Samsung Series 7 Ultra 740U3E review

Where the Series 7 Ultra really shines, is with its gorgeous 13.3in ten-point touchscreen display. Its glossy finish is a little reflective, but our solid reds, greens and blues really stood out against the screen and packed plenty of punch. Blacks were deep and true and whites were bright and uniformly lit across the screen as well, and this stunning image quality made all the difference in our high contrast image tests. We were able to see a high level of detail in both the light and dark areas of each photo and colours remained rich and vibrant throughout. Its viewing angles were similarly superb as we were able to see the screen clearly from a variety of angles without any noticeable shift in contrast across the screen.

The Series 7 Ultra’s keyboard was another highlight. Its springy Chiclet-style keys were sensibly laid out and gave plenty of tactile feedback. A row of media buttons double up on the function keys, and we were able to type at full speed in no time.

We liked its large all-in-one touchpad, too. We feared its central location on the wrist rest might get in the way of our hands while we were typing, but we never caught it with the edge of our palms and its responsive surface was very easy to use. We had no problem executing Windows 8 shortcuts and multi-touch gestures worked every time. Navigating the desktop was easy as well. The lower part of the touchpad had lots of click despite its lack of individual buttons and it was very accurate and responsive when we moved our cursor round the screen, even when we had more than more finger resting on the touchpad.

The Series 7 Ultra has a good range of ports. We usually expect ultra-portables like this to be quite sparing on connections so they can keep their chassis as thin as possible, but the Series 7 Ultra has more than most. Admittedly, we were a little disappointed that only one of its three USB ports supported the faster USB3 type, but there’s also an HDMI output for connecting it up to an external display, a proprietary output that can be used with the optional VGA adaptor, an SD card reader, a Gigabit Ethernet port and a combined headphone and microphone jack. Its integrated JBL speakers are some of the best laptop speakers we’ve heard, with plenty of bass and full, rich sounds, so you shouldn’t need to plug in a pair of headphones while listening to music.

The Samsung Series 7 Ultra is a stunning laptop and you get a lot for your money. If you want an all-round, this is the model to buy, but if you want more battery life and something lighter, go for the 13-inch Macbook Air.