Samsung announces new Chromebook 2

Samsung’s most recent Chromebooks are among some of the better made out there. But its higher end fare—like the HD 13-inch Chromebook 2—is a little expensive. The new 11-inch version scales down that nice design into a more budget $250 package.

The 11-inch Chromebook 2 has the same faux-leather back that Samsung’s become so fond of, paired with a 720p screen, and a frame that actually has internal metal reinforcement around its edges for added durability. Inside, the new 11-inch Chromebook 2 runs an Intel Celeron processor instead of Samsung’s own Exynos. Which is promising, since Exynos chips tend to be better suited for phones or tablets, and have left previous Chromebooks reeling.

The performance, though, still leaves a lot to be desired. Typing websites into the URL bar was constantly laggy, and while the Chromebook never lost any of what I typed—text would only show up after an irritating delay. That, and the Chromebook totally joked under more intensive WebGL tests. Choppy framerates all over the place.