Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Enterprise (256GB Storage, 8GB RAM), Mercury Gray - XE931QCA-K01US

This is a review that I am going to try to keep brief, but I might fail. Here's why: The Samsung Galaxy Chromebook has had some of the most unfair reviews I have ever read about an inanimate object, and I'd like to clear the air of some of those comments.Let's start with the only thing I agree with from so many negative reviews, and that agreement is 'somewhat' at best, and that's the fact that the battery life is not all that great. Some would say it is terrible, I would say that is true if only going by specs alone. But, in real-life usage by a couch potato like myself, is a minor inconvenience. Why? Well, because I do not use my Chromebook in a manner that requires I run on battery power more than 3 or four hours at a time. If after something between 3 and 5 hours, I get low on battery I do what I have always done... I plug it in! I am not being silly, but serious. I plug it in and keep going for a while, then I unplug it and keep going some more.YES, I could not do that in the forest, at the beach, or on a long flight. But my use case does not require that any longer, like it did when I was an executive in the computer business, taking long flights.SO, if your use case or use model allows plugging in now and then, and 3-plus hours will get you what you need and you can plugin for a while at that point, THAT is what real-world usage is like for many many users of this machine.Next, and last, on the agreed-to complaints list of other reviews is that, yes, the machine does heat up sometimes, but no differently than does my $3500 Apple MacBook Pro every now and then. There isn't a lot to say about that, other than it is not constant nor always-so but does occur about as often and gets about as warm, as my Mac laptops have occasionally become.These two main points are in agreement with similar points on other reviews. But many, if not most, of the other points on clearly negative reviews, are less than objective or real-world, in my opinion.For example, I read a review that said the glass screen was so thin if was prone to break, and that the trackpad was just too small, that the hinges were terrible, that the keyboard was terrible, and on and on. All of which is categorically false, and is not a realistic appraisal of the machine, especially when compared with other very high-end laptops, such as some Apple models, some other high-end Chromebooks such as those from Samsung and Google's own offerings.Now... for the sweet sauce, the good points about this amazingly cool little machine... read on.This machine is thin... really thin. So much so, that for the 1st few days I found myself handling it like the newborn baby it was, but soon I reverted to treating it like a laptop computer. All to say this thing is built really well, AND that it is a top-tier piece of precision electronics like a high-end camera or sophisticated medical device. But while it is not unduly delicate, it does deserve a degree of understanding that it is not a 1-inch thick block of ABS plastic, so use and treat it accordingly.Next, the hinges, no complaints from me. Some reviewers claim they are lousy because the lid/screen will oscillate a bit when adjusted. True. And so does every really thin lid machine I have ever owned. Bu tin the real world, we don't do that, do we? We adjust the screen position and carefully, and it stays put.Next, the keyboard, it is every bit as good, and perhaps better than the keys on any Mac portable I've used for the past 5 plus years, in fact, I think it is a little bit better because the key-travel feels a little bit longer, which can make for better feedback and improved speed.No need to comment on the display, it's simply about as good as it can be. Literally. I don't think you can get a better screen on any laptop today. And many of the reviewers panned the machine because of a lack of 4K video material to consume. Someone should tell them it isn't the machine's issue, is it?Sound. The sound is fine, again, consider what you just purchased, it is not a Bose foldback bass design with an array of 6 drivers for sound. It is an amazingly thin laptop, and it sounds just fine. Does it get loud enough? Yes. Does it get really really really loud? No.The hinges are fine, too. My only complaint is that when fully opened into tablet-style, the lid doesn't lock into place, and my copy floated about 1/8th of an inch above the base unit when handheld at an angle. When in tablet configuration and laying flat, as on a desk or table, the lid was flush as it should be. A little annoying at most.All the great features you've read about are absolutely true of this machine. It is simply the best laptop I have ever owned. In terms of the build detail, it meets, and actually, IMPO surpasses, many if not all major laptop manufacturers' latest designs, especially in the Chromebook marketplace, where this machine may be the best, again, depending on your individual feature, functions, and use-case needs.Performance-wise the included i5 10th generation Clearlake U chipset seems to me to outperform or minimally to keep up with my 2015 Google Pixel Chromebook which used an i7 2.6Ghz processor married to 16GB of RAM. This machine I am reviewing has a chip that moves along at 1.6Ghz and throttles up to 3.9 (some spec sheets rate it above 4.x Ghz) and as such I have had zero performance issues even though it has 8 GB of RAM. So performance-wise, I am very pleased.Would I have been happy if I'd spent $1,000 (actually $999) on this machine? Well, my 2015 machined aluminum, best of breed, Google Pixel Chromebook (the second release in that brand/line) cost me over $1,200 when new, and I never looked back. This machine was discounted to $799 a year ago, and now that it is replaced with the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2, this original Galaxy Chromebook can be had for $599 new while inventory supplies are available. At that price, I would replace it in a micro-second if mine was damaged or lost.Those of us who have been Chromium OS and Chromebook pioneers have been rewarded with an ever increase of Chromebook capabilities in both the hardware and the apps and operating system. This machine, the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook (original version) is a real winner in every way, and while battery life is not top-of-class, this reviewer asserts that pretty much everything else is, and for $600, I am very happy with my purchase.I hope this review has been helpful, regardless of what you end up purchasing when shopping for your next Chromebook computer.

A good place to start would be that I got this chromebook at a discount ($749, down from $999). And my needs are mainly to run Citrix (through browser or Chrome app, either works) for work and to casually browse, read magazines/books or listen to Spotify. Not a "Power User" by any means, though not sure any Chrome OS user is.That being said, this is THE BEST CHROMEBOOK I'VE EVER USED, and it is more than perfect to suit my needs.Build: The thing is beautiful, a really premium feel to the materials, and the red is really classy and not too gaudy as I was a bit worried and almost went with the more drab grey option - I'm glad I didn't. The chrome ring around the outside is also a premium touch that looks great. It's the thinnest and lightest 2-in-1 laptop I've ever seen, and I know that I like to use 2-in-1s in tablet mode and this is the first time it actually feels comfortable and feasible to do that for more than a brief period of time. The 2.2lbs was a big draw for me when comparing this laptop to the Galaxy Chromebook 2, Asus C436, or the Acer Spin 713 - upon using it I am glad I took it into consideration. Other great things about the build are the relatively loud stereo speakers and the built-in stylus. Minor drawbacks would be the weak hinge that doesn't always hold the screen in place when moving the laptop if open (though for the most part it does the job) and the lack of ports (you just get 2 USB-C ports, which also function as charging ports, so if you're charging you only have 1...adapters easily solve this). Also the cameras are weak but I don't use those - if you're buying for camera quality only for some reason (Zoom?) then this isn't the one for you.Screen: The SCREEN is AMAZING. The OLED is top notch and better than any Chromebook I've ever seen, at full brightness the colors are insane. That being said, the high resolution and the brightness eat at the battery life a lot, so in most cases I've got brightness scaled way down and I don't really miss anything, it works fine. Touch works perfectly, the stylus allows for really detailed notes/drawings in Canva or other apps. One drawback might be the bezel placement, there are 3 super-thin outer bezels and one larger bottom bezel... in tablet mode that one larger bezel functions well as a "handle" of sorts, but the other sides can't be touched without accidentally hitting the screen and scrolling or clicking a link, etc. A very minor nuisance at most. Another minor issue is that the resolution is SO GOOD that when I run Citrix, the session almost appears blurry, but still workable - on high resolution windows machines Citrix has addressed this with DPI scaling, but they've yet to master this on the Chrome OS app or the Chrome web app. Not Samsung's issue, but still part of my experience with the machine so I thought it worth mentioning.Performance: This thing is a BEAST. There's arguably no need for an Intel i5 in a Chromebook, but here we are, and the thing is FAST. Scrolling is smooth and even with tons of tabs open I've never experienced lag when playing videos or games. With lots going on under the hood, and no fan, I've heard mention from others that the computer can get really hot under heavy loads - I've barely experienced this while using a decent amount of processing power, and would elaborate that when I did feel heat it was very minor and not unbearable by any means. I'm thinking unless you are gaming a lot or developing in linux or doing something really really processor heavy, you'll be fine. A small performance gripe in general is that Android apps don't always play well with Chrome OS and have re-sizing issues or some lag, but this is not a Samsung problem, more of a Google problem.Battery Life: Some people have called this the achilles heel of the laptop, but I don't have much issue. Again, I'm not a real gamer/developer/super user - I am Joe Basic using it for administrative work and browsing/music/reading. On an average day at like 70% brightness I can unplug at 8am and make it to about 3 or 4pm before having to plug back in while working in Citrix doing basic tasks on MS Access, Excel, etc - nothing intense but that's pretty much constant screentime for about 6-7 hours before it starts getting low and I've got to plug in. Obviously this is not great in comparison to 10+ hours at full brightness seen on other Chromebooks - but you are getting more than the average Chromebook here and this is a bit of a concession made on Samsung's part to provide the rest of the goods. Overall if you don't need to be away from a charger for more than 6 hours every day, you shouldn't have an issue.Should you buy it: If you have read this far and think your needs/usage are similar to mine and you want the sleek-est, coolest, thinnest chromebook out there, DEFINITELY BUY THIS (especially if on discount, which it frequently is between Amazon, Best Buy, and Samdsung's own site).