Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus Review: Sleek, Stylish, and Powerful

When it comes to premium laptops, the new Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus delivers on many fronts. It is slim, lightweight, and offers fast daily performance, with a beautiful and large OLED screen. It is one of the Chromebook Plus models, featuring faster processors as well as more RAM and storage.

While Samsung has left a good impression with this Chromebook device, there are still some drawbacks to be discovered. Firstly, the Chromebook is quite expensive, especially for a device that does not have a touchscreen display. The other is the offset keyboard, which I struggled with. Regardless of the nitpicks, I must give it to Samsung for creating one of the thinnest Chromebooks they’ve ever worked on. It’s not an easy feat!

Read more: Best Chromebooks for 2024: Overall Best, Best Battery Life, and More

Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus: Specs and Features

The Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus comes in one configuration (to my knowledge). Inside, you’ll find an Intel Core 3 100U processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD storage. You’ll also get a 15.6-inch display with a resolution of 1080 pixels, a 1080p webcam, and a 68-watt-hour battery. It is currently available at Samsung for $699.99. For more details, check out the specification list below:

• CPU: Intel Core 3 100U
• RAM: 8GB
• Graphics: Intel Graphics
• Display: 15.6-inch AMOLED, 1920×1080, 60Hz (no touchscreen)
• Storage: 256GB SSD
• Webcam: 1080p
• Connectivity: 1 HDMI, 2 USB-C, 1 USB-A 3.2, microSD, 1 3.5mm audio jack
• Battery Capacity: 68 watt-hours
• Dimensions: 225.8 × 355.4 × 11.8 mm
• Weight: 2.58 pounds
• MSRP: $699

Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus: Design and Build Quality

When I unboxed the Galaxy Chromebook Plus, I was truly amazed by how slim it is. My colleague Michael Kreider, who had the opportunity to take a look at this laptop before I got my hands on it, couldn’t help but comment on its sleekness. Weighing 2.58 pounds and measuring 0.46 inches at its thickest point on the laptop, it barely weighed me down or felt burdensome as I moved around different rooms throughout the day (I work remotely, by the way!). It was easy to carry with one hand, although I don’t recommend doing that with any laptop.

The “Neptune Blue” color is beautiful and changes based on lighting conditions, somewhat resembling Princess Aurora’s ever-changing dress in Sleeping Beauty. In natural lighting, specifically with sunlight streaming through my kitchen window, the structure appeared dark blue like the depths of the ocean. But when I took a picture of the laptop with the flash on, the structure looked more silvery than blue. It’s a fantastic effect. I don’t think I’ve seen a similar effect on other laptops, so kudos to Samsung for this one!

Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus: Keyboard and Trackpad

The offset keyboard (including the number pad) took some getting used to as it is larger than the keyboard I use daily (my personal laptop is 13 inches), but once I settled into a rhythm, I typed well in my usual manner. However, the backspace key remained a point of frustration for me as it is positioned right next to the number pad.

I don’t have a number pad on my personal laptop keyboard, so I kept accidentally pressing the plus and minus keys whenever I made a typo. Including a number pad is great if you’re into number crunching, but it’s not necessary for someone like me (who primarily works with words).

I found myself needing to make use of the Quick Insert key (also known as the caps lock key) because I’m a millennial and contractually obligated to know the art of responding to GIFs closely. Pressing the Insert key brings up a small menu. Not only can you quickly access GIFs, but you can also access Google Drive and Google AI, which can help you write a thank you note. It’s a great feature, but I only used it for sending GIFs and solving one or two equations.

The trackpad is huge and occupies a significant amount of space below the keyboard. It’s not a touchpad, it’s not vibrating, and it mimics the feel of physical buttons. It’s just a traditional one. I don’t have strong opinions about traditional versus touch trackpads, so I didn’t mind it, but some people really stand by the tactile diversity. During usage, the trackpad responded well to clicks and swipes. In fact, using the trackpad was easier than using the keyboard.

Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus: Display, Webcam, Speakers

The large 1920×1080 AMOLED screen is vibrant and full of colors, as expected given Samsung’s reputation for producing high-quality screens. When I watched Beetlejuice, a movie filled with dark scenes, I was surprised by the amount of detail I could see in those scenes, especially when the camera panned over the typical town of Adam Maitland at the beginning.

The image quality on this screen is excellent, but I was surprised that it is not a touchscreen display. The Samsung Galaxy Chromebook costs $699.99 at MSRP, which is a bit expensive for a Chromebook device without a touchscreen display, a standout feature I expected to see in this price range. It’s not a deal-breaker, especially if you prefer a non-touch display, but it is somewhat disappointing in my book. It was marketed as a premium Chromebook device, wasn’t it? Shouldn’t Samsung be pulling out all the stops?

All Chromebook Plus models come with 1080p webcams, which are perfectly suitable for Zoom meetings or team meetings. When I used the 1080p webcam on my Samsung Galaxy phone, I was pleased to find that I didn’t look half-dead! I have very fair skin, so I tend to absorb light which makes me look like a pale creature from the shadows. The orange part of my sweater also popped. Overall, I was very happy with the webcam performance, although it sometimes looks a bit darker at the frame edges.

As for the speakers, they are good but not excellent. I know this is a lukewarm response, but laptop speakers often leave a little to be desired. Many of them fire downwards (including the Samsung Galaxy), losing accuracy and clarity. However, the speakers can be used when watching YouTube videos and listening to podcast files. If you’re watching a movie, I recommend connecting a pair of headphones for a better audio experience.

Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus: Connectivity

The port options on this thin machine are surprisingly diverse. On the left side of the Samsung Galaxy, you’ll see two USB-C ports and one HDMI port. On the right side, you’ll find one USB-A port, one microSD port, and a 3.5mm audio jack. The inclusion of USB-A and HDMI is particularly impressive, as the slots designated for them are long and wide. You can do a lot of useful things with this laptop like connecting to a monitor (via HDMI) or transferring files and photos (via a microSD card).

Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus: Performance

The Intel Core 3 100U processor powering this laptop excels in speed and efficiency. There’s evidence of that in my daily usage, which includes binge-watching Netflix’s Outlander, writing emails, browsing social media, and working on Google documents. I didn’t notice any performance lag or delays when switching from one open tab to another. It uses the Raptor Lake-U architecture, which was first unveiled in January 2024. It has six cores and eight threads. Depending on what you’re doing, it can boost up to 4.7 GHz.

We ran our usual set of browser-based Chromebook benchmarks, and here are the results:

• CrXPRT 2: 170
• Speedometer 2.0: 318
• Basemark Web 3.0: 1335.19
• Kraken: 428.7 milliseconds
• JetStream 2: 294.324

These are great scores! Based on these numbers alone, the performance can be compared to the Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook device, featuring an Intel Core i3-1315U CPU. The Lenovo Flex 5i scored 177 points on the CrXPRT 2 test, which is 4.1% faster than the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus. By the way, the CrXPRT 2 benchmark sets out to gauge how well a Chromebook device handles daily tasks like homework completion, photo editing, etc. However, the difference is marginal. I doubt you’ll notice the performance difference between the two devices.

The Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook device is slightly faster than the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus, but both offer strong daily performance in equal measure. The Samsung Galaxy is well-equipped in terms of hardware.

Read more: How We Test Laptops at PCWorld

Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus: Battery Life

Samsung claims you can get 13 hours of battery life from this device, but I didn’t quite reach that number in my daily usage. The closest I got was around eight hours, which is not a bad result by any means. However, I not only tended to raise the brightness because my eyesight is awful, but I also had plenty of tabs open, both of which ultimately affect battery life. When I subjected the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus to the CrXPRT 2 battery test, I got a better result.

The Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus died after about 12 hours. It’s close enough to Samsung’s original claim, but I dimmed the brightness to 50% and turned off the backlight to the keyboard, which may explain this jump. On the other hand, the Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714, which costs the same as the Samsung Galaxy Chrome