- A portion of this video is sponsored by Surfshark.
This spring, the consumer version of Google's Chromebook
will turn 10 years old.
What began as a netbook browser on steroids
has mushroomed into the second most popular
desktop operating system in the world.
And you know, I get why.
As much as folks like me need the video editing prowess
of, say, a MacBook Pro,
and as much as I adore gaming on those was big
desktop replacement notebooks,
the fact is that the other 80% of my time
is spent in the browser.
And for the vast majority of that browsing,
the vast majority of the laptops
listed in Google's Chromebook shop are more than capable.
But here's the thing.
Those 81 machines carry an average price of $431.
So why would you pay 100 to nearly $300 more
for Samsung's Galaxy Chromebook 2?
I've spent 11 days trying to find out.
(upbeat music)
That 2 is there for the reason you expect.
This is a follow-on to last year's
Samsung galaxy Chromebook.
But I don't consider it a proper sequel
because as Android Central points out,
almost everything on this machine
is actually a downgrade from the original.
Yeah, last year's 4K AMOLED screen
takes a step down to a full HD QLED.
The storage and the camera count are cut in half.
The Intel processors drop by a grade at each trim level.
And the embedded S Pen and fingerprint sensor
are deleted wholesale.
While the chassis that carries all this
is still available in Samsung's signature Fiesta Red,
it's also slightly thicker and heavier than the first one.
In short, this is a mid-range reboot of the original.
And from one point of view,
it's a much more reasonable computer.
After all, Chromebooks have built
a big part of their success on being the better value.
And by eliminating all of the sweeteners
from last year's $1,000 model,
Samsung has dropped the entry price of the Chromebook 2
to a more palatable 549.
Or, in the case of my higher-end review unit,
a buck short of $700.
Despite the deletions, there's a lot to like here.
The aluminum frame has an industrial
almost aggressive character with stout hinges
that almost past the one-handed opening test.
Fold it past the flat lay and you've got yourself a tablet
if you can handle the bulk.
Or split the difference at the 270 position
and you've got a nice stand-up monitor
for watching Netflix or Pluto TV.
Snag yourself a USI compatible stylus
and the screen will recognize
over 4,000 levels of pen tip pressure,
or just use the 10 sausage styli the good Lord gave you.
And thanks to an update that came along
with Chrome OS 81 back in April
you can use gestures to navigate,
much you would on an Android phone.
Neat.
As for the display itself,
it's bright enough, maxing out 400 nits,
with slimmer bezels and truer colors
than those of Google's Pixelbook Go.
And speaking of, it was that machine
that made me forget the need
for a fingerprint sensor on Chromebooks.
And that carries over to the Samsung as well.
If you have an Android phone
and you don't wanna type your password
every time you wake up your machine,
you can use Google Smart Lock.
Just unlock your phone with a fingerprint
and your Chromebook will unlock too.
That same tight integration with Android
lets you remotely turn on your phone's hotspot
right from the network menu,
eliminating the need for a proper 4G or 5G laptop.
It's the little things, you know?
On the flip side of the device, the keyboard is good,
with ample key size, spacing, and backlighting.
But I'm not a fan of the changes
Samsung made to the function row.
By adding a physical forward counterpart to the back button,
it's omitted the media play/pause key.
Which means if I'm playing music,
I need to navigate to the notification tray
anytime I wanna pause that music.
It sounds small, I know, but again, it's the little things.
On top of that, the glass trackpad feels,
I don't know, gummier than others I've used.
Maybe thanks to the color matching with the chassis.
And finally, I get a lot of double keystrokes
when typing on this thing.
Samsung is sending me another device
to see if I had a defective review sample.
I'll follow up on Twitter
and in the comments when that arrives.
The Galaxy Chromebook 2 offers expandable storage
in the form of microSD, which I love to see,
as well as a combined headphone-microphone jack
and dual USB-C ports, either of which can accept current
from the included 45-watt charger.
Battery life was a win,
I averaged 7 1/2 hours of continuous use from full to flat.
And plugging it in for 20 minutes after it died,
got me back up to 26%, which I tested and found to be good
for another two hours of work.
That's way better battery life
than I get from my MacBook Pro
and most of the windows notebooks I've used
over the past few years,
even if it is predictably shy of the 13 hours
claimed by the sticker on the chassis.
Yeah, it's 2021 and we're still doing stickers on laptops,
for some reason.
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I wanna be clear, the Galaxy Chromebook 2 is eye-catching,
it's well put together, it's plenty performant,
and to my eye, it's much more exciting aesthetically
than the endless parade of gray boxes
that make up the bulk of the Chromebook catalog.
But the 2020 Galaxy Chromebook, last year's,
backed up those looks with value ads like the S Pen
and a 4K screen, and more powerful Silicon.
And if you think processing power
doesn't matter on Chromebooks,
do what I did and take a stroll through Kevin Tofel's
excellent About Chromebooks blog.
You'll be reminded that these things can run Linux
or even windows 10 via Parallels Desktop.
And to run the latter, you need at least a Core i5.
The Galaxy Chromebook 2 tops out at a Core i3 for 699
and the entry-level is powered by a Celeron
and four gigs of RAM,
that my friend Aaron Wagoner at Android Central
calls robbery at 550.
And to back that up, she referred me to
a number of Chromebooks that pack similar specs
for closer to 400.
I'll link to some of her reporting
in the description as well.
Look, I'm not against expensive Chromebooks,
but if I'm gonna spend the extra money,
I want a lot of bells and whistles in exchange
because, for all its strengths,
Chrome OS is still packs plenty of weaknesses.
The ability to run Android apps is great,
but it's countered by deeply inconsistent performance
in this desktop environment,
with its keyboard and mouse paradigm.
And there are weirdly longstanding oversights too,
like the inability to apply
any kind of logical sorting in the app launcher.
Now, combine those platform shortcomings
with the device drawbacks I mentioned before,
add in speakers that while loud
are definitely more muffled than those of the Pixelbook Go,
and toss in a 720P webcam that's, frankly,
among the least impressive I've seen recently.
It all adds up to a machine that leans too heavily
on its looks and display to justify a $700 price tag.
Made all the more bizarre by the fact that at press time
it's possible to snag last year's,
more powerful Galaxy Chromebook for the exact same price.
Yeah, I get that one.
Ultimately, it's the pricing that sinks this one for me
because between the solid value of budget Chromebooks
and the pricey delights of the higher-end,
there's a very competitive mid-range.
And this just doesn't bring enough
to justify the premium it demands.
If you do want one, I'll link to it in the description,
as well as its predecessor, which obviously I recommend
if you can deal with its lower battery life.
Disclosure, this review was produced following 11 days
with a Galaxy Chromebook 2 review sample
provided by Samsung.
But I don't produce paid reviews.
Samsung provided no compensation and had no editorial input
or even an early preview of this video.
They're seeing it for the first time, right alongside you.
Until next time, thanks for watching.
And if you can't stay home, then at least stay safe.
Wear a mask when you're around others,
as you stay mobile, my friends.