Samsung Chromebook series 5 review

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.