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ZDNET's cardinal takeaways
- Asus' CX15 Chromebook is disposable present for $159.
- It's 1 of the astir affordable 15-inch laptops released this year, with a fistful of features that marque it particularly bully for students.
- The humble hardware puts a bounds connected its performance.
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Asus' CX15 Chromebook is an affordable, durable laptop that handles the basics for $159. With a modular hardware loadout and coagulated 15-inch signifier factor, you've got a coagulated fund instrumentality that's particularly bully successful an acquisition setting.
The CX15 is 1 of the slightest costly caller Chromebooks you tin bargain close now, having conscionable been released by Asus this summertime alongside the Lenovo Chromebook Plus, a premium Chromebook with an OLED that's much than treble the price.
Also: This Lenovo Chromebook easy replaced my Windows laptop for enactment - and I can't spell back
But successful presumption of usability, these 2 devices aren't needfully worlds apart. The CX15's operation of humble hardware and a banal integrative physique keeps prices low, but it inactive comes with the latest productivity apps successful ChromeOS.
In presumption of carnal form, the 15-inch Asus CX15 isn't precisely the lightest Chromebook connected the marketplace astatine 3.5 pounds, but the integrative assemblage feels durable enough, particularly for a schoolroom instrumentality that volition beryllium utilized by aggregate students passim the day.
It besides comes successful 4 colorways that springiness it immoderate character: Pure Grey, Fabric Blue, Cream Pink, and Misty Green, a bully alteration of gait from the oversea of firm grey and achromatic laptops -- and thing that volition entreaty to younger users.
Also: Why this 16-inch Acer is the perfect ThinkPad replacement (especially astatine this price)
Under the hood, the CX15 has a humble enactment of hardware designed to grip mundane tasks. It comes with an Intel Celeron N4500 processor that runs astatine 1.1 GHz, and an Intel UHD GPU. The laptop is powered with either 4GB oregon 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM, and 128GB of eMMC storage.
This benignant of retention (Embedded multimedia card) is older exertion and a bully mode to support the terms low, since it's little costly than an SSD (solid authorities drive) and a tenable sacrifice to marque since you don't request tons of section retention connected a Chromebook, anyway.
Instead, moving successful the unreality and navigating the lightweight, streamlined ChromeOS feels conscionable fine, with each the snappy show you'd expect. The full-sized keyboard allows for coagulated productivity work, with durable, integrative keys and a functional, if perfectly modular trackpad, if a small connected the tiny size.
Also: This $500 Chromebook Plus has amended show than immoderate PCs I've tested
The 15.6-inch, 16:9 FHD show caps retired astatine 300 nits of brightness and isn't the astir premium, but the matte coating looks conscionable good navigating ChromeOS, moving successful NotebookLM, Gmail, oregon connected YouTube, with the 1080p solution giving the instrumentality much bang for its buck.
Along these lines, the speakers are beauteous standard. They're not the best, but I've heard worse, and they get conscionable large enough. For TV shows and YouTube content, they're perfectly equipped for the job.
In presumption of connectivity, the CX15 has 1 HDMI port, a headphone jack, up to 2 USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 ports, and up to 2 USB-A ports. They're not the fastest ports, constricted to 5GB per 2nd information transfer, but again, for the price, it's much astir the access. Notably, it besides comes with a Kensington Nano information slot, further expanding its inferior arsenic an endeavor instrumentality oregon for usage successful schools.
Also: Why this 16-inch Acer is the perfect ThinkPad replacement (especially astatine this price)
The device's 42Whr artillery isn't peculiarly big, but it's capable for the processor and display. We got astir 10 hours successful our artillery test, but it didn't past for a full workday for maine with the brightness turned each the mode up. It prompts to beryllium plugged successful aft astir 7 hours. You can, however, get an full workday retired of this laptop if you crook the brightness down.
ZDNET's buying advice
If you're looking for an inexpensive Chromebook but similar a larger screen, the Asus CX15 is astir arsenic affordable arsenic it gets. For $159, you're getting a laptop that happily handles the basics, comes with a full-sized keyboard, has capable artillery beingness for a afloat time of enactment (as agelong arsenic you're not moving astatine max brightness), and is durable capable for kids.
There are limitations connected its show -- the CX15 is not going to multitask similar a imagination with dozens of browser tabs, but it's not made for that. In that sense, I'd urge this laptop for anyone who understands its intended usage lawsuit arsenic a instrumentality for mundane tasks.
If you privation a Chromebook with much horsepower, I'd urge the Lenovo Chromebook Plus oregon the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook. If you privation an affordable 15-inch laptop that runs Windows, I urge the Asus Vivobook S 15.
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