Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus 15.6" XE550XGA-KC1US Neptune Blue 2024

The Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus pairs a stunning 15.6-inch AMOLED display with an impossibly thin and light design, making it the best media consumption Chromebook on the market. Performance is solid for everyday tasks, but the 256GB of storage is tight and gaming is a complete no-go. You can snag it for around $400 to $500, which is a steal for this screen quality. Highly recommended for cloud-native users who prioritize portability and a gorgeous display above all else.

Let's be real about the Core 3 Series 1 chip in here. It lands in the 40th percentile for CPUs in our database, which is firmly in "solid but not spectacular" territory. For a Chromebook, that's actually a pretty good place to be. You're not going to feel any lag with a dozen Chrome tabs open, a YouTube video playing, and Google Docs chugging along. The 8GB of LPDDR5X RAM helps keep things snappy, even if that capacity itself is on the lower end, sitting in the 23rd percentile. The real bottleneck is the 256GB of UFS storage, which is one of the smallest capacities we see, ranking in the 12th percentile. You'll be leaning hard on that included 2TB of Google One cloud storage.

The integrated Intel Graphics are what they are. A 57th percentile GPU score means it handles display output and light graphical tasks without breaking a sweat, but this is not a machine for creative work or gaming. The user sentiment backs this up. People consistently praise the "solid performance for everyday tasks," and that's exactly the use case. The 15.6-inch 1080p OLED runs at a standard 60Hz, so you're not getting the buttery smooth scrolling of a high-refresh panel, but the 400 nits of brightness and that AMOLED contrast ratio make everything look premium. Just don't expect to edit 4K video or play anything more demanding than Among Us.

The elephant in the room is the Apple MacBook Air M4. It's more expensive, but it absolutely demolishes the Samsung in raw CPU and GPU performance, and it runs a full desktop OS. If you need power and aren't tied to Google's ecosystem, the Air is the better machine, period. On the Windows side, the ASUS Zenbook S UX5406SA is a direct competitor in the ultraportable space, offering a taller OLED display and a more powerful Intel Core Ultra chip, but at a higher price. The HP OmniBook X Flip 14 is another strong alternative, especially if you want a 2-in-1 form factor with a haptic touchpad, though you'll sacrifice the Samsung's stunning AMOLED for a standard IPS panel.

Then there's the Lenovo Yoga Book 9i, which is a completely different beast with its dual-screen setup. It's a productivity monster for a very specific type of user, but it's also heavier and way more expensive. The Samsung's main advantage over all of these is its sheer portability combined with that big, beautiful 15.6-inch screen. Nobody else is putting a display this good in a laptop this light for anywhere near this price. The Microsoft Surface Laptop is a close contender with its excellent build and 3:2 display, but again, you're paying a premium for the Windows ecosystem. For the ChromeOS faithful, the Galaxy Chromebook Plus is basically in a league of its own.

Pricing on this thing is a bit of a rollercoaster. We're seeing a spread from $416 all the way up to a frankly absurd $175,326 across different vendors. Obviously, ignore that high outlier. The real story is that you can find this Chromebook for around $400 to $500 at retailers like Best Buy, which is where the value proposition gets interesting. For that price, you're getting a premium AMOLED display in a ridiculously thin and light chassis, plus a full year of Google's best AI features. That's a strong deal.

Compared to Windows laptops in the same price bracket, you're usually stuck with a dim, washed-out IPS panel and a bulky plastic body. The Galaxy Chromebook Plus feels like a much more expensive machine. The trade-off, of course, is ChromeOS itself. If your workflow lives entirely in a browser and Android apps, this is a fantastic value. If you need full desktop software, that $500 is better spent on a used ThinkPad or a budget Windows machine. But for the cloud-native crowd, this is one of the best screen-and-build-quality combos you can get for the money.

Samsung's Galaxy Chromebook Plus is basically the poster child for what a premium Chromebook should look and feel like in 2025. It's impossibly thin at 11.8mm and weighs just 2.58 pounds, making it one of the most portable 15.6-inch laptops we've ever had in our database. But the real star of the show is that display. This is the only Chromebook Plus on the market with a Samsung AMOLED panel, and it shows. The 1080p resolution might sound modest on paper, but the true-to-life color and those perfect OLED blacks make everything from Netflix to Google Docs look fantastic. It's clearly built for someone who wants a big, beautiful screen in a chassis that won't break their back on a commute.

Under the hood, you're getting an Intel Core 3 Series 1 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of UFS storage. That's not going to set any speed records, and our benchmarks put the CPU in the middle of the pack. But for the ChromeOS world of web apps, Android apps, and Linux containers, it's more than enough for the multitasking this machine is designed for. Samsung is also throwing in 12 months of Google One AI Premium, which means you get Gemini Advanced built right into your workflow. There's even a dedicated Quick Insert key on the keyboard to summon AI help without breaking your flow. It's a clear signal that this laptop is as much about software smarts as it is about hardware.

But here's the thing: this Chromebook is a specialist, not a generalist. Our scoring puts it at the top for entertainment and solid for business, but it absolutely face-plants in gaming with a score of 7.9 out of 100. That integrated Intel Graphics chip isn't going to run Steam games or demanding Android titles. And while the 44Wh battery gets a lot of love in user reviews for lasting all day, some owners have had mixed experiences, especially when pushing the bright AMOLED screen. If you live in Google's ecosystem and want a gorgeous screen for media and productivity, this is a compelling package. If you need raw power or gaming chops, you're in the wrong aisle.

Gamers should run, not walk, away from this Chromebook. The integrated graphics are simply not built for it, and you'll have a miserable time trying to play anything beyond the most basic titles. Creative professionals who need to run full desktop apps like Adobe Premiere, Photoshop, or any serious development environments should also look elsewhere. ChromeOS and this level of hardware just aren't designed for that workflow. You'd be much happier with a MacBook Air M4 or a mid-range Windows ultrabook like the ASUS Zenbook S.

Also, if you're someone who needs a ton of local storage for files, movies, or large Linux environments, the 256GB here will feel claustrophobic fast. There's no SD card slot to expand it either. Anyone who prefers a taller 16:10 or 3:2 screen ratio for reading documents and web pages might find the 16:9 panel annoying for productivity. In that case, check out the Microsoft Surface Laptop or the HP OmniBook X Flip 14 for a more comfortable aspect ratio.

If you're a student, a writer, or anyone who lives in Google's web apps and wants the best possible screen to stare at all day, the Galaxy Chromebook Plus is an easy recommendation. That AMOLED panel is a genuine joy, and the portability means you'll actually want to carry it around. The AI features are a nice bonus, not a gimmick, especially if you're already using Google's apps for work or school. Just make sure you're comfortable leaning on cloud storage, because 256GB fills up fast.

For the tech enthusiast who wants a secondary machine for travel and media consumption, this is also a fantastic pick. It's the perfect couch laptop for streaming, browsing, and light email. But if you're a power user who needs to run demanding Linux apps, edit video, or do any kind of gaming, look elsewhere. The integrated graphics and modest CPU will frustrate you. And if you're not already invested in the Samsung or Google ecosystem, a similarly priced Windows ultrabook or a used MacBook Air might give you more flexibility. This Chromebook is a specialist, and it's brilliant at what it does, but it's not for everyone.