Pros
- Excellent AMD price/performance
- Nice keyboard
- Impressive battery life
Cons
- Plastics are too thin in some spots
- 1366x768 resolution screen
- Slow HDD artificially limits performance
Shop Series 5 NP535U4C-A01US
Quick Take:
An overall impressive AMD-based ultrathin laptop that just needs a SSD to really blow you away.
If you want an Ultrabook but don't want to spend $900 or more then Samsung might have the perfect solution: The AMD-based Samsung Series 5 ultrathin notebook gives you the same Ultrabook shape with better graphics and a lower price tag. Keep reading to see if we think it's a good deal.
OverviewSamsung has shown a serious commitment over the last two years to the ultrathin laptop market. The Series 9 Intel-based Ultrabooks and the Series 5 ultrathins using Intel and AMD processors have been the showpieces of Samsung's line of laptops.
Unfortunately, the words "Ultrabook" and "ultrathin" usually come with an ultra-expensive price tag. The AMD-based Series 5 laptop hopes to change that consumer perception about high price and provide a better multimedia experience to boot.
Build and Design
Samsung offers the Series 5 ultrathin notebooks in both 13-inch and 14-inch varieties and we opted to review the 14-inch model with AMD technology inside (Series 5 NP535U4C). It's important to note that while the Series 5 with Intel Core i5 or Core i7 processors inside is called an "Ultrabook" the Series 5 with AMD processor and graphics is labeled as just an "ultrathin notebook" since Intel owns the Ultrabook name. That said, the Series 5 Ultrabook and the Series 5 ultrathin notebook are exactly the same on the outside.
Samsung offers the Series 5 ultrathin notebooks in both 13-inch and 14-inch varieties and we opted to review the 14-inch model with AMD technology inside (Series 5 NP535U4C). It's important to note that while the Series 5 with Intel Core i5 or Core i7 processors inside is called an "Ultrabook" the Series 5 with AMD processor and graphics is labeled as just an "ultrathin notebook" since Intel owns the Ultrabook name. That said, the Series 5 Ultrabook and the Series 5 ultrathin notebook are exactly the same on the outside.
One of the key design elements differenciating the Series 5 from the more expensive Series 9 (other than the use of Intel processors) is that the Series 5 Ultrabooks and ultrathins use plastic exterior chassis parts rather than aluminium alloy. This helps keep the Series 5 laptops light weight even though they are slightly thicker than the Series 9 Ultrabooks in some spots (0.82" thin on the Series 5 compared to 0.6" on the Series 9). Overall build quality is still quite good although there are a few spots like the palm rests and the access panel on the bottom of the notebook where the plastic feels a bit too thin.
In terms of durability, the Series 5 should survive most common use and abuse as long as you don't do something foolish with the low-profile tray-loading DVD drive. The screen lid feels quite ridgid and should provide excellent screen protection. We couldn't create and screen distortions or "ripples" by pushing on the back of the screen and that's usually a good indicator that the lid is doing a good job protecting the display.
If you take a quick look at the bottom of the Series 5 you'll see some good and bad news in terms of upgrades. Samsung was kind enough to include an easy-access panel on the bottom that lets you upgrade the RAM, hard drive and wireless card after purchase if you decide that's necessary (more on that later in the review). Unfortunately, like most ultrathin laptops on the market the Series 5 uses an integrated battery so there is no way to replace the built-in battery without completely disassembling your notebook. In short, if anything happens to your laptop's battery you are better off sending it back to Samsung for repair.
Ports and Features
The 14-inch Series 5 laptop features all of its major ports on the left and right sides of the chassis and nothing on the front or back edges. You'll see a 4-in-1 media card reader (SD, SDHC, SDXC, and MMC), headset jack, standard VGA and HDMI as well as two USB 3.0 ports and a USB 2.0 port. The smaller 13-inch Series 5 (NP535U3C) only has one USB 3.0 port but has two USB 2.0 ports and doesn't have room for the built-in DVD drive found on its big brother. All the port descriptions below are listed from left to right.
The 14-inch Series 5 laptop features all of its major ports on the left and right sides of the chassis and nothing on the front or back edges. You'll see a 4-in-1 media card reader (SD, SDHC, SDXC, and MMC), headset jack, standard VGA and HDMI as well as two USB 3.0 ports and a USB 2.0 port. The smaller 13-inch Series 5 (NP535U3C) only has one USB 3.0 port but has two USB 2.0 ports and doesn't have room for the built-in DVD drive found on its big brother. All the port descriptions below are listed from left to right.
 Left: AC power jack, Ethernet, two USB 3.0 ports, VGA, HDMI and headset (headphone/microphone) jack |  Right: 4-in-1 card reader, USB 2.0 port, DVD drive and Kensington lock slot |
In order to keep this ultrathin laptop as thin as possible the Samsung engineers used a folding Ethernet jack on the left side of the notebook. You simply flip down the "door" on the bottom edge of the Ethernet port to allow a standard Ethernet cable to fit inside. It's also worth mentioning that although this 14-inch laptop meets the dimension requirements for an Ultrabook this laptop still has room inside for a DVD drive ... a nice addition if you want to watch movies while traveling or just need to install software that isn't available online.
Screen and Speakers
The 14-inch screen on the Series 5 is a pretty average LED-backlit HD display with a 1366 x 768 resolution. The one worthwhile item of note here is that Samsung wisely decided to use an anti-glare or matte display surface and a bright 300-nit backlight so the screen is actually usable outdoors under bright sunlight (assuming you have the backlight turned up all the way).
The 14-inch screen on the Series 5 is a pretty average LED-backlit HD display with a 1366 x 768 resolution. The one worthwhile item of note here is that Samsung wisely decided to use an anti-glare or matte display surface and a bright 300-nit backlight so the screen is actually usable outdoors under bright sunlight (assuming you have the backlight turned up all the way).
That being said, we can't be overly impressed here simply because the Samsung Series 9 NP900X3C has 1600 x 900 resolution screen with what Samsung calls a "PLS" display, which is similar to an IPS-type display in that the viewing angles are nearly unlimited. You can tilt back the PLS display or pull it forward until the screen lid is almost closed and pictures on the screen look the same. This is a major advantage when doing color-critical video or photo work. Unfortunately, the screen on the Series 5 is just a standard TN-type display panel so you'll start to notice varying degrees of color shift as soon as you tilt the screen forward or back since color fidelity is only maintained when your eyes are viewing the screen from straight ahead.
There are two 2W stereo speakers located just abvove the keyboard and beneath the screen hinge. It's worth mentioning that these speakers are actually larger (and have a higher watt rating) than the speakers used on the more expensive Samsung Series 9 Ultrabooks. Since the speakers are located above the keyboard the sound is directed up and toward the user making for a more enjoyable listening experience. However, Samsung placed the two speakers less than three inches apart from each other and when stereo speakers are that close the listener gets almost a false monophonic sound effect. If you overlook the close proximity of the stereo speakers the sound is quite realistic between low and high frequencies with some bass. Overall, we're impressed with the little speakers on this laptop.
Keyboard and TouchpadThe Series 5 comes with a pretty standard Chiclet-style or "island style" keyboard. The keys have a short travel common to the latest generation Samsung Series 9 and Series 5 keyboards but there is sufficient tactile feedback to deliver an enjoyable typing experience. The keys are quiet and there is no keyboard flex at all (mainly because ultrathin notebooks don't have any room inside for flex). The keys are large enough to find by touch and the high-contrast white lettering makes it reasonably easy to see the keys in a dark room even though the keyboard lacks LED backlighting.
I also enjoy the fact that the Home, PgUp, PgDn, and End keys are all located in a row on the right side of the keyboard rather than being spread apart in various locations. I like how the keys are large and easy to find by feel. The plam rests are pretty comfortable but unlike the Series 9 palm rests which are made from a solid block of aluminum these palm rests have an "edge" where the palm rest meets the bottom half on the chassis. There is also a slight "squeak" when you apply pressure to the right palm rest because the plastic is just a little too thin in that spot.
The ELAN touchpad is reasonably large for a 14-inch laptop (larger than the one found on the 14-inch HP Pavilion dm4) and features dedicated left and right mouse buttons (which are increasingly hard to find on modern laptops). The smooth matte touchpad surface is surrounded by a beveled edge and tracking was smooth and accurate. My only complaint about the touchpad buttons is that they have very shallow throw/feedback and they produce a loud "click" when pressed.
Samsung Series 5 (NP535U4C) review unit has the following specifications:
- Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (Windows 8 Ready)
- 14-inch LED HD anti-glare display (1366 x 768, 300 nits)
- AMD Quad-Core A10-4655M processor (2.1GHz clocks speed, 1MB cache) with AMD Radeon HD 7620G Graphics
- 4GB DDR3-1600 RAM (8GB max supported)
- 750GB 5400rpm HDD (upgraded to 128GB SSD - Samsung 830/MZ-7PC128)
- 802.11a/b/g/n wireless network adapter
- Internal Bluetooth v4.0
- Integrated 720p webcam
- DVD +/-RW Super Multi Dual Layer optical drive
- 1-year standard parts and labor warranty
- 8-cell Li-Po integrated battery
- 45W power adapter
- Weight: 3.99 lbs.
- Dimensions: 13.1 x 9.0 x 0.82 inches
- MSRP: $849.99 ($649.99 at many retailers)
Performance and Benchmarks
Samsung offers the Series 5 NP535U4C with the AMD A10-4655M which is a quad-core Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) with a TDP of just 25W (that's 25W for both the processor and the graphics) meaning low heat and better battery life. The on-die Radeon HD 7620G graphics has 384 GPU cores with a variable GPU clock of 360MHz to 497MHz. It's worth mentioning that some of the Samsung literature mentions this laptop comes with Radeon HD 7500G graphics, but that is a typo because the 13-inch Samsung Series 5 (NP535U3C) uses the dual-core AMD A6-4455M APU and that processor uses the 7500G graphics.
Samsung offers the Series 5 NP535U4C with the AMD A10-4655M which is a quad-core Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) with a TDP of just 25W (that's 25W for both the processor and the graphics) meaning low heat and better battery life. The on-die Radeon HD 7620G graphics has 384 GPU cores with a variable GPU clock of 360MHz to 497MHz. It's worth mentioning that some of the Samsung literature mentions this laptop comes with Radeon HD 7500G graphics, but that is a typo because the 13-inch Samsung Series 5 (NP535U3C) uses the dual-core AMD A6-4455M APU and that processor uses the 7500G graphics.
The included 750GB 5400rpm hard drive is something of a mixed blessing. For starters, this gives you a ton of local storage to archive all of your personal files, but the trade off is that this hard drive is unforgivably slow. When we first started testing the Series 5 we couldn't figure out why it was taking so long to switch between applications and launch new applications after the notebook finished booting into Windows 7. As soon as we swapped the included 750GB HDD for a cheap ($100) 128GB Samsung SDD the Samsung Series 5 immediately became muchfaster; almost doubling the PCMark 7 benchmark score.
The only performance bottleneck we experienced with the Series 5 compared to a typical Intel-based Ultrabook of the same size and shape was the included 750GB hard drive. Since all Ultrabooks use a SSD or HDD with mSATA SSD for cache, it's unfair to compare these laptops without spending the extra $100 to upgrade the Series 5 with a SSD. Once upgraded, the SSD allowed this AMD-based ultrathin to compete head-to-head with the latest Ultrabooks; generally exceeding the performance of the ASUS Zenbook UX32 Ultrabook equipped with an Intel Core i5 processor. Keep in mind that the ASUS UX32 is priced at $899, so for just $749 ($649 street price plus $100 SSD upgrade) you can have a laptop with better overall performance.
wPrime processor comparison results (lower scores mean better performance):
PCMark Vantage measures overall system performance (higher scores mean better performance):
PCMark 7 is a newer benchmark that measures overall system performance in Windows 7(higher scores mean better performance):
3DMark06 measures overall graphics performance for gaming (higher scores mean better performance):
3DMark 11 measures overall graphics performance in games using DirectX 11 (higher scores mean better performance):
CrystalDiskMark storage drive performance tests:
Gaming PerformanceAlthough the Samsung Series 5 is not marketed as a "gaming notebook" it's worth remembering that AMD actively promotes the A-series Trinity processors as having "discrete class graphics" so that you can actually play games that typically wouldn't be playable on an ultrathin laptop. The AMD Radeon HD 7620G graphics built into the A10-4655M APU delivers a surprisingly capable gaming experience even with newer games like Max Payne 3 at a minimum frame rate well above 30 frames per second in DirectX 11 mode with detail settings on high. This is not something you can do with a budget Ultrabook and adds to the overall AMD value proposition.
Heat and Noise
Noise levels were mostly a non-issue with the AMD-based Series 5. We did notice some fan noise (sort of like a distant hair dryer) while playing graphics-intense games like Max Payne 3or while running benchmarks, but most of the time we could only hear the fan if we held the bottom of the Series 5 up to our ears to listen.
Noise levels were mostly a non-issue with the AMD-based Series 5. We did notice some fan noise (sort of like a distant hair dryer) while playing graphics-intense games like Max Payne 3or while running benchmarks, but most of the time we could only hear the fan if we held the bottom of the Series 5 up to our ears to listen.
We did record one hot spot on the bottom of the notebook near the heat sink for the APU and above the RAM; this area reached a peak exterior temperature of 103 degrees Fahrenheit while gaming but typically remained around 91 degrees while web browsing. Overall, we aren't particularly concerned about "lap burn" from this notebook as long as you don't keep it on your lap for an hour or more while gaming.
Battery Life
The Series 5 with AMD A10-4655M APU delivered 6 hours and 27 minutes of battery life with the built-in battery. This is perfectly on par with the battery life we've seen from most Intel-based Ultrabooks. Our standard battery life test sets the screen to 70% brightness, wireless active and continuously refreshing a website on a 60-second interval, and Windows 7 set to the "balanced" power profile. More than six hours of battery life while constantly web browsing is likely more than enough for the typical consumer, just be aware that battery life will drop if you're doing more intense tasks like playing games or editing video.
The Series 5 with AMD A10-4655M APU delivered 6 hours and 27 minutes of battery life with the built-in battery. This is perfectly on par with the battery life we've seen from most Intel-based Ultrabooks. Our standard battery life test sets the screen to 70% brightness, wireless active and continuously refreshing a website on a 60-second interval, and Windows 7 set to the "balanced" power profile. More than six hours of battery life while constantly web browsing is likely more than enough for the typical consumer, just be aware that battery life will drop if you're doing more intense tasks like playing games or editing video.
Battery life test results (higher scores mean better battery life):
Conclusion
We might be a bit apprehensive about recommending the AMD-based Series 5 at the full MSRP of $849.99, but the street price of just $649.99 makes this a much more attractive deal for people who want decent multimedia capabilities in an ultrathin laptop.
The AMD A10-4655M APU delivers much of the same raw performance as the latest Intel Core i5 processors with very few exceptions. In fact, the Radeon HD 7620G graphics built into the A10-4655M APU provide a significantly superior gaming performance over Intel Integrated graphics ... at least with newer games.
Again, the only performance bottleneck we experienced with the Series 5 compared to a typical Intel-based Ultrabook was the included 750GB hard drive. Since all Ultrabooks use a SSD or HDD with mSATA SSD for cache, it's unfair to compare these laptops without spending the extra $100 to upgrade the Series 5 with a SSD. Once upgraded, the SSD allowed this AMD-based ultrathin to compete head-to-head with the latest Ultrabooks; generally exceeding the performance of the ASUS Zenbook UX32 Ultrabook equipped with an Intel Core i5 processor. Keep in mind that the ASUS UX32 is priced at $899, so for just $749 ($649 street price plus $100 SSD upgrade) you can have a laptop with better overall performance.
Pros:
- Excellent AMD price/performance
- Nice keyboard
- Impressive battery life
Cons:
- Plastics are too thin in some spots
- 1366x768 resolution screen
- Slow HDD artificially limits performance
Individual Ratings: *
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* Ratings averaged to produce final score
Upgrade Capabilities
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Price/Value Rating
* Ratings averaged to produce final score
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