Samsung ATIV Smart PC Review

Introduction

Samsung covered all bases of Microsoft newest operating system by releasing one RT tablet, one Smart PC Atom-based slate, and a full-fledged Smart PC Pro Windows 8 tablet machine with a Core i5 processor. Tablets with the frugal Intel Atom processor are supposed to bring you the best of all worlds – a full Windows 8 operating system, but in a slim and light slate that will last as long as an ARM-based machine. These should be the main selling points of our Samsung ATIV Smart PC review unit, which on top of that ships with a keyboard dock included in the price.

Has Microsoft managed to make Win 8 run with enough decency on an Atom processor so you don't feel underpowered, and has Samsung managed to deliver on battery life and extra layers of functionality to make you give Atom slates serious consideration before iPads, Androids or other Win 8/RT tablets? Read on our review to find out...

Design

If you are coming from most Android tablets or even aluminum iPads, the ATIV Smart PC will feel a tad heavy at 26oz (750g), given its all-plastic construction. However, considering that Samsung's tablet has a larger 11.6” screen, and runs full Win 8 that has backwards compatibility with all programs ever written for Windows – something that typically requires a cooling fan - the weight is actually quite decent. Tell that to your wrist, though, as prolonged holding of the polycarbonate ATIV Smart PC chassis brings fatigue much faster than with a typical ARM-based 10” slate, for instance, despite that there's plenty of side bezel for your thumbs to grip it tight without touching the display.


The 9.9mm thin polycarbonate housing resembles the material used in the making of the blue Galaxy S III, with brushed metal looks, but hollow plasticky sound when you knock on the back. The back is a looker with the faux brushed metal housing, the elevated Samsung logo and the metal rim around the 8MP camera with LED flash by its side, and its tapered sides help in holding the tablet more comfortably.

The power/lock, volume rocker and screen orientation keys are situated discreetly on the sides in the top left quadrant – flush enough to blend with the chassis, but still easy to feel, and with good tactile feedback. Moreover, we have a full suite of ports and slots – microSD, USB 2.0, SIM card, and even a microHDMI for TV-out, covered with fitting protective flaps that are easy to pry open.


The Windows key underneath the display is slightly recessed, preventing accidental presses, and with a clicky tactile feel as well. Below it at the bottom are the dock connector and the keyboard attachment mechanism openings, which make it very easy to snap the tablet in and out of the dock with the push of a button.


Keyboard dock

Samsung throws in two extra input methods with the ATIV Smart PC – the S Pen stylus we all know and love from its Note family of phones and tablets, tucked neatly in the silo at the lower right corner, as well as a keyboard dock with a hinge mechanism, that transforms the Windows 8 tablet into a full-fledged notebook.

The metal hinge mechanism seems sturdy and the tablet snaps into place with one quick motion. Pulling it out is a bit harder, though, as you have to push the release button with a significant force before the latch springs are released, but we wouldn't want that mechanism iffy anyway.


The sturdy metal hinge wraps around the back, making the assembly easier to carry around, but adds to the overall weight, which with the dock is north of three pounds (1.45kg), so as much as a typical 11” ultrabook, which, however, come with much better specs and storage.


The keyboard buttons are of the island type, pretty easy to type on, yet with a somewhat shallow travel, which is a common drawback on such dock attachments. The touchpad, for that matter, is sensitive, and with a decent click feedback.




Display

The 11.6” 1366x768 screen sports 135ppi pixel density, which is a far cry from what the Nexus 10 or iPad 4 offer, but still decent for everyday tasks.

The 440 nits of brightness, the color representation, the contrast and especially the viewing angles are much better than what your typical laptop TN panel offers, but that can be said for almost any tablet.



Interface and functionality

Unlike Windows RT, which only runs Modern UI apps written for ARM processors, and enters a limited desktop interface just for MS Office, Windows 8 must have been a tough nut to crack for Microsoft, as it had to ensure backdoor access to the legacy desktop, as well as force the future upon its base with the Live Tile Modern UI front and center.

It did a pretty good job with the hybrid interface, as found on the ATIV Smart PC, by simply running the old desktop view as an app accessible with one tap from the home screen, but starting in the tiled interface. Thus you can run any legacy program written for Windows on Samsung's Atom-based slate, on top of all the new apps you can run on an RT tablet, like the Microsoft Surface.


Gestures for closing apps, swiping between them and calling the Charms Bar on the right are quite basic and easy to learn, yet if you don't want to bother with the “new stuff,” you can directly go into desktop view and never leave, with the added benefit of Win 8 booting and resuming much faster than ever before possible in Windows. Samsung has even thrown in an app dock at the bottom of the screen for those who miss the Start button in desktop mode, and for quick access to other settings.


Here we have to make a note of the S Pen stylus availability, which allows precise navigation, Air View functionality, doodling or handwriting with the S Note app, cropping screen areas for sharing and numerous other ways to make that third input method useful. So, apart from mind control, the ATIV Smart PC has all input methods – touch, stylus and keyboard – at your disposal at all times.

Processor and memory

The 1.8 GHz dual-core Intel Atom Z2760 processor, however, might be battery-efficient, but can't measure up to the “Core i” family of Intel, and 2 GB of RAM don't help much either. For everyday tasks like using Office, browsing, watching videos, light picture editing or basic games it performs fine, but there is lag and stuttering with more demanding tasks, and even in the desktop interface when things get busy. The ordeal somewhat defeats the ability to run legacy programs, as even Photoshop moves much slower than you'd like, let alone heavy stuff like AutoCAD and the like.

You also don't get much storage to install such complex Windows programs anyway, as out of the 64 GB of internal storage, you get about half as user-available from the box. Granted, there is a microSD slot and SkyDrive or other storage services, but even the lowliest netbook with a hard drive would laugh at the maximum storage amount possible on the ATIV Smart PC, so you'd better get one of those Wi-Fi-enabled hard drives with a battery as a companion.

Internet and connectivity

The new Internet Explorer 10 app in the tiled interface launches a fast and slick-looking browser with a very clean and minimalistic Modern UI, though it is annoying that you have to manually add permissions to display full Adobe Flash content in other than the Microsoft-approved sites.

It is also confusing that we have an Internet Explorer browser in desktop mode, too, but it is actually the IE9, complete with full Adobe Flash support and the typical Windows interface.


Alternatively, you can just install any browser you like, like Chrome or Firefox, and forget about being force-fed the future, as once you set it as default, the IE10 tile hides, and links open in the new browser.

We had the ATIV Smart PC version with a 4G/LTE cellular connectivity, but the basic version sports just Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 radios, and we noticed that reconnecting to the router upon system resume lagged the UI loading a bit.

As for wired connectivity, we get a microHDMI port and a dedicated charging one, as you can't charge through the full USB port, which is on top of that only USB 2.0-compliant, not the much faster 3.0 standard.

Camera

There is an 8MP camera with LED flash on the back of the ATIV Smart PC, and a front-facing shooter for video chat. The interface is pretty basic in the Camera app, only letting you adjust the resolution, brightness, contrast and exposure, but you can always scoop an app from the Windows Store for color effects, HDR and the like.


The camera takes some time to focus, and the photos appear somewhat soft and undersaturated, with less detail than we would expect from the camera's resolution.


The tablet shoots Full HD 1080 video, and the footage is mediocre, with wandering focus, pale colors, and can be quite noisy in low-light scenarios.

Samsung ATIV Smart PC Sample Video:



Samsung ATIV Smart PC Indoor Sample Video:



Multimedia

The biggest gripe about the default Win 8 media apps is not the music player or picture application, but rather the default video player, which doesn't support such popular containers like MKV. Thus you'd have to resort to 3rd party apps or the good old desktop mode again to install any video player your heart desires, which gives you one less reason to stay and use the Modern UI elements. Samsung even throws in CyberLink Power DVD for free, though we prefer lighter solutions.


For a tablet the ATIV Smart PC sports pretty decent stereo speakers, which don't sound too flat, or distort too much at the highest volume.

Battery

Samsung cites the 4,080 mAh battery as good for 14.5 hours of light use and 10 hours of video playback, which gets the ATIV Smart PC in the realm of ARM-based tablets, and this is the biggest advantage of the otherwise weakling Atom processor.

Conclusion

Jack of all trades or a master of none? The Samsung ATIV Smart PC, as other Intel Atom-based tablets with Windows 8 sound great on paper – thin and light, they are capable to run legacy Windows programs, and have battery life comparable with iOS or Android slates. The compromises for achieving such a combo, however, are not to be taken lightly. While the ATIV Smart PC is airy for an 11.6” tablet and well built, its weight is not comfy to hold for a prolonged period and with the keyboard dock is as much as an 11” ultrabook.

Thus the main advantage of the ATIV Smart PC is that it gives you double the battery life your typical notebook would offer, as well as all the input flexibility that comes with the S Pen and a detachable screen-keyboard dock combo, so if for some reason you need full Win 8 for all-day computing on the go, Samsung's Atom-based slate would do the trick, but only in light usage scenarios.

For heavier usage you'd have to resort to something like the Microsoft Surface Pro, which is more expensive, or altogether get a notebook like the $500 Asus VivoBook, for instance, with the same size touchscreen as the Smart PC, same weight, and much better specs and storage, while spending the money you'd spare for an affordable tablet to use on the go.

The actual direct competitors of the ATIV Smart PC here, however, are other such Atom Win 8 slates, like the Acer Iconia W510, which has a tad smaller screen for the same price, but its keyboard dock sports an additional battery, so you can muster twice the endurance of the Smart PC, while it doesn't have the added S Pen functionality tucked in.

Or, alternatively, you can get an iPad 4 with hundreds of thousands of tablet-oriented apps, or a Nexus 10 with high-res display, yet if you need Windows 8 with this battery life on a tablet, there aren't many such slates to choose from at the moment.

Software version: build_9200

Samsung ATIV Smart PC Video Review: