If you are looking for a decent laptop with a little over $500 USD budget, you would be delighted to know about the new Samsung Chromebook Pro. The Chromebook Pro was launched at the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) 2017 in January with the Chromebook Plus. The Pro comes with an Intel Core m3 chip while the Plus features an ARM processor. The Plus also has internal graphics while the Pro comes with Intel HD Graphics 515. The Pro runs on the Google Chrome OS with Google Docs, Gmail, Google Drive, and more.
Critics believe that the Chromebook Pro is a serious MacBook and PC rival. "Google's Chromebooks keep becoming closer and closer to high-end MacBooks and PCs with each iteration," writes Forbes, noting the big difference of prices between MacBooks and Chromebooks.
"For the price, it's hard to name a competing product that offers comparable features and performance," writes CNET. "After five years of evolution, the Chromebook concept finally feels ready for prime time."
The Samsung Chromebook Pro is expected to be one of the best Chromebooks to be released this year. It comes with a 12.3-inch touchscreen display with a 360-degree hinge for tablet or laptop usage. It features a hexacore chipset clocked at 2 GHz with 4 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal storage. The real selling point of the laptop, however, is its ability to run almost all Android apps from the Play Store. Users are no longer limited to web-based apps and can now open mobile apps on their Chromebooks. Some exceptions are Snapchat, Pokemon Go, and Uber. The Chromebook also comes with 4K content playback and is priced at $499 USD.
The Samsung Chromebook Pro has a full metal, 0.55-inch thick build. It also comes with a 2,400 x 1,600 display with a battery that lasts up to 10 hours between charges. It sports a stylus which comes out of the side with the Chrome OS and Android apps integration.