Well, CES 2021 is technically and officially underway today. Though some announcements have already happened, this week should still be full of all sorts of new gadgets and great tech all around. For us here at Chrome Unboxed, a couple of the big announcements we’re excited for have already happened in the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2 and the new Acer Chromebook Spin 514. Both of these devices are interesting in their own right and both should be available in the coming weeks for all consumers.
Though Acer is yet to put up a proper landing page for their latest Chromebook, Samsung was apparently on it right away and now has a fully-realized landing page for the Galaxy Chromebook 2 that spends most of its real estate touting all the benefits Samsung has already communicated alongside doubling down on things like the speakers, screen and battery life that all should be class-leading.
Additionally, on this landing page there are a few places where interested parties can sign up for details on general availability. While we’re expecting a launch some time in February, Samsung hasn’t been completely clear with what the actual availability will be for this Chromebook outside of declaring Q1 as the time frame. As part of that email sign up, Samsung is offering some sort of $80 credit for pre-orders/reservations. I signed up to see exactly what an $80 credit looks like and if it can be applied at the time of purchase or not and will update when I know more.
The gist of this landing page is pretty clear, though, and I think Samsung knows what they’re doing. Instead of talking a lot about specs and bleeding-edge internals, the page focuses on users and use cases. The screen is bright and covers the entire DCI-P3 color space. The speakers are standout. The battery is not an issue this time around and Samsung is comfortably touting up to 13 hours of life for this Chromebook. The red color is once again an attention-getter, and the design is slim, sleek, and powerful enough for most users.
Overall, I like where Samsung is going with this marketing for their latest Chromebook and while I – like many others – would have preferred an option with 11th-gen Intel processors, I see what they are up to at this point. Sure, the naming is goofy, but I think Samsung could really have a hit on their hands with this Chromebook. If the $80 credit allows us to purchase on day one at a discount, I’d say that speaks volumes for how they’ve priced this thing. If we routinely get this sort of look, feel and performance from a Chromebook that falls to sub-$600 regularly on sale, it could be a fan favorite for the first half of 2021 until all the rest of the Chromebooks start showing up.
