Asus has just revealed three new Chromebooks as part of its new laptop lineup for CES. The Chromebook CX9 and Chromebook Flip CX5/C536 (different names depending on your market) are powered by new 11th gen Intel hardware, while the Chromebook Flip CM5 uses 3000 series Ryzen chips.
Chromebook CX9
The Chromebook CX9 targets work and corporate environments, sporting a modern laptop-style design including a 14″ FHD (1080p) NanoEdge display and an ultra-light magnesium alloy frame that ASUS says meets military test standards. It’s 16mm thin, around 1kg heavy, and has a fingerprint sensor.
The screen is available in a Pantone Validated variety if you need a high degree of color accuracy. The CX9 also has two M.2 expansion slots, which ASUS will configure up to a ridiculous 4TB of storage space, and you can get plenty of RAM, too. It’s also the only one of the new models to have a privacy shutter on the camera. Unfortunately, the release date and price are all unknown.
Chromebook Flip CX5/C536
Depending on which market you are in, Asus will either call this the CX5 or the C536, but so far as we can tell, they’re the same Chromebook.
The Chromebook Flip CX5 packs a big 15.6″ FHD display, Harmon Karon-branded speakers, and a “metallic” design that’s almost certainly plastic, though Asus is proud of its Obsidian Velvet texture on the palm rest and the ErgoLift hinge, which makes this particular Chromebook a 2-in-1. This general consumer-targeted model also packs 11th gen Intel chips.
Configuration options vary, with 8 or 16GB of RAM and 128-512GB of storage. The 5.68″ touchpad is also glass, and the keyboard sports 1.4mm of key travel. Asus says this Chromebook should last up to 12 hours on a charge.
Again, pricing is unknown, and ASUS hasn’t said when it will actually materialize.
Chromebook Flip CM5
For some reason, Asus has decided to give the CM5 a bit of a “gamer” aesthetic, with color-blocked WASD keys for all that gaming you’ll be doing on your Chromebook. Perhaps the only thing more useful in a gaming laptop is the 2-in-1 design so you can use the monstrosity as a tablet /s.
I jest, but some folks seriously into Stadia may actually appreciate these touches, I guess. Other spec options for the CM5 come in a little below some of the other newly-announced Chromebooks, with RAM options as low as 4GB and a return of eMMC-based storage the other two models eschew.
This is also a Ryzen-powered unit, which makes it stand out in the lineup, and we cant wait to see how these new chips perform in Chromebooks. When it comes to gaming, it probably doesn’t matter much, though. Stadia is a streaming service, and any extra oomph on this side of the internet connection will likely be superfluous. However, good performance will help when playing titles locally, such as with Android games that you can play on Chromebooks.
As per yooj today, no word on when this will land or how much it will cost.
The Chromebook market is exploding with work and school both happening remotely for many of us. They’re one of the cheapest and easiest ways to get a screen and keyboard online, and they may not be terribly exciting, but they’re here to stay. Asus’s new lineup has some substantial bumps across the line when it comes to specifications, and we’ll be looking forward to taking a look at them once they materialize — whenever that actually ends up being.
