Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2 360 Unboxing and Impressions [VIDEO]

An anomaly if there ever was one, the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2 360 is a device that makes little sense in a bunch of ways. So confounding was it that we put off doing an unboxing until now simply because we couldn’t get Samsung to agree to send one over to us. Stating that they didn’t even send out review units on this strange, little device, we simply continued to overlook this oddball Chromebook until recently.

Why have we decided to finally buy one and unbox it? It mainly comes down to curiosity. With Samsung’s very interesting track record in the Chromebook market, we all wondered if maybe we were overlooking something in Samsung’s latest efforts at a new ChromeOS device. As it turns out, that wasn’t the case, but this Chromebook does have a few really interesting additions that make it worth a look, even if it isn’t really worth the asking price.

Here’s the thing: the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2 360 has a few great characteristics. The build quality is pretty good for an all-plastic device and it looks nice on the table, in the hand, or on a lap. There’s is some give to the chassis, but not a ton and the keyboard deck is actually pretty firm. The keyboard is mediocre, but not terrible and the plastic trackpad is reasonably smooth with a solid click mechanism, too.

The ports – a USB Type A, 2x USB Type C, headphone/mic, and MicroSD card – give you a nice array of connectivity and the speakers are decent, too. All of that sounds pretty good, but then you add in the 16:10 2560×1600 QHD IPS screen and things get very interesting. With rounded corners (only a few Chromebooks have this little perk), great color, superb sharpness, and very smooth animations, this screen is one of the better ones I’ve seen in a long time. Seriously, this screen looks like it was the first half of a really great Chromebook.

And then things begin to devolve quite a bit. The wiggle of the keys on the keyboard would make long-term typing a bit of a bummer and the 720p webcam is exactly what you’d expect: soft and underwhelming. But those are forgivable in a lower-cost Chromebook where the performance in this one simply is not. Small-core Intel processors have been pretty good in the past couple years and the entry-level Celeron N4500 in this device should be adequate (not great), but the 4GB of RAM and high-res screen squash that pretty quickly.

Seriously, this is one of the slowest-feeling Chromebooks I’ve used in quite some time, it’s just a shame. At an MSRP of $449, Samsung has to do better than this. There are too many Chromebooks in this price range that blow the doors off of this device and in 2023, it’s just not OK for that to be the case. If this was a $299 Chromebook, this would be a different conversation, but it isn’t. We picked it up on a deep discount for $349, and I’m still aggravated by the speed deficiency.

Unfortunately, the same high-res screen that is so nice to look at is the same screen that undoes this entire experience. It doesn’t matter how nice a display is if the Chromebook pushing it can’t keep up, and that is 100% the case in this situation. With this many pixel to push around, the Celeron N4500 just can’t keep up and I’m left wondering what in the world Samsung was thinking when they put this one together. In no way can I advocate anyone go buy this one at these prices. For far less money, I suppose you could make the case for using this Chromebook for the most basic of tasks, but only that.

Don’t buy it: win it for free!

But here’s the good news: we’re giving it away! That’s right, though I wouldn’t recommend running out to buy this Chromebook, getting it for free is a totally different situation. And entering to win is as simple as can be. Just follow the instructions below and claim your entries. When we hit 250,000 subs on YouTube, we’ll send it to one lucky winner. And share this with your friends! The faster we get to 250K, the faster we get to pick a winner. Good luck!

Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2 360 – 250K Subs