If they are visible in plain text without a master password, then it’s not very relevant. I just tested this on my work laptop with a shared key I have stored in there and it didn’t require any master password, nor was I prompted to set one up when I originally installed chrome three months back.
Did you know that you can see those passwords in plain text in the browser settings?
Use a password manager
I believe you can set up a general password that you have to enter before you can see your other passwords in plain text. Unless I’m mistaken.
Either way, it’s not the default
If they are visible in plain text without a master password, then it’s not very relevant. I just tested this on my work laptop with a shared key I have stored in there and it didn’t require any master password, nor was I prompted to set one up when I originally installed chrome three months back.