When we first found evidence of a higher-spec version of the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus via Geekbench 6, it was before the device was made official by both Google and Samsung two weeks ago. Fast forward to today, and we are not only seeing the Galaxy Chromebook Plus up for order, but expecting deliveries to start going out early this week from both Samsung and Best Buy.
Since being made official, Samsung and Google have held the line (for now) that there is only a single spec of the Galaxy Chromebook Plus shipping, and that was the end of the story. While I expected to hear about some enterprise options potentially offering more horsepower under the hood and expanded RAM, I've come up empty. After all, just because an in-development Chromebook gets tested on Geekbench with a particular spec, that doesn't always equate to that configuration actually ever becoming available.
Today, however, over on the UK variant of Samsung's website, you can learn more about two variants of the Galaxy Chromebook Plus that differ by £100 and have one, primary difference between them: an upgraded processor. You can't place an order just yet, but we're likely not far from it.
While I don't think we'll see massive changes in perceived performance with the 14th-gen Intel Core 5-120U versus the Core 3-100U that we have in our US-based versions, it's a nice upgrade option for those wishing for a bit more power. According to the Geekbench results, the differences may not be massive in single core scores, but the differences are definitely notable when it comes to multi-core speeds.
In terms of RAM and storage, however, both of these variants headed for the UK market are both still touting the same 8GB/256GB setup. Clearly, the Geekbench results pictured above show a version tested with a Core 5-120U and 16GB of RAM, so there's still a chance we'll see that exact configuration at some point in the (hopefully near) future.
I'd wager here in the US, if we see a model show up with the Core 5-120U and 16GB of RAM, we could expect a $150-$200 increase. If it hit $899, I'd like to see an upgrade to 512GB of storage, too. The existing Galaxy Chromebook Plus - what I've experienced of it thus far, anyway - would be a stellar option at $899 if you got all those upgrades.
For now, however, the US market only has the primary spec, and I'm still 100% OK with that. Trust me when I tell you that this particular combo of speed, battery life, build quality, and aesthetics will appeal to the massive majority of Chromebook users. And the $699 price is so much more attractive for anyone looking to buy a "higher end" Chromebook as well without totally busting the budget. I hope we get the option for upgraded versions of this gorgeous device, but I'm also still very happy with what Google and Samsung worked out for this price point.