Samsung's lightweight Notebook 9 Pen is aimed at creators

By Steve Dent, Engadget

Last year at CES 2018, Samsung unveiled the Note 9 Pen, a lightweight 13.3-inch convertible aimed at artists and anyone else who needed decent power with as little weight as possible. The model is back again in a big way, with an all-new design and features that should fix what we didn't like about it before. Most notably, it comes in both 13-inch and 15-inch versions, has more ports and packs a much bigger battery with fast-charging that lets it run for up to 15 hours.

The 9 Pen is still powered by an 8th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, but you can get the 15-inch version with 2GB NVIDIA GeForce MX150 discrete graphics. (The smaller model is limited to integrated Intel graphics.) Both have LPDDR3 RAM, GIGA WiFi, face and fingerprint recognition, two Thunderbolt 3 ports, USB-C, headphone/microphone and UFS/MicroSD ports. It's also got a "ThunderAmp" smart amp and "studio-quality sound from speakers tuned by AKG," Samsung said.

The 2019 Note 9 Pen also looks less cheap than the last model, thanks to a new design and all-metal/aluminum frame. Both models are still incredibly light, at 2.47 pounds for the 13-inch version, and 3.44 pounds for the larger model. The display, with 1080p resolution as before, has got slimmed-down bezels, at least on the sides.

Finally, both models have a built-in S Pen with a choice of three different tips and half the latency of the last mode. Combined with the lightweight convertible design, drawing app support and discrete graphics, that should make it a decent laptop for artists and graphics pros on the go. Samsung hasn't announced pricing, but the last Notebook 9 Pen started at $1,400, if that helps. It'll arrive in the US sometime in 2019.