LAS VEGAS: Samsung launched the second generation Series 9 laptop at CES in an effort to take on the MacBook Air and a raft of ultrabooks on the horizon.

The 13in Series 9 weighs 1.16kg, making it very lightweight. The 12.9mm chassis houses a 13in IPS display with a 1600x900 resolution. The screen also packs a very impressive brightness of 400nits. Despite being extremely thin and light, we found the device to be quite sturdy.

Samsung offers a choice of Core i5 and Core i7 processors and up to 8GB of memory. The inclusion of a 256GB SSD allows for very fast resume times. The laptop will boot from deep hibernation in 9.8 seconds and wake up in 1.4 seconds.

A Samsung spokesperson also told V3 that the device has been built to ensure users don't lose any work. Even if users find they have run out of battery, the laptop will retain some charge to power the RAM and allow users to restart the device from where they left off when it is plugged in. However, it is unclear exactly how long the RAM will remain charged for.

We weren't too impressed by the keyboard during our hands on test. The keys felt far too shallow, a problem that has plagued many a device – even the MacBook Air.

Connectivity was always going to be limited with the dimensions available. The 13in Series 9 features a USB 3.0 port, a USB 2.0 port, a headphone/microphone jack and an SD card slot. Samsung has also squeezed in an Ethernet port, as well as HDMI and VGA connectors.

Samsung claims the battery will last around six hours on the 13in, which is not quite all day usage, but will be long enough for most people.

Exact release date and pricing is expected to be announced soon.