CES delighted us with so many different laptops this year, showering us with Windows 10 devices in particular. We saw a lot from Samsung during the big event last month, but one laptop series had a nice refreshing take to it. It was the Samsung Notebook 9, a thin notebook series, packed with Intel Skylake, rather than the Core M processors we have been seeing in many hybrid and ultra-thin laptops as of late. This was a big deal, considering one thing we tend to see with these thin-and-light designs is a tendency to make compromises in other areas. Luckily, skimping on power is one thing Samsung didn’t do here.

The Notebook 9 series comes in 13.3-inch and 15-inch magnesium alloy variants with Full HD LCD displays. The devices weigh in at just 1.85 pounds and 2.84 pounds, respectively, and sport a 180-degree hinge. This thinness is almost unreal, so much so that TechnoBuffalo claimed that they first thought it was a “dummy” when picking it up. The Verge says, “they feel as light as if there were no battery inside them”. Two things come to mind when I think of an ultrabook this thin and light- that the processor must not be that good, and/or they must be fanless. Well, I’m wrong here. Not only is the Notebook 9 not fanless, but both models sport chips from Intel’s latest Skylake generation (up to a Core i7 CPU), plus Intel HD 520 graphics.

Besides the “limited” (it depends on your definition) 1080p display resolution, the Notebook 9s do not have touchscreens, and could be somewhat lacking when it comes to battery life (Samsung had to trim the device as much as possible). There is a 30Wh battery in the 13.3-inch model, and a 39Wh battery in the 15-inch model, which, in regards to how long they last, has been given mixed reports. Samsung made quite the svelte machine here, yet it’s hard to imagine these small batteries living up to said “12 hours of battery life in the 15-inch model, and 10 hours in the 13.3-inch model”. However, Samsung does feature its Quick Charging function in these laptops, which enables users to fully charge their device in just 90 minutes (Samsung News). This is one of those features that would come in handy no matter the size of the battery.

Other specs include 8GB of RAM, 128GB to 256GB of SSD storage, a pair of full-sized USB 3.0s, and SD card slot. If you want to make use of the mini VGA, HDMI, and Ethernet jacks, you’re going to need to carry around an adapter (sad face). But, the 15-inch variant supports USB-C for data. Sure, the lack of testaments as to what type of battery life we’re looking at may be a frustrating factor, and 1080 may not be enough for everyone. But overall, this is a very well-rounded pair of laptops, proving that good things, including Intel’s latest Skylake generation, come in small packages.