Update 11/2016: The Toshiba Satellite Radius 12 is no longer available at Best Buy. However, you can pick up a great Toshiba Radius at Amazon.
Act Fast! Grab the HP 15.6″ Touch Laptop from HSN for $399.95!
On the Go with My Dell XPS 13 with Intel 6th Gen Core i7 {Review}
Toshiba Satellite Radius 12 Review
I have mentioned before that I’m a smartphone snob, well I am also a laptop snob. There are so many of them to choose from that I do my homework before making a purchase. How do I know what to get? Well I have minimum requirements that a laptop needs to have for it to be worth my while. I am constantly editing photos. I often record and edit video, and I always have multiple browser tabs and apps open at one time. This means that any laptop that I use must have lots of processing power, RAM, and a great screen so allow me to edit photos.
After reading the specs (and drooling) I cannot tell you how excited I was to check out the brand new Toshiba Satellite Radius 12 available at Best Buy. It used to be that only a heavy, full-sized laptop offered the specs to handle what I was dishing out. But thanks to constant advances in technology laptops are getting smaller, and more powerful. The flexible 2-in-1 design and top of the line specs are just what I need to keep up with my busy lifestyle.
Key Specifications
- 12.5″ 4K Ultra HD Touch-Screen Laptop
- HDMI® with 4K Ultra HD output capability
- Intel Core i7
- Face Recognition with Windows Hello
- 8GB Memory
- 256GB Solid State Drive
- SD card slot
- Weighs only 2.9 pounds
- harman kardon Stereo Speakers
- 2-in-1 Design
- 3 USB ports (1-USB 3.0 port,1-USB 3.0 port with USB Sleep and Charge, and 1-USB Type C)
The 4K Ultra HD Display
The Satellite Radius 12 is the world’s first 12.5″ convertible laptop with a 4K Ultra HD display. Yes, the same tech available in the newest televisions. The Radius 12 features the highest resolution, most color-accurate laptop display available on the market. This version is configured with a brilliant 12.5″ IPS touchscreen display with native 4K Ultra HD (3840 x 2160) resolution that equals four times as many pixels as a Full HD on other laptops. And the screen is made of Gorilla Glass so it’s damage resistant which is needed in a mobile laptop.
The outstanding screen is designed with color accuracy in mind, so it is perfect for graphic and photo editing using Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom. And of course I can use it for blogging and web design on the go. On this incredible screen what you see is what you get, so my photos pop. The colors really are amazing. The high-resolution does take some getting used to since it is on a smaller screen. However, a few tweaks of icon and menu sizes in my Windows and Photoshop settings and it was fine. I have always preferred screens with higher resolution because it allows me to see more on my screen at one time which makes multitasking a breeze.
For now there is not a ton of video content that you can actually view in 4K. Although YouTube does have a few beautiful videos available for testing. I’m pretty sure as the technology is more widely used I’ll be able to put this beautiful screen to full use.
Windows 10 Hello Facial Recognition
Designed just for Windows 10, the Satellite Radius 12 is one of the first laptops to enable facial authentication with Windows Hello, enabling a super fast and convenient way to log in. Of course I had to give this a try. Turning on this feature on was easy. I simply typed Hello into my Cortana search bar and I was presented with “Set up face sign-in” on my menu. Once it was set up I was able to simply look at the screen and it recognized me. Now the real test will be having my daughter and my husband try to unlock it. We all have similar facial features.
Speed And Multitasking
The speed on this computer is incredible. It houses Intel’s new 6th generation Core processor. This one is an Intel Core i7-6500U at 2.60GHz. Can you say fast? I have no problem running multiple apps and browser windows. It comes with 8GB of RAM which is awesome. However, I’m a bit surprised that it is listed as not user upgradeable, so my dream of possibly upgrading to 16GB of RAM is dead. But, I honestly don’t see this being a problem. 8GB is plenty of RAM for running memory intensive applications.
The Body
This machine is very sexy! Weighing only 2.9lbs it features a sleek, metal body. . And it has one of my favorite features, a LED backlit keyboard which I love for computing in the dark. The size and specs make it perfect for travel.
The 360-degree hinge enables easy flexibility as the screen rotates into five unique viewing modes. You can easily move it from laptop mode to tablet mode to stand mode and more.
Power and Battery
The Radius 12 also seems to have a decent battery life. Using it in Windows Battery Saver mode seems to get just under 6 hours of battery life. Of course the true time depends on how heavily you use the machine and what applications you are running. I did have a few problems with the machine going into sleep mode as it should. However, a Windows Update seemed to fix that problem.
I’ve also noticed that the fan can get a bit loud, which is not uncommon in such a thin machine. The good news is that it does not appear to run hot at all like some others that I have used.
Summary
Overall I am absolutely loving this laptop. Since receiving it I carry it with me just about everywhere. Knowing that I have a powerful, reliable machine that allows me to edit and work wherever I am gives me peace of mind. The screen, processor, and memory make it a perfect desktop replacement. Heck… the Toshiba Satellite Radius 12 is actually a lot more powerful than my desktop. It is available right now from Best Buy for $1349.99 and worth every penny.
Disclosure: The Toshiba Satellite Radius 12 was provided to me in exchange for this review. All opinions are my own.
That screen must be a sight to behold!
It sure is! It really is beautiful. I will be glad when there is more 4k content to take advantage of it.