Rigidity is perhaps the weakest aspect of the design. We’re always wary of thin displays and narrow bezels simply because there is a higher chance of a more flexible lid. Dell has proven that this doesn’t necessarily have to be the case with the excellent InfinityEdge XPS 13 and XPS 15 designs, but we can’t say the same for Samsung. The lid here is far more susceptible to twisting and bending than both the XPS 15 and Spectre 13 and feels extremely fragile despite the clean minimalist look. The base is fortunately more rigid compared to something like the Yoga 910, though it doesn’t come close to the MacBook Pro 15 or XPS 15.

Its palm rests and keyboard surface, for example, show moderate warping when applying pressure with a finger. While the chassis is not poor by any means, it’s certainly not as firm or inelastic as competing ultra-thin flagships.

The 15.0-inch screen size automatically gives Samsung the weight and size advantage over 15.6-inch competitors with the even lighter LG Gram 15 being a notable exception. With this in mind, the Notebook 9 still manages to be lighter and thinner than some 14-inch notebooks including the Asus UX3410UQ. Both the MacBook Pro 15 and XPS 15 may offer slightly larger display sizes with very similar dimensions to our Samsung, but both are significantly heavier and denser by several hundred grams.