Samsung Chromebook series 5 review

You could be forgiven for thinking Samsung’s new Series 5 was a netbook; the compact dimensions, low-power components and 12in screen might seem familiar, but turn it on and it’s clear this is a very different beast. It’s the first laptop powered by Google’s Chrome OS, which replaces Windows in favour of a minimal cloud-based operating system designed entirely for web browsing.

Chrome OS is a massive departure from Windows; it’s completely self-contained, so you can’t install programs like you would on a regular PC or laptop, and your data is stored on cloud servers rather than saved locally. It’s also completely locked down unless you are connected to the internet, as it requires a Google account to log in to the operating system.

When you open the lid on the Series 5, it boots into the operating system in around eight seconds – thanks in part to its small 16GB solid state disk. After you’ve logged in, if you already use Google Chrome on another PC and have enabled Chrome’s sync function, your bookmarks, saved passwords, browsing history and browser extensions are downloaded automatically – so you’re ready to go right away.

The basic interface is identical to the Windows version of Chrome, with tabs on top and an address bar underneath. If you’ve used Chrome, or any other modern web browser, Chrome OS will be easy to use, as you can open multiple browser tabs to multi-task and switch between them with the same keyboard shortcuts. Because there aren’t any applications installed with the operating system, every task has to be done via a web page; Google’s Docs service can create spreadsheets, presentations and text documents, Gmail handles email and there’s a plethora of other websites available for more challenging tasks such as image editing.

In case having too many open tabs becomes confusing, you can open new browser instances with the Control + N shortcut combination. These instances are completely separate from one another, meaning tabs can’t be dragged between open screens like on the Windows version of Chrome, but a shortcut key quickly flips between each instance. This is excellent for keeping productive pages such as Google Docs away from time sinks such as Facebook or Twitter.

Although you can’t install applications like you can if you were using Windows, Google’s Chrome web store has a range of extensions that can offer similar functionality. Some of the most useful are the Tweetdeck Twitter client and ScratchPad, a note-taking tool. This lets you write quick messages without navigating away from your current tab, which are then synced automatically to your Google Docs account. Unfortunately, the majority of the web store is made up of simple shortcuts that don’t add any extra functionality.

Some things are impossible to run using a web page, but thankfully Chrome OS includes several small apps that handle multimedia playback and exploring portable devices connected to the multi-format card reader or two USB ports.

A basic file browser is opened with the Control + M keyboard shortcut, letting you view the contents of an attached memory card or USB stick, but its functionality is highly limited. You can’t drag and drop files, folders don’t update automatically – you have to navigate away from them first – and the number of recognised file types is very small. A pop-out multimedia player can handle MP3, WMA, WAV and M4a audio files, but again functionality is limited; there is no repeat or shuffle button, equalizer settings or a graphical visualizer. Support for video files was even worse, as with the exception of MP4, all our test files failed to play.

Putting our grievances with Chrome OS to one side, we were quite impressed with the Series 5’s hardware. We had no problems running several Chrome instances at once, each with several open tabs, on the Series 5, thanks to the 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Atom processor and 2GB of RAM. We weren’t able to run our usual multimedia benchmarks, but the web-based SunSpider Javascript test produced slightly quicker results than a Windows-based netbook running similar hardware. There was also no way to run our usual battery life benchmark, but the Series 5 managed a fantastic eleven and a half hours when we played MP3 files on a constant loop. We did this with WiFi enabled, as Chrome OS is useless without an internet connection.

The 12.1in screen has reasonable image quality, even if the matt finish makes images appear slightly duller than we would like to see. It certainly helps reduce screen reflections, so we could use it in direct sunlight, albeit at maximum brightness. The 1,280×800 screen resolution is also a step up from the usual 1,024×600 we’re used to seeing in laptops of this size, but the small range of screen tilt and below average viewing angles were slightly disappointing. Sound quality was also respectable for a small laptop, with the downward-firing speakers producing surprisingly loud audio. Bass notes were understandably lacking without a subwoofer, but mid-range notes sounded clear.

We tested the integrated graphics chip using streaming HD video from YouTube and BBC iPlayer, as well as our own test files. We weren’t impressed with the regular compression artefacts or choppy frame rate that occurred when we had multiple tabs open in the background, but once we’d closed them video became a lot smoother. Standard definition files were smooth regardless of the number of extra tabs we had open. After running some 720p video files on a loop, both fan noise and heat remained low.

We had no trouble typing on the Series 5 keyboard. The full-size Chiclet-style keys have a reasonable amount of travel and plenty of feedback. The keyboard layout has a few quirks, including double-width control and alt keys stretching into where the Windows and menu keys would normally be, and the function buttons have been switched with helpful web shortcuts such as back, forward and refresh, as well as volume and brightness toggles. Finally, the Caps Lock key has been replaced with a search button that will open a new tab when pressed. This is useful, but you may miss having a Caps Lock key. There’s also no delete key – only backspace. The touchpad can’t match the keyboard for quality; you press the entire pad to click, but the click action isn’t particularly responsive.

We tried hard to like the Series 5 – it has some innovative features, runs quickly and has excellent battery life. Unfortunately, at £350 for the Wi-Fi only version or £400 for one with integrated 3G, it costs far too much to compete with other portable devices. If you need to do a lot of office tasks, a Windows-based netbook costs less and is much more versatile, but if you just want to browse the web, an Android tablet actually has more functionality, thanks to the number of apps available.

It’s a shame that Chrome OS doesn’t feel mature enough to replace Windows as our operating system of choice, as it has plenty of potential, but the lack of worthwhile offline features makes it difficult to recommend over a normal laptop running Windows (or Linux) with the Chrome web browser installed.