High-end Chromebooks sound like a bit of an oxymoron, and although they’re not often found in Australia, they exist overseas and Samsung’s Chromebook Pro is among the best of them. Released last year, it sits among few peers at the top of the Chromebook pile, alongside Google’s own Pixelbook.
Though it was quite powerful, featuring a 12.3″ display with huge resolution and an Intel Core m3 processor (instead of lower-power ARM processors more common for Chrome), Samsung’s Chromebook Pro had few detractions. Complaints centered on the keyboard, with detractors arguing it had appalling key travel, and that it wasn’t backlit.
The key travel might not be fixed, but Samsung has released an updated Chromebook Pro that does, now, have a backlit keyboard. Spotted yesterday by Android Police, the new Chromebook Pro seems to offer little over and above the first generation model, except for the new backlit keyboard. This means the same 2017 processor, 4GB of RAM and 32GB storage – not poor, by any means, but certainly not class-leading in 2018.
This might all be for nought, anyway, as Samsung remains unlikely to release the updated Chromebook Pro in Australia — we didn’t see the first generation one here, either. However, for those keen to get one, you will soon be able to order these via Amazon and get them shipped to Australia without much of a price premium.
My Samsung Chromebook Pro has just arrived from Amazon in 3 and a half days. I can’t get a letter across Brisbane in that time.
Really happy with the Amazon experience and thrilled to have the Chromebook.
I purchased one for my wife and she loves it. And you’ve got regular updates for the next few years which is awesome!