The Samsung Chromebook 2 was formally announced this week to much attention — but not for the usual reasons.
What attracted most comment was the look of the device. Samsung’s decision to lavish a texturised leather-look material on the lid of the notebooks was met with a divided response.
With the company now sending out hi-res images of the devices, we can get a better look at the faux-leather furnishings in all their monochromatic glory.
13.3-Inch Model (Titanium Gray)
The $399.99 13.3-inch Samsung Chromebook 2 features an impressive full HD LED display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080. The display is cased in a texturised plastic designed to resemble leather, a look that even sees moulded stitching on the seams.
Power is provided by an eight-core Samsung Exynos 5 Octa SoC clocked at 2.1 GHz on four A15 cores, and 1.5 GHz on the slower, but more power efficient A7 cores. This is teamed up with 4GB of DDR3L RAM, a 16GB eMMC SSD, and Mali-T628 MP6 graphics clocked at 695 MHz.
It comes with a 720p HD webcam, built in WiFi and Bluetooth. Ports include a HDMI out, MicroSD card slot, and 2x USB.
The device weighs in at 3.09 Ibs, and has a 0.65-inch tall profile when the lid is closed.
Samsung say users can expect to get around 8.5 hours of battery life on a single charge when used under “typical conditions”.
11.6-Inch Model (Jet Black, Classic White)
While smaller in stature than its more sizeable sibling, the 11-6-inch version of the Chromebook 2 is no less impressive.
Available in two colour options, Jet Black and Classic White, the device features the same faux-leather look as its bigger brother, but which looks slightly less formal at first glance thanks to the monochromatic colour choices.
Being cheaper means there is a slight trade-off in performance. While it also utilises the innovative eight-core Samsung Exynos Octa SoC, it comes in at a fractionally slower clock speed of 1.9 GHz, while the Mali-T628 GPU is lowered to 533 MHz.
Elsewhere the devices matches the 13.3-inch model, with the same 4GB RAM and 16GB flash storage and the same selection of ports.
Battery life is pegged at 8 hours owing to the fractionally smaller battery. The Samsung Chromebook 2 will retail at $319.99.