COMPARISION:
MacBook Air Versus Samsung Series 9
MacBook
The MacBook Air is a line of notebook computers that are ultraportable and is part of the Macintosh product line, created by Apple Inc. The Air was designed to balance both performance and portability, consisting of a full-sized keyboard design, a machined casing made of aluminium, and a very light and thin structure.
Samsung Series 9
The Samsung Series 9 features Samsung’s MaxScreen technology which has allowed the company to keep the bezel to a minimum and lend the screen as much real estate as they could manage.
MacBook Air VS Samsung Series 9:
Design
This is a tough one. Since both laptops are immaculately constructed from sandblasted aluminium with beautifully sleek curves, it becomes a case of personal preference. The MacBook has supreme minimalism, and an all-silver body offset by the black keyboard keys and strip in the screen bezel. The Series 9 900X3B has a darker gunmetal finish with silver highlights and more physical curves, while its keyboard and screen don’t contrast with the body.
Verdict: Whichever one you prefer aesthetically, in our personal opinion the Air wins it by a whisker.
Slimness and Weight
Both of these wedge-shaped supermodel laptops are slim enough to fit in manila envelopes, but which one is the slimmest? The MacBook Air 13in sports a maximum thickness of 17mm, but Samsung’s 900X3B takes thinness to new levels, measuring a mere 12.9mm at its bulkiest end.
When it comes to weight the Series 9 wins again, as it beats the Air’s 1.35kg by tipping the scales at 1.15kg.
Verdict: Thinner and lighter, this is a no-contest win for the Samsung Series 9.
Connectivity
The MacBook Air 13in offers a full-size SD card slot, twin USB 2.0 ports, a headphone jack, and its trump-card: a Thunderbolt connection, which shares its port with the laptop’s microDisplayPort video output.
The Samsung Series 9 900X3B gives you a full-size SD card slot, one USB 2.0 port and one speedy USB 3.0 one, a headphone/microphone combi jack, a VGA output via a dedicated dongle, microHDMI for digital video, and Gigabit Ethernet/LAN through another adapter.
Let’s just make this clear from the start: the potential for Thunderbolt is huge, and could even include external graphics cards. However, the fact of the matter is that at the moment there’s very little that supports it, and unless you get a device that offers pass-through, you’re also blocking the Air’s only video output.
USB 3.0 as offered by the Series 9, on the other hand, is common for high-speed storage from affordable memory sticks to hard drives, and is finding its way into DisplayLink USB devices. MicroHDMI adapters are also more common and cheaper than their microDisplayPort counterparts. And the Samsung will let you use wired internet without buying an adapter and losing a USB connector.
Verdict: Until we see more support for Thunderbolt, the Series 9 wins hands-down.
Usability
Getting beyond the Windows VS MacOS debate, how nice a laptop is to use will depend on its screen and input. We’ll get to the screen in a bit, but first let’s see which of our ultraportable champions offers the superior typing and cursor control experience.
Both the MacBook Air and Series 9 offer backlit chiclet keyboards. While neither of them is a patch on the kind of experience offered by the super-affordable Lenovo ThinkPad X121e, they’re still very nice as ultraportables go. Layout and key travel are virtually identical between the two, though the Series 9 900X3B scores minor points for making its backlighting adjustable and not truncating its Enter key.
Likewise, the huge, button-less, glass touchpads both of these laptops sport are incredibly similar in use, with most of the difference being down to drivers and software.
Verdict: It’s a draw folks, though it’s worth noting that MacOS does make better use of gestures on a touchpad than Windows.
Screen
There’s no denying that the MacBook Air 13in’s screen is a cut above that of most ultraportables. Its colours, contrast and viewing angles are all better than on the average TN-based screen, and its 1,440 x 900 resolution is higher than the 1,366 x 768 pixels found on most 13.3in laptops.
However, the Air’s screen is still TN, and its viewing angles do suffer for it, while the semi-glossy screen finish still suffers the occasional reflection. Samsung’s 13in contender, on the other hand, uses a PLS panel. PLS is an equivalent of IPS, as found on the iPad, Asus Transformer Pad 300, and many professional or high-end monitors. This means its viewing angles are as close to flawless as laptops get. Its fully matt finish eliminates nearly all reflections, and both its 1,600 x 900 resolution and maximum brightness are higher too.
Verdict: The screen on the MacBook Air is good, but that of the Samsung Series 9 is just plain better in every way.
Specifications
With Ivy Bridge already available, Intel’s Sandy Bridge CPUs and its integrated HD 3000 graphics are no longer cutting edge, but for everything but 3D gaming, they’re still good enough.
The Air sports a dual-core 1.7GHz Core i5-2557M CPU with a maximum Turbo-clock of 2.7GHz. Samsung’s contender goes for a slightly slower i5-2467M with a 1.6GHz standard speed and 2.3GHz max. You won’t notice the difference in everyday use but with complex tasks like video encoding the MacBook might gain a few seconds advantage. In the case of both their processors are backed by 4GB of DDR3 RAM, HD 3000 graphics and Flash storage, but Apple lets you pick an SSD of up to 256GB while the Samsung Series 9 900X3B tops out at 128GB.
Verdict: You won’t notice the difference in general use, but the Air’s processor is ever so slightly faster, and it offers double the storage capacity if you can afford the upgrade. Therefore it comes out on top here.
Battery Life
As with most ultraportables and nearly all Ultrabooks, the batteries of the Series 9 and MacBook Air are not user replaceable, so you have to live with what you get. In our standard battery test, the Air managed five hours and 43minutes, while the Series 9 lasted one minute longer.
Verdict: With battery results that are a minute apart, this is the clearest draw of the lot. It’s also the one area where Apple and Samsung’s premium ultraportables lag behind some of the competition.
Value
The cheapest Macbook Air 13in configuration is £1,099, where the Samsung Series 9 900X3B can currently be found for under £1,050.
Verdict: Even without factoring in the cost of an Ethernet adapter which Samsung includes by default, or the current Cash-Back offer which brings its price down to £875, the Series 9 is cheaper.
Final Verdict
Both of these laptops are the most premium ultraportables from their respective manufacturers. They’re beautifully designed and engineered, and build quality is superb. OS differences aside they offer similar user experiences, with comfortable backlit keyboards and superb button-less touchpads. Meanwhile performance and battery life are very similar as well.
However, overall the Series 9 900X3B effortlessly wins out. It’s both lighter and thinner, its connectivity is more flexible and currently more useful, and its higher-resolution screen is simply better in every way. To top it all off, it’s slightly cheaper too. 