differentiates it from virtually all other ultrabooks, including the Series 9. This model allows the user to replace/upgrade RAM up to 16GB dual channel (vs. 4GB, single channel, non-upgradeable on all others except the Asus UX32VD which allows up to 10 GB, not dual channel at over 4GB. Moreover you can replace the SSD with any mSATA model, easily reaching 512GB for an ever-declining price.
To me, the user expandability puts this a major class above all other ultrabooks, and the availability of the AMD 8750 d-gpu and the awesomely bright, FHD IPS wide color gamut screen (same as in Asus 13″ Zenbook series. The latter two features are also matched by the Asus UX32VD with nVidia GT 620 (Fermi, not Kepler) d-gpu, however the Asus lacks a touchscreen (may or may not be a benefit to many, especially since it is glossy), has a less powerful RAM expansion option, and comes with a crappy HDD, all at a price that, at least in the US, is a full $250 higher (the Asus, that is) so the Samsung 7/Ultra appears to me to be a major upgrade to the Ultrbook market (note the Asus noted above is the only UB available with any RAM expansion beyond 4GB and with a d-gpu) and in terms of performance is way, way better than the Series 9, which even has an inferior screen. I have been demoing the Series 7 for about a week and I will agree that the keyboard and backlight is inferior to those of many ultrabooks, but not so much so vs. the Series 9. The backlighting is wholly inadequate for all but the darkest environments on both the 7 and the 9 and I find the key action to be about the same on both. The greatest weakness of the 7 by far is that in virtually all lighting conditions it is very hard to make out the key markings. That won’t matter as much to touch typists, but given that all keyboards have slightly different layouts the need to “peek” is important, and the S 7 keyboard rarely gives that opportunity. It is particularly problematic when it comes to the F-key adjustments to volume, screen brightness and kb backlight level (the latter not mattering much as even the brightest level is barely visible). The only saving grace about this weakness is that it is fairly easy to adjust volume and screen brightness via software in Windows 8
I don’t mean to be too critical of your review, but I do think the information I’m adding here would be of great importance to a large number of buyers considering the far more costly Series 9, Thinkpad Carbon Touch and several other high end Ultrabooks with far less flexibility, features and power. This said, the Series 7 Ultra is a good bit heavier than the Series 9 (nearly 500kg) and while not unattractive, it lacks the “panache” of the Series 9, Thinkpad Carbon and Asus Zenbook.