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Full Review

Dubbed as the Macbook Air rival, the Samsung X360 is quite simply the best ultraportable notebook we have reviewed so far. Despite having a 13.3-inch LED screen, it weighs only 1.3 kg. Out of all the ultraportables we've tested the Samsung X360 has the best screen quality, with a bright display, showcasing crisp images and sharp text. The screen also has exceptional viewing angles that remain unmatched. The X360 has a two-toned brushed metallic red and glossy black lid, and with exception to the base, the whole thing is washed over with black gloss. Quite attractive, but watchout for fingerprints.

It comes with an uncompressed chiclet-styled keyboard. The keys are evenly spaced, responsive, and have no flex to write about.

It comes with an uncompressed chiclet-styled keyboard. The keys are evenly spaced, responsive, and have no flex to write about. The keyboard's layout doesn't require a learning curve, and typing on it is quite effortless. Same can be said of the X360's touchpad and mouse buttons, responsive and effortless. It all comes very close to matching the Lenovo Thinkpad X301's keyboard (minus the trackpad) and touchpad. The X360 scores highest in terms of usability and its good build quality--despite being lightweight--better than any other laptop in our Top 5.

Features are well looked after on the X360: a Core 2 Duo ULV (ultra-low voltage) SU9300 1.2-GHz processor. It has 2GB of RAM, Intel X4500 graphics, and 128GB of SSD. And although it doesn't win any performance crown with a WorldBench score of 68, the X360's 6-cell battery beats all others in the comparison by lasting 313 minutes - very impressive. This is a standard trade-off in ultraportables, where performance is at an acceptable minimum, thereby giving increased potential for higher battery life.

On top of the standard input-output ports (Draft-N Wi-Fi, Gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth 2.0), the Samsung has a cool power indicator on its battery, 1.3MP webcam, external DVD writer, docking port, and other goodies. It also deploys security features like a TPM (encryption) chip and a fingerprint reader.

Bottom Line

Overall, the Samsung X360 is a cool laptop and it treads a fine line, offering lots of features in a compact design, and it does so excellently. A very well balanced laptop, it also has the best screen of the lot with exceptional viewing angles. We think it's the best ultraportable available in the market right now.