Review Nexoc B509II Ultra (Clevo W550SU) Notebook

Nexoc's B509II Ultra notebook is actually a W550SU barebone from Clevo. This Chinese ODM also delivers cases to other manufacturers like Schenker, One or Deviltech (also see our barebone overview) and build up an impressive reputation, especially with their gaming desktop replacements. 

Many current Clevo barebones are however not perfect in terms of quality. The W550SU follows this trend with its matte gray plastic surfaces, and neither the haptics nor the stability really meet the requirements of this price range. Especially the areas above the battery and around the keyboard are susceptible against pressure. The sturdy display leaves a better impression, but the strong hinges cannot avoid a slight bouncing. At least there are no creaking noises and the operation is not really affected by the mentioned drawbacks. 

In terms of build quality we can see some inconsistent gaps, but there aren't any serious issues. Still, the quality of the case is just average. 

Even though the screws at the bottom are covered by a warranty seal, you can theoretically open the case and replace the components. The barebone can accommodate one mSATA and one 2.5-inch drive, two memory slots as well as a WLAN adaptor. You can also upgrade the notebook with a WWAN module since all the necessary antennas are already integrated - but you cannot use an mSATA SSD anymore in this case. Other advantages are the socketed CPU and the easy cleaning of the fan and the cooling unit.

Warranty

The notebook has a manufacturer's warranty of 24 months (Bring-In). Nexoc does not offer many service upgrades, but the additional costs are very reasonable: An extension to 36 months is available for 65 Euros, for example.  

Both the WXGA as well as the Full HD display have an anti-reflective surface to avoid annoying reflections. We already mentioned the very good maximum brightness of more than 300 cd/m² (brightness of the WXGA display is unknown). Thanks to the combination of these two attributes you can even use the notebook under direct sunlight - most of the time even with reduced brightness to improve the battery runtime.

Less convincing are the possible viewing angles. It is a common problem with TN panels and you should not really deviate from the perfect viewing position in the center. Vertical changes quickly result in a loss of contrast and color intensity. The situation is better with horizontal angles, but an IPS display, for instance in the Xirios B502, is superior in this category. 

While the competition uses more and more frugal ULV processors in large 15-inch devices, Nexoc equips its office notebook with a typical standard voltage CPU and a TDP of 37 Watts. The B509II Ultra can be configured with several CPUs, starting with dual-core versions like the Core i5-4200M or even the significantly more powerful Core i7-4702MQ quad-core. The latter has a clock of 2.2 up to 3.2 GHz depending on the load and supports Hyperthreading to execute eight threads simultaneously. More information can be found in our CPU database as well as the special article about the Haswell architecture.

There is no dedicated GPU, so the graphics have to be handled by the integrated Intel HD Graphics 4600. It has 20 Execution Units (EUs) and represents the medium-spec version (GT2) of the Haswell GPU with a clock of 450 - 1,150 MHz - the performance is sufficient to compete with some older mainstream GPUs like the Radeon HD 7670M.

The money that you saved for the GPU was used for the storage and memory equipment in return. You not only get 8 GB RAM with two 4 GB modules in a dual-channel configuration, but also a 1,000 GB hybrid hard drive and a 240 GB SSD. 

It is not the first time that we review the Core i7-4702MQ, we already know the performance from many other notebooks like the Acer Aspire V3-772G. A direct comparison shows that the CPU inside the Nexoc B509II Ultra is roughly 10 percent behind its theoretical performance in multi-thread benchmarks. We can quickly determine the issue: Instead of 2.9 GHZ, the CPU only runs with 2.6 GHz. This is a drawback, but you will hardly notice it in practice. There is no problem in single-thread scenarios; the CPU can use its full Turbo Boost potential (3.2 GHz). 

A bigger problem is the radical throttling on battery power, where the Core i7 only runs with meager 1.4 GHz and it does not matter which energy profile or application you use. This should still be sufficient for most applications, but we do not like this - especially often with quad-core CPUs - paternalism of the user.

Hardly any component has such a big effect on the subjective system performance as the storage drive. This is also the reason that our review unit uses an SSD with a generous capacity of 240 GB, which should be more than enough for the operating system and the most important applications. The SanDisk X110 uses 19 nm MLC flash and the Marvell controller SS889175.  

The resulting performance is excellent: Sequential transfer rates between 400 and 500 MB/s almost hit the limit of the current SATA standard. The more important 4K results are also very good and on one level with a Samsung SSD 840 Evo.

The manufacturer also integrated a so called hybrid hard drive from Toshiba (MQ01ABD100H) for additional storage. This hybrid drive consists of a typical 1,000 GB mechanical hard drive and 8 GB additional flash storage, which is used as buffer storage for frequently used data. It is very hard to measure the advantages of this concept with synthetic benchmarks, but such an SSHD can result in significantly lower access times and therefore faster application starts. 

Gaming is not the main purpose of the B509II Ultra, but many titles run surprisingly well with some limitations in terms of resolution and level of detail. Most of our tested games, even though they are not the most demanding in regard to the GPU, were playable with at least 30 fps in 1366x768 and with medium details. Even current blockbuster action titles like Battlefield 4 can be played with the HD Graphics 4600, but it requires at least a GeForce GT 750M or more for nice graphics.

The temperature development on the other hand is moderate. The case does not get inconveniently warm, neither during idle nor under load. Only exception is the small hotspot in the area around the fan exhaust. Using the notebook on your lap is therefore no problem. 

We measured a CPU core temperature of around 90 degrees Celsius after our stress test (Prime95 and Furmark simultaneously for at least one hour). This is still reasonable - real applications are not going to stress the chip like our stress test. Due to its comparatively low TDP, the Core i7-4702MQ has to reduce its CPU and GPU clock to 2,200 and 800 MHz, respectively, but it does not drop below the nominal clocks (no throttling).   

It is actually quite a tough task to create a really good business or office notebook - this is also evident when you look at the prices for a high-quality Lenovo ThinkPad, Dell Latitude or HP EliteBook. Compared to that, the 1,200 Euros of the really well-equipped Nexoc B509II Ultra are almost a bargain. 

It does however not take very long before you see that the potential buyer will have to live with some sacrifices: Missing security features and the mediocre case as well as input devices are the result. Other drawbacks are the TN panel with poor viewing angle stability and the system noise under maximum load. The only solution for the latter problem is probably a slower and more frugal processor. 

This configurability is a big advantage of the B509II: You want additional memory? Need more storage? Or you want an UMTS module? No problem - and the buyer just pays for the selected components. You might even find a suitable configuration at a local dealer with some luck, and you might even get an additional discount. 

All in all the device leaves a mixed overall impression - especially the drawbacks are serious for an office notebook. Is this compensated by the mentioned advantages? That basically only depends on your requirements.