Review: Samsung Galaxy Chromebook

I'm not a product reviewer, and I don't usually write reviews, especially when there are real experts like Matt Miller of ZD-Net on mobile devices, or ex GigaOm'er Kevin Tofel when it comes to all things Chromebook, but after less than 24 hours of using my new Samsung Galaxy Chromebook, I have to say, having now owned and still owning and using as many as six different Chromebooks since their earliest days, this is by far the best one I've ever owned. And given I still own a Google Pixelbook, and for many months it was, and has been, my primary day to day computer, at home, and more importantly, on the road, I always figured finding something better would be hard to beat.

Well that day has come. While it's likely you can find more in depth reviews at Wired, Engadget and other mass audience sites, the real reviews will come from people Kevin's About Chromebooks and Chome Unboxed, two sites that really take the time to dig into the inner workings of Chromebooks. this

1. Screen-It's bright. Really bright. It has true to life colors and great contrast between them. It's about as sharp as anything I've used on my lap or desk. To make a comparison, it's akin to when SONY introduced Triniton to color TV sets and distanced themselves from all the competition.
2. Audio-I love music, and on the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook I get really awesome sound, that's both clear and rich. For conference calls and phone calls on ZOOM, UberConference or via Dialpad, Hangouts, Messenger, etc. audio is clean, clear, crisp.  I've yet to connect a Bluetooth headset or speaker, but that's for today.
3. Video-For YouTube, Vimeo, Showtime, YouTubeTV and more streaming video the clarity, sharpness and depth of field was there. It was as good as any laptop to date and seemed brighter when watched in normal room lit daylight.
4. Keyboard Travel--this is where I'm really excited. The size and dimensions of the keyboard are perfect for me. I'm mostly a touch typist and grew up with typewriters, first standards, then electric (can you remember the IBM Selectric or Smith Coronas?). As a result muscle memory has me fighting on so many of the 11" and 12" and 13" inch keyboards as my hands are used to wider keyboards. With the Galaxy Chromebook, my fingers are flying across it.
5. Browser Speed-It's fast. Pages load faster than on my Mac Book Pro. Caching seems to be typical for Chrome 80. 
6. WiFi-I've run speedtests a few times day and night. On my Xfinity gigabit connection I've seen over 460 megs down and the usual 35-40 megs up. The download is the fastest of any PC in my house, wireless. I'll need to test with a wired connection sometime today.

I've installed my usual suspect of plugins, extensions (actually, it happened automatically, one of the perks of Chome 0r curses depending on your viewpoint) and nothing seemed to go wonky. Slack, in the browser is faster than in the app, and I've opened less apps than on my Pixelbook and yet I don't seem to be missing any functionality so far. Beyond that, setup is virtually, all done. For those not technically enlightened, the Chromebook remains the easiest device to set up and maintain, much like a Mac Book Air is.

Bottom line. The Galaxy Chromebook is not cheap at $999.00. It's not for everyone, but it is for those who spend long hours on the keyboard, working from home, on airplanes, at coffee shops or anywhere who need a power packed, cloud based PC.  My guess is somewhere along the way, a DELL, Acer or Asus will be released with better specs, performance or looks, but as a Chromebooks go, this is just about the best you'll find today, price aside.