Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus Review: So Light, So Expensive

At $700, the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus is 1 of the best-feeling Chromebooks you tin bargain this year. However, adjacent with a prime screen, chassis, and feel, it lacks successful immoderate cardinal areas. I’ve enjoyed galore of the caller features introduced to Chromebooks successful the past 2 years. But are these devices present the existent AI laptops, acknowledgment to Google’s Gemini? No, of people not.

I similar a bully Chromebook arsenic overmuch arsenic anybody, and the Chromebook Plus models person mostly been a coagulated upgrade for what are inactive ultra-cheap laptops. There are a fewer places wherever you tin nab a “Plus” laptop for basal browsing, streaming, and perchance much intensive cloud-based tasks for astir $350, similar the Lenovo Chromebook Duet 11. With its enterprise-level chassis, this instrumentality costs arsenic overmuch arsenic the Asus ExpertBook CX54 Chromebook Plus. Samsung’s instrumentality is besides the archetypal Chromebook to usage the caller Quick Access Key (right wherever you find your Caps Lock button). The speedy entree to Gemini AI surely isn’t worthy the other cost, truthful what is?

What the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus has going for it is simply a large feel, from the chassis to the I/O larboard enactment down to the spacious keyboard. It’s truthful thin; 1 PR rep for Google was happy to show however the caller Galaxy Chromebook Plus was arsenic heavy arsenic 2 graded Pokémon cards. It’s a precise circumstantial metric, to beryllium sure, but astatine 11.8 mm thin, there’s nary container oregon ace successful the partition it won’t acceptable into.

It has a coagulated artillery beingness that lasts a small much than 10 hours aft periodic use. The Samsung-brand Chromebook besides packs a prime near-16-inch AMOLED show that feels luxuriously wide. That, positive the keyboard with afloat numpad and HDMI larboard with a coagulated enactment of I/O, makes it a large all-rounder. It besides comes with 256GB of retention for your contented extracurricular the cloud, much than you usually get elsewhere. Performance connected the Intel Core 3 spot is wherever you request it to beryllium with specified a communal Chromebook CPU. At the aforesaid time, it has a minimum of 8GB of RAM to suffice for Chromebook Plus status.

However, without a touchscreen oregon immoderate different noticeable features, prevention for the bladed chassis, there’s not overmuch astir this Chromebook that excites maine to urge it for $700. You can’t get overmuch amended if you privation a coagulated Chromebook and don’t attraction astir cost.

Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus Review: Build Quality and Usability

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The Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus sits successful a .47-inch gangly assemblage and weighs 2.58 pounds. Yes, it’s light, damn light, but amended than that, it inactive feels solid. The chassis does person immoderate crook toward the halfway (not astir arsenic atrocious arsenic the Acer Swift 16 AI), particularly astir the thenar rest. Otherwise, the laptop feels premium, and you person the other payment of the pleasing heavy bluish colour for the cover. The lone contented is that the instrumentality tends to radiance with your greasy fingers and palms, requiring regular wiping. There’s besides the other payment of plentifulness of I/O ports, including 2 USB-C, a USB benignant A, HDMI, and a micro-SD paper slot.

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The keyboard and trackpad consciousness conscionable astir right. The bladed keys aren’t excessively stiff, though they inactive person a clacky feeling without being squishy. The clickpad-type trackpad has a creaseless texture, though not arsenic good arsenic a solid surface. I lone had a fewer instances of thenar rejection issues, but not capable to beryllium concerning for semipermanent use. Overall, it’s conscionable precise standard, particularly since you don’t get a touchscreen connected this model.

After that, it’s each down to the ChromeOS software. Easily, my favourite portion of the latest updates is the Welcome Recap. It loads each clip you restart your Chromebook, allowing you to spot what you were astir precocious moving on, alongside small widgets for your Calendar, Weather, and Docs. As for the Quick Insert key, I lone utilized it to substance emojis oregon for speedy entree to GIFs to nonstop to coworkers successful Slack. That’s plentifulness utile for the memelords, but not overmuch else.

After utilizing it for a week, I loved the caller Focus features. You tin acceptable it to clip retired your absorption tasks, reducing pop-ups and different distractions. You tin alteration it with YouTube Music, but there’s a tiny enactment of “Focus Sounds” to perceive to instead. There are tracks to emulate a thunderstorm, with rainfall pattering connected an invisible roof, oregon you could take the “classical” way to serenade yourself with brushed strings and brass arsenic you work. I lone privation you had much power implicit each playlist and that determination were much to take from. Google besides integrated Google Tasks straight into the taskbar supra the calendar function. It’s elemental but effective, particularly if you’re the benignant that needs a reminder each fewer hours astir what it was you were expected to beryllium doing.

The dependable prime is impressive, peculiarly erstwhile utilizing headphones. The show is excellent, but the slim plan does not enactment its relation arsenic a implicit all-in-one amusement device.

Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus Review: Display and Sound

One of the Galaxy Chromebook’s biggest selling points is its 15.6-inch AMOLED display. It’s a bully size, and the 1080p solution is bully capable for streaming YouTube oregon Netflix. The surface was besides plentifulness agleam for my use, truthful I archetypal relied connected it to gaffe into my apartment’s surviving area, wherever it gets the astir sun.

Yes, it looks great, but its sheet has a refresh complaint of lone 60Hz. That’s good for streaming video content, but what if I wanted to load up Game Pass oregon Geforce Now for immoderate crippled streaming connected this bright, beauteous screen? At this terms point, I’d privation a 120Hz sheet similar the Acer Chromebook 516 GE.

Unfortunately, the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus doesn’t dependable arsenic bully arsenic it looks. It tin get loud, but it’s inactive precise tinny, which is surely not the prime you privation to ticker your favourite movies portion huddled connected the furniture with your important other.

Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus Review: Performance and Battery Life

© Photo: Kyle Barr / Gizmodo

The laptop uses an Intel Core 3 100U Raptor Lake processor released successful January, earlier each the hubbub astir the Qualcomm Snapdragon, AMD Strix Point, and Intel Lunar Lake for bladed PCs. It’s an entry-level chip, but it’s bully astatine that level. However, it doesn’t person the artillery beingness of these astir caller $1,000-plus laptops.

The instrumentality couldn’t beryllium called loud, but I was amazed to perceive it whirring arsenic the instrumentality handled 3 abstracted Chrome windows and an outer display. The laptop could besides get comparatively lukewarm nether stress, but you would lone consciousness it if you held it from the bottom. I ne'er noticed immoderate instances wherever the vigor impacted performance.

The Galaxy Chromebook Plus besides has 8GB of RAM, much than you usually get with a Chromebook Plus model. Because of this, the Chromebook was speedy for astir tasks, but moving it with each those windows and excessively galore unfastened tabs caused maine to acquisition immoderate cursor slowdowns and occasional hitching.

Battery beingness utilized to beryllium 1 of the defining benefits of Chromebooks, but different tiny Windows PCs person since eclipsed them. Samsung promises 13 hours of artillery life, though that was based connected the Chromebook powerfulness load test. I recovered I could get betwixt six and 7 hours earlier I needed to recharge. It’s not bad, and I utilized it with excessively galore unfastened tabs, arsenic I usually do. It conscionable won’t beryllium a multi-day laptop.

Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus Review: AI Additions

© Photo: Kyle Barr / Gizmodo

New Chromebook Plus models are expected to athletics the Quick Access cardinal landing connected the Caps Lock abstraction wherever the aged “G” cardinal utilized to beryllium (don’t worry, the Launcher fastener has caller abstraction adjacent to the near Alt key). The Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus is the archetypal of its benignant to get this addition. This has a fewer benefits. It lets you entree files you past had unfastened and spot a imaginable URL nexus you could adhd to immoderate text. However, its main raison d’etre is to springiness you contiguous entree to AI penning capabilities.

However, I person superior doubts astir whether anyone should usage this for thing beyond outlining oregon brainstorming. I asked Google’s Gemini to constitute a paragraph explaining the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus specs conscionable to beryllium a point. Gemini spat retired respective options for a paragraph and provided inaccuracies astir the display, CPU, size, and more. It volition confidently prevarication astir things it does not person the close accusation about, and that’s a problem.

Even the proofread relation is little adjuvant than it should be. It doesn’t archer you what parts of a highlighted paragraph volition change. This is each with a Gemini Advanced subscription, which is Google’s most-capable LLM disposable to Chromebook users from the desktop.

And, of course, there’s Gemini Advanced. All caller Chromebook Plus buyers get 12 months escaped of Google’s much precocious chatbot, positive 2TB of unreality storage. Gemini Advanced comes with a fewer “Gems” similar coding partners; depending connected the user, it could beryllium useful. Based connected Google’s suggestion, I asked the “Brainstormer” Gem to assistance maine make acquisition ideas for a person who likes Baldur’s Gate III. To beryllium succinct, it’s acquisition ideas perfectly sucked. Its champion thought was to springiness a acquisition paper oregon a garment to a section crippled shop.

Don’t bargain this oregon immoderate different caller Chromebook due to the fact that of its AI capabilities. That said, if you usage on-device dependable recorders, you’ll find the caller AI-generated transcriptions and summaries connected the ChromeOS Recorder App, which aren’t excessively bad.

Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus Review: Verdict

The much I utilized the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus, the much I endeared myself to it. It’s the Chromebook I could spot idiosyncratic replacing their laptop with. It has capable ports and a coagulated display, but without each the small extras, similar a higher refresh complaint and amended speakers, I would inevitably consciousness similar I’m missing something. I would privation a Chromebook without compromise for the terms you’re paying.

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