Samsung - Plus 2-in-1 122 Touch-screen Chromebook Review

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I know the exact moment I barbarous in dearest with the Chromebook Plus.

I was reading a Kindle book and found a passage I wanted to save. I pulled out the stylus and tapped the "Capture Screen" button on the bill of fare that automatically popped upwards. And then I tapped "Annotate in Google Keep" and jotted a few notes right on the folio, only similar I used to do with real books. Then I went back to reading.

Later, I wanted to cite that quote but couldn't remember it exactly. So I opened up Google Continue and did a simple search, which brought upward my note (Google had read and indexed it in the cloud). I saw my note and saw the passage circled right in that location. I simply had to tap "Catch Paradigm Text" in Keep and the quote I wanted was immediately right there in the note, fix for me to copy and paste into my Google document.

At that place aren't a lot of "That'due south actually magical" experiences for me in tech anymore, but that was one. And what made it possible was the combination of a Chromebook that could be used as a tablet, a stylus to accept notes, Android apps, and a proper desktop browser and keyboard.

The rest of my experience using the Chromebook Plus wasn't quite so magical, simply it yet had its moments.

Samsung'due south Chromebook Plus is the first of a new generation of Chromebooks running Chrome OS, and it's shipping next calendar week for $449. It'southward one of a pair of Chromebooks that Samsung is releasing in the first half of the year. The other is the Chromebook Pro, coming in April and costs $100 more thanks to a more powerful Intel processor.

These Chromebooks (and others certain to follow soon) are a big bargain because they are in the vanguard of the next phase of Chrome OS, 1 where it supports Android apps, works better on tablets, and accepts stylus input — all while having a total, desktop-class web browser and web apps. Done well, the combination of those things could take it out of the "couch calculator" and education niches the OS currently occupies and go far a more feasible competitor to depression-terminate Windows computers. It could maybe even convince some iPad and Mac users to switch.

The key phrase in that narrative, of course, is "done well." Conceptually, it all makes sense. In terms of actual execution, Chrome Os has a long style to get downwardly a twisty and treacherous road earlier it can become to where information technology wants to be. And when it comes to Android apps, information technology also seems to have sprained its ankle at the start of the journeying.

Taken strictly every bit a Chromebook, the Plus is relatively expensive, but it justifies almost all of its asking toll. The metal body is sturdy, yet light, with a beautiful, high-resolution screen that'south capable of getting almost painfully vivid. That screen rotates all the manner effectually the back on a couple of reliably house hinges, so you can fix the screen at any angle or plow it around for a tablet mode.

It's not an particularly beautiful device; information technology's a footling ordinary, in fact. The edges of the keyboard deck and screen are rounded in such a way that when it's closed, it looks like a thin fiddling sandwich. It won't win any design awards, but at least information technology's elementary and predictable.

This is a Chromebook, it does not aspire to print you with its looks. It simply is good at what information technology is intended to be: a thin, well-built machine for showing you Chrome browser tabs.

My biggest complaint is that the keyboard, which is decent plenty for typing, isn't backlit. Everything else almost the Chromebook Plus (including the price, relative to other Chromebooks) communicates premium aspirations, and so the lack of what should exist a standard feature grates. The touchpad is as well a chip smaller than information technology ought to be, just it'due south responsive and accurate.

Really, the merely other scrap of hardware to annotation is maybe the nigh important part: the stylus. It'due south about identical to what yous'll discover on a Galaxy Note, except that this i doesn't take a button on it (and no, y'all tin't put it dorsum in the silo backwards). Google says that the stylus tech in the Chromebook is not sectional to Samsung, so there'due south every reason to expect nosotros'll see stylus-equipped Chromebooks (and tablets) from other manufacturers this year.

Sticking to the "just utilise it as a traditional Chromebook" theme, the Chromebook Plus seriously outperformed my expectations. It has an ARM processor in it, which usually bodes sick for a device's ability to handle more than than a half-dozen tabs or so. Only right now I have nine of them open — some of which are pretty heavy web apps — and I'chiliad non detecting any appreciable slowdown.

Until I tried the Chromebook Plus, I would have told you lot that it isn't a good idea to spend this much money on an ARM-based Chromebook — and if I'one thousand totally honest I might still take a hangup nearly doing then now.

If you're interested in this device, the biggest question is whether it's worth spending the extra $100 for the Intel processor. Unfortunately, I'm non in a dandy position to answer that question. Strictly running Chrome, the Pro version is faster and can handle more tabs, but this Plus version performs so much better than I expected that it's not an like shooting fish in a barrel option. I call up for many people, the cheaper Plus will do only fine.

I'thousand pleased with bombardment life besides. On our looping webpage rundown exam, information technology lasted eight and a half hours. In my real-world employ, which involves having a bunch of pretty heavy spider web apps open up at all times and abiding browsing, I didn't quite go to eight hours, just I got shut (interestingly, the Pro version of this laptop manages to last merely a little fleck longer). This isn't a battery champion, but information technology is better for me than, say, recent Mac laptops.

There are two USB Blazon-C ports — you tin can accuse on either side — and y'all'll demand adapters (which don't come in the box) for using external monitors or more traditional USB devices. There's besides a microSD carte slot for expanded storage if the onboard 32GB isn't plenty for you (and it might not exist if you download a bunch of Netflix shows).

Then that's everything that's impressive nearly the Chromebook Plus. We know what Chromebooks are at present, and so it shouldn't be a surprise that a concerted effort from both Samsung and Google created a very good ane. But this isn't supposed to just be a "Good Chromebook," it's supposed to exist a new generation that'southward something more what we've seen before. And unfortunately, those larger ambitions are precisely where Google has run into trouble.

The trouble starts with the tablet style. Google either isn't finished with information technology notwithstanding or just doesn't know what people desire to exercise with tablets withal (I suspect it's both). When you flip the screen effectually, everything goes full screen, with no choice to split up windows into sidebars. Desire to leave it in tablet mode and put it to sleep? Sorry, Charlie — hitting the ability push simply takes you to the lock screen, where you'll have to sit and watch it for 40 seconds before information technology finally powers down.

Given that Google is pushing out Chrome Bone updates on a regular and reliable schedule, I look those smaller problems will get fixed at some betoken. What I'thou less sure nearly is the consistency and utility of Android apps on Chrome Bone.

Take the stylus, which is a great idea, merely badly implemented correct now. Google does a smart affair by having information technology pop open up a bill of fare when you pull it out of its silo, simply that'south where the current intelligence generally ends. Information technology's useful for tapping tiny icons when in tablet fashion, simply there aren't many web apps that work well with information technology. Instead, most of the apps that the stylus is meant to go with are the Android apps, like Google Continue. In the future, Google Go on will use fancy machine learning to reduce the lag. In the present, trying to accept even a basic note is similar writing with invisible ink: a letter of the alphabet sometimes doesn't even appear until you're onto the adjacent 1. And the root of the problem is that Android apps on Chrome Os are still in beta — a very much unfinished experience.

Here's the basics of the situation: in this beta, the Android component is running on the previous version, Marshmallow, instead of the latest version, Nougat. The practical issue of that upshot is that yous have simply a handful of window size choices for Android apps: tablet layout, phone layout, and full screen. None are really what you want — what you desire is to just resize them. You won't exist able to until Android apps on Chrome Bone exit beta and graduate to Nougat.

There are other issues with Android apps. At that place aren't enough of them that look good or work well on large screens, because the vast majority of them are designed for phones, not tablet or laptops. Google says it's working with developers to fix that, but information technology'due south been saying that for five years. Maybe Chrome OS will finally be the spark it needs.

But how do they perform? Well, again the story is mixed. On the Chromebook Plus, I establish that almost apps felt slightly slower than they do on my Google Pixel XL telephone. It'due south certainly passable, merely it feels janky when compared to my 2-year-quondam iPad Air ii. I have also had besides many Android apps crash or glitch out, and by too many I hateful it happens about one time a day. It's forgivable in a beta, only still aggravating. The state of affairs on the Plus is miles better than the situation on the Intel-based Chromebook Pro correct now, which is so riddled with bugs and issues that I declined reviewing it in favor of this Plus. I describe in more particular the state of affairs in another article, here.

All of which is a shame, because there are those "aha" moments of greatness like switching from the Kindle Android app to the Google Proceed Android app to a real desktop-form browser all on the same device. Or downloading Netflix shows in the Android app on the same device I use to get Real Work done. Or merely simply playing rymdkapsel on a big screen.

So how do you lot guess the Chromebook Plus?

Weighed against the standards of Chromebooks like the Acer Chromebook R11 or Dell Chromebook 13, it'due south a standout device. It'southward my choice equally the best Chromebook you tin can buy today, so long equally you're willing to spend the actress money to become this cute screen and quality hardware. It outdoes cheaper devices and will be easier to use and maintain than a comparably priced Windows machine. When you see (and argue) almost the score below, that'south what I'thou looking at. This is simply a dandy Chromebook when measured confronting those standards.

Weighed against the ambitions of what it aspires to be? The Chromebook Plus clearly comes upwards short. The software for practiced Android apps and great stylus support merely isn't set up even so.

I desire an inexpensive, tablet-style device that combines the best of mobile apps with a desktop-grade browser. Windows isn't really there, the iPad isn't really at that place, and the Mac volition apparently never be there. Just with some fixes to Android and some programmer help, this device could exist exactly what I want. Google is chasing subsequently exactly the correct affair with Chrome Bone right now.

It but has a lot more running to do.

Photography by Vjeran Pavic

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Source: https://www.theverge.com/2017/2/10/14570480/samsung-chromebook-plus-laptop-review

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