Remember, it’s been a few years since Samsung gave it a shot at creating a high-end Chromebook. Last year the company launched the initial Galaxy Chromebook which costs $999 and has an aesthetically pleasing 4K OLED display that only manages to provide five hours of battery life when usage is remote from a power source. I expect the firm fixed these flaws in the 2021 model with an ordinary screen and a larger size accompanied by an increase in its weight and reduced price $300, a fair tradeoff since battery life was greatly enhanced.
Since then, Google has also created the Chromebook Plus program, which tries to unify Chromebook specifications to provide customers a more uniform experience. And today, Samsung has introduced its first addition to that lineup: the Galaxy Chromebook Plus. It’s a bit different than most of the other laptops in that category, though, with a massive 15.6-inch OLED screen and a design that’s exceptionally thin and light for its size. It reminds me a little bit of the 15-inch MacBook Air, while its design is definitely Samsung. The Galaxy Chromebook Plus also has more of Google’s AI capabilities integrated into it than any Chromebook thus far, including to a new “Quick Insert” key that allows instant access to Gemini.
Hardware And Design: Not Your Ordinary Chromebook
First, though, the nice stuff. On the Galaxy Chromebook Plus you get a full HD, 1080p, 15.6 inch screen with decent amounts of brightness and good viewing angles. A little surprisingly though, it has no touchscreen. Lots of Chromebooks do, as it makes interacting with some Android apps easier. But after I got acclimated to the notion that poking the screen did nothing, I didn’t particularly miss it. Samsung says it’s the only Chromebook Plus with an AMOLED display, and while I wouldn’t mind a greater resolution, I know it would lead to worse battery life. All told, I think Samsung made the right option not to go for 4K, especially considering that a computer this small doesn’t have as much room for a bigger battery.
Speaking of: this laptop is incredibly slim. It’s less than half an inch thick (0.46 inches to be precise) and weighs only 2.58 pounds. That’s virtually the same thickness as the 13- and 15-inch MacBook Air, yet the Galaxy Chromebook Plus is lighter than both. It’s well-suited to going anyplace without being too much of a strain, not something you get often on a laptop with a huge screen. Despite its thin-and-light design, Samsung didn’t compromise on connectors here: it features HDMI, two USB-C ports (one of which you’ll need for charging), a microSDXC slot (that I wish was normal microSD), a headphone jack and an old-school USB-A port.
As part of the Chromebook Plus range, this notebook exceeds the minimal spec requirements. It couples an Intel Core 3 100U CPU announced earlier this year with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. That’s more than enough power for a Chromebook in this day and age, and I had no complaints with its performance across the board.
While the Galaxy Chromebook Plus is extremely slim, its 15.6-inch screen makes carrying it a bit uncomfortable. Thanks to its 16:9 aspect ratio, the laptop has strong surfer vibes - it’s just incredibly broad, and it’s a tight fit in my backpack. Furthermore, the 16:9 aspect ratio makes the screen feel smaller than it really is. The 1080p display defaults to a scaled resolution that works out to 1,600 x 900, almost 100 less vertical pixels than my 14-inch MacBook Pro. I’ve been shouting into the abyss for years now that the 16:9 aspect ratio is just not suitable for modern computing, given the verticality of almost every online site. I’d be more better with a smaller panel that delivered more vertical pixels, but that’s just me.
My actual complaint is that Samsung opted to put a number pad on the keyboard. This could be my own personal peculiarity, but I normally can’t tolerate number pads since I’d much prefer have my hands centered underneath the display. I always feel somewhat off-kilter and imbalanced using a laptop with a number pad, and that led to me making significantly more errors than I typically do. I’m sure if it was my only computer, I’d adjust and get used to it – but I don’t believe I’d ever truly enjoy it. For me, the tradeoff just isn’t worth the number pad. I also found myself activating the trackpad by grazing it with the side of my hands while typing more often than I’d prefer. I finally learned to how to type comfortably and avoid the touchpad, but between that and the number pad I felt the Galaxy Chromebook Plus’s typing experience isn’t as nice as some other Chromebooks I’ve used.
ChromeOS and Gemini
That’s the good and bad of the gear, but that’s only half of the picture. By now, the normal restrictions of ChromeOS are well-known: it’s still a mostly web-based system, although Android applications may enhance its functionality. There are also many of online programs that are well suited for ChromeOS, and Google Docs offers a robust offline mode at this time. And if you have a current Android phone, ChromeOS offers a rather rich feature set when you attach it to your Chromebook, including shared notifications and streaming of select apps directly to your laptop.
Google has also introduced a number of clever and helpful features to ChromeOS over the last year or two that make it more usable. For example, tapping the date on the taskbar brings up your whole Google calendar and anything in the Tasks app, making it a fast spot to check what you have scheduled for the day without having to delve into the full Calendar or Tasks experience. There’s also a new “focus” option for times you want to sit down and concentrate. It turns on Do Not Disturb, sets a timer and lets you choose a YouTube Music playlist or some “focus sounds” like ambient or classical music, or even the sounds of nature. It’s a simple thing, but there are a lot of clever things like that now in ChromeOS that make it seem like much more than simply a browser.
Naturally, AI is a greater element of ChromeOS than ever. In addition to the “help me write” features and recommendations that come up when you touch the Quick Insert key, Gemini is a click away with an app shortcut in the toolbar by default. There are also a few silly AI features tossed in, including a wallpaper generator with eight distinct categories to pick from (landscape, surreal, dreamscape, classic art and so on). Once you choose one, you’ll get a few more fields you can change to obtain a handful more AI creations you may set as your wallpaper. You don’t get complete creative power here; normally there are two items you may modify in each question. They’re hit or miss, but I did appreciate the “classic art” avant-garde beach scene I drew.
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There’s also a beta test of the “help me read” tool that’ll summarize papers, PDFs and web pages. I produced a PDF of this review from Google Docs and had the AI summarize it, which it did with no mistakes but also with very little description. I asked it questions regarding the substance of the text and it answered them properly, as well. And the Magic Editor embedded into Google Photos on Pixel phones is also accessible on Chromebook Plus models, letting you tweak the reality of your images to your heart's content. None of this stuff is necessary to me, but that’s certainly the way we’re heading, like it or not. One bright point is that Google gives a full year of its $20/month Google One with AI subscription to Chromebook Plus purchasers, this Samsung model included. That buys you 2TB of Drive storage and access to Gemini Advanced, Gemini in Google Docs and Gmail, as well as a few other AI bonuses. I don’t think it’s required at this time, but getting to experience it for a whole year is a really fantastic deal.
Finally, there’s the ever-present concern of battery life. I’m getting between six and a half and eight hours off the battery, depending on what I’m doing; as usual, video conversations really put a pain on things. That’s not terrible, but it’s still fairly distant from the 13 hours Samsung promises. I don’t know what I’d have to accomplish to get close to that mark. One day, with intense use, I burnt up two-thirds of the battery in less than four hours. That’s very normal for virtually all Chromebooks I’ve tried in recent years, and my assumption is that with Intel chips we’re not going to see things change in any substantial manner.
Wrap-up
Despite my worries, I truly loved my time with the Galaxy Chromebook Plus. I probably wouldn’t chose it as my own personal computer, because the number pad I won’t use just makes things too difficult. But there’s also a lot to enjoy here - it’s so much lighter and thinner than other Chromebooks I typically use that it is a treat to travel with, despite the fact that its width is a touch awkward. And while I wish there was more vertical screen resolution, I did love having such a huge display paired in a fairly portable gadget.
For the right sort of consumer, the Galaxy Chromebook Plus could be precisely what you’re looking for (particularly if the prospect of a number pad on the keyboard excites you). For me, though, the little more dull but durable Acer Chromebook Spin 714 Plus remains my favorite premium Chromebook. But Samsung has put out a strong effort here, and I hope they continue on this path with future Chromebooks — Acer and Lenovo could use the competition.
