The Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus impresses with its sleek design, solid power and excellent endurance. It also features a solid port selection and decent FHD AMOLED display. It’s just little things that let it down such as thinner speakers.
-
Lightweight, sleek chassis -
Decent power for a Chromebook -
Excellent endurance
-
Screen lacks some detail -
Speakers are a little thin
Key Features
-
Lightweight chassis
In spite of its larger screen size, the Galaxy Chromebook Plus is especially lightweight and portable, tipping the scales at just 1.17kg -
Intel Core 5 120U chip
It also has a reasonably powerful Intel Core 5 processor to make productivity workloads a breeze. -
All day battery life
The Galaxy Chromebook Plus also has quite a large battery inside that should be able to last all day.
Introduction
The Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus proves that a Chromebook doesn’t have to be a lesser laptop – simply because it runs a lighter OS than Windows or macOS.
If anything, Samsung’s latest ChromeOS-powered option is a lesson to other manufacturers that it is possible to make a chic, lightweight laptop with solid power and efficiency for less than is currently being charged for a comparable Windows choice.
At £749/$700, it’s similar in price to the convertible marvel, the Acer Chromebook Spin 714 (2023) and slightly behind another impressively svelte Windows ultrabook from recent months, the Asus Zenbook A14, while giving you a capable Intel Core 5 120U processor, as well as a large 15.6-inch FHD AMOLED screen and decent endurance. It’s also extremely lightweight and portable.
I’ve been putting this Galaxy Chromebook Plus through its paces for the last couple of weeks to see if it’s one of the best Chromebooks we’ve tested. There’s some stiff competition, so let’s take a closer look.
Design and Keyboard
- Sleek, lightweight design
- Solid port selection
- Snappy keyboard and large, responsive trackpad
Samsung hasn’t followed the trend when it comes to Chromebook design, taking more cues from modern Windows ultrabooks than ChromeOS-based rivals. As such, the Galaxy Chromebook Plus looks and feels excellent.
It features a sharp blue metal lid which is reminiscent of Apple’s Midnight colourway for modern MacBooks, while the rest of the chassis is black and solid plastic. Bezels are thin around its large 15.6-inch screen, and tipping the scales at just 1.17kg also makes this Galaxy Chromebook Plus especially light to the point I think it’s the lightest laptop of its size I’ve tested. Well done, Samsung.
It’s also quite thin at just 11.8mm, making it easily stowable in a bag without taking up too much space. For such a slender machine, there’s a decent selection of inputs, with the left side home to a full-size HDMI and a pair of USB-Cs, one of which is used for charging. The right side houses the sole USB-A port, a MicroSD reader and a headphone jack.
Being a larger screen option also means the Galaxy Chromebook Plus benefits from a full-size keyboard, complete with number pad and arrow keys, as well as a proper function row.
Travel is short, but the keyboard is responsive for extended periods. My only gripe with it is that the spacing for some of the keys seems a little off, so it did make me prone to typos initially.
With this in mind, there has been a noteworthy change to the layout of the keyboard against Chromebooks of old.
The Caps Lock key had always had a secondary function as a launcher key to open ChromeOS’s equivalent of Spotlight Search, which has now been moved to a Google logo key that sits next to the Fn and Alt keys in the bottom left corner. Instead, the Caps Lock key now doubles as Google’s Quick Insert key, which brings up a prompt for Gemini AI and a contextual menu based on what’s in front of you.
For a laptop of its size, the Galaxy Chromebook Plus also has a huge trackpad that comes with smooth and responsive tracking. Sometimes Chromebook trackpads have been jittery and overeager in the past, especially those fitted with Gorilla Glass, although that wasn’t the case here.
Display and Sound
- OLED screen offers deep blacks and solid contrast
- Full HD resolution is a little lacking against rivals
- `Speakers can be quite thin
If there’s one area where a lot of Chromebooks have skimped on for being more affordable, it’s the display. The Galaxy Chromebook Plus has aimed to address that somewhat by opting for a large 15.6-inch AMOLED screen that brings the benefits of its panel type with marvellous colours, contrast and deep blacks to make productivity and more intensive workloads a breeze.
Okay, it is only 60Hz, so lacks the silky smoothness that some ultrabooks are offering with 120Hz refresh rates, but it does get the job done. Its Full HD resolution is a little sub-par at this price point though, offering only adequate detail. Rival premium laptops benefit from higher resolutions across a similarly-sized, or smaller, screen for a sharper look.
The screen isn’t touch-enabled, and as the Galaxy Chromebook Plus can’t convert into a tablet, it means this panel lacks some versatility against Acer’s Spin lineup of Chromebooks.
The speakers here are fine for casual listening, although I wouldn’t push them too hard as they can sound quite thin at higher volumes. In addition, being downwards-firing means sound could get muffled if you use the laptop on a softer surface such as a bed or sofa.
Performance
- Intel Core 5 120U keeps things responsive
- Solid benchmark scores against key rivals
- Stingier RAM and storage for the price
As much as the powertrains inside Chromebooks have often been chips with smaller core counts and meagre performance, the Galaxy Chromebook Plus bucks the trend again. You get the choice of either an Intel Core 3 100U on the base model or a Core 5 120U in the faster model I have here.
This is a 10-core (split between 2 Performance and 8 Efficiency cores) and 12-thread chip that can boost to 5GHz,
In the Geekbench 6 benchmark test, this Chromebook recorded some especially high scores for a laptop in its class, with excellent single-core performance and decent multi-threaded power, too. Single-core performance is in line with the Asus Zenbook A14 and MSI Modern 15 F13MG for instance, although the Galaxy Chromebook Plus falls slightly behind in multi-core tasks.
This particular model comes with 8GB of RAM, which admittedly feels a little stingy for a laptop at this price when 16GB is easily the standard these days. A 256GB drive inside admittedly is okay for a Chromebook though, as most of your work is likely going on Google Docs, Sheets or other components of the G-Suite of productivity applications.
It isn’t the standard-issue NVMe storage you might expect, though, as Samsung has opted to use slower eUFS storage here. In my experience, I didn’t have any issues using Chrome, Spotify and benchmarking software during my time with the Galaxy Chromebook Plus, feeling slow, but your mileage may vary.
Software
- ChromeOS remains lightweight and speedy
- Chromebook Plus adds useful extras including Gemini AI
- Magic Eraser and Google Meet conferencing tools most useful
ChromeOS has often been a slick, lightweight OS that’s excellent for productivity tasks, and that’s no different on the Galaxy Chromebook Plus. It comes with no real bloatware, or additional software besides Google’s own G-Suite of apps, apart from Adobe Express to provide access to web-based Photoshop. You can install more apps using the Play Store if you’d prefer others.
Where this particular Chromebook differs is by the fact it forms part of the Chromebook Plus canon of machines. This was a classification that Google introduced a couple of years ago that could be capable of certain tasks by having above a certain specification.
For instance, they should have at least a 12th-gen Intel Core i3 or AMD Ryzen 3 7000 chip inside, as well as 8GB and 128GB of storage, Full HD IPS (or above) screen and a 1080p webcam.
Being a Chromebook Plus model also means the Galaxy Chromebook Plus benefits from some additional quality-of-life features, in the same way that Microsoft’s designated Copilot+ PCs do. For instance, they have access to Google Gemini right from the taskbar where you can ask it all manner of things, including any questions, or even to help you understand or rewrite a document.
In addition, you also get handy AI features such as Magic Eraser, Google’s clever Photo editing trickery that could previously be found on Pixel and later other Android phones. This automatically erases unwanted things from photos, working the same way on both devices. You select an image, and it recognises potentially unwanted items to remove by placing a white and grey outline around it. To remove it, you press done.
It’s very clever and works well, even on images where you need nothing removed. For instance, in a photo I took when I went to Scotland a few weeks ago, there were some unwanted people in the corner obstructing the view of the beach. I selected those people to be removed, and sure enough, the AI did a solid job of getting rid of them.
Other features that the Chromebook Plus software update has brought with it are more focused on a Chromebook being a useful device for productivity workloads including working with G-Suite apps and Google Meet. For instance, it offers Offline File Sync, which backs up files usually saved in the cloud to be saved on the device’s internal drive. This is hidden away in the settings menu a little, but is nonetheless useful for saving documents offline if you don’t have constant internet access.
In addition, the Chromebook Plus devices also benefit from some handy features for video conferencing, such as Live Translate which uses AI to translate any captions into a different language. It also works for YouTube videos, too. Google Meet also comes with similar convenient features as the Windows Studio effects on Copilot+ PCs, such as auto framing and rebalancing uneven lighting.
Battery Life
- Lasted for 15 hours 25 minutes in the battery test.
- Capable of lasting for two working days
With their lightweight operating system and modest power, Chromebooks have often been excellent for endurance and extended battery life, with the Galaxy Chromebook Plus being no different. It fits a 68Whr cell into its slim chassis that, with the brightness down to half, and a 1080p YouTube video on a loop, managed to last for 15 hours 25 minutes before conking out.
That’s some fantastic endurance against other Chromebooks and a lot more expensive Windows laptops. You’ll easily be able to get nearly two full working days out of this laptop before you’ll need to think about charging it back up again.
The Galaxy Chromebook Plus comes with a 45W USB-C charging brick which offers adequate speeds, taking 52 minutes to go from zero to full, while a full charge took 112 minutes. That’s not bad, although other laptops are faster.
Should you buy it?
You want a lightweight and powerful Chromebook:
The Galaxy Chromebook Plus benefits from both a sleek and lightweight chassis, as well as solid power from its Intel Core 5 chip that makes productivity workloads a breeze. If you want a laptop that’ll make light work of basic tasks, this is a fantastic option.
You want the benefit of a touchscreen:
Depending on your needs, the Galaxy Chromebook Plus’ more conventional form factor may not be what you need, such as if you’re a designer or a creative type. For that, a Chromebook with a 2-in-1 form factor and touchscreen may be better.
Final Thoughts
The Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus impresses with its sleek design, solid power and excellent endurance. It also features a solid port selection and decent AMOLED display. It’s just little things that let it down such as thinner speakers.
Moreover, other Chromebooks at this price point are arguably a little cleverer, such as the Acer Chromebook Spin 714 (Intel 13th Gen) coming with a 2-in-1 form factor and touchscreen, but lacks the benefit of an OLED screen. It is swings and roundabouts at this top end of the Chromebook market, but Samsung’s option does a sublime job to stake the claim of the best Chromebook we’ve tested.
How we test
Every laptop we review goes through a series of uniform checks designed to gauge key things including build quality, performance, screen quality and battery life.
These include formal synthetic benchmarks and scripted tests, plus a series of real-world checks, such as how well it runs popular apps.
- We used as our main laptop for at least a week.
- Tested the performance via both benchmark tests and real-world use.
FAQs
The Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus weighs 1.17kg, making it light for a 15.6-inch laptop.
Test Data
| Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus Review |
|---|
Full Specs
| Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus Review | |
|---|---|
| UK RRP | £749 |
| USA RRP | $700 |
| CPU | Intel Core 5 120U |
| Manufacturer | Samsung |
| Screen Size | 15.6 inches |
| Storage Capacity | 256GB |
| Front Camera | 1080p webcam |
| Battery | 68 Whr |
| Battery Hours | 15 25 |
| Size (Dimensions) | 225.8 x 355.8 x 9.8 MM |
| Weight | 1.17 KG |
| Operating System | ChromeOS |
| Release Date | 2024 |
| First Reviewed Date | 15/03/2025 |
| Resolution | 1920 x 1080 |
| Refresh Rate | 60 Hz |
| Ports | 1 HDMI 2 USB Type-C 1 USB3.2 MicroSD Multi-media Card Reader 1 Headphone out/Mic-in Combo |
| RAM | 8GB |
| Connectivity | Wifi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3 |
| Colours | Blue |
| Display Technology | OLED |
| Touch Screen | No |
| Convertible? | No |
The Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus impresses with its sleek design, solid power and excellent endurance. It also features a solid port selection and decent FHD AMOLED display. It’s just little things that let it down such as thinner speakers.
-
Lightweight, sleek chassis -
Decent power for a Chromebook -
Excellent endurance
-
Screen lacks some detail -
Speakers are a little thin
Key Features
-
Lightweight chassis
In spite of its larger screen size, the Galaxy Chromebook Plus is especially lightweight and portable, tipping the scales at just 1.17kg -
Intel Core 5 120U chip
It also has a reasonably powerful Intel Core 5 processor to make productivity workloads a breeze. -
All day battery life
The Galaxy Chromebook Plus also has quite a large battery inside that should be able to last all day.
Introduction
The Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus proves that a Chromebook doesn’t have to be a lesser laptop – simply because it runs a lighter OS than Windows or macOS.
If anything, Samsung’s latest ChromeOS-powered option is a lesson to other manufacturers that it is possible to make a chic, lightweight laptop with solid power and efficiency for less than is currently being charged for a comparable Windows choice.
At £749/$700, it’s similar in price to the convertible marvel, the Acer Chromebook Spin 714 (2023) and slightly behind another impressively svelte Windows ultrabook from recent months, the Asus Zenbook A14, while giving you a capable Intel Core 5 120U processor, as well as a large 15.6-inch FHD AMOLED screen and decent endurance. It’s also extremely lightweight and portable.
I’ve been putting this Galaxy Chromebook Plus through its paces for the last couple of weeks to see if it’s one of the best Chromebooks we’ve tested. There’s some stiff competition, so let’s take a closer look.
Design and Keyboard
- Sleek, lightweight design
- Solid port selection
- Snappy keyboard and large, responsive trackpad
Samsung hasn’t followed the trend when it comes to Chromebook design, taking more cues from modern Windows ultrabooks than ChromeOS-based rivals. As such, the Galaxy Chromebook Plus looks and feels excellent.
It features a sharp blue metal lid which is reminiscent of Apple’s Midnight colourway for modern MacBooks, while the rest of the chassis is black and solid plastic. Bezels are thin around its large 15.6-inch screen, and tipping the scales at just 1.17kg also makes this Galaxy Chromebook Plus especially light to the point I think it’s the lightest laptop of its size I’ve tested. Well done, Samsung.
It’s also quite thin at just 11.8mm, making it easily stowable in a bag without taking up too much space. For such a slender machine, there’s a decent selection of inputs, with the left side home to a full-size HDMI and a pair of USB-Cs, one of which is used for charging. The right side houses the sole USB-A port, a MicroSD reader and a headphone jack.
Being a larger screen option also means the Galaxy Chromebook Plus benefits from a full-size keyboard, complete with number pad and arrow keys, as well as a proper function row.
Travel is short, but the keyboard is responsive for extended periods. My only gripe with it is that the spacing for some of the keys seems a little off, so it did make me prone to typos initially.
With this in mind, there has been a noteworthy change to the layout of the keyboard against Chromebooks of old.
The Caps Lock key had always had a secondary function as a launcher key to open ChromeOS’s equivalent of Spotlight Search, which has now been moved to a Google logo key that sits next to the Fn and Alt keys in the bottom left corner. Instead, the Caps Lock key now doubles as Google’s Quick Insert key, which brings up a prompt for Gemini AI and a contextual menu based on what’s in front of you.
For a laptop of its size, the Galaxy Chromebook Plus also has a huge trackpad that comes with smooth and responsive tracking. Sometimes Chromebook trackpads have been jittery and overeager in the past, especially those fitted with Gorilla Glass, although that wasn’t the case here.
Display and Sound
- OLED screen offers deep blacks and solid contrast
- Full HD resolution is a little lacking against rivals
- `Speakers can be quite thin
If there’s one area where a lot of Chromebooks have skimped on for being more affordable, it’s the display. The Galaxy Chromebook Plus has aimed to address that somewhat by opting for a large 15.6-inch AMOLED screen that brings the benefits of its panel type with marvellous colours, contrast and deep blacks to make productivity and more intensive workloads a breeze.
Okay, it is only 60Hz, so lacks the silky smoothness that some ultrabooks are offering with 120Hz refresh rates, but it does get the job done. Its Full HD resolution is a little sub-par at this price point though, offering only adequate detail. Rival premium laptops benefit from higher resolutions across a similarly-sized, or smaller, screen for a sharper look.
The screen isn’t touch-enabled, and as the Galaxy Chromebook Plus can’t convert into a tablet, it means this panel lacks some versatility against Acer’s Spin lineup of Chromebooks.
The speakers here are fine for casual listening, although I wouldn’t push them too hard as they can sound quite thin at higher volumes. In addition, being downwards-firing means sound could get muffled if you use the laptop on a softer surface such as a bed or sofa.
Performance
- Intel Core 5 120U keeps things responsive
- Solid benchmark scores against key rivals
- Stingier RAM and storage for the price
As much as the powertrains inside Chromebooks have often been chips with smaller core counts and meagre performance, the Galaxy Chromebook Plus bucks the trend again. You get the choice of either an Intel Core 3 100U on the base model or a Core 5 120U in the faster model I have here.
This is a 10-core (split between 2 Performance and 8 Efficiency cores) and 12-thread chip that can boost to 5GHz,
In the Geekbench 6 benchmark test, this Chromebook recorded some especially high scores for a laptop in its class, with excellent single-core performance and decent multi-threaded power, too. Single-core performance is in line with the Asus Zenbook A14 and MSI Modern 15 F13MG for instance, although the Galaxy Chromebook Plus falls slightly behind in multi-core tasks.
This particular model comes with 8GB of RAM, which admittedly feels a little stingy for a laptop at this price when 16GB is easily the standard these days. A 256GB drive inside admittedly is okay for a Chromebook though, as most of your work is likely going on Google Docs, Sheets or other components of the G-Suite of productivity applications.
It isn’t the standard-issue NVMe storage you might expect, though, as Samsung has opted to use slower eUFS storage here. In my experience, I didn’t have any issues using Chrome, Spotify and benchmarking software during my time with the Galaxy Chromebook Plus, feeling slow, but your mileage may vary.
Software
- ChromeOS remains lightweight and speedy
- Chromebook Plus adds useful extras including Gemini AI
- Magic Eraser and Google Meet conferencing tools most useful
ChromeOS has often been a slick, lightweight OS that’s excellent for productivity tasks, and that’s no different on the Galaxy Chromebook Plus. It comes with no real bloatware, or additional software besides Google’s own G-Suite of apps, apart from Adobe Express to provide access to web-based Photoshop. You can install more apps using the Play Store if you’d prefer others.
Where this particular Chromebook differs is by the fact it forms part of the Chromebook Plus canon of machines. This was a classification that Google introduced a couple of years ago that could be capable of certain tasks by having above a certain specification.
For instance, they should have at least a 12th-gen Intel Core i3 or AMD Ryzen 3 7000 chip inside, as well as 8GB and 128GB of storage, Full HD IPS (or above) screen and a 1080p webcam.
Being a Chromebook Plus model also means the Galaxy Chromebook Plus benefits from some additional quality-of-life features, in the same way that Microsoft’s designated Copilot+ PCs do. For instance, they have access to Google Gemini right from the taskbar where you can ask it all manner of things, including any questions, or even to help you understand or rewrite a document.
In addition, you also get handy AI features such as Magic Eraser, Google’s clever Photo editing trickery that could previously be found on Pixel and later other Android phones. This automatically erases unwanted things from photos, working the same way on both devices. You select an image, and it recognises potentially unwanted items to remove by placing a white and grey outline around it. To remove it, you press done.
It’s very clever and works well, even on images where you need nothing removed. For instance, in a photo I took when I went to Scotland a few weeks ago, there were some unwanted people in the corner obstructing the view of the beach. I selected those people to be removed, and sure enough, the AI did a solid job of getting rid of them.
Other features that the Chromebook Plus software update has brought with it are more focused on a Chromebook being a useful device for productivity workloads including working with G-Suite apps and Google Meet. For instance, it offers Offline File Sync, which backs up files usually saved in the cloud to be saved on the device’s internal drive. This is hidden away in the settings menu a little, but is nonetheless useful for saving documents offline if you don’t have constant internet access.
In addition, the Chromebook Plus devices also benefit from some handy features for video conferencing, such as Live Translate which uses AI to translate any captions into a different language. It also works for YouTube videos, too. Google Meet also comes with similar convenient features as the Windows Studio effects on Copilot+ PCs, such as auto framing and rebalancing uneven lighting.
Battery Life
- Lasted for 15 hours 25 minutes in the battery test.
- Capable of lasting for two working days
With their lightweight operating system and modest power, Chromebooks have often been excellent for endurance and extended battery life, with the Galaxy Chromebook Plus being no different. It fits a 68Whr cell into its slim chassis that, with the brightness down to half, and a 1080p YouTube video on a loop, managed to last for 15 hours 25 minutes before conking out.
That’s some fantastic endurance against other Chromebooks and a lot more expensive Windows laptops. You’ll easily be able to get nearly two full working days out of this laptop before you’ll need to think about charging it back up again.
The Galaxy Chromebook Plus comes with a 45W USB-C charging brick which offers adequate speeds, taking 52 minutes to go from zero to full, while a full charge took 112 minutes. That’s not bad, although other laptops are faster.
Should you buy it?
You want a lightweight and powerful Chromebook:
The Galaxy Chromebook Plus benefits from both a sleek and lightweight chassis, as well as solid power from its Intel Core 5 chip that makes productivity workloads a breeze. If you want a laptop that’ll make light work of basic tasks, this is a fantastic option.
You want the benefit of a touchscreen:
Depending on your needs, the Galaxy Chromebook Plus’ more conventional form factor may not be what you need, such as if you’re a designer or a creative type. For that, a Chromebook with a 2-in-1 form factor and touchscreen may be better.
Final Thoughts
The Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus impresses with its sleek design, solid power and excellent endurance. It also features a solid port selection and decent AMOLED display. It’s just little things that let it down such as thinner speakers.
Moreover, other Chromebooks at this price point are arguably a little cleverer, such as the Acer Chromebook Spin 714 (Intel 13th Gen) coming with a 2-in-1 form factor and touchscreen, but lacks the benefit of an OLED screen. It is swings and roundabouts at this top end of the Chromebook market, but Samsung’s option does a sublime job to stake the claim of the best Chromebook we’ve tested.
How we test
Every laptop we review goes through a series of uniform checks designed to gauge key things including build quality, performance, screen quality and battery life.
These include formal synthetic benchmarks and scripted tests, plus a series of real-world checks, such as how well it runs popular apps.
- We used as our main laptop for at least a week.
- Tested the performance via both benchmark tests and real-world use.
FAQs
The Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus weighs 1.17kg, making it light for a 15.6-inch laptop.
Test Data
| Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus Review |
|---|
Full Specs
| Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus Review | |
|---|---|
| UK RRP | £749 |
| USA RRP | $700 |
| CPU | Intel Core 5 120U |
| Manufacturer | Samsung |
| Screen Size | 15.6 inches |
| Storage Capacity | 256GB |
| Front Camera | 1080p webcam |
| Battery | 68 Whr |
| Battery Hours | 15 25 |
| Size (Dimensions) | 225.8 x 355.8 x 9.8 MM |
| Weight | 1.17 KG |
| Operating System | ChromeOS |
| Release Date | 2024 |
| First Reviewed Date | 15/03/2025 |
| Resolution | 1920 x 1080 |
| Refresh Rate | 60 Hz |
| Ports | 1 HDMI 2 USB Type-C 1 USB3.2 MicroSD Multi-media Card Reader 1 Headphone out/Mic-in Combo |
| RAM | 8GB |
| Connectivity | Wifi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3 |
| Colours | Blue |
| Display Technology | OLED |
| Touch Screen | No |
| Convertible? | No |
