INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Some features are the result of consumer demand
And then there are features like the Galaxy Book Flex and Ion Wireless PowerShare that appear to be more a product of a &because we can&
approach to product design
Wireless charging is, in and of itself, kind of a no-brainer in an era when many or most flagship smartphones support the technology
Samsung implementation, however, leaves a lot to be desired here
It true, of course, that Wireless PowerShare implementation is less than ideal, requiring one of two phones to be face-down, but I can
certainly see applications for the tech.
On the new laptops, however, charging the phone requires that it occupy all of the trackpad
In the case of the Flex, I suppose you can still use the touchscreen (there isn&t one on the Ion), but even so, there no scenario in which
having a phone sitting on the trackpad doesn&t seriously dampen one ability to get some serious work done
Between the issues and the fact that you can charge your phone the old-fashioned way with the laptops, it hard to find a scenario in which
the feature is anything but a gimmick
Samsung says the trackpad offered the easiest implementation of the tech — versus, I suppose the palm rest or the top of the device
I&m not sure there a great implementation for a feature that might have better been left on the drawing board.
It a silly feature on what
are otherwise very solid additions to Samsung laptop line
The Flex is the more premium of the two, featuring a touchscreen and the 360-degree hinge that gives the device its name
The laptop has an aluminum body with a &royal blue& finish and a built-in slot for the included S Pen
It comes in both 13 and 15-inch varieties, with a 10th-gen Intel processor, 16GB of RAM and up to a TB of storage
Also available in 13 and 15-inch versions, the Ion ditches the touchscreen and 360 hinge, but maintains an ultra-thin, lightweight
design.
Samsung jumping the gun a little early on the announcement here
Both models will be available in the U.S
early next year, priced similarly to their predecessors
Asked why the company didn&t just wait for CES for the announcement, it noted models arrive at different times in different markets
Based on past systems, it seems like a pretty safe bet that they&ll be hitting Korean shores earlier
Perhaps in time for the holidays
