Google has launched the Chromebook Plus lineup, a new category of Chromebooks. According to the company, all ChromeOS laptops with this branding will meet a set of hardware specifications defined by the brand. These requirements include an Intel Core i3 12th Gen (or above) or AMD Ryzen 3 7000 series (or above) processors, at least 8GB RAM and 128GB storage, a display with IPS technology and Full HD resolution (or better), and a web camera with a resolution of 1080p (or higher) with Temporal Noise Reduction.
Google, however, didn’t stop there. The company also launched eight new laptops under the Chromebook Plus program. These laptops come from Acer, Asus, HP, and Lenovo. Surprisingly, there’s no laptop from Samsung under the Chromebook Plus program, which currently offers some of the best Chromebooks in the market, including the Galaxy Chromebook 2 and the Galaxy Chromebook 2 360.
Samsung is fully capable of making a Chromebook that meets the requirements of the Chromebook Plus program. So, it’s unclear at the moment why the Korean tech giant didn’t launch one. Maybe Google partnered with a limited number of brands for Chromebook Plus in the initial phase, and Samsung didn’t make the cut, or maybe Samsung wasn’t interested in making a Chromebook Plus device at this point in time. It’s also possible that the Korean tech giant is working on a Galaxy Chromebook Plus as we speak.
In a nutshell, laptops with the Chromebook Plus branding feature hardware that offers a certain level of performance standards set by Google and support features that it will roll out specifically to devices under this program. These features include built-in Google Maps, tools for enhancing video calls, and more options in image editing tools, such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Express, and LumeFusion. Google says that the Chromebook Plus program will make it easier for people to recognize high-performance Chromebooks.
