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‘Ultra slim’ isn’t a phrase commonly associated with gaming laptops. More often than not, they’re the size and shape of the monstrous Acer Predator 17, but the Chillblast Samurai is a gaming laptop which, finally, bucks the trend.
At just 19.9mm thick, it’s hardly as slim as an ultraportable, but you’d be hard-pressed to find anything thinner that’s this capable. The only laptop that comes close is the Dell XPS 15, which is thinner at its thickest point at 17mm, but the Samurai definitely has the edge when it comes to gaming prowess. The Samurai even weighs a perfectly reasonable 1.9kg, too, so it shouldn’t weigh you down too much if you have to pack it up in a bag either.
Made from well-finished metal, it’s incredibly plain compared to other gaming laptops we’ve tested recently, but its all-black finish comes as a welcome change from all the LED stripes and flashy grills of Acer’s Predator. Instead, there’s just a blue backlit keyboard that has three levels of brightness and a single LED ring light around the power button that changes colour, making it ideal for those after something a little more subtle and unassuming. The thick bezels around the display are perhaps a little old-fashioned, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less of a portable powerhouse.
Performance and Battery Life
That power comes courtesy of an Intel Skylake-based quad-core 2.6GHz i7-6700HQ processor that can Turbo Boost to 3.5GHz. There’s also 16GB of 2,133MHz DDR4 RAM, and a 256GB M.2 PCIe SSD and 1TB SSHD for storage. Unsurprisingly, it shot through our application benchmarks with ease. It managed a score of 115, which is four points higher than the similarly-equipped Dell XPS 15. This was likely helped by better cooling from the larger chassis, which has large fan vents above the keyboard.
The all-important gaming performance comes from a 3GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 970M, which made short work of our Dirt Showdown test. Playing at 1,920×1,080 resolution, 4x anti-aliasing and Ultra graphics was an absolute cakewalk for such a capable GPU, managing an average of 81.6fps. In the tougher Metro Last Light Redux test, the GPU managed 30.3fps at 1,920×1,080, Very High quality and SSAA turned on, but turning the SSAA off resulted in a much smoother 52.1fps. Needless to say, you’re not left wanting for gaming performance with the Chillblast Samurai, and the fact that such a powerful graphics card has found its way into a laptop of this size is commendable.
Such power comes at a price, though, and battery life is where the Samurai comes up disappointingly short. It managed just 2 hours 39 minutes in our video playback test, which is rather abysmal. This is an hour less than what we saw with the Acer Predator 17 and that had a larger screen to contend with. Similarly, the Dell XPS 15 had almost twice the longevity. Most people will be mains-tethered with a gaming laptop, so it might be a moot point, but it still would have been nice to have seen a higher level of endurance here.
Keyboard and Touchpad
The keyboard is tucked away inside a recessed trapezoidal tray, but I found it perfectly pleasant to type on. There isn’t much travel to each key strike, but it does have a slightly soft action, so typing is reasonably quiet. There aren’t any gaming-specific features, however, such as macro keys or specific gaming key markings for WASD and the like, so those after lots of additional controls for MMOs, for example, might want to consider the Acer Predator instead.
Chillblast’s also made a few changes to the layout of the keyboard, which took some time to get used to. Our primary annoyance came from the half-height Enter key which has been split to make space for a hash key directly above it. Likewise, the Windows key to the right of the Spacebar has been moved from its usual position, but it didn’t take long to readjust once we’d spent some time with it.
I wasn’t so fond of the touchpad, however. It’s not a Precision Touchpad for a start, as Microsoft has specific requirements around the touchpad’s size, dimensions, hardware and drivers to achieve Precision Touchpad certification. Typically these result in an ultra responsive and fluid touchpad, but the Samurai’s was comparatively sluggish.
It never felt as responsive as I would have liked, and no amount of fiddling with the speed resulted in a good balance of speed and precision when needed. It’s not by any means a terrible touchpad, as two-finger gestures worked fine, but Windows 10’s three- and four-finger gestures often didn’t work at all.
There’s also a pair of down-firing speakers in the base along the edge. These are positioned so they’re not likely to be obstructed when the system is on your lap, but they’re not the loudest speakers I’ve heard, nor do they have much in the way of bass. They’re fine for the odd YouTube video but for games you’ll likely want to plug in a pair of headphones or use external speakers.
Display
The 15.6in 1,920×1,080 panel is respectable but doesn’t hold up against the Acer Predator 17’s display in terms of image quality and colour reproduction. Its black levels of 0.36cd/m2 are distinctly average and its contrast ratio of 851:1 is again very mediocre. Brightness is pretty good, though, as I measured a peak white level of 313.5cd/m2. However, the Samurai’s colour accuracy also falls short of the Acer Predator 17’s screen at 86.6% coverage of the sRGB colour gamut.
Connections
In terms of connections, you get two USB3 ports as well as a single newer USB Type-C port. There’s a Gigabit Ethernet port, too, which is a surprise considering the size of the chassis. To connect an external display, you have a full-size HDMI output and mini DisplayPort and there are separate headphone and microphone jacks for audio. An SD card reader is also included. Aside from the wired Ethernet port, there’s also 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth networking.
Conclusion
At £1,499, the Chillblast Samurai is in direct competition with the similarly-specced Acer Predator 17, but both have their own flaws. The Samurai is a much thinner, lighter gaming system, but it does have a smaller display and a distinct lack of macro keys and game-tuning software. Its display and battery life aren’t as good as the Predator either, but in terms of performance they’re pretty much equal.
The Acer Predator 17, on the other hand, is a much more distinct gaming system, but its flashy looks and garish LEDs won’t be to everyone’s tastes. Ultimately, it really depends on what your priorities are. In our books, the Acer Predator is a better all-round gaming laptop, but if you’re after something more subtle and compact, then the Chillblast Samurai is still a very competent alternative.
