What’s a lot of money to spend on a Chromebook? According to Samsung, it’s $600 or more. That’s the marker for what the Korean tech giant considers a “premium” Chromebook in the US, and the company says it sold a considerable 34% of all units priced above this amount last year.
Now, Samsung plans to test the limits of that $600 mark by introducing its latest premium Chromebook, the Galaxy Chromebook2, for slightly less. The Chromebook2 will go on sale for a starting price of $549, equipped with a snazzy 13-inch QLED touch screen with pen support and the ability to answer calls and texts from any Galaxy phone.
Samsung’s QLED technology made its laptop debut on the Galaxy Book Flex last year, offering more brilliant colors than standard LED screens. The Chromebook2, launched ahead of next week’s CES, is the first Chromebook to offer a QLED screen. Not even Samsung’s ultra-premium $1,000 Galaxy Chromebook has one.
The new Chromebook2, which sports a 360-degree hinge that lets you convert it into a tablet, will include nearly all of the latest Chrome innovations from Google. These include the H1 security chip which enables hardware-verified boot-ups and guards against viruses and physical hacking. The device will also support Google’s new Universal Stylus Initiative, which certifies that any digital stylus will work with the Chromebook2, not just ones made by Samsung.
Inside, the base-model Chromebook2 will come with an Intel Celeron processor, 4GB of memory, and 64GB of flash storage. These are somewhat disappointing specs for a premium Chromebook, as you’ll find them on many competing models that cost less than $500. You’ll also be able to upgrade to a $699 configuration of the Chromebook2, which doubles the memory and storage amounts and adds an Intel Core i3 processor.
The Chromebook2’s sleek exterior is made of aluminum and features two USB-C ports as well as a microSD card reader that will make it easy to add additional storage if you need it. Sadly, there’s no headphone jack, although we weren’t really expecting one given how quickly they’ve been disappearing from other Samsung devices.
The company says it will continue to sell its original Galaxy Chromebook flagship, which is currently on sale for nearly $300 off its list price. Both it and the new Chromebook2 are available in a snazzy red color scheme, which Samsung says has been the top choice for current owners.