Samsung upgrades its Notebook 9 Pen (2019) with Thunderbolt and a discrete Nvidia GPU

Samsung hasn't yet announced a price or an exact ship date, however.

Credit: Samsung

Samsung has disclosed that its Samsung Notebook 9 Pen for 2019 will boast a pair of moderately significant upgrades: Thunderbolt I/O ports, and a discrete Nvidia GPU on the larger model.

The 2018 version of Samsung’s Notebook 9 Pen was a study in contrasts: While the exterior felt relatively cheap and plasticky, Samsung’s choice of materials made it exceptionally light. Yet at $1,400, it felt overpriced. And while we applauded the inclusion of the pen—and a holster that was built right into the laptop itself!—the Samsung S Pen eventually got stuck and couldn’t be removed.

Samsung Notebook 9 Pen (2019) Samsung

Samsung’s Notebook 9 Pen for 2019 ships in Ocean Blue.

Unfortunately, we don’t know the price of the Notebook 9 Pen (2019), a key metric in determining how useful it will be. We do know most everything else, however: It will be available in both 13-inch and 15-inch form factor, at about the weight of the 2018 device. There will indeed be an S-Pen, built right into the laptop as well.

But Samsung also addressed a key deficiency, at least on paper: Thunderbolt, the next-gen I/O standard that’s appeared on a few high-end notebooks, and can be used on high-end monitors. It’s also a forward-looking technology for external GPUs, a niche technology that could allow a notebook to turn into a gaming powerhouse when docked. Until then, though, the 15-inch model includes an Nvidia GeForce MX150 with 2GB of RAM. The 2018 versions didn’t include a discrete GPU.

Samsung Notebook 9 Pen (2019) Samsung

Samsung is including a three-month trial of MyScript Nebo to translate your inked notes into digital text with the Samsung S-Pen, which apparently now ships in an attractive gold color.

Here are the specs of both the 13-inch and 15-inch versions of the Samsung Notebook 9 Pen (2019), as outlined by Samsung. Note that Samsung hasn’t specified which CPU will be used by either version. According to Samsung, both versions will be available in “2019.”

 

 

Samsung Notebook 9 Pen 13”

Samsung Notebook 9 Pen 15”

Dimensions

307.9 X 206.2 X 14.9—15.9 mm

347.9 X 229.1 X 16.9 mm

Weight

2.47lbs

3.44lbs

Battery

54Wh

54Wh

Material

Aluminium

Aluminium

OS

Windows 10 Home

Windows 10 Home

LCD

13.3” Full HD

15.0” Full HD

CPU

Intel® 8th Gen

Intel® 8th Gen

Graphics

Shared

Nvidia GeForce MX150 (2GB)

Memory

LPDDR3

LPDDR3

Storage

PCIe NVMe SSD

PCIe NVMe SSD

Wireless

802.11 ac wave2 2x2 (GIGA Wi-Fi)

802.11 ac wave2 2x2 (GIGA Wi-Fi)

Speakers

AKG stereo speakers with ThunderAmp

AKG stereo speakers with ThunderAmp

Camera

HD IR Camera

HD IR Camera

Security

Facial and fingerprint recognition

Facial and fingerprint recognition

Ports

Thunderbolt 3 (2) | USB-C (1) | HP/MIC | UFS & microSD Combo

Thunderbolt 3 (2) | USB-C (1) | HP/MIC | UFS & microSD Combo

Keyboard

Backlit keyboard

Backlit keyboard

Pen

Built in S Pen

Built in S Pen

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Mark Hachman

Mark Hachman

PC World (US online)
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