Speaking of which, regardless of which video calling app you use, Chromebook Plus laptops now have a studio-style microphone option to better isolate your voice and cut out background chatter, and there are appearance improvements to brighten your face or adjust the lightning.
Those features outside of Quick Insert are exclusive to Chromebook Plus machines. This is a standard that Google created last year that establishes a strict hardware specification that manufacturers must meet if they want to be under that label. The point is to ensure a certain level of polish on these Chromebooks, which start at around $350. But Google isn’t forgetting about all non-Chromebook Plus laptops.
Some things are coming all Chromebooks (well, the ones that are still supported). Welcome Recap, for example, gives you an overview of where you left off, with an image of the last web page you were on and all the other apps you still had open, in case you wanted to come back the next day. Focus mode, which first debuted on Android phones, is now built into ChromeOS, allowing you to turn on Do Not Disturb and mute notifications if you want to get in the zone. There’s even a YouTube Music integration to play soundscapes and put you in the right mood. And in the launcher tray, there’s a section to pin certain files for quick access, and ChromeOS will suggest recently opened Google Docs or Slides.
Surprisingly, Google’s Gemini chatbot is now available on all Chromebooks (it used to be exclusive to Chromebook Plus models), although Google will only offer three months of free access to the Google One AI premium plan if you buy a new Chromebook (which allows you access). to Advanced Gemini). If you purchase a Chromebook Plus, Google will continue to run the promotion that gives you the same free benefit for 12 months.
New Chromebooks
There’s shiny new hardware to go along with these new software features. First up is a long-awaited update to the Lenovo Duet, a laptop we loved in previous releases. This detachable 2-in-1 laptop comes with a kickstand to hold the 11-inch 2K display upright and includes a keyboard for when you don’t want to use it in tablet mode. Google says it has updated the palm rejection models in ChromeOS, so drawing on this whiteboard with a stylus will be much less frustrating.
It is powered by a MediaTek Kompanio 838 processor with 8 GB of RAM and remember, since this is No a Chromebook Plus model, the performance of this machine probably won’t impress. But if you use it for word processing and some Chrome tabs, it will get the job done. It comes with 128GB of storage, an 8-megapixel rear camera, and a 5MP selfie camera. It costs $349.
The Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus is Samsung’s first Chromebook Plus laptop and is also its thinnest and lightest to date. It weighs 2.58 pounds despite the 15.6-inch screen; For context, a 15-inch MacBook Air weighs 3.3 pounds. This one is foldable, but you get an OLED display, a top-of-the-line Intel Core 3 100U processor along with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.
Photography: Julian Chokkattu
Both laptops will be launched in October.
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