Samsung Chromebook($249) Review

Our friends over at Google have sent us the Samsung Chromebook for us to review. This is the $249 model that is available from many retailers including the Google Play Store. Since the first Chrome devices hit the market, the prices have lowered quite a bit. There really is Chromebook out there for everyone now. Chromebook’s run on the Chrome OS and it is very similar to the Google Chrome web browser, but it is more capable. Students love Chromebook’s because they are prefect for school and everyday use. At a price point of $249 this Chromebook is not the most expensive thing out there. Now, let’s dive in to the full review of the Samsung Chromebook!

Design

The Samsung Chromebook has a very simple design and it is very nice and clean one. The main build for this Chromebook is a durable plastic with some metal thrown in there. It is a very compact device and it comes in at just 2.43-pounds. It is very thing at just 17.5-millimeters, that is less than 0.8-inches thick. The Samsung Chromebook is very portable and this is very important for a laptop. You could easily bring this with you to class or to the office. Brining it on car ride or for a trip would be a breeze as well. Google and Samsung did a good job with making this Chromebook very portable and travel friendly.

On the top of the device you get a Samsung and a Chrome logo, and the Chrome symbol gives it a pop of color. For the most part this is the pop of color on the device and it is nice to have it there. The hinge that lets the top lid or display on the Chromebook pops up from the front of the device. It is a strong hinge as well and it feels pretty durable. Along the back of the device you will have a SIM card slot, a USB 3.0 port, a USB 2.0 port, an HDMI port, and a charging port. The left hand side of the device is home to the headphone/microphone jack and a SD card slot. The bottom of the device is home too 4(four) rubber grey legs, serial numbers,regulatory information, and 2(two) speakers. When you lift the top lid up, you will be greeted with the 11.6-inch display. Along the top of the lid you have a small rubber lining, this makes sure when you close the lid it does not hit with the bottom case. Above the display you have a built-in webcam, a microphone, and LED light. Below the display you have another Samsung logo and it is a silver color. You have the keyboard on the bottom case and the Power Button key had a built-in LED light. You have smooth trackpad that is very easy to use as well. Overall, the Samsung Chromebook has a very clean and simple design.

Keyboard, Trackpad, Sound, And Display

The keyboard on the Samsung Chromebook is not a full-sized keyboard, it is smaller than that. However, it is still a very nice and comfortable typing experience. It is important that the Chromebook has a good keyboard, as it is key part of the device and how you use the operating system. You have Google Drive built-in and if it is being used by a student, they will be writing essays, creating spreadsheets, designing presentations, and much more. The keyboard is an integral part of the Chromebook experience. Samsung and Google did a phenomenal job with the keyboard on the $249 Chromebook. They made sure that the important keys where big and easy to locate. Those keys being the Tab, Search, Shift, Enter, Control, Alt, and Space Bar, keys. The arrow keys are in nice location and are big enough as well. Your top row of keys will come in very helpful, they control functions of the OS very easily. You can go back and forth between pages with the 2(two) arrows or refresh your page with the refresh button. You make your window full screen or take it out of full screen. Increase or decrease your screen brightness. You can mute, increase, or decrease your volume. As I mentioned before you have the power button with a built-in LED light. The best key out of them all may be the one that will let you easily switch tabs, this great for multitasking. The other keys are a good size as well and it is very easy to type on the Samsung Chromebook.

The Trackpad on the Samsung Chromebook is an important part as well, it will be your main tool for navigating the Chrome OS. The Trackpad is very smooth and is easy to get the hang of. There are many gestures that you can do with the Trackpad as well. You can scroll up and down web pages with a simple two finger scroll. You have plenty of room on the Trackpad as well, it is very spacious. While there is no pinch to zoom function, I am not sure if it was necessarily needed on this device.

As I previously mentioned your 2(two) speakers are located on the bottom of the Samsung Chromebook. The sound quality out of these 1.5W speaker’s is average. They pick up a lot of the background noise and they can be distorted at times. This is simply solved by not keeping them on the highest level. Watching videos on YouTube is very easy and for the most part the sound experience is very nice. The sound only gets distorted if you are listening to poor quality audio source and the speakers are all the way up, yet again I don’t if the Samsung Chromebook is designed for jamming out to music. Either way you have nice experience when it comes to sound on the Samsung Chromebook.

You get a 11.6-inch 1366 X 728 resolution display on the Samsung Chromebook. This is a Matte display as well, so glare is something you will not have to worry about. So if you bring this on the plane with you and have you a windows set with the sun coming in, you are still good to go. I think making this display Matte was a very important device. Watching a YouTube Video, editing a document in Google Drive, or playing a game on the Samsung Chromebook is a good experience and the visuals are fine.

Battery Life And Hardware

The Samsung Chromebook has a battery life rated at 6.5(six and a half) hours. I was able to get 6 hours and 45 minutes out of this Chromebook and I was impressed with this battery life. This could last a day of school with you taking notes and browsing the web or a day at the office. You will not have an issue with Battery Life on the Samsung Chromebook, it will get you through an average day of use.

Connectivity is important on any Chromebook as the OS needs WiFi or an Internet connection to work. You have 802.11 abg/n built-in and handles the full speeds of Verizon FiOS. BlueTooth 3.0 is on board for even more means of connectivity as well. Thanks to an HDMI port you can share your screen on an even bigger screen.

The Samsung Chromebook  Samsung Exynos 5250 processor with 2GB of RAM and it performs well. It is not the fastest laptop out there. It can sometimes get hung up or slow down if you are using many of the applications all at once. I am very happy with the way it performs and for the price of $249, I believe it is fast enough and does get the job done.

Software

With Chrome OS everything happens in the browser, as it is based off of the Chrome Web Browser. The Chrome OS is a very nice experience and it is not that hard to use. If you are familiar with the Chrome Web Browser the Chrome OS will be similar to you and has some new features that you will enjoy. You will be able to use the Best of Google on the Samsung Chromebook.

For starters everything will work right out of the box. Once hooked up to a WiFi network you will be able to access Google and everything it offers. While you will see a desktop, it has the ideas and basic functions of a regular desktops. First of all you can choose almost any image to be your desktop and they are all gorgeous. You can pin webpages and documents you are working on, directly to your Desktop. This way you can access your important webpages or documents very easily. You do have a toolbar across the bottom of the screen as well. In the lower right hand corner you will see your account profile photo, battery level indicator, WiFi symbol, and time. Clicking on this area will open up a quick settings box. From here you can control WiFi, your account, BlueTooth, Sound, Update’s, access the full settings page, an in-depth battery indicator. On the left hand side you will see the Chrome icon, GMail icon, and Applications page icon. The Chrome icon will open the Chrome web browser, the same one you are used too on your computer. The GMail icon is a shortcut to the GMail website where you can easily check your mail. In fact all of the applications are run inside of Chrome on the Chrome OS or the Chromebook. Pre-loaded applications on the Samsung Chromebook are Chrome Web Store, Google Search, YouTube, Gmail, Google Calendar, Scratchpad, Google Maps, Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slide, Google +, Hangouts Call, Files, Get Started, Google Play Music, Google Play Books, Google Play Movies, Games, Calculator, Camera, Chrome Remote Desktop, and more! Overall, the Chrome OS is great and it runs well on the Samsung Chromebook!

Bottom Line

The Samsung Chromebook is a great everyday notebook and first time notebook. It is really easy a great computer for everyone, because of how easy it to use. It has a great design which makes it very portable and it is a very simple design. It would be perfect for a student as they can take notes on and it wont add too much weight to their backpack. In fact it could help the lower the weight of their backpack as it could replace textbooks and note books. It has great keyboard that is very easy to use and contains some great functions keys. A great 11.6-inch Matte display that makes sure the sun or light will not get in your way. A great battery that will last for an average user’s day. A great Chrome OS that will let you take advantage of Google and everything that is has to offer. The best part about the Samsung Chromebook would be its price, it is affordable at just $249. If you are looking for an easy to use notebook that the whole family can enjoy, be sure to look at the $249 Samsung Chromebook. For More Information On The Samsung Chromebook, Please Click Here. We would like to thank Google for providing us with a copy of the “Samsung Chromebook”.

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