Samsung debuts Notebook 9 Pen with fresh design, introduces 15-inch model

Looking to get ahead of the CES 2019 deluge, Samsung has announced two new versions of its Samsung Notebook 9 Pen 2-in-1 laptop. Scheduled for a vague ‘2019’ release and with no pricing to speak of, the laptops are both a rehash (13.3-inch) and an expansion (15-inch) of the late 2017 debut model.

Getting what’s old is new again out of the way, Samsung has dressed its 13.3-inch Notebook 9 Pen painted in a new ‘Ocean Blue’ aluminum shell with gold diamond-cut accents … and that’s about it.

The 2-in-1 laptop will use another Intel 8th Generation Core i7 processor that’s unspecified, as are the units DDR3 memory and PCIe-based solid-state drive (SSD) – as well as a yet-to-be-determined 13.3-inch display. All of this is said to last up to 15 hours on a charge.

The few true enhancements to the Notebook 9 Pen 2019 that are apparent in Samsung’s announcement focus around the laptop’s built-in S Pen stylus and the laptop chassis itself. For the stylus, a two times reduction in drawing latency is on the way, to reduce the on-screen gap between the digital ink and pen as you draw, as well as now three distinct pen tips in the box.

As for the chassis, Samsung has equipped it with two Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports and one straight USB-C port, a huge upgrade in connectivity over last year. Furthermore, the firm brings back the two forms of biometric authentication: both a face scanner and fingerprint reader.

Samsung is mighty light on the details with this announcement, but we expect the Notebook 9 Pen 2019 specifications and price to match up with the current 2018 model. That would be a Full HD (1,920 x 1,080) touchscreen with 8GB of memory and a 256GB SSD, with a price of $1,299 (about £1,030, AU$1,790).

Bigger is better?

Not satisfied with just wrapping the current Notebook 9 Pen in a new shell, Samsung has also debuted a new 15-inch version. However, and this is not hyperbole, with the information we have this is the very same laptop on the inside as the 13.3-inch model – the same screen resolution, battery, memory, SSD and chassis features – with one exception.

This model packs Nvidia GeForce MX150 graphics.

Yes, the graphics capabilities, size and weight are the only differences between the 13.3-inch and 15-inch versions of the Notebook 9 Pen. Well, those and the price, but that too is unknown as of this writing.

Samsung simply states that we can expect to see these two Notebook 9 Pen 2-in-1 laptops in 2019, with pricing to come at a later date. Expect to see more in-depth coverage of these laptops and more from Samsung at CES 2019.