Galaxy Chromebook 2 Reaction: Confusion wrapped in respect

CES is underway and Samsung has just released the next generation of their Galaxy Chromebook with the Galaxy Chromebook 2. However, unlike earlier 2nd generations this one is a distinct downgrade with a purpose. Just like the Pixels from this year, Samsung has decided to make a more affordable device for round two, possible hoping to cash into the midrange market. Going from $1,000 to $700 makes for some interesting compromises. Let's take a look. 

The device 

The Samsung Galaxy Chromebook made its debut in CES 2020 with a bold fiesta red, the Galaxy Chromebook 2 follows in its footstep with a similar fiesta red and a familiar grey version for those whose eyes burn at the sight of red. It's the classic 2-in-1 design with a clamshell that flips around on a hinge. According to The Verge it weighs 2.71 pounds, and they comment its heavier and thicker than its predecessor. The Galaxy Chromebook 2 has a nice aluminum build with plastic around the keyboard. Here are some photos from Samsung and The Verge, shoutout to both for getting great hands-on early. 

The Specs

So now for the specs, RAM, storage, and processor options have been overhauled with the biggest changes being in the processors. The top-tier skews max out at a dual-core 14nm 10th-gen Intel Core i3 10110U with a base frequency of 2.10GHz and a turbo 4.10GHz. The bottom tiers include a 14nm Celeron 5205U, also dual core, with a 1.9GHz base speed. RAM goes from 4GB-8GB and storage comes from 64GB-128GB of eMMC storage. Impressive RAM and storage for the price, the processors, not so much, more on that later. 

 
 

 

Image Credit: The Verge

 

The Galaxy Chromebook 2 includes the same 2 USB-C ports with a MicroSD card slot and headphone jack. It does omit the included S pen from the original and with it the S pen silo, you can still buy a USI pen to pair with the Galaxy Chromebook 2, but you won't get that convenient stylus from the original. For an explainer on what is USI here's an article from Chrome Unboxed: https://chromeunboxed.com/chrome-os-usi-pen-standard-all-chromebooks. You also lose the fingerprint scanner, meaning you must rely on either password, PIN, or a pairing to you phone as unlock methods. The keyboard is pretty much staying the same with quiet, reliable scissor switches for typing out those Google docs and spreadsheets (in my case blog posts). 

 

Powered by quantum dot panels, Galaxy Chromebook 2 is the world’s first Chromebook to feature a QLED display, one of Samsung’s signature television innovations. Capable of producing over a billion different colors, every visual on Galaxy Chromebook 2’s 13.3” display is vivid and bright. -Samsung

Image Credit: The Verge

The screen is also quite nice, it's a 13.3-inch 1080p QLED FHD that is still high quality and draws less power than the OLED from the Original Galaxy Chromebook. The screen should not be a problem and paired with a 45.5Wh battery we can expect the battery issues from the original to melt away. OLED has always been expensive, hard to obtain, and somewhat unstable, QLED helps cut costs and increase reliability of the panel, while you do lose out on the color quality of OLED it's negligible on laptops especially with the decrease in price.  

What it means for you

The Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2 is more of a Galaxy Chromebook FE with a cheaper price, premium build quality, and omissions that make it similar to other midrange offerings such as the Acer spin 713. While on windows I would be concerned about the Core i3 on Chromebooks you won't need much more, Chrome OS is able to stay fast even with lesser processors so the i3 isn't an issue and is actually a nice choice. The Celeron is a bit more concerning; performance is great with Chromebooks; the price however is disappointing with better options out there for $500. The storage and RAM also are terrific value with the storage being quite disappointing, NVMe is the standard and omitting it to cut corners is in poor taste, Chrome OS adjusts but users transferring and downloading files will feel the strain from storage.  

Image Credit: Samsung

For those wanting the i5s and i7s from the original Galaxy Chromebook are going to have to keep searching or just go with the original. Those wanting a storable stylus are also going to have to keep searching, although separate USI pens are also available. Many, especially during the pandemic, appreciate a more affordable Chromebook, although it is a downgrade from the original it's also more affordable and gives you some of the latest and greatest from Samsung. 

 

My thoughts

I feel that this is a misunderstood device that will confuse people, like the Pixels it's a downgrade with a purpose. This was a huge miss from Samsung marketing that might hurt this device later, because it's not an upgrade worthy to be the Galaxy Chromebook 2, but I digress. I also wish they would have kept the pen; my brother is actively reviewing the Tab S6 Lite and the Pen is a huge bonus that really helps push the value of the tablet, an S pen would do the same to this Chromebook. 

I also really hate the choice of Celeron instead of M3 for the $500 model, at the very least $450 for the Celeron might have been reasonable. They had to cut corners with the Chromebook 2 and I really wish they had instead gone with worse build quality to give us back the fingerprint sensor and Stylus, they were parts of the original that really helped it stand out from the crowd and the 2 just won't be able to have that advantage. It's a proven strategy that could work, because by all means this is a Chromebook and most people won't be running Linux or the future Windows apps either way, but it still feels like a mistake. 

 
 

The Galaxy Chromebook 2 to me is a troubled device worthy of the FE but not worthy of the Galaxy Chromebook 2 name, it makes too many compromises to be a step-up. Whether or not it's right for you however will have to be left to the reviewers and deep-dives of the future.  

 
 

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