Samsung Chromebook Plus V2, 2-in-1, 4GB RAM, 64GB eMMC, 13MP Camera, Chrome OS, 12.2", 16:10 Aspect Ratio, Light Titan (XE520QAB-K03US)

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I was doing my research before making my purchase. it was down to the Asus302 or the Samsung Plus. Samsung won because: 1. I had to have the pen to assist in Navigating 2. the add-ons where perfect to compliment my job 3. the Imagery is crystal clear 4. and every gadget I own is predominantly Samsung.........so major bias!!!!!

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Ive been in the market for a cheap laptop for work for a while. I have a hefty gaming PC at home but I wanted something completely separate and portable for non-gaming needs like using the internet and word processing. Additionally Ive been trying to read more and sometimes this leads to me using the Kindle app on my phone. I was drawn to the Chromebook Plus (V2) because of the attempts to make it more like a tablet and utilize Android apps. Overall the product works exactly as described. The screen is good, though the default settings make the things like the app shelf, window borders, and pointer size a little too large in comparison to the parts of the screen in use. This is variable once you poke around the settings, though, and I have no complaints. The keyboard is fantastic and responsive. The touchscreen is pretty good, though its not quite on par with the perfection that is an iPad touch screen. Sometimes I miss when I try to click on things with my finger or perhaps it doesnt register at all. That happens so infrequently that its still entirely usable. The pen is also nice, though Ive only used it so far to doodle in the Google Keep notes app as it was not a main selling point for me. The battery life is about on par with what is advertised; I used it lightly from 7:30-2:30 yesterday, for example, and it only got to about 50%. The foldability for tent and tablet mode is a little bit awkward considering the size and the fact that the keyboard is always attached, but it works. It just makes me prefer it as a laptop more than a tablet most of the time. The performance is acceptable considering the hardware. With my other machine having a much more powerful processor and more RAM, I actually do notice a bit of delay in navigation online and when using multiple apps. With that said, its not bad at all, and the comparison is actually rather unfair. My main complaint is really only the quality of the touchpad for using the cursor. It works well, but its a little bit choppy and doesnt respond to light and subtle movements when trying to be precise. Again, this might be unfair because the only recent laptops Ive used have been MacBooks and those touchpads are incredibly smooth, but its still worth pointing out. Overall Im highly satisfied with my purchase. The problems Ive described really arent even problems but rather little quirks that Ive already gotten used to. It works for everything youd want a Chromebook to work for and it does it well.

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Ive used Chromebooks for years as my everyday laptop. This 2nd generation Plus with an M3 satisfies all my normal needs and wants. I use multiple windows/tabs and this machine handles that without a problem. I pushed it to about 30 open tabs running multiple videos and audio before it bogged down. The display is beautiful at all angles. The keyboard travel feels l great and only lacks backlight. The track pad and touchscreen are flawless. Though I considered the pen a gimmick I have found it useful for some situations. Google has solved some of the problems Android apps had on Intel. The UI for switching between Chrome & Android apps has vastly improved, making a Chromebook more useful and productive. The pen is great for the Android photo editing apps and the Chrome app Polar. The 2in1 form works well. The hinges seem built to last, but I would say the Samsung is a bit too heavy to use as a tablet for more than 10 minutes. Google has improved the UI to the point where Chrome works well as a tablet. But, if you want a tablet first there are better options like the HP or Google Slate. This is an excellent laptop with only a few compromises. The plastic bottom creeks a bit, the only indication this is not a solid all metal body. I paid around $500 and that is an amazing value for a laptop that performs this well.

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This thing is great. battery lasts me a full day without the need to recharge. pretty good for light work and media consumption. I was able to push it to the limit of processing power a few times (Core M3 version) but thats only with linux software. running smoothly with 16 tabs open. reached 23 tabs one time and it didnt seem like it was struggling at all. Keyboard is decent, trackpad is great. pen was useful with slight photo editing. For the price (449.99$ on black Friday), a great machine for web browsing, youtube and light work.

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I researched for a long time because I wanted both a tablet and a computer. I love that you can download apps and use them for both the computer and the tablet form. The stylus makes using Lightroom and other creative apps a breeze. Being able to use the cloud is a must because the storage would fill up pretty quickly. My only "complaint" is that as a tablet, the screen is pretty big. Its kinda awkward to read on because the screen is quite large, but the large screen is also a good thing for activities like editing photos, drawing, and taking notes. Start up, web browsing, and apps are quick. The battery life is really great for everyday use. Would absolutely recommend.

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I have two of the previous Samsung entry level Chromebooks, both of which have become slower over time. They have been optimally tuned. After much reading, and the running of the OCTANE benchmarks, I became convinced that the growth of the web and heavy "paging" had to be countered by faster processing. I selected this Chromebook based on its benchmark performance of about 4x my existing devices. Would I be rewarded accordingly? OH YEAH! This thing flys. Those ugly, slow, "lists" on yahoo that would drive you nuts? This unit screen paints the next one immediately. If your performance is annoyingly slow, and you have tuned as best you can with no results, if you have adequate network speed, then this unit will deliver. Also includes hi res HD display, touchscreen, and a stylus. Go for it!

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Ive been using a chromebook as my primary computer for well over 5 years. The last one I used was an Acer c720 with an i3 processor, I loved that thing.... I replaced the battery and it still works great but this deal was too good to pass up. $450 for a 7th generation m3 processor convertible chromebook with a dedicated stylus is a great deal. Considering google is offering free note taking apps on the offers page also sweetens the deal. In my opinion, this computer is a significantly better value than anything youd get from a windows computer in this price range. I initially ordered this when it was priced $495 and a 3rd party retailer sent me an xe521qab (dark grey) instead of the listed xe520qab (light grey). Im going to compare both units at the end. Im starting with reviewing the specs and hardware since I think mentioning overall build quality is important and why I chose this unit over others. Im also going to compare both models since everyone needs to know what theyre buying before they actually buy it. Im also going to touch briefly on the capabilities of Chrome OS and its limitations so first time buyers have an idea what theyre getting. Pros: - Convertible, able to run Android apps - Included stylus built into the computer - Fast, low power CPU (fanless computer) - Full HD screen (1920 x 1200 resolution) - Great battery life - Audio is great, just quiet - Linux apps available from within ChromeOS - Keyboard has good travel, very comfortable to type - Trackpad is a good size and is responsive Cons: - No backlit keyboard (some chromebooks in this price range have them) - Cant install any kind of Windows or Mac programs - Will not be able to play computer games, but it can play mobile games from android Processor: The processor in this unit is an intel core m3-7y30. To me, this is one of the best processors you can ask for in a Chromebook, but can be underpowered in a Windows laptop. The two specs I feel are most important are 4.5 W TDP and 1.0 ghz - 2.6 ghz clock speed. In laymans terms, this processor has extremely low power requirements which sips power and is able to increase its clock speed high enough to get tasks done. This chip can also hyperthread, basically making it more efficient per core and increasing speed as well. Because of this low power state, the processor doesnt heat up too much and the computer doesnt need a fan. The computer makes no noise. Ive noticed zero lag at all, even using the stylus. This thing is overpowered for most tasks Chrome OS needs. Its a great balance between power needed vs maximizing battery life. To give you an idea on price, this processors MSRP is $280. Kind of already covers half of the price of the computer already. Screen: Incredible considering the wide viewing angles, I can see the screen from every angle possible. My old Acer c720 has the worst screen imaginable with a very narrow, low resolution display. This thing is just as nice as a "retina" display in any macbook. Battery: As stated earlier, the M3 processor doesnt use much power compared to other processors, the lack of a fan also saves a lot of power. running a crosh battery test, the rate of decline without running anything is about 1% in 300 seconds, or about 12% an hour. So I would say best case scenario, 8 - 8.3 hours of battery life. This is good, not the best, but certainly good enough for me. I got 3 days of solid use before I needed a new charge. In comparison, my acer c720 sipped about 1.25% every 300 seconds, or had around 6.7 hours of battery life. It is older and the CPUs are different, but overall its significantly better. Audio: Great for a laptop. Audio has good dynamic range, just no bass. These are solid speakers and it feels premium, just not nearly as premium as a macbook for instance. Chrome OS: When you buy a Chromebook, you should primarily be using it for web browsing and simple tasks. If youre tied into googles ecosystem it can do much more. On the other hand, if youre tied into Apples ecosystem it can be a challenge to use. Chrome OS cant run computer programs built for Windows or Mac, such as microsoft office and photoshop. You can use an online suite of office or the android apps, but they aren’t the same. Setting up a wired printer can be confusing. Downloading word documents may change the way they look when opened with google docs. Conversely, saving things from google docs to word format may also mess up the formatting, issues I wish would get polished out in the future. Overall, I think chromebooks are absolutely ready for widespread use. Chrome OS is much more secure than both Windows and Macs, the fact that you hardly ever download anything keeps the computer fast and secure. The lightweight OS absolutely flies, for everyday tasks its much faster than Windows or OS X and youll notice a difference right away. Linux Programs: Back in the day (6 years ago), you had to sideload a linux OS in order to use linux apps. It worked but was clunky and made it much harder to keep linux up to date. Plus it took up valuable space on the chromebook and you had to switch OS completely in order to use them. Today, ChromeOS has a linux virtual machine built into it, and youre able to pull apps from the linux database directly into ChromeOS and run apps. This is absolutely amazing to me, and Im not sure when google decided to do this, but it basically makes ChromeOS a near complete machine with much lower limitations. This gives you access to good program alternatives to photoshop and microsoft office, especially if you need something that does a little bit more than what google apps can do. This is by no means as nice or complete as Windows or Mac as it still requires knowledge to do it properly and keep it up to date, but its free and open source, and I think its important to support that idea. Linux and Android are the two most popular open source platforms, theres a lot of things you can do with both of them and its great having both available within Chrome OS. Tablet: This is where ChromeOS is heading towards, so I wouldnt recommend getting a chromebook that isnt convertible at this point. Its nice to have and makes it able to run android apps. Apps that would be useful on a chromebook would be anything that can take notes and take advantage of a stylus. Its good for annotating powerpoints, drawing, or taking school notes if you enjoy writing over typing. Everything else is just gimmicky, but Its still amazing to have an ability to flip the thing around and have a high resolution tablet available. xe520qab vs xe521qab: When I purchased this chromebook, a manufacturer sent me the 521 by mistake, so to get the lower price I had to return it and get the 520. Amazon unfortunately wasnt able to price match. I took pictures so everyone can see the difference. The 521 is simply nicer. It has a darker body, metal keyboard deck, smooth edges; it just feels much better and more expensive. Its rounder in most places, tablet mode feels smoother and better when holding it. The only two thing I like about the 520 is how it looks when its closed and it feels better when opening it. The sharp edges are nice and clean, but the plastic keyboard deck just isn’t as comfortable. If you can find the xe521qab for the same price as the xe520qab, Id pick the 521 in a heartbeat. Other than that youre getting the exact same thing. Both are fantastic computers and Im sure anybody would be happier with either pick. $450 is an absolute steal for either of these computers.

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Overall, I really like this Chromebook. I like the fact that it has a built-in stylus that upon removing allows you to write handwritten notes that automatically go into Google Keep. I like the 360-degree hinge in case you want to use any of the android apps. It works really well with a Bluetooth mouse or trackball which you can get on Amazon as well. The screen is top notch and the speakers are very impressive. For the money, this represents a better value than getting a Pixelbook. Samsung should have either 1) designed the second USB-C port further away from the first one on the left side of the device, or 2) designed the second USB-C port on the right side of the unit.

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I dont know if there is a perfect device, but I got this in an effort to replace two aging devices: a first generation chromebook and an android tablet with stylus. It does the former better than the latter, but if Im crunched for weight and space, it does the job. I import music scores from PDF into Squid (Android app) and I can mark them up with the stylus. A little unwieldy as a tablet, just because it is so big. It has no direct connection to HDMI, but I bought an inexpensive USB-C adapter and we are in business. Same for full-size SD cards. However, it does have one built-in USB 3.0 connection, so you dont need an adapter for USB sticks. Wi-fi performance appears to be a little weak compared to some other devices I have, but has worked okay.

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We bought this as a home laptop for our 8 years old her parents to use for general web surfing, homework help and movie watching. It was super easy to set up. Even though we have never had a chrome book- it’s easy to use and we love the touch screen. Great purchase. I’m very happy 2 months in.

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