At today's CES press event, Samsung unveiled Chromebook Plus and Chromebook Pro. Both have 2-in-1 tablet/laptop builds and an included stylus. They are also Samsung's first Chromebooks designed for compatibility with Android mobile apps.
Convertible Chromebooks – with 360-degree hinges and touchscreens – are now fairly common, but ones that support active stylus input are rare. Both of Samsung's latest offerings ship with pressure sensitive styluses and built-in side storage. The stylus works with the preinstalled apps Google Keep and Samsung ArtCanvas for note-taking and drawing, respectively.
Like other Chromebooks from Asus, Acer and Google, Samsung's newest Chromebooks will be compatible with the Google Play store and Android mobile apps. This dramatically widens the breadth of content and possibilities for the Chromebook experience.
With 12.3-inch 2,400 x 1,600 Quad HD displays, these also stand out from other Chromebooks for their high resolution. Other characteristics include a highly portable size (280.8 x 221.6 x 12.9 ~ 13.9 mm), 4 GB of RAM, 32 GB of storage, two USB-C ports, microSD card slot and up to eight hours of battery life.
The processor is the main differentiating point between the Plus and Pro models. While the Plus has an OP1 Chromebook-specific chipset (ARM-based), the Pro has an Intel Core m3 processor with Intel HD Graphics 515.
Samsung Chromebook Plus will be available in February starting at US$449. Samsung has said the Chromebook Pro will be available later this spring, but has yet to release its price.
Source: Samsung
