Fujitsu LIFEBOOK U554 Pro Reviews

Our time with the Fujitsu U554 leaves us with mixed impressions. In other words: All that glitters is not gold. The subnotebook is very good in some aspects but there are definitely some drawbacks. Two features of the almost-ultrabook are especially good: First of all the long battery runtimes, no competitor can keep up in this category. The other thing is the 256 GB Solid State Drive: It only takes two seconds before we can see the Windows 8 Metro-UI. But let's get back to the saying: The Lifebook U554 does literally not shine with its matte display that has an acceptable brightness of around 200 nits. The case can also convince us, at least the design. The build quality is good but there are some stability issues. But there are also two serious drawbacks: Both the problem with the keyboard and the throttling of the processor are not a good sign, especially after the manufacturer sent us a mail with the retail price: More than 1,500 Euros - and this is without VAT - so the end user has to pay around 1,800 Euros for the device. You should think hard about that. Alternatives in this price range would be the Samsung Series 9 900X3C or the ATIV Book 9, both devices do not have many drawbacks. The same applies for the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon or the Dell Latitude E7440. Another less expensive alternative from Dell, even though with a shorter battery runtime, is the Vostro 3360. If you can live with a worse black value and contrast, the Samsung Series 5 530U3C might also be worth a look. Very light but unstable in return is the Sony Vaio Pro 13. Last but not least there is also a cheaper alternative from Fujitsu, the Fujitsu UH572. The final decision is certainly not an easy one.