Samsung Chromebook Series 5 550 Review

Our friends over at Google have sent us the Samsung Chromebook Series 5 550 for us to review. Google and Samsung announced the Chromebook Series 5 550 along with the Chromebox at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show. We recently reviewed the $249 Samsung Chromebook and this is the base model, it was a great notebook that everyone could use. You Can See Our Review Of The $249 Samsung Chromebook, By Clicking Here. The Series 5 550 Chromebook is faster and has better hardware, but it comes in at $449(WiFi). Unlike the $249 Chromebook, you do get a display port and ethernet port. A faster processor is on board as well, so there will be no moments of the Chrome OS getting hung up or slowing down. Now, let’s dive into the full review of the Samsung Chromebook Series 5 550!

Sound

First off the $249 Samsung Chromebook has average sound, but the sound on the Samsung Chromebook Series 5 550 is great. The speakers are located on the bottom case. When you turn the volume all the way up, with the easy to use keyboard controls, the quality is just as good when the volume is low if not better. When you first listen to a song on the Series 5 550 Chromebook, you may be surprised by the quality and performance of the speakers. There are only 2(two) speakers on the device and they are located on the bottom of the bottom case in the lower corners. I was very impressed and happy with the sound on the Samsung Chromebook Series 5 550 Review.

Display

The Samsung Series 5 550 has a larger display then the display on the $249 Chromebook from Samsung. The Series 5 550 has the same Matte display technology, that the $249 machine had as well. Since you can get the Series 5 550 with Verizon 3G, you will be able to use this device anywhere, even outdoors. The light or glaring sun will not be  a bother, thanks to the Matte display. You get a 12.1-inch display with a resolution of 1280 X 800 and a brightness of 300 nits. This is a very high brightness, if not higher than many laptops and some ultrabooks on the market. You do not need the best display in the world for a Chromebook, this 12.1-inch 1280 X 800 display works wonders on this display. Watching the latest music video on YouTube or VEVO and streaming the newest episode of Arrested Development on Netflix looks great.

Design

Similar to the design of the $249 Chromebook, the Series 5 550 design is very clean and simple. Logos and icons are in almost identical locations and colors are very similar. It comes in at 3.3-pounds and it is thicker than the $249 variant  Yet again, this is a more power user computer. Your getting better hardware, a larger screen, and more features. It has a greyish silver design for the entire device and it appears that the color on the inside is darker than the outside of the notebook. I like that the color changes with different lighting and it is a nice silver-grey design. The build of the Series 5 550 is mostly a durable plastic with some metal built-in. Most of the metal is in laid around the trackpad.

The top case features a Samsung logo and both a Google Chrome logo and icon. The Samsung logo has silver mirror finnish. While the Google Chrome logo supplies the pop of color, with the red, green, yellow, and blue color. While it is a small pop of color, it is part of the design. The great speakers are located on the bottom case along with the vents, serial numbers, regulatory information, 4(four) rubber legs, and tightly screwed in screws. The hinge on the $249 Samsung Chromebook pops out a little bit, but on the Series 5 550 Chromebook the hinge is flush with the surface and you almost cannot see it. There are also no ports located near the back of the lid on the Chromebook. You do have a vent near there, it runs to the bottom of the Chromebook as well. The Series 5 550 has a good number of ports, for a Chromebook and more than some laptops. You have a charging port, ethernet port, display port ++, a USB 2.0 port, and a microphone headphone jack on the left hand side. In effort to keep the design of the Chromebook as thin as possible, the ethernet port has a small door in front of it. You pull it down and you are able to plug the ethernet cord into the port. This is a very cool feature of the design of the Series 5 550 Chromebook. The right hand side is home to the Kensington lock, another USB 2.0 port, and a 4-in-1 SD card slot. When you open the laptop up you will find the 12.1-inch super bright display. Above the display you will find the HD Camera along with a LED light and microphone. Below the display you will find the Samsung logo, this is in the same silver mirror finish as well. On the top of the bottom case you will find the keyboard, a trackpad, a “Intel Inside” sticker, and closer to the laptop hinge you will find another microphone. Google and Samsung did a great job with the design of the Series 5 550 Chromebook.

Hardware, Keyboard, Trackpad, Connectivity, And Battery Life

The Samsung Chromebook Series 5 500 is a fast machine, much faster than the $249 Chromebook and it is a real powerhouse machine. Powering the Series 5 550 is a Intel Core Processor with 4GB of RAM. Intel processor’s are found in most computers and they are usually speedy. The Series 5 550 is a very fast Chromebook. Pinning items to the desktop or the toolbar, video chatting with Hangouts, using multiple tabs, and pretty much everything you do on this Chromebook is very fast. Not once during my testing did I experience a hiccup or the machine slowing down. The speed on the Series 5 550 Chromebook is phenomenal.

Like the keyboard on the $249 Samsung Chromebook, the Series 5 550 keyboard is amazing. The keys feel very tactile and are easy to control. Typing on these keys is very quick to grasp and it is very smooth typing experience. The important keys, keys that you will use most of the time, are larger and very easy to find. These keys would be the Search, Shift, Control, Alt, and Enter keys. While the arrow keys are tucked away in the bottom right hand corner are a general size, but they are very easy to use. The top row of keys will let you take more control of you experience, you can raise, mute, or lower the volume and you can refresh the page. As well as go backward and forward with your webpages, you can easily go full screen, switch between tabs, and control the brightness. The power button in the top right hand corner features a LED light built-in. As Google says, “You Can Release Your Inner Geek With The Keyboard Shortcuts”, you can have all of the keyboard short cuts appear on your screen by pressing Control + Alt + ?. Or do a barrel roll just for the fun of it by hitting Control + Alt + Shift + Refresh and it is fun thing to witness. One of my personal favorite shortcuts would be the super easy way to take a screenshot, simply press Control + Tabs button. The Samsung Chromebook Series 5 550 has one of the best keyboards I have ever used.

How much can one say about a trackpad, well the Series 5 550 has a very nice trackpad. While you don’t have every single gesture in the book on board, you can do the helpful easy 2 finger scroll and the always fun pinch to zoom. It is a very precise experience as well, one of the best I have seen on a trackpad. There is a metal trim going around the trackpad. The surface of the trackpad is smooth, which makes it very easy to use. Google did a great job with the trackpad on the Chromebook Series 5 550.

You get a dual band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n card built right inside and it gives you a very fast internet connection. They do make a 3G variant of the Series 5 550 and with that you get a built-in 3G Modem. The 3G service is with Verizon and they do offer plans that work with it. The 3G variant of this device is $549 and the WiFi variant is $449. If you would rather use a hard wire connection, a Gigabit ethernet port built right inside. In terms of battery life Google and Samsung rate it a 6 hours of battery life and that is exactly the battery life that I got with average use.

Software

Many people think of the Chrome operating system as an internet required system, but the Google Chrome OS now features offline applications. You can access GMail, Calendar  and edit documents in Google Drive now when you are offline. This will come in handy if you are out of WiFi range or if you are on an airplane with no in flight WiFi. You can finish that book report or essay without any internet required. You can get that presentation done or finish of that spreadsheet. You can open Microsoft Office files and many other different file types as well, this means you can get even more work done while you are on the go.

If you like to be able to see the last website you had open your Nexus 4 or your Nexus 7, this feature is here now. Your tabs will now sync across Google Chrome. As long as you have the same Google Account signed in on both devices, you can see the different websites you had open. The Google Chrome mobile experience is great as well and being able to sync the tabs across is even better.

If you want to download new applications and extensions to your Series 5 550 Chromebook, the Chrome Web Store is the place for you. You can get games, photo editing, and some really unique applications in this store. You can get new themes as well, like Google Science Fair 2013. You can see the apps or themes that Google made or those made by developers. You can get applications like Google Search, Evernote, SkyDrive, Picassa, DropBox, and many others.

In terms of what come’s pre-loaded on the Series 5 550 Chromebook from Samsung, you will get Chrome Web Store, Google Search, GMail, Google Calendar, ScratchPad, Google Maps, Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides, Google +, Google + Hangouts, Files, Get Started, Google Play Music, Google Play Books, Google Play Movies, Games, Calculator, Camera, and Chrome Remote Desktop. If you are looking for any other great applications for your Google Chromebook at the Chrome Web Store. This handy application comes pre-loaded on the Chromebook as well!

Bottom Line

The Samsung Chromebook Series 5 550 is a very fast notebook. In fact the entire review of the Series 5 550 was written on the Chromebook Series 5 550. It has one of the best keyboards I have ever used on any laptop. When you turn the sound up to 10(ten) on the Series 5 550 Chromebook the sound keeps rocking and the quality is great. It is a very fast notebook as well thanks to a Intel Core Processor with 4GB of RAM, the Chrome OS did not get hung up at all during my testing. The option of having a 3G connection is always nice to see on any notebook. It has a very nice clean and simple design, it is quite portable as well. You have a sweet 12.1-inch 1280 X 800 super bright display and it is Matte so the sun will not get in your way. The Samsung  Series 5 550 is a powerhouse of a Chromebook and I highly suggest you look at it if you looking for a new laptop. The Samsung Chromebook Series 5 550 comes in 2(two) model, $449 for the WiFi version and $549 for the 3G variant. For More Information On The Samsung Chromebook Series 5 550, Please Click Here. We would like to thank Google for providing us with a copy of the “Samsung Chromebook series 5 550”.

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