Asus Chromebook Flip CX5 (2022) review

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This versatile 2-in-1 Chromebook is performant but pricey

(Image: © Future)

Tom’s Guide Verdict

The Asus Chromebook Flip CX5 is a stylish powerhouse that’s great for those who run dozens of browser windows at a time, but battery life and price disappoint.

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Asus Chromebook Flip CX5 specs

Price: $872 as reviewed
Processor: Intel Core i5-1135G7
RAM: 16GB
Graphics Card: Intel IrisXe Integrated Graphics
Storage: 128GB SSD
Ports: 2x USB 3. 2 Gen 2 Type-C, USB Type-A, HDMI 2.0a, microSD card reader
Size: 14.08 x 9.48 x 0.73 inches
Weight: 4.3 pounds

The Asus Chromebook Flip CX5 joins the realm of Chromebooks that break through the assumption that a Chromebook has to be a staid, basic laptop alternative. 

As its name implies, the Chromebook Flip has a screen that not only flips around to a tent formation, but can flip all the way around to transform into a tablet, too (sort of). 

With its bright display, solid performance and variety of ports, the Flip CX5 is a decent Chromebook for getting things done. If configured correctly, it’s even capable of running games via Steam for Chromebooks. However, a few weaknesses keep it from a place among the best Chromebooks on the market. 

Asus Chromebook Flip CX5 review: Price and configurations

• Our review unit costs ~$872
• Cheaper models with smaller screens and weaker specs are available

Our Asus Chromebook Flip CX5 (CX5500) review unit is (at time of review) the top-tier configuration of the Flip CX5 series, with its 15. 6-inch display and an Intel 11th gen Core i5-1135G7 processor, 16GB of memory and 128GB of storage. You can buy this model for $872 via retailers Insight and Staples, though it’s out of stock at Staples as of publication. 

If you like the general design but want something cheaper, there are lower-cost options in the Flip CX5 line that come with a 14-inch display, a Core i3-1110G4 processor, and half the memory.

• 360-degree hinged design feels sturdy and comfortable
• Striking black-and-white design 

The Asus Chromebook Flip CX5’s 360-degree hinge is its big differentiator compared to most Chromebooks. The 360-degree hinge feels sturdy and durable, and our review unit had no issue holding form in a tent position, presentation position, or flipped around as a tablet.  The hinge gives the unit a mild tilt angle for comfortable typing in standard laptop mode, a tilt that also provides improved airflow under the laptop. Air vents are on the underside, as are the speakers.

The Asus Chromebook Flip CX5 has an attractive black and white design that is as eye-catching as it is stylish. The cover and underside are matte white and fingerprint-resistant, with embossed silver lettering that matches the silver hinge. The white also runs around the edges, keeping a consistent design.

(Image credit: Future)

Inside, the keyboard deck and touchpad are black. The surface finish is smooth to the touch, which in turn meant my fingers and wrists could effortlessly glide as I touch-typed on the chiclet backlit keyboard or scrolled using the touchpad. Some light escapes from under the keys, but this is not unlike many other laptops and is just a minor annoyance.

More of an annoyance was the key travel of this low-profile keyboard: I found the 1.4mm keys particularly low in a way that initially impeded my touch-typing. Over time, I got more accustomed to the design, but I’d still occasionally miss  a keystroke. I did appreciate the presence of a full-size number pad at right, as well as the row of shortcut keys above the number row for quick access to settings like brightness and volume, and to one-touch buttons to go back, refresh a page, or expand a window to fit the screen.

(Image credit: Future)

The Asus Chromebook Flip CX5 weighs 4.3 pounds and measures 14.08 x 9.48 x 0.73 inches. Its weight and size are competitive with other current touchscreen Chromebooks with the same display size.

Since a stylus is optional, and the touchscreen works with the USI (Universal Stylus Initiative), I can understand why Asus doesn’t have a built-in garage for a stylus. But it would be nice to see a design that finds a way to accommodate a stylus in a meaningful way, to make the stylus an extension of the unit.

Asus Chromebook Flip CX5 review: Display

• 15.6-inch 1080p touchscreen gets pretty bright, for a Chromebook
• Color accuracy leaves something to be desired

The Asus Chromebook Flip CX5’s 15.6-inch FHD 1920 x 1080 touchscreen is responsive, and supports the use of a USI (Universal Stylus Initiative) stylus if you own one or choose to purchase one separately. The 16:9 aspect ratio display has a minimal bezel edge and is rated at 250 nits.  

Our tests confirmed that brightness, making this a highly competitive screen and one of the brighter models we’ve tested. When we pointed our Klein K10-A colorimeter at the display and measured the brightness, we discovered the center actually gets slightly brighter than advertised, up to 274 nits, though the rest of the screen is dim enough to make the average brightness level out around 250 nits.

(Image credit: Future)

That’s brighter than many Chromebook displays we’ve tested, including the cheaper Acer Chromebook 514, which achieved an average brightness of 223.5 nits. However its larger sibling the Acer Chromebook 515 has a slightly brighter screen (260 nits) than our Asus Chromebook Flip CX5 review unit.

I found the Flip CX5’s brightness pleasing while I played videos on YouTube and when I compared test images. I did tend to keep the laptop on the maximum brightness level to get the most out of the screen.

Our colorimeter reports that the CX5’s screen is capable of displaying 67. 2% of the sRGB color gamut (100% is most accurate) with a Delta-E value of 0.28 (closer to 0 is better). Those are decent scores for a Chromebook display, and they’re a smidge better than a competitor like the Acer Chromebook 515, which displays just 65.8% of the sRGB color gamut. However, the Flip CX5’s display can’t match the brightness or color accuracy of the (admittedly smaller) Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2, which launched last year for roughly the same price as the Flip CX5 yet can achieve 118.4% of the sRGB color spectrum with an average maximum brightness of 390 nits.

When the Flip CX5’s display is flipped around to tablet mode, the keyboard stops working, but you don’t get an on-screen keyboard, either (as on Windows laptops with a 360-degree hinge).  The screen did automatically split to show the Chrome browser and the YouTube movie I had playing behind the partially-sized browser screen.

Asus Chromebook Flip CX5 review: Ports

• Plenty of ports, including USB-C, USB-A, HDMI 2. 0 and a microSD card reader
• Dual USB-C ports, one on either side, for easier charging

The Asus Chromebook Flip CX5 is jam-packed with useful ports. The dual USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C ports are split, with one on each side of the unit.

(Image credit: Future)

Both can support display and power delivery, a convenience that gives added flexibility as to which side you use to charge the laptop.

(Image credit: Future)

The laptop also has a single USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type–A port, a volume rocker and a combo audio jack on the left side, and a full-size HDMI 2.0a and microSD card slot at the right.

Asus Chromebook Flip CX5 review: Performance

• Great performance for a Chromebook
• One of few Chromebooks beefy enough to play Steam games 

As more and more of our computing tasks are done entirely in a browser, speed becomes ever more important. The Asus Chromebook Flip CX5 has that in spades. It netted 4,534 on Geekbench 5.4’s multi-core general performance test, more than double the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2.

That’s great performance for a Chromebook, and it beats out both the Acer Chromebook 515 (with its Geekbench 5.4 score of 3,761) and its smaller sibling the Acer Chromebook 514 (2,219). Plus, the Intel Core i5-1135G7 CPU and 16GB of RAM make this Flip CX5 one of the few Chromebooks which supports the alpha version of Steam on Chromebooks. That’s a rare differentiator right now (don’t miss our guide on how to play Steam games on Chromebook if you’re curious), though as Chromebooks improve and Valve fine-tunes Steam on ChromeOS we’ll likely see this feature become much more common.

As more and more of our computing tasks are done entirely in a browser, speed becomes ever more important. The Asus Chromebook Flip CX5 has that in spades.”

Compared with similarly-priced Windows and Mac laptops, the Asus Chromebook Flip CX5 showed reasonable oomph, but still fell short ofthe 13-inch Asus Zenbook 13 OLED (6,411) and the 13-inch MacBook Air with M1 (5,962). If you’re a macOS or Windows devotee, the use case for a Chromebook remains limited. Its best proposition is for those who rely primarily on browser-based services and sites, and who need limited or managed system access.

In our Jetstream 2.0 test, designed to gauge performance while using JavaScript and web apps you’ll use often on tablets and Chromebooks, the Flip CX5 earned a respectable score of 165.2. That’s a good score for a Chromebook, matching competition like the Acer Chromebook 515 (166.7) and outpacing competitors like the Lenovo Chromebook Duet 3 (63.7) and the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2 (104.9). 

Asus Chromebook Flip CX5 review: Chrome OS and Android

• Android app access is nice to have
• Google needs to do a better job of surfacing apps optimized for Chrome OS

The Flip CX5 comes with Chrome OS pre-installed, and that means your default way of accessing new apps is via the Google Play Store. 

The ability to download Android apps from the Play Store is helpful, but Google still doesn’t help surface Chrome OS-optimized content. When I searched for apps, I found some had a separate Chrome OS version (ie. Zoom for Chrome OS), while others, like Canva presented as if optimized for Chrome OS without stating as much. When looking for Chrome-optimized games, I found some under the Premium tab. Other Chrome apps are via the Chrome Store for extensions, but again, Google doesn’t make discovery easy.

(Image credit: Future)

Some apps work well (not surprisingly, Google Drive and YouTube, for example), even if they’re still presented in the center of the screen in vertical, phone-optimized orientation. Some are functional but lacked features I was accustomed to in Windows (Zoom for Chrome OS lacked the ability to save a chat, for example). And some just crashed entirely; I tried playing Asphalt9, a racing game from Gameloft, and it crashed during the initial orientation and I had to go through steps to access the Chrome OS task manager via the Chrome browser to force end the program.

Remember, the Chromebook Flip CX5 is one of seven Chromebooks that support the current alpha-quality version of Steam for Chromebook. To install this, you have to enable the Dev channel and go through a specific and non-standard installation process–an obvious indication that Steam for Chrome OS isn’t ready for the general consumer market.

Another software curiosity: When looking at the same images side-by-side in the Chrome browser and in the pre-installed Google Photos app, I noticed the color and sharpness rendered better in the Photos app than it did in the Chrome browser (the same thing happened with Canva, specifically with respect to the colors). It’s unclear if that’s an oddity unique to this particular Chromebook model, but it did raise the question of color management overall in Chrome OS, and what types of image or graphic creation tasks I’d want to do on a Chromebook if color accuracy was mission critical.

Ultimately, I’d say the app experience on Chrome OS remains a mixed bag at best.

Asus Chromebook Flip CX5 review: Audio and webcam

• Harmon/Kardon speakers deliver decent sound quality, when they work
• 720p webcam captures muddy, disappointing video

The Harman/Kardon speakers built into the Flip CX5 are downward and side-facing thanks to the laptop’s beveled shape along the bottom. Unfortunately, my test unit had an issue with the audio. Across multiple apps–including YouTube and Amazon Prime Video–audio would start out sounding robust, then become softer and switch at will between the left and right speakers, eventually cycling around to getting louder again. Based on small snippets, I can say the audio had body and bass, but the way it was on this unit makes it impossible to judge fully.

The 720p webcam sits centered above the display. The webcam rendered reasonable looking images while on a Zoom app call, but the video looked muddy and disappointing during a Google Meet call.

Asus Chromebook Flip CX5 review: Heat

• Stays relatively cool under pressure
• Hottest point is on the bottom, near the center

While I tested the Asus Chromebook Flip CX5, I was pleased that my lap didn’t get overly warm, in spite of the fact that air vents from the underside of the unit. 

When our lab team swept the laptop with a heat gun after having it stream HD video for 15 minutes, they found the laptop to be quite cool. The hottest area was in the center of the underside, near the vent, which topped out at 86.7 degrees Fahrenheit.

Asus Chromebook Flip CX5 review: Battery life

• Lasted 7 hours and 12 minutes in our Tom’s Guide battery test
• That’s not bad for most laptops, but pretty bad for a Chromebook

The Asus Chromebook Flip CX5 lasted an average of 7 hours, 12 minutes across three passes. Our web-surfing based battery test sets the display at 150 nits of brightness.

That’s unimpressive for a Chromebook. Both the Asus Chromebook 514 and 515 performed better in the same test, lasting an average of 14 hours 8 minutes and 8 hours 1 minutes respectively. The smaller 1080p Pixelbook Go churned through 11 hours and 29 minutes before shutting down, and of course the similarly-priced MacBook Air with M1 lasted an amazing 14 hours and 41 minutes.

This Asus Chromebook’s battery is okay, but don’t expect to get through a day of computing–especially at full brightness.

Asus Chromebook Flip CX5 review: Verdict

The Asus Chromebook Flip CX5 is a speedy Chromebook that’s thoughtfully designed, with a robust complement of ports and a touchscreen display that supports an optional stylus. But it is pricey for what you get, and is hard to recommend to any but those who want to experiment with playing Steam games on Chrome OS.

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Melissa Perenson is a freelance writer. She has reviewed the best tax software for Tom’s Guide for several years, and has also tested out fax software, among other things. She spent more than a decade at PC World and TechHive, and she has freelanced for numerous publications including Computer Shopper, TechRadar and Consumers Digest. 

Too much of a good thing

By

Kent Duke

Published Oct 30, 2021

Limiting software holds back Asus’s pricey Chromebook

There are a ton of dependable Chromebook options, whether you’re a casual user browsing the web or a serious professional that demands the best hardware. And while Chromebooks have a reputation for being cheap, that doesn’t mean there can’t be powerhouse Chromebooks. There’s a clear case to be made for a nicer piece of hardware like the Asus Chromebook CX9. The CX9 is a power user’s dream Chromebook that crams the best specs possible, but it’s too expensive to wholeheartedly recommend it for personal use, especially when the hardware feels bottlenecked by the limited software.

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The Asus Chromebook CX9 delivers exceptional performance in a lightweight package, but it’s going to cost you a whole lot of money – enough to make you consider a Windows laptop or a MacBook instead.

Specifications

• Storage: 512GB M.2 NVMe PCIe 3.0 SSD
• CPU: 11th Gen Intel Core i7-1165G7
• Memory: 16GB LPDDR4X
• Battery: 50Wh, “up to 14 hours,” 45W USB-C Power Delivery
• Ports: 2x USB-C Thunderbolt 4, HDMI 2. 0b, USB-A 3.2 Gen 2, Audio combo jack, microSD slot
• Camera: Front 720p webcam with privacy shutter
• Display (Size, Resolution): 14-inch IPS LCD touchscreen (1920×1080), 16:9 aspect ratio, 400 nits
• GPU: Intel Iris Xe Graphics clocked at 1.30 GHz
• Auto Update Expiration (AUE): June 2029
• Form: Clamshell
• Dimension: 322.58 x 205.74 x 17.78 mm, 1.05 kg
• Network: Wi-Fi 6, 802.11ax, 2×2 MIMO, Bluetooth 5.2
• Speakers: Two down-firing stereo speakers, Harmon Kardon certified
• Price: $1,150
• Board: Volteer
• Model: CX9400CEA-DS762T
• Delete: Yes

Pros

• Attractive, slim-bezel design
• Blistering performance handles just about everything
• Strong, lightweight build
• Vibrant touchscreen display is bright enough for outdoor work
• Decent selection of ports to escape dongle life
• One of the few high-end Chromebooks with a fingerprint sensor

Cons

• Lackluster real-world battery life
• Both charging ports on the same side of the Chromebook
• The 720p camera leaves much to be desired
• Harmon Kardon certification won’t save the middling audio quality
• Disappointing trackpad with noticeable wobble
• Expensive

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The Asus Chromebook CX9’s design is in a league of its own, carrying over the ultra-premium design motif from the company’s Zenbook series. It doesn’t need the flashy red coat of paint like from the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook to look nice—it’s obviously a high-end device with its svelte navy blue color and metallic logo. The magnesium-alloy chassis yields a smooth texture that feels decidedly premium, and despite its thin and lightweight design, its rigid body will definitely survive even the harshest punishment. The stereo speakers underneath are Harmon Kardon certified, but like all downward firing speakers, you won’t get high-fidelity audio from this Chromebook. Still, it’s good enough for videoconferencing, and to my ears, it sounds better than competing Chromebooks like Acer’s Spin 713. One thing I love about the CX9’s design is that it’s easy to open its lid with one hand—a desirable quality of life feature that is still rare on Chromebooks.

Don’t let the slim profile of the CX9 fool you into thinking this is a slow laptop. At the heart of the Chromebook is a blistering-fast Intel Core i7-1165G7 Tiger Lake CPU, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB PCIe NVME SSD. We’ll talk more about how all that translates to real-world performance later, but what you should know is it’s an incredibly fast machine, meaning it needs a CPU fan to keep it cool. There is one outlet air vent next to the hinge and an intake vent at the bottom, which keeps the laptop cool despite the small size.

The CX9 has an ample selection of I/O ports that’ll keep you away from dongle-life. There are three ports on the left side of the unit: two USB-C with Thunderbolt 4—both capable of 45W fast charging and 40 Gbps data transfers. There’s also one HDMI capable of 4K video output.

On the other side, the laptop has one USB-A 3.2 Gen 2, a microSD card slot, and a headphone-and-microphone combo jack. Similar to the Acer Chromebook Spin 713, you won’t be able to charge the Chromebook on either side—Google designed the Volteer reference board for one-side charging.

The 14-inch IPS LCD touchscreen on the Chromebook CX9 is easily my favorite part of this laptop. The display is nearly bezel-less, boasting a 92% screen-to-body ratio that immerses you into the display—Acer should be taking notes. Its 1920×1080 resolution panel isn’t as crisp as the 4K OLED screen like on the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook, but it’s still plenty sharp and color accurate. Most will be happy with 1080p, but for those who need more pixels, Asus also offers a 4K model of the CX9. The glossy screen is totally viewable thanks to its bright LED lighting, and images still look good even with off-angle viewing. It also supports Google’s USI standard—meaning any USI pens will work out of the box—but you’re probably better off with a convertible like the Spin 713 for your handwriting needs. I personally would’ve preferred a 16:10 or the 3:2 aspect ratio found on Asus’s Zenbook S, but the CX9’s 16:9 doesn’t bother me as much as it does some people.

On top of the CX9’s slim bezel is a 720p webcam with a privacy cover, and while the quality is good enough for your everyday Zoom calls, don’t expect amazing quality. The lack of a 1080p webcam on a premium device is a glaring omission, especially since Asus designed this Chromebook for business professionals.

Along with the CX9, expect a 45W PD Type-C charger and the usual paper (manual and warranty card). I’ll admit, I’m a stickler for good packaging, and unlike what you get from so many other companies these days, Asus absolutely nailed the premium unboxing experience of the CX9.

I spend a good deal of time tapping away on keyboards—around five to six hours every day—writing articles and finishing homework. I’ve been constantly frustrated with the plethora of laptops offering a lackluster keyboard experience. Thankfully, the Asus Chromebook CX9 doesn’t disappoint, offering a pleasant typing experience with its backlit chiclet-style keyboard. The CX9’s hinge props the laptop up, giving the keyboard a gentle incline that makes it feel a bit more comfortable during those long hours of typing. The hinge protrudes downward from the otherwise smooth surface of the laptop, and while you can definitely feel it on your lap, it’s hardly uncomfortable thanks to the CX9’s lightweight body. The lack of speakers on either side of the keyboard deck is a missed opportunity, though, as it’s effectively wasted space.

The trackpad is another peeve that I have on most laptops, and unfortunately, the CX9 doesn’t impress. Its trackpad wobbles whenever pressing down, and its glass texture isn’t smooth like Acer’s Spin 713. Still, the CX9 offers an ample amount of space for your finger to glide on—it’s reasonably precise, too—but it feels cheap. Asus integrated a number pad into it, which you can turn on and off by long-pressing an icon in the corner of the touch surface. It gets surprisingly bright during the day, and you can move the cursor with it turned on. While its inclusion seems like an accountant’s dream in theory, the lack of haptics and responsiveness makes it gimmicky. Don’t buy this Chromebook specifically for its number pad. The CX9 comes with a fingerprint scanner on the right side of the trackpad, which performs well for its tiny size.

The CX9 is no ordinary premium laptop: it runs Chrome OS 94 instead of Windows. I’ve been a fan of Google’s operating system for a long time, and it really comes down to three reasons: it’s dead simple to use, stable, and secure. Viruses and malware are nonexistent, and unlike Windows, it doesn’t nag you to update.

Upon powering on the CX9 for the first time, the laptop discovered a new Chrome OS update and applied it immediately, saving me the hassle of restarting my Chromebook while working. The setup process is painless, and with little effort on my part, I was logged in to the Chromebook with access to all my data. Android apps and Chrome PWAs from my other devices appeared on the taskbar seconds later, and just like that, my Chromebook was ready to work on. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the effortless setup is one of my favorite Chrome OS features—a breeze compared to its Windows and macOS competition.

I can’t talk about the CX9’s software features without also touching on its performance — precisely where this laptop shines. It runs on Intel’s latest 11th Gen i7-1165G7 Tiger Lake quad-core processor, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of lightning-fast PCIe NVMe storage. All this means the CX9 is one mighty powerhouse, and it’s apparent during real-world usage. Most Linux apps and Android games fly on this machine, and copying files is wicked fast—more so than the NVMe SSD on the Acer Spin Chromebook 713.

Here are a few benchmarks to get an idea of the performance:

• JetStream 2: 174.584
• Speedometer 2.0: 198
• MotionMark 1.2: 834.69

The CX9 runs Android 11 out of the box, which is one of the few Chrome laptops available on the market with it. Unlike the majority of Chromebooks running Android 9.0 Pie, Android 11 leverages the strength of Chrome OS’s Linux virtual machine, allowing for even greater security and less risk of breaking when a major update lands. Even so, there are still growing pains with Android on Chrome OS, ranging from massive memory consumption, high battery drain, and unstable apps. I found myself avoiding Android and using the web version for apps like Google Photos instead. They’re okay in a pinch, but I wouldn’t buy the CX9—or any Chromebook—just to use Android apps.

On the flip side, the Asus Chromebook CX9 absolutely shreds through Linux apps, handling Firefox, Kdenlive, and Visual Studio Code without issues—all three programs ran smoothly. I even used Blender to render a heavy 3D scene that would have brought a lesser laptop to its knees, and it still managed to hold its ground—albeit some sluggishness. Granted, you probably shouldn’t buy this Chromebook for serious 3D work, but the fact I’m able to render a scene with it truly shows how far we’ve come with Chrome OS. You won’t find your usual Adobe apps here—although the company recently launched Photoshop and Illustrator for the web—and it’s a bit of a hassle to install Linux apps without a dedicated app store. Google, it’s about time you made an official app store for Linux.

All that power-hungry hardware means the CX9 needs a sufficient amount of battery to last you a day. Asus claims up to 14 hours of battery life, but under my normal workload—around 20 or so Chrome tabs at 50% brightness—I usually get around 7 hours of battery life. I can probably sneak in a full day of use if I disable Android apps and lower the brightness down to its dimmest, but for everyone else, you should consider packing its charger. Unless you’re fine keeping the CX9 plugged in most of the time, you shouldn’t purchase the 4K model—the battery is mediocre enough as it is with a 1080p screen.

It depends. If you’re a power user who doesn’t mind a few compromises, then the CX9 should absolutely be on your list. The CX9 is the fastest Chromebook on the market today, tearing through power-hungry Linux and Android apps with ease. The typing experience is terrific, and it even has a fingerprint scanner. All of this is complemented by the CX9’s durable chassis, which screams premium at every angle.

However, the CX9 is far from cheap. The unit we tested costs a staggering $1,150, but you can also purchase a slower configuration (i3 with 8GB RAM and 128GB SSD) for $750. There’s no sugar coating it: both of these models are quite expensive. The price may become more justifiable once Steam becomes available officially, which could open the door to external GPUs and more creative apps. For now, the Lenovo Legion 5 15-inch and the Macbook Pro M1 are more versatile and better options for the money.

If you can look past its price tag, this is objectively the best Chromebook for power users who want to push Chrome OS to its limits. The CX9 is right with the Spin 713 for the most capable Chromebook on the market, but it’s one only serious Chrome OS fans should consider buying.

• You want the best performing Chromebook on the market.
• You want a thin, lightweight laptop with an attractive design.

• You’re on a budget and don’t need the fastest Chromebook
• You need an all-day battery.

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• Asus CX9
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About The Author

Coffee snob, student, and designer. Writes for AndroidPolice.com. If you look hard enough, you might find him inside a chicken coop.

Overview of the ASUS Chromebook Flip C434T chromebook

ASUS has updated its lineup of laptops on Chrome OS, and we got a Chromebook Flip C434T model, the successor to the rather successful C302 model, for our test. And that’s exactly what we’re going to meet today. I have to say, he made a very good impression.

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Contents

• 1 Contents
• 2 Design
• 3 Ports
• 4 Keyboard and touchpad
• 5 Display
• 6 Equipment and configurations
• 7 Chrome OS
• 8 Autonomy

Equipment

The notebook comes with a very compact 45W USB Type-C power adapter. The size of the power supply is no larger than that for smartphones, which can only be welcomed.

Design

Gone are the days when Chromebooks were nondescript typewriters and ASUS Chromebook Flip C434T is a vivid confirmation of this. The laptop looks expensive, stylish and feels so even in the hands. Although this model cannot be called a cheap device, but in its price category it will look at least as good, and in some cases even more attractive than its competitors.

There is a lot of metal in the design, the cover of the display unit and the palm surface are made of it. The metal parts received a rough coating, and their edges were polished to a shine. The bottom cover is plastic. In terms of practicality, there is almost a complete order, with the exception of the display hinges and the logo on the lid, they are polished to a shine and they leave fingerprints and other marks. Chromebook Flip C434T will be sold in one color (at least at first) – silver.

Build quality is excellent. Of all the knots, I only had complaints about the loops. Yes, the laptop can be opened with one hand, but the display itself is poorly fixed in the open position, and the display unit turned out to be heavy. When working on a table, it holds securely, but when used, for example, on your knees, as soon as the laptop swings, the display falls a little. This is exactly the case when it is better to open the laptop with two hands, but have tighter hinges.

ASUS Chromebook Flip C434T is a 14″ convertible laptop. In tablet mode, it is quite convenient, as far as a 1.5-kilogram tablet with such a diagonal can be. Thanks to the thin bezels around the display, the device turned out to be very compact, as for such a diagonal. The weight of the laptop is 1.5 kg, taking into account the dimensions and materials of the case, it is quite acceptable.

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Ports

The set of laptop connectors is another confirmation that the Chromebook Flip C434T is not just a typewriter. On the left side is USB Type-C Gen-1 (USB 3.0), which is also used for charging, next to it is Type-A with a 3.0 interface, and a combined audio jack. The power button and volume rocker found their place nearby, which are convenient to use in tablet mode.

On the right, there is only one USB Type-C port, through which the laptop can also be charged, and a microSD card reader. There is no way to display an image on an external monitor in a laptop.

Keyboard and touchpad

The keyboard in the Chromebook Flip C434T pleasantly surprised me with its convenience. The key travel is soft, the keys are slightly rough and clearly visible blindly. Typing on it is a pleasure. The keyboard in Chromebooks has some features. For example, it does not have a Windows key (for obvious reasons) and Delete, in place of Caps Lock is a search call key, and switching languages ​​\u200b\u200bis done using the Ctrl + Space combination, but I did not find the opportunity to use other keys for this. Also in our laptop, the top row by default is responsible for additional functions: volume, brightness, search, running applications and blocking the computer, but in the settings you can change their functionality to F-keys.

But the touchpad cannot be praised just like the keyboard. The finger glides over it easily, but it’s not very sensitive, it doesn’t easily ignore pressing with the palm of your hand when typing, and there is no separate button to turn it off. The touchpad supports multi-touch and standard gestures like two-finger scrolling. There are not so many parameters in the settings for adjusting it, only the speed of the cursor, which more affects its acceleration when moving. I would also like to adjust the scrolling speed, which is often lacking in work.

Display

The Chromebook Flip C434T features a 14-inch Full HD IPS display. This is a very good matrix with maximum viewing angles and good contrast. There are almost no lights. There is a slight bias towards reds and greens, but not significant. Due to the peculiarities of the system, it is unlikely that you will be able to seriously edit photos, but for browsing, editing texts and watching videos, the display is more than good.

I was also pleased with the brightness range from 1 to 180 cd/m2. At the minimum level, the display almost turns off and can be conveniently adjusted for working in the dark. The maximum brightness level may not be enough in direct sunlight, but in an office room with a sufficient level of illumination, 50% brightness is almost always enough. In the settings there is a mode that makes the picture warmer for comfortable use in the evening. The display is touch-sensitive, covered with glass, the finger glides over it easily, it is sensitive and in tablet mode, I repeat, it is convenient to use it.

Equipment and configurations

Tested with a low-end Chromebook Flip C434T equipped with an Intel Core m3-8100y, 4GB RAM, 32GB eMMC storage. In older versions, the laptop is equipped with Core i5-8200y or Core i7-8500y processors, 4 or 8 GB of LPDDR3 RAM and 32, 64 or 128 GB eMMC. The graphics accelerator in all cases is the same – Inte HD Graphics 615. Core m3-8100y is a dual-core processor with a base frequency of 1.1 GHz and a short increase in frequency to 3.4 GHz. The laptop also has Bluetooth 4.0 and Wi-Fi with 802.11ac support. I had no complaints about the speed and stability of Wi-Fi.

There is no fingerprint scanner in the laptop; for data security, your Google account password or PIN code is used. Multimedia features are represented by two speakers, they are loud, they sound clear, but in our copy one of them sounded with a metallic ring. There is also an HD camera, its quality is average.

There are definitely no complaints about the speed of the Chromebook Flip C434T. The computer immediately wakes up, also quickly opens the browser and using it, in general, is very comfortable. 4 GB of memory is more than enough to run Chrome OS and basic tasks, as well as to run even resource-intensive Android games like PUBG. The cooling system in the laptop is passive, even in games the case becomes barely warm.

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Chrome OS

The laptop runs an operating system that is almost completely tied to the Chrome browser. The OS interface is as simple as possible: there is a desktop, a panel with installed applications, almost all of which run in the browser. To work with files, the Files application is provided, where you can work with them almost like in Windows.

The Google Play store is pre-installed in the system, thanks to which you can install applications familiar from smartphones. True, not all of them work correctly, for example, by most benchmarks, which is most likely due to lack of adaptation to the architecture. But, otherwise, here you will find all the familiar and familiar applications. Messengers can be installed from the store, or used in a browser if they have a web interface.

There are not very many settings, sometimes there are noticeably more in smartphones. Most of the options relate to browsing. Minimum OS and computer settings.

The manufacturer provides the possibility of installing Linux. To install the same Ubuntu, there is an instruction on the distribution website, but this process can hardly be called simple, and, unfortunately, in this case it will not be possible to use two operating systems in parallel, Chrome OS will have to be abandoned.

Battery life

The 48 Wh non-removable battery was enough to play HD video for 10.5 hours at 50% brightness, which is a good result. In the office mode of use – editing documents, instant messengers and mail, the laptop lasts about 6. 5 hours.

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4.5

ITC.UA score

Pros:
dimensions, design, materials, keyboard, display, good autonomy

Cons:
not the most comfortable touchpad, display unit hinges

Conclusion:

With the Chromebook Flip C434T, ASUS has significantly raised the bar for Chromebooks, previously considered “typewriters” and the cheapest devices in the laptop form factor. Flip C434T is well built, equipped with a high-quality screen, and its performance, even in the basic configuration, is sufficient for the tasks for which it was created. There are no obvious flaws in it, rather there are nuances that may well be features of the test instance (I’m talking about loops and speakers). Well, I would like a slightly more sensitive and comfortable touchpad. And so – this is quite an interesting option for those who need a computer for basic tasks that can be performed in the Chrome browser, as well as through applications for the Android OS. Well, do not forget about the possibility of installing Linux, and in the future Windows

Specifications

ASUS Chromebook Flip C302CA | Notebooks

Top

A simple yet powerful convertible

ASUS introduces the Chromebook Flip C302, a stylish mobile device that combines powerful hardware with the ease of use and rich functionality of Chrome OS. A distinctive feature of this model is a display hinge that allows you to open it 360 degrees, so it can be used both as a laptop and as a tablet. Chromebook Flip C302 features a touchscreen, comfortable backlit keyboard, large touchpad and USB-C interface. Plus, this convertible laptop boasts long battery life and lets you run millions of apps and games from the Google Play Store.

Product video

Convertible Chromebook

The Chromebook Flip C302 convertible combines stylish design with maximum functionality. It is equipped with an HD webcam and a Full-HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) display. The body of the device has a durable metal finish, and the cover is decorated in an elegant silver color. The ability to fix the lid at any angle (up to a full 360 ° opening) allows you to use the Chromebook Flip C302 as several devices at once: as a laptop, tablet, demo screen, etc.

Possible use cases for

• Tent

• Tablet

• Laptop

• Rack

High quality picture

The Chromebook Flip C302 features a 12. 5-inch Full-HD screen with wide viewing angles. It produces a colorful image in any mode of use, which is especially useful when several people are looking at the display at once. With a built-in light sensor, the screen brightness can be automatically adjusted according to the ambient light.

Touch screen

Chromebook Flip C302 provides the user with several means of interaction with software applications: touch screen, touchpad and keyboard. Each of them is incredibly convenient to use, as ASUS specialists are constantly improving the technologies used in them.

10
-finger

Touch interface

Comfortable keyboard

The device has an ergonomic keyboard with full-size keys, endowed with optimal travel depth (1.4 mm) for comfortable work, and the accompanying touchpad has a large surface (104.5 x 61 mm) and is equipped with protection against accidental touches.

Robust scissor switches

104. 5 x 61 mm

Powered by an Intel

processor

The Chromebook Flip C302 comes with an Intel Core m3, m7 or Pentium series processor and up to 8 gigabytes of RAM. This will be quite enough for fast operation of a wide range of applications.

8
GB

Memory

M7

CPU

State-of-the-art interfaces

For connecting peripherals, the Chromebook Flip C302 offers a pair of USB-C ports with up to 5 Gbps bandwidth, and a microSD card slot makes it easy to transfer photos, videos and other files to it.

microSD

USB-C

Stay connected

The ASUS Chromebook Flip C302 convertible is equipped with 802.11ac Wi-Fi, capable of delivering up to three times the speed of the previous 802.11n standard. For wireless connection of peripheral devices, there is a Bluetooth 4. 0 interface.

802.11
ac

WiFi module

A truly mobile platform

The Chromebook Flip C302 is an energy efficient device designed for mobile users. Its battery life is up to 10 hours*. In addition, this convertible laptop is compact and lightweight, so it is convenient to take it with you anywhere – to school, to work, and even when traveling.

Before
10
hours

battery life

13.7
mm

thickness

Powerful and clear sound

The compact size of the Chromebook Flip C302 convertible does not affect the sound quality of its built-in audio system. Thanks to large acoustic chambers, a pair of stereo speakers deliver powerful and clear sound with up to 87db of volume and spatial effects, making listening to music and watching videos even more emotional.

Support for apps from the Google Play Store

The Chromebook Flip C302 Convertible allows you to run apps designed for the Android operating system from the Google Play Store. Now any entertainment and office programs for smartphones and tablets can be run on a laptop, which is especially true for a universal device that can change shape, easily turning from a laptop to a tablet and vice versa.

Built-in security

Automatic software updates and built-in antivirus make the Chromebook Flip C302CA secure, secure and always up-to-date. The privacy of users’ personal data is protected by the Google account system.

Web-Based Administrative Console

Chrome OS provides an easy-to-use administration experience—centralized management of user accounts, applications, and devices within a business or educational institution.