This $379 Chromebook can convert into a tablet and lets you access Android apps alongside ChromeOS

By John Levite
last updated

Samsung Chromebook Plus
Samsung Chromebook Plus (Image credit: Samsung)

Updated: Best Buy has price matched (opens in new tab). You can sign up for their college student program (opens in new tab) to take another $50 off the cost, bringing the total down to $329.

The Samsung Chromebook Plus is one of the newest Chromebooks around, having just been introduced in January this year, and is currently $378.74 on Amazon (opens in new tab). It shipped at a starting price of $449. While it has seen a few drops here and there since then, this is the lowest it has ever dropped. Pretty much everywhere else, including Newegg and Best Buy, has it for $419 or higher right now.

The Chromebook Plus is lightweight, comes with a stylus, and has a touchscreen. It can convert from a laptop into a tablet. It comes with Bluetooth, a 720p integrated webcam, and two USB-C ports. It has a nice, bright, screen with 2400 x 1600 pixel resolution, which is part of the reason it cost a bit more out the gate than your average Chromebook.

It's also unique in that it's part of Google's attempt to combine ChromeOS and Android, letting you use the features of the Chrome operating system while also accessing Android apps. If you already use an Android smartphone, this Chromebook should complement it pretty well. The Chromebook Plus uses a 2 GHz OP1 Dual-ARM processor, which is designed for use with Android apps, to make that a faster process. However, since ChromeOS is designed to work with a different kind of processor you might see some slowness in other aspects (like when browsing the Internet).

It's not perfect. It is a Chromebook, after all, which means it's designed for light work not heavy play. It only has 4GB RAM and a 32GB SSD, which can be expanded with a microSD port (opens in new tab). The battery life is only six hours and the keyboard doesn't have a backlight. It's designed to be able to do a few things at a time and do them well. If that's what you need, then go for it.

Not sure if this is the Chromebook for you? Be sure to check out some of our thoughts here.

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John Levite
John Levite
J.D. Levite has been in the deals game since 2012. He has posted daily deals at Gizmodo, The Wirecutter, The Sweethome, and now for Thrifter. He was there for the first Prime Day and has braved the full force of Black Friday. If you cut him, he bleeds savings. But don't try it for real. That's a metaphor.
11 Comments
  • This Chromebook is such a shame. The screen is great, but the keyboard is terrible (it's quite narrow, so some keys are weirdly cut off on the sides), and the whole thing feels hollow and flimsy. The performance is miserable as well. The state of Android apps on ChromeOS is such a mess that you can't really make much use of that without getting frustrated, and the CPU just cannot seem to handle full web pages very well. These things are forgivable in a $200 Chromebook, but at $400 you really should get something that performs well.
  • " the CPU just cannot seem to handle full web pages very well."
    LOL, Really, cause they seem fine on my plus.
  • Yeah, they might seem fine to you, but the performance is a good deal slower than my Core-M Surface Pro 4. If the battery life were stellar on the Samsung Chromebook, it could be a fine trade off for a person who cares more about longevity that speed. At $400, you shouldn't have to settle for so-so battery life and minimally-acceptable performance.
  • You just described my Nexus 9 experience perfectly! Ha!
  • I think you have an agenda...
  • 6 hour battery life on a Chromebook that doesn't do much. I don't mind that kind of battery life in a mid-range Windows Notebook in the $450-500 range. It's reprehensible in a ChromeBook. Mind as well save up a few more months and get a Surface Laptop or MacBook Air.
  • If you price match at Best Buy and use the .EDU coupon, you can get it down to $329.
  • I have read a lot of reviews lately and it seems the Samsung Chromebook Pro is the one to get. It seems to work well in most categories although it is a bit expensive for a Chromebook. My son is (of course) taking my new MacBook Pro to school in August... so I need to find a replacement. Not sure which way I am going but it won't be Windows 10 laptop. I have switched over from iPhone to Galaxy s8 and may go with a Chromebook as the only thing I really use a laptop for now days is the Internet and Office 365. Any thoughts?
  • Office 365 won't really work on a Chromebook, unless you just mean you need access to webmail and maybe the Office web apps. You can't get real Word/Excel/etc. on a Chromebook. If you want those, you might want to rethink your aversion to Windows 10. You can get a pretty good Windows laptop for the same price as a Chromebook Pro.
  • Get a surface
  • Hardly anything of significance is priced right in its interim, it's always to the benefit of the company, even with a price reduction...