Expert rating
Strong Points
- cool design
- thin and light
- speedy performance
Cons
- no touch screen
- expensive
- Battery life is not long
our verdict
Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus offers powerful processing performance and a paper-thin design. However, the battery life could be better, and it lacks some premium features that were expected given the price of this laptop.
Price at time of review
This value displays price text based on the geolocation of an undefined product.
Today’s best price
Price at time of review
$699.99
Today’s lowest price: Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus
$699.99
$699.99
When it comes to premium laptops, the new Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus ticks a lot of boxes. It’s thin and light, everyday performance is snappy and efficient, and the OLED display is beautiful and large. This is one of the Chromebook Plus models with a faster processor and more RAM and storage.
Samsung has made quite an impression with this Chromebook, but we still find some flaws. First, Chromebooks are quite expensive, especially those without touchscreens. The other thing is the offset keyboard, which I had a hard time with. All nitpicks aside, I have to hand it to Samsung for making one of the thinnest Chromebooks I’ve ever worked on. It’s never easy.
Read more: Best Chromebooks of 2024: Best overall, battery life, and more
Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus: Specifications and features
There is only one configuration for the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus (as far as I know). Under the hood, it has an Intel Core 3 100U processor, 8GB RAM, and 256GB SSD storage. It also has a 15.6-inch 1080p display, 1080p webcam, and 68Wh battery. It’s currently on sale at Samsung for $699.99. Please check the specification list below for more details.
- CPU: Intel Core 3 100U
- Memory: 8GB
- graphic: intel graphics
- screen: 15.6 inch AMOLED, 1920×1080, 60Hz (non-touch)
- Storage: 256GB SSD
- Webcam: 1080p
- Connectivity: HDMI x 1, USB-C x 2, USB-A 3.2 x 1, microSD, 3.5mm audio jack x 1
- Battery capacity: 68Wh
- size: 225.8×355.4×11.8mm
- Weight: 2.58 pounds
- Manufacturer’s suggested retail price: $699
The “Neptune Blue” colorway is beautiful and changes depending on lighting conditions. It’s like changing Princess Aurora’s dress. sleeping beauty.
Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus: Design, build quality
IDG / Ashley Biancuzzo
When I took the Galaxy Chromebook Plus out of the box, I was really surprised at how thin it was. My colleague Michael Crider had a chance to look at the laptop before I got it, and couldn’t help but comment on its refinement. It weighs 2.58 pounds and measures 0.46 inches at the thickest part of the laptop. As someone who likes to work in different rooms throughout the day (I work remotely, by the way!), my laptop never felt heavy or a pain to carry around. It’s also easy to carry with one hand, but I don’t recommend doing that with a laptop.
The “Neptune Blue” coloring is beautiful and changes depending on the light, making it look like Princess Aurora changing her dress. sleeping beauty. In natural light, the sun shining through the kitchen window, the chassis looked deep blue, like the deep ocean. However, when I took a photo of the laptop with the flash on, the chassis looked more silver than blue. That’s a cool effect. I don’t think I’ve seen this effect on any other laptop, so kudos to Samsung for this laptop.
Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus: Keyboard, trackpad
IDG / Ashley Biancuzzo
The offset keyboard (with numeric keypad) took a little time to get used to, as it’s larger than the keyboards I use on a daily basis (my personal laptop is 13 inches), but once I got used to it, I got used to it. Once I got it done, I was able to input without any problems using my usual keyboard. pace. That said, the backspace key is located right next to the numeric keypad, so it was still a point of frustration for me.
My laptop keyboard doesn’t have a number pad, so I was accidentally holding down the plus and minus keys every time I deleted a typo. The inclusion of a numeric keypad is great if you’re interested in crunching numbers, but if you’re like me (who works primarily with words) you don’t need it.
I felt the need to use the Quick Insert key (also known as the Caps key) because I’m a millennial and am contractually obligated to master the art of GIF responses. When you press the Insert key, a small(ish) menu will appear. Not only do you have quick access to GIFs, but you can also easily access Google Drive and Google AI to help you write thank you notes. It’s a great feature, but I didn’t use it for anything other than sending GIFs and calculating a formula or two.
The trackpad is quite large and takes up a lot of space under the keyboard. This is not a tactile trackpad that vibrates, emulating the feel of physical buttons. It’s just traditional. I don’t have strong opinions on either traditional or haptic trackpads, so it didn’t bother me, but some people support haptic versatility. In use, the trackpad responds well to taps and swipes. In fact, I found it easier to use the trackpad than the keyboard.
Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus: Display, webcam, and speakers
IDG / Ashley Biancuzzo
The 1920×1080 AMOLED display is large and imposing at 15.6 inches, and the bezels are so thin that they’re barely there. The images produced are sharp and colorful, which isn’t surprising since Samsung is known for producing high-quality displays. when i saw beetlejuice beetlejuice (Yes, it’s already available to stream.) This movie has a lot of dark scenes, but I love the amount of detail you can see in those scenes, especially when the camera first pans over Adam Maitland’s model town. I was surprised.
The picture quality on this display is great, but it’s a shame that it’s not a touchscreen. The Samsung Galaxy’s MSRP is $699.99, which is expensive for a Chromebook, so expectations were high from the start. This isn’t a huge issue, especially if you prefer a non-touch display, but it’s a bit disappointing in my opinion. It’s sold as a premium Chromebook. Shouldn’t Samsung have done everything possible?
All Chromebook Plus models come with a 1080p webcam, perfect for Zoom and team meetings. When I turned on my Samsung Galaxy’s 1080p webcam, I was happy that I didn’t look half-dead. My skin is very white, so it absorbs light easily and looks like a pale creature from the shadows. The orange part of the sweater really stood out as well. Overall, I was generally happy with the webcam’s performance, although the edges of the frame sometimes appeared dark.
As for the speakers, they’re OK, but not great. I know that’s a lukewarm response, but laptop speakers often leave a bit to be desired. Many of them fire downward (Samsung Galaxy included), which means they lose punch and clarity. That said, this speaker is useful if you want to watch YouTube videos or listen to podcasts. If you are watching a movie, we recommend connecting headphones for a better audio experience.
Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus: Connectivity
IDG / Ashley Biancuzzo
For such a low-profile machine, the port selection is surprisingly diverse. The left side of the Samsung Galaxy has two USB-C ports and one HDMI port. The right side has one USB-A port, one microSD port, and one 3.5mm audio jack. The USB-A and HDMI inclusions are particularly impressive, with those slots being both tall and wide. You can do many useful things with this laptop, such as connecting to a monitor (via HDMI) and offloading files and photos (via microSD).
Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus: Performance
The Intel Core 3 100U mobile processor that powers this machine is fast and efficient. There’s evidence of this in my everyday usage, like binge-watching Netflix movies. outlandercompose emails, read social media, write in Google Docs, and more. I didn’t notice any slowness or lag in rendering when jumping from one open tab to another. This processor uses the Raptor Lake-U architecture, which was first introduced in January 2024. It has a total of 6 cores and 8 threads. Depending on your work, you can boost up to 4.7GHz.
I ran my usual suite of browser-based Chromebook benchmarks. The scores are:
- CrXPRT2:170
- Speedometer 2.0: 318
- Basemark Web 3.0: 1335.19
- Kraken: 428.7ms
- Jet Stream 2: 294.324
That’s a great score! Based on these numbers alone, performance is comparable to the Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus with an Intel Core i3-1315U CPU. The Lenovo Flex 5i has a CrXPRT 2 score of 177, which is 4.1% faster than the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus. By the way, the CrXPRT 2 benchmark determines how fast a Chromebook handles everyday tasks like completing homework and editing photos. However, the difference is small. I doubt you’ll notice a difference in performance between the two machines.
Admittedly, the Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus is slightly faster than the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus, but both offer equally strong everyday performance. Samsung Galaxy is well equipped as far as hardware is concerned.
Read more: How PCWorld tests laptops
Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus: Battery life
Samsung claims you’ll get 13 hours of battery life with this machine, but I never reached that number in my daily use. The number I reached was close to 8 hours, which is not bad at all. That said, I not only turn up the brightness because my eyes stink, but I also have a lot of tabs open, both of which ultimately affect battery life. However, when we applied the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus to the CrXPRT 2 battery benchmark, we got better results.
My Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus failed after about 12 hours. This is close enough to Samsung’s original claim, but I turned down the brightness to 50% and turned off the keyboard backlight, which may explain this variation. The Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714, on the other hand, is about the same price as the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus and had similar performance, lasting 15.1 hours on a single charge. Want to improve your battery life? Of course! This result came as a bit of a surprise, since Chromebooks are generally known for their long battery life. It’s not the end of the world, but if I was buying a $700 Chromebook, I expected something better.
Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus: Conclusion
The Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus is an exciting, if not explosive, addition to the Chromebook world. It’s almost paper-thin, making it a great portable option for people who are always on the go, and it’s so lightweight that you’ll barely notice it in your bag. Day-to-day performance is lightning-fast and the unique colorway will definitely turn heads, but it will take some time to learn how to use the keyboard, and the Quick Insert key is hardly a necessary feature. AMOLED displays produce beautiful images but lack touch functionality. This is a shame considering the high price of this machine.
The Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus is a near-perfect device, but its price ($699.99 MSRP) is a bit high for a laptop without a touchscreen. This is a premium feature that you would expect at this price point. Marble statues always have cracks, right? Wait for a sale before hitting the buy button. Until then, why not check out the Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714, which has the same price as the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus but with a touchscreen and 2-in-1 form factor.
