Toshiba’s not new to convertible laptops. The company has already got a bending, contorting laptop in the shape of the 11in Satellite Radius 11. Now, for 2015, it’s launching the Satellite Radius 15, which as you might suspect is a 15in option. Much like its smaller sibling, the Radius 15 has a 360-degree hinge to allow you to fold the screen back over on itself and use the laptop as a pseudo-tablet, with a number of angles in between the two modes. This will give you some flexibility as to how you interact with the Radius 15, perfect if you’re short of space or just want to prop the device up in tent mode to watch a film.
The Radius 15 is a fraction thicker than the Radius 11, measuring in at 20.1mm and Toshiba rate the battery at just short of eight hours, which should get you through a decent chunk of the day.The chiclet keys are all backlit for ease of use when the lights are low. The keys didn’t have a lot of travel to them but were still comfortable enough in our time testing. There’s a reasonably large touchpad that similarly had a good amount of glide. The Radius 15 will weigh up to 2.25kg, which is far from light. Picking up the laptop one-handed was pretty tough, but folded over as a tablet it does mean it feels reassuringly weighty. How often you’ll use it as a tablet is debateable, however. The Radius 15 will come in satin gold with a brushed aluminium finish. It felt good to the touch but it would been nice to have other colour options as gold is far from subtle.
The Radius 15 wil use Intel ‘Broadwell’ Core i5 processors paired with integrated Intel HD Graphics 5500. You’ll have a range of storage options, including a 256GB SSD or 1TB/2TB hard disks. The convertible can be equipped with up to 16GB of memory. There are three USB3 ports, but not USB type-C, and an SD card reader. HDMI is available for connecting an external display for when gathering everyone around the convertible in presentation mode won’t suffice. Usefully the Radius 15 will have 802.11ac dual-band wireless built-in, alongside its Bluetooth connectivity. Toshiba has again partnered with Harman Kardon for the stereo speakers that have been tuned for DTS Sound. The 15.6in touchscreen display has a 1,920×1,080 resolution for you to prod away at to your heart’s content.
The Radius 15 will launch in early July, which importantly is before the release of Windows 10. This means the laptop will be launching with Windows 8.1 with the free upgrade to Windows 10 that is coming to all Windows 7 and up owners. Toshiba has prepared for the imminent launch of Windows 10 by integrating Cortana support with a Cortana shortcut key on the spacebar when used with the Fn key. We weren’t able to test this out as the function isn’t yet working on the Windows 10 Technical Preview we saw running on the system. We’re not sure how this will differ from simply using Windows+S as the traditional way to quickly access search, as has been the case since Windows 8.1. There are also dual-microphones meaning your voice inputs for Cortana should come through clearer.
The entry-level Toshiba Satellite Radius 15 will cost £599 and will be available early July. We’ll be sure to give it a thorough testing as soon as it’s available.
Toshiba 2015 Consumer Laptops
Alongside the Radius 15, Toshiba also announced new entries across the rest of its Satellite range, including new C-Series, L-Series and P-Series models.
The new C-Series models are 20% thinner than last year’s, which will be good for your shoulders, and will come in an all-new chassis. The C-70 comes in 17.3in, whereas the C55 will come in a smaller 15.6in. Both models will come with either Intel Broadwell or AMD Carizo chips and the option of configuring with up to a 256GB SSD or 2TB hard disk. You can opt for dedicated graphics in the form of Nvidia GeForce 930M or AMD Radeon R5 M330 graphics cards. There will also be the budget C40-C that will retail for around £199 that will come with an Intel Celeron processor and 32GB of storage. This model is very much based around working in the cloud and will come with complementary OneDrive cloud storage.
The L50 and L70 are similarly 20% thinner than their 2014 equivalents. They will have better screens than the C-Series, with up to 1,920×1,080 screens available. You’ll also get a choice of colours for the 15.6in L50, with satin gold, red, white, purple and black options. The 17in L70 is only available in satin gold. Both can be configured with Intel Broadwell i5 or i7 processors, or an AMD A10-8700P Carizo processor. Graphics come in the form of an Nvidia GeForce 930M or AMD Radeon R6 M340DX graphics card.
Finally, new P-Series laptops are arriving in the form of the P50-C or touch-enabled P50t-C. Both are 15.6in and are 15% thinner than the outgoing model. The P50t-C will come with a 3,840×2,160 touch display with an IGZO display. The screen will also come pre-calibrated with ChromaTune for greater accuracy. Graphics performance will also be the best in the Satellite range, with a choice of a Nvidia GeForce GTX950M for dedicated graphics. Processing power will come from either an Intel Broadwell i5 or i7, or AMD A10-8700P Carizo processor.