More clues that ‘Xol’ may be the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus

It’s been a couple weeks since we first discovered ‘Xol’ – a new Chromebook on the way from Samsung that curiously has an Assistant key built into the keyboard. You can read the first post about all that and get up to speed on how we know this is a Samsung Chromebook and what you should expect from the re-emergence of an Assistant key on a new Chromebook. You can then read my follow-up post for more insight on why I think this could be the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus.

But if you want the short version, here it is. There are some clear emails tied to ‘Xol’ that clearly give it away as a Samsung-made Chromebook. There are also commits that make it very plain that an Assistant key of some sort will be on the keyboard deck. While an Assistant key always hinted at a Google-made Pixelbook-type of device in the past, no one – including myself – thinks this is the case this time around.

Instead, it seems likely that Samsung and Google will work closely together on whatever ‘Xol’ is to become and that this device will perhaps have a bit more Google flare than other devices. Consider the HP Dragonfly Pro Chromebook and how important the Google hardware touch was on that device. It makes a difference, and with Google and Samsung partnering on more and more these days, it makes sense that they could put their collective heads together on a really special Chromebook project.

More clues point to Galaxy Chromebook Plus

Today, we have a couple commits that help paint the picture a bit clearer. There’s no proof that this will be branded as the Galaxy Chromebook Plus, but my gut tells me today’s clues get us closer to that reality. First up, we have a pretty straightforward code change that plainly outs ‘Xol’ as at least a Chromebook Plus model.

What you are looking at here is an update to the boot screen for ‘Xol’ that is adding the Chromebook Plus logo. As you may know, not all Chromebooks get this specialized splash screen, so its addition to ‘Xol’ makes it clear that Samsung is at least building a new Chromebook Plus model. Again, this doesn’t confirm the name I’m putting out there, but it definitely takes the guessing out of the equation on whether or not Samsung is building a Plus model instead of just another Chromebook.

Next up, we see ‘Xol’ getting NVMe support. Granted, these days we see plenty of Chromebooks with this faster storage option, but usually only the higher-end ones. While NVMe isn’t exactly rock-solid proof that ‘Xol’ will be a nicer Chromebook, it is at least a nod to the fact that Samsung is likely not building a $399 laptop here, either.

While there’s nothing wrong with Samsung making a great, affordable Chromebook Plus model, I think I speak for many when I say it’s time for Samsung to fully get back in the Chromebook game. After years of declining quality in the Galaxy Chromebook lineup, they need a reset. If ‘Xol’ is a Galaxy device (it feels like it 100% will be), it needs to have a certain level of quality. The Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2 360 and Galaxy Chromebook Go were not up to the level you expect with Galaxy branding, and ‘Xol’ needs to come along and fix that.

We’re obviously still early on, here, but a device built on the trusted ‘Brya’ development baseboard (12th and 13th-gen Intel devices) like ‘Xol’ shouldn’t take too long to get going. I’d imagine Samsung could roll this one out by the end of the summer if they wanted to, but that’s only a guess. For now, we’re still hunting for more clues and hoping for a roll-out that doesn’t push too far into 2024. If Samsung wants to make the poster child device for Chromebook Plus, now is the time. With the right collection of goods, they can make a big splash with ‘Xol’, and I’m eager to see it for sure.