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the samsung galaxy chromebook 2 is one
of the brightest
fiercest and reddest chromebooks you'll
be able to buy this year
its predecessor the samsung galaxy
chromebook was pretty expensive for a
chromebook starting at 999
the samsung galaxy chromebook 2 starting
at just 549
isn't so much a sequel to the samsung
galaxy chromebook as it is a more
affordable alternative
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the coolest thing about this chromebook
is the hardware
it has a 13.3 inch 1920x1080 screen
it's also the first chromebook ever to
have a qled panel
the screen was crisp and clear i really
enjoyed watching videos on it
all the colors looked really nice and i
could see a lot of little details that i
don't always notice
on other screens i didn't get to use
this device outside or in a coffee shop
or in any of the many places besides
an office space that you might use this
device so
we'll have a better sense of how bright
it gets and how useful it is when we've
had a chance to do a full review
in terms of ports you have two usbc
ports and one microsd multimedia card
reader
that's not like a huge port selection
but i'm really happy to see an sd card
and the two usbc should be useful for
peripherals as well
also just to note there's no fingerprint
sensor or other biometric authentication
password only
the most noticeable feature is the color
like the samsung galaxy chromebook the
galaxy pro book 2 comes in fiesta red
as well as a much more boring mercury
gray you will notice this chromebook
it's very
very red it's also quite portable though
it's noticeably thicker and heavier than
the samsung galaxy chromebook
at 2.71 pounds it is a little bit heavy
to hold in one hand for long periods of
time
now it is a two in one so it can fold
all the way around and be a tablet if
need be
the hinge is really sturdy and i didn't
notice any screen wobble while i was
typing on the keyboard which is nice
on the flip side that means that opening
the device is a little bit difficult you
have to use two hands so it's not the
type of thing you can just flick open
and close
there's a touch screen which is pretty
fast and responsive
the finish is smooth but though the
chromebook is made of aluminum
it feels plasticky when you're holding
it especially compared to the samsung
galaxy chromebook
the keys on the keyboard also feel
plasticky they
are backlit though and the back lighting
looks really nice
overall it felt pretty good to type on i
didn't make too many errors
and it wasn't really loud enough to be
distracting to people around me
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the speaker system contains two 1.5 watt
speakers and samsung told us it gets 178
louder than a normal amplifier i thought
it sounded pretty good
even with volume at 50 40 i had no
trouble
hearing the videos i was watching even
while people were talking around me
that's pretty impressive especially for
downward firing speakers
we'll have a much better idea of how old
the audio sounds once we've been able to
do a full review of this device
it starts with four gigabytes of ram and
64 gigabytes of storage
you can bump that up to eight gigabytes
of ram and 128 gigabytes of storage that
model costs 6.99
you can select a 10th gen intel core i3
or an intel celeron processor
so there's a lot to like but at this
price point you are making some
sacrifices as well
and there are a couple handy features
that the 999
galaxy chromebook had that this
chromebook had to skip one is the
built-in stylus
the galaxy chromebook 2 doesn't have a
stylus built into its chassis
though you can purchase one separately
and it is compatible there's also no
front-facing camera so you can't flip it
around and take
quick pictures like you could with a
galaxy chromebook it has a lower power
processor as well
though a core i3 should be just fine for
running chrome os
lastly the screen is a bit of a
downgrade so the samsung galaxy
chromobook had a 4k
amoled screen that was absolutely
gorgeous the samsung galaxy chromebook 2
has a q-led 1920x1080 screen
that said the screen still looks pretty
good i didn't notice any
color imperfections or anything that
would make me not want to use it
the big question mark when it comes to
the galaxy chromebook 2 is battery life
so samsung estimates that this
chromebook will get 14 hours of battery
life
for context with the galaxy chromebook i
got about
four it was bad enough to keep me from
recommending it to people despite all
the other great things about it
battery life is an important selling
feature for many of the best chromebooks
on the market
so this one will need to be a
significant step up from its predecessor
to compete
at this price point there's reason for
hope though the galaxy chromebook 2 has
a lower powered processor
than the galaxy chromebook and the lower
resolution screen so i'm optimistic that
we'll see more battery life
though how much more is still a big
question mark
the samsung galaxy chromebook 2 comes
out sometime in the first quarter of
this year and it starts at 549
that's not exactly cheap for a
chromebook but it's a world away from
the first galaxy chromebook which
started at 9.99
for the past few years companies like
samsung and google
have really been trying to make a
premium chromebook that is
a chromebook that appeals to users who
really like chrome os
and like the simplicity of it and like
the automatic updates but also want a
really nice device and that's something
that hasn't been available for a really
long time in the history of chrome os
i think that if the galaxy chromebook 2
holds up to the 14 hour battery life
estimate that samsung gave us
it could be a great value for its 549
dollar price point
but that's a big if it's gonna be a
weird ces this year but technically
ces 2021 is right around the corner it's
happening next week
so keep an eye on theverge.com for all
the newest laptops that are coming out
and all kinds of other cool tech