Samsung SF310 review

The keyboard has large, isolated keys that have great tactile feedback. Even key spacing made typing easy, and very few function or punctuation keys have been slimmed down to fit. Dedicated shortcut keys for volume and WiFi are conveniently placed at the top of the keyboard tray, but otherwise the entire layout is very minimal. The touchpad and buttons are combined into a single unit, which looks great but isn’t particularly easy to use. Because the entire touchpad acts as a giant button, accidental clicks were very common. There isn’t a raised edge to make it obvious where the buttons are, so it’s also very easy to scroll without meaning to.

The brushed metal-effect wrist rest and contrasting white body look great, particularly against the black keyboard tray. A flip-down cover hides two USB ports, one of which can charge your devices after the laptop is turned off, as well as an HDMI port. The audio, VGA and network ports are all uncovered. It would also make more sense if the single uncovered USB port on the other side was the sleep and charge socket, as you wouldn’t need to open the cover quite so much.

The SF310 might be slightly larger than other 13.3in laptops to accommodate the unique styling, but it’s still a portable machine with a great deal of performance. At a little over 2kg it’s light enough to take on the move, and has enough battery life to last almost all day. Aside from an average display, it’s a decent machine with looks that are sure to turn heads.