Review: Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus

Samsung set out to make the thinnest and lightest Chromebook Plus laptop on the market, and it succeeded with the new Galaxy Chromebook Plus. At just 0.46 inches thick and 2.58 pounds, it's among the thinnest and one of the lightest computers right now. Naturally, the first question that came to my mind was: What did the company sacrifice to reach those slim dimensions? Turns out, not much at all.

It’s hard to overstate the unique experience of holding the Galaxy Chromebook Plus when you first take it out of the box. After reviewing a slate of other great Chromebooks that offer plenty of power but in a chunkier frame, this laptop feels like a breath of fresh air. Even as thin and light as it is, its weight is extremely well-balanced with premium materials throughout.

The Galaxy Chromebook Plus comes in just one color, but it’s a beautiful blue metal hue that pops under the right light. In some lighting, it can almost appear as a bluish gray, which is a neat effect. Meanwhile, the keyboard deck and the rest of the body are sturdy black plastic with very little flex.

Photograph: Daniel Thorp-Lancaster

Samsung's first Chromebook Plus is powered by an Intel Core 3 100U processor with 8 GB of RAM and a 256-GB solid state drive. This is a typical combination for Chromebook Plus models—a standard Google launched last year that sets a threshold these laptops need to meet. However, the storage space here is double what Google requires for a laptop to qualify as a “Chromebook Plus.” You also get a 1080p webcam that performs pretty well, though it’s not the most impressive shooter you can find on a laptop.

Performance was fantastic throughout my testing, which is no surprise. Google has dialed in the specs for the Chromebook Plus label such that you have to actively work to slow things down with ChromeOS. The processor and spacious RAM kept things running smooth and snappy, even with multiple apps running alongside a bevy of Chrome tabs.

Photograph: Daniel Thorp-Lancaster

The star of the show is the 15.6-inch 1,920 X 1,080-pixel resolution AMOLED display, which looks absolutely gorgeous. Samsung has mastered great displays, and it shows here with vibrant colors and a crisp presentation that’s nearly perfect. I say nearly because I ran into an occasional issue where the display would get a very slight flicker when below 50 percent brightness (most often against white backgrounds). It isn’t drastic enough to ruin the experience, but it was distracting until I got used to it.

Thanks to the large display, Samsung took advantage of the extra room to include a full backlit keyboard with a number pad. It’s not something I typically use, but number crunchers out there are sure to appreciate it. To keep the keys evenly shaped and spaced, Samsung moved some keys around from their typical positions on a number pad, so it will take some getting used to.

Photograph: Daniel Thorp-Lancaster

As for the keyboard itself, it feels fantastic to type on. The keys are sturdy and snappy with solid spacing. If you aren’t used to a thin laptop, the key travel may feel shallow, but it’s easy to get used to. There’s also a full Function row across the top with a key for just about everything you’d want to quickly access.

That’s not all though: The Galaxy Chromebook Plus is the first laptop to include Google’s new Quick Insert Key, a physical key that occupies the space that used to hold the launcher key. Pressing it gives you immediate access to shortcuts for emoji, GIFs, the clipboard, and recent links and documents. It’s also integrated with Google Drive to let you search for anything, and you can ask Gemini AI to help you write directly from the pop-up menu.

It’s an excellent addition, though it’s something you’ll have to consciously remember to use if you’ve used Chromebooks for a while. I mostly ended up using it as a GIF or emoji key, but it's also a great way to quickly access browsing history. Given my job, it’s hard to assess the usefulness of having an AI writing assistant available at a keypress, though I could see it being handy for students or professionals working on presentations or emails.

Photograph: Daniel Thorp-Lancaster

A big feature Samsung promotes with the Galaxy Chromebook Plus is its battery life, claiming up to 13 hours on a charge. I didn't reach that number in normal use, but I frequently clocked nine to 11 hours depending on what I was doing. Samsung sent me a review unit with a European charging brick, so I can’t speak to its fast-charging capabilities. However, my Anker charger managed to top it back up in around 1.5 hours.

The one major weakness of the Galaxy Chromebook Plus? It's one shared by many other Chromebooks: middling speakers. They’re both downward-firing and sound pretty thin no matter what you’re listening to. It’s a sacrifice I’m OK with given the overall thickness of the laptop, but it’s worth noting if that’s a deal-breaker in your laptop choice. Bring a good pair of wireless headphones, earbuds, or computer speakers if you care about sound quality.

The Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus is a unique option in the Chromebook space right now. Despite its thin-and-light design, Samsung took the time to dial in an experience with very few sacrifices. For $700, it's an excellent buy for anyone who wants a premium clamshell Chromebook you can take anywhere with little fuss. Notably, there’s no touchscreen, and the clamshell design won’t be for everyone. If you need a 2-in-1 design or pen-and-ink capabilities, you can get a similarly premium experience around the same price with the Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714.