At $700, the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus is one of the best-feeling Chromebooks you can buy this year. However, even with the quality screen, chassis, and feel, it falls short in some key areas. I’ve enjoyed many of the new features that have been introduced to Chromebooks over the past two years. But are these devices now true AI laptops, thanks to Google’s Gemini? No, it’s not.
Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus
It’s a great Chromebook, but it lacks the features that will keep it from being your all-in-one entertainment device.
Benefits
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Excellent, bright AMOLED display
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Chromebook features like functions and focus are great additions
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Many ports
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Good performance and adequate battery life
Evil
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Thin, thin sound quality
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The AI features don’t add much
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The 60 Hz refresh rate is fine, but less than what I want for game streaming
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A Chromebook is more expensive
I love a good Chromebook as much as anyone, and the Chromebook Plus models are a solid upgrade to what are still very affordable laptops. There are a few places where you can get a “Plus” laptop for basic browsing, streaming, and more powerful cloud-based tasks for around $350, like the Lenovo Chromebook Duet 11. With a business-grade chassis, this device costs about as much as the Asus ExpertBook CX54 Chromebook Plus. The Samsung device is also the first Chromebook to use the new Quick Access Key (where you find your Caps Lock button). Quick access to Gemini AI is certainly not worth the extra cost, so what is?
What the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus has going for it is a great feel, from the chassis to the I/O port selection on the bottom to the open keyboard. He is very young; one Google PR representative was happy to show how the new Galaxy Chromebook Plus was as thick as two standard Pokémon cards. A very detailed metric, sure, but at 11.8 mm thin, there’s no pocket or wall crack it won’t fit.
It has a solid battery life lasting just over 10 hours after occasional use. The Samsung-brand Chromebook also packs a near-16-inch quality AMOLED display that feels comfortably wide. That, along with a keyboard with a full numpad and an HDMI port with a solid I/O selection, make it an excellent all-rounder. It also comes with 256GB of storage for your content outside of the cloud, more than you usually get elsewhere. Running on an Intel Core 3 chip is what you need with a regular Chromebook CPU. At the same time, it has a minimum of 8GB of RAM to qualify for Chromebook Plus status.
Well, aside from the touchscreen or any other notable features, save for the thin chassis, there’s not much about this Chromebook that makes me happy to recommend it for $700. You can’t get better if you want a solid Chromebook and don’t mind the cost.
Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus Review: Build Quality and Usability
The Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus sits at .47-inch tall and weighs 2.58 pounds. Yes, it’s light, very light, but better than that, it still feels solid. The chassis has some bending in the middle (not nearly as bad as the Acer Swift 16 AI), especially on the palm rest. Otherwise, the laptop feels premium, and you have the added benefit of the interesting blue color of the cover. The only problem is that the device tends to shine with your oily fingers and palms, which need to be wiped regularly. There’s also the added benefit of more I/O ports, including two USB-C, USB type A, HDMI, and a Micro-SD card slot.
See the Galaxy Chromebook Plus from Samsung
The keyboard and trackpad feel fine. The small keys aren’t too firm, though they still have a clacky feel without being squishy. The clickpad-type trackpad has a smooth texture, though not quite as smooth as the glass surface. I’ve only had a few cases of palm rejection issues, but not enough that I’m concerned with long-term use. Overall, it’s top quality, especially since you don’t get a touchscreen on this model.
After that, it all depends on the ChromeOS software. Easily, my favorite part of the latest updates is the Welcome Recap. It loads every time you restart your Chromebook, allowing you to see what you’ve just been working on, alongside small widgets for your Calendar, Weather, and Documents. As for the Quick Insert key, I’ve used it to write emojis or quickly access GIFs to send to coworkers on Slack. That’s very useful for memelords, but not much else.
After using it for a week, I liked the new features of the Focus. You can set it to block time for your focused tasks, reduce pop-ups and other distractions. You can enable it with YouTube Music, but there are “Fixed Sounds” that you can choose to listen to. There are tracks to simulate thunderstorms, with rain falling on an invisible ceiling, or you can choose a “classic” track to enjoy soft strings and brass as you work. I only wish you had more control over the entire playlist and that there were more options. Google has also integrated Google Tasks directly into the taskbar in addition to the calendar function. It’s simple but effective, especially if you’re the type who needs a reminder every few hours about what you’re supposed to be doing.
The sound quality is amazing, especially when using headphones. The display is great, but the small design doesn’t support its role as a complete all-in-one entertainment device.
Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus Review: Display and Sound
One of the biggest selling points of the Galaxy Chromebook is its 15.6-inch AMOLED display. It’s a good size, and the 1080p resolution is perfect for streaming YouTube or Netflix. The screen was also very bright for my use, so I initially relied on it to get into the living area of my apartment, where we get a lot of sun.
Yes, it looks good, but its panel only has a 60Hz refresh rate. That’s fine for streaming video content, but what would I do if I wanted to load up Game Pass or Geforce Now with some game streaming on this bright, beautiful screen? At this price point, I’d go for a 120Hz panel like the Acer Chromebook 516 GE.
Unfortunately, the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus doesn’t sound as good as it looks. It can be popular, but it’s still very small, which is definitely not the quality you want to watch your favorite movies while curled up in bed with your significant other.
Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Extended Review: Performance and Battery Life
The laptop uses the Intel Core 3 100U Raptor Lake processor that was released in January, before all the hubbub surrounding Qualcomm Snapdragon, AMD Strix Point, and Intel Lunar Lake for thin PCs. It’s an entry-level chip, but it’s good at that level. However, it doesn’t have the battery life of these latest $1,000-plus laptops.
The fan couldn’t be called loud, but I was surprised to hear it blowing as the device sports three separate Chrome windows and an external display. The laptop might get warm under pressure, but you would only feel it if you were holding it from the ground. I have not noticed any cases where the heat has affected performance.
The Galaxy Chromebook Plus also has 8GB of RAM, more than you’d normally find with a Chromebook Plus model. Because of this, the Chromebook was faster for most tasks, but running it with all those windows and multiple tabs open caused me to experience cursor lag and occasional crashes.
Battery life used to be one of the defining advantages of Chromebooks, but other small Windows PCs have since eclipsed it. Samsung promises 13 hours of battery life, although that was based on a Chromebook’s load test. I found that I could get between six and seven hours before I had to recharge. It’s not bad, and I used it with multiple tabs open, as I usually do. It just won’t be a multi-day laptop.
Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus review: AI additions
The new Chromebook Plus models should sport a Quick Access key in the Caps Lock slot where the old “G” key used to be (don’t worry, the launcher button has a new slot next to the Alt key on the left). The Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus is the first of its kind to get this addition. This has several advantages. It allows you to access files that you have recently opened and see a possible URL link that you can add to another document. However, its main raison d’etre is to give you instant access to AI writing skills.
However, I have serious doubts about whether anyone should use this for anything other than explanation or reasoning. I asked Gemini from Google to write a section detailing the specifications of the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus to prove the point. The Gemini featured several role options and offered some inaccuracies in terms of display, CPU, size, and more. It will confidently lie about things about which it has no correct knowledge, and that is a problem.
Even the proofreading function is less useful than it should be. It doesn’t tell you which parts of the highlighted section will change. All this with a subscription to Gemini Advanced, which is Google’s most powerful LLM available to Chromebook users from the desktop.
And, of course, there’s Gemini Advanced. All new Chromebook Plus buyers get 12 months free of Google’s most advanced chatbot, and 2TB of cloud storage. Gemini Advanced comes with a few “jewels” like coding partners; depending on the user, it may prove useful. Based on Google’s suggestion, I asked the “Brainstormer” Gem to help me develop some gift ideas for a friend who likes Baldur’s Gate III. In short, the gift ideas are completely absorbing. Their best idea was to give a gift card or shirt to a local sports store.
Don’t buy this or any other new Chromebook because of its AI capabilities. That said, if you’re using on-device voice recorders, you’ll get new AI-generated transcripts and summaries in the ChromeOS Recorder app, which isn’t too bad.
Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus review: Verdict
The more I used the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus, the more I liked it. A Chromebook that I can see someone replacing their laptop with. It has enough ports and a solid display, but without all the little extras, like a higher refresh rate and better speakers, I’ll definitely feel like something is missing. I would prefer a Chromebook without compromise for the price you pay.
See the Galaxy Chromebook Plus from Samsung
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