Samsung ATIV Q Review

Introduction

Samsung blew the roof when it unveiled the ATIV Q, and not only with the record screen resolution of this convertible tablet/ultrabook device, but other novel ideas that beg to be approached with open mind, as there's barely a reference point for something like it.

Running hot-swap Windows 8 and Android on a 13.3” touch display with the eye-popping 3200x1800 pixels of resolution, powered by the latest Haswell chip endurance athlete by Intel, all stuffed into a thin and light body with a crazy hinge that slides the device into a tablet, notebook or hybrid “terrace” form – all of that is not for the faint of heart manufacturers, and has a recipe for disaster sign written all over it.

Has Samsung managed to give us a glimpse at the future of portable devices for work and play, or will the ATIV Q feel like it is way ahead of its time due to “details” like hinge construction, software scalability for such resolution, or simply overpricing? Read on to find out...

Design

The first time you grab the ash black ATIV Q, it exudes the impression of a well-made, albeit mostly plastic 13” ultrabook. It is pretty thin at 14mm, and the 2.8 pounds (1.3 kg) of weight are more than reasonable for the true laptop power it holds.

When closed in a tablet mode, however, it has the obvious shortcoming of being a pretty big and heavy one, weighing twice what your average 10-incher does. It's not that your hands will get extremely tired when you hold it with both, but most of the time you need to rest it against your body for support. The form factor is somewhat more useful when reading or watching movies in bed, as you can lean it against the head-board or your knees and it takes much less space this way.


Perhaps the most interesting design part, and the one with the biggest question mark in terms of durability is the hinge mechanism that allows the screen half to slide from the default tablet form into a full-fledged notebook by snapping it into place behind the chiclet keyboard. Alternatively, you can flip it around and use the keyboard part as a stand, or simply float it parallel to the keyboard, forming a Z letter of sorts, for a total of four poses that should cover most situations you need.


To allay your concerns, the mechanism feels very sturdy and with an oily motion at the same time. These things get opened and closed many thousands of times and endure pressure tests before they leave the factory, so we wouldn't worry about its durability, yet only time and prolonged usage will tell how it will hold in the hands of the average careless user.

As if to prove that the hinge will last, Samsung placed the whole processor part in the stand behind the display part. This undoubtedly helps with cooling when in notebook mode, and also saves space for other stuff in the keyboard part, so if Samsung didn't make sure the hinge mechanism is sturdy enough, it wouldn't have built the heart of your ATIV Q right into it, given the whole flippity-flap concept of this convertible device.


The chiclet-style keyboard doesn't feature a trackpad, though Samsung does provide a responsive optical track pointer in the middle of the keyboard, with three mouse keys just on the edge.

The keyboard is well-spaced, with dedicated desktop mode and volume buttons column on the left, which, however, gets in the way of typing, especially if you are a touch typist. The keys are as big as they can be on a 13-incher, so typing is fairly comfortable when you get used to the keyboard, though the travel feels a bit shallow and mushy, which is a common issue with most thin ultrabooks. Another down point is that the keys aren't backlit, which can be a nuisance at night.

Looking around the sides, we find an a USB 2.0 port on the right, covered with a protective flap, a Power key underneath it, and a headphone/mic combo jack in-between. The left is reserved for a volume rocker and autorotate switch, while above them an RJ45 jack with a dedicated dongle and a power jack are situated. The side keys are easy to feel and press without looking, with enough feedback.


The rest of the connectivity options – an USB 3.0 and miniHDMI ports - are a bit oddly placed, on the left side of the stand/hinge mechanism behind the screen part, so you can't use them while the ATIV Q is closed in tablet mode. The microSD card slot is there, too, but on the right side of the stand. There is an HD 720p-capable front camera for video chat above the display.


Last but not least, the ATIV Q sports a built-in S Pen stylus, tucked conveniently on the right, so you can quickly jot down things with the S Note app, doodle with Paint, or annotate to your heart's desire, though the Q is a heavy setup to be used as a clipboard like you would with a straight-up tablet.



Display

The 13.3” 3200x1800 pixels screen is with the record high 275ppi density for its size. For comparison, even the 13” MacBook Pro with Retina Display sports 220ppi, so Samsung takes the cake here, and will likely keep it for a while, considering the other virtues of the groundbreaking touchscreen panel on the ATIV Q.

Besides being the most resolute screen you can find on any ultrabook or convertible device, it is also very bright and with high contrast. Viewing angles are great, too, with barely a horizontal or vertical shift in brightness or contrast at the extremes.

Samsung says the panel can reach peak brightness up to 600 nits outside under direct sunlight, which would help tremendously with outdoor visibility, given that the screen reflections are kept in check here. Our measurements showed about 320 nits maximum brightness inside at the center of the display, which is in line with Samsung's advertised 300 nits average maximum when not in SuperBright mode.



Interface and functionality

Samsung has resolved the nascent Windows Store apps count conundrum in the simplest possible way – it just introduced the Dual OS feature with ATIV Q. You can switch to Android 4.2.2 any time with just a tap on a screen tile or icon, and all the hundreds of thousands of touch-optimized apps in the Play Store will be at your finger tips – games, utility apps and the widgets you use on your Android phone on a regular basis can all be set up just the way you like it.

Android runs at the default Full HD resolution of the ATIV Q, unless you switch to the maximum resolution in Windows mode, then it goes up to 3200x1800, as you can see from the last screenshots below. It shares the Music, Video, Picture and Document folders with Windows, so anything you put in there gets also indexed in Android, and these folders can be changed with the Dual OS Configuration Tool in the Android Windows settings apps.

Multmedia

Given that the ATIV Q runs operating systems like Windows 8.1 and Android 4.2.2, you will have absolutely no problems with it as a multimedia machine in terms of video and music formats allowed at any quality with any player that your heart desires. The two stereo speakers provide a strong and full enough sound without being something extraordinary, as they do distort the sound a bit at the highest volume level.

Video playback is where the ATIV Q really shines, though, thanks in a large part to the beautiful ultra high-resolution display, which is on top of that very bight, as we mentioned, with high contrast ratio and excellent viewing angles. About the only thing you can't do with the ATIV Q is watching 4K Ultra HD movies in native resolution, though you can get just a few tens of pixels shy of that experience, and the footage is of simply a breathtaking detail when you stream 4K YouTube clips.



Battery

Samsung quotes the battery pack of the ATIV Q as good for up to nine hours of usage, and with the new Haswell chip architecture of Intel, this is actually the new normal, finally bringing Windows-laden portables in line with any iOS or Android tablet for a full working day of computing away from the plug.

In reality we were getting something in the realm of 7-7.5 hours with browsing and movie watching on about 60% brightness, as you can see from the screenshot on the right, so with light usage and low brightness nine hours could be doable indeed.

Conclusion

As both a powerful Windows and Android tablet and notebook, the ATIV Q is the most ultimate hybrid on-the-go computing solution that Samsung has managed to produce so far. Groundbreaking display, zippy performance, easy conversion from a tablet to a notebook form, all wrapped up in a slim and light package that lasts full working day on a charge – there's barely been a mobile device that offers so much.

Looking around for similarly-equipped alternatives in the 1600 EUR or USD ballpark, the Sony Vaio Duo 13 is the closest convertible candidate, with Haswell Core i5 though with a “merely” Full HD touchscreen and less storage. Next in line is the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13, which is cheaper and flips 360 degrees to get into a tablet mode, but is with much less screen resolution, battery life and storage.

In short, Samsung's ATIV Q has raised the bar so high for all portable computer makers that only the price can be a deterrent to get the convertible and never look back for the foreseeable future.

Samsung ATIV Q Video Review: