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Verdict
An expensive, premium Chromebook designed with cloud gaming in thoughts, the Asus Chromebook Vibe CX34 Flip sports activities a whole lot of swanky options you gained’t discover on comparable fashions. But it surely’s a excessive premium to pay given the boundaries of ChromeOS.
Execs
- Prime-quality show
- Very good webcam
- Speedy and slick
- Nice choice of ports
Cons
- Can’t play AAA video games natively
- Mediocre battery life
- Very dear
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Hello-res showA vibrant WUXGA display operating at as much as 144Hz, it’s a wonderful multi-touch show. -
Beefy processorThe Twelfth-generation i5 CPU mixed with 8GB or 16GB RAM gives all of the pace you’ll want. -
Cloud gamingThis machine is made for streaming video games via GeForce Now or Xbox Cloud Gaming
Introduction
The thought of a premium Chromebook has all the time been a little bit baffling. The primary laptops to sport Google’s ChromeOS have been pitched as mild, price range options to the dear PCs and Macs of the world. What they lacked in energy they made for in financial savings, and have been tailor-made for informal customers who didn’t need flashy bells and swanky whistles.
But when high-end Chromebooks just like the HP Dragonfly Professional are beginning to seem extra often, nonetheless uncommon is the idea of the gaming Chromebook. That’s what the Asus Chromebook Vibe CX34 Flip is pitched as, anyway. It’s not a full-blooded gaming rig, after all, however a tool constructed for cloud gaming with a dazzlingly crisp display.
Priced at £749.99/$769, although, it’s hardly competitively priced. In case you’re at the start after a Chromebook and fancy enjoying a couple of video games on the aspect, this may increasingly do you properly. However for those who’re extra critical about gaming, or are solely so casually that you just’re not fussed about having fun with vivid visuals, let this one go.
Design and Keyboard
- 360-degree rotating display
- Just a few vibrant trimmings
- Hole trackpad
Regardless of being pitched as a gaming machine, the Asus Chromebook Vibe CX34 Flip is extra restrained than the angular, RGB-laden gadgets that dominate our greatest gaming laptop computer checklist. Bar the orange-accented WASD keys, and some different orange highlights on the perimeters of the physique, this can be a fairly muted design.
Apart from the display, that’s. Its hinge will be roasted 360 levels, letting you place the display in a tent place or upright utilizing the keyboard as a stand. It’s an efficient method of turning the laptop computer right into a monitor, with no protruding keyboard getting in the best way, permitting you to deliver it proper to the sting of the desk. It helps that the hinges rotate easily, by no means changing into caught or drifting from their set angle after I’ve used it.
When the display is rotated, the Chromebook mechanically deactivates the inputs of the keyboard, avoiding any unintended button presses. Mixed with the touchscreen, it may possibly nearly operate as a 2-in-1 laptop-tablet, for those who don’t thoughts its hefty weight (1.8kg, which is noticeably heavier than the 1.3kg of the good Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 Chromebook). I wouldn’t advocate utilizing it solely for that goal, however the choice to cover the keyboard will be helpful.
There’s the compulsory RGB backlighting, though it’s pretty muted and restricted within the vary of colors and lighting patterns. The keys have a fairly brief journey distance and really feel distinctly much less squishy than these of many different laptops. It’s snug and responsive, and the sort of keyboard that fits lengthy working periods simply in addition to lengthy gaming sprees. The shortcut keys on the high are properly extensive, too, and take full benefit of the free and fortunately uncluttered area.
Extra jarring are the truncated arrow keys. Each the left and proper arrows are half measurement, regardless of there being area for full keycaps, which might take some getting used to. Home windows customers who count on to often use the Chromebook for writing will likely be stunned by the omission of the DEL key. You’ll should get used to hitting ALT + Backspace whenever you wish to delete the character following the cursor. Once more, it’s a minor gripe, however count on to take some time to regulate.
The touchpad is much less spectacular. Though it’s giant, responsive and clean, it additionally feels hole, making an audible click on every time it’s pressed. It’s not an enormous deal however stands out as an odd blemish among the many remainder of the machine’s premium options.
The beneficiant array of ports means it’s simple to attach a number of peripherals. Alongside its sides, you’ll discover two USB-C ports (helpful for when you want to juice up the Chromebook and hold one other machine plugged in) a USB-A port, HDMI, a 3.5mm audio jack, and a microSD card reader, which is a rarity amongst trendy laptops.
A superb webcam additionally makes this the sort of Chromebook you should utilize for work calls. Though it information at solely 720p, the readability is superb as colors pop, and it copes brilliantly in low mild. In comparison with the grainy digicam on my Floor Laptop computer Go, there’s no competitors.
Show and Sound
- Sky-high 144Hz show
- Prolonged 1920×1200 decision
- Forgettable audio system
The Asus Chromebook Vibe CX34 Flip actually shines for its show. A vivid 14-inch 16:10 display operating at 144Hz, it’s vibrant, crisp and outpaces lots of the shows on the most effective Chromebooks and Home windows laptops at this value level. For gaming, it’s excellent – the wealthy hues of The Witcher 3 stand out, whereas the blacks and reds of Diablo 4 look suitably heat. And for informal Netflix streaming or YouTube searching, it does every part you could possibly need it to.
The additional-high refresh price means every part appears to be like clean and fluid and is strictly the sort of factor you’ll come to take without any consideration – you might not discover the distinction leaping from 60Hz to 144Hz, however you certain will for those who determine to return. The prolonged decision is a refined technique to elevate the display above the slew of ordinary 1080p options. The 1920×1200 decision isn’t 4K, however these additional pixels are nothing to smell at.
The built-in Harman Kardon audio system, nonetheless, don’t fare fairly so properly. They’re actually loud, and might attain a powerful high quantity, although audio normally begins clipping within the final quarter of that vary.
They’re not less than positioned properly. Situated on the underside and operating alongside its sides, they sound clear sufficient when the laptop computer’s keyboard is rotated out in writing place, however sound even louder when the display is tilted backwards and the keyboard is used as a stand. Get up the laptop computer in no matter place you want, and the audio system will likely be clearly audible.
Efficiency
- Very dashing searching
- Easy cloud gaming
- Glorious webcam
Pace is the secret right here. The Intel i5-1235U processor operating at as much as 4.4Ghz, mixed with 8GB of DDR5 RAM and a 256GB SSD was lots quick for my functions. Internet searching, video calling and common office duties are all a breeze, though the 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD selection could be higher for individuals who’ll be doing numerous multitasking and have a tendency to go away many RAM-hogging Chrome tabs open.
That’s a beneficiant spec sheet for a Chromebook. ChromeOS isn’t almost as malleable as Home windows and might solely run apps which are supported by Android. As a substitute of Microsoft’s Workplace 365, you’ve Google Docs, Sheets and Slides, alongside the remainder of the Google Play Retailer to select via. It’s an working system that’s finest suited to informal laptop customers who desire a simple machine for searching the online, wanting via their emails and utilizing workplace software program, and aren’t reliant on additional performance like video-editing apps or different software program that’s solely suitable with Home windows.
It does, nonetheless, work properly for gaming. At the least, the cloud gaming the Chromebook is meant for. Utilizing subscription platforms like Nvidia GeForce Now and Xbox Cloud Gaming, it may possibly stream video games over the online fairly than operating them off its inner {hardware}, very similar to the way you’d watch movies over Netflix.
When gaming, the largest supply of latency gained’t be the Chromebook’s internals, however your web pace. When you’ve got a dependable, high-speed connection, count on as great visuals as your streaming platform of alternative can present.
Nevertheless, the display will solely actually dazzle for those who hold it plugged into its charger. The show will solely run at 144Hz if it’s receiving juice and can in any other case drop all the way down to a superbly serviceable, but not fairly as spectacular 60Hz. That’s a little bit of a disgrace, given the excessive refresh price is among the predominant promoting factors of the machine.
However there’s a way Asus doesn’t need you to think about this as solely a gaming laptop computer. The added stylus, which will be snugly tucked into the aspect of the machine, is useful whenever you’re enhancing pictures or utilizing different artistic software program packages. It’s lengthy, mild with out being too skinny, and prices to a full 45 minutes’ value of juice in 15 seconds when put into its aspect slot. In different phrases, there’s little extra you could possibly need from it.
Battery Life
- Mediocre battery life
- Costs rapidly
You’ll be able to actually pull the total 10 hours of battery life that Asus advertises, however provided that you’re doing little greater than net searching. This performed out in my expertise and in our Netflix check, which noticed this machine lose round 9% of cost after streaming for one hour.
Begin streaming movies, enjoying music, and crank up the brightness, and also you’ll be round 5 hours. I used to be in a position to get an identical run whereas gaming through the cloud, however strive operating domestically put in video games – of which you’ll solely be capable to play essentially the most primary – and also you’ll be half that point.
Charging time is thankfully quick. An hour of charging replenished a little bit below half the Chromebook’s juice, whereas it took two and a half hours to totally recharge.
Newest offers
Must you purchase it?
You desire a premium ChromeOS and recreation streaming expertise
If you’ll be streaming video games, you are able to do a little bit higher than this Chromebook.
You might be extra critical about gaming
Those that aren’t concerned with streaming video games ought to contemplate extra austere Chromebooks, and those that are extra obsessed with gaming can have extra luck with a PC.
Last Ideas
The Asus Chromebook Vibe CX34 Flip is undoubtedly a really well-designed ChromeOS laptop computer. Its dazzling display, ergonomic hinged show, well-positioned audio system and stable battery life make it ultimate for streaming video games over the cloud, in addition to a luxe Chromebook really feel.
Given the boundaries of ChromeOS, you might be nonetheless paying a premium for a tool that may’t play AAA video games domestically. Nevertheless, the gaming nature of this machine means you’re getting some options that undoubtedly improve on a regular basis use making it top-of-the-line gadgets round for cloud gaming. The Vibe CX34 Flip additionally shines towards its key competitor within the ChromeOS gaming realm, the Acer Chromebook 516 GE, presenting increased high quality {hardware} and a greater show.
Although, it may possibly’t be ignored you can get extra bang on your buck, whether or not via higher battery life or native gaming efficiency elsewhere. For a spread of choices in that division contemplate our greatest Chromebooks and finest gaming laptop computer guides.
How we check
Each laptop computer we overview goes via a sequence of uniform checks designed to gauge key issues together with construct high quality, efficiency, display high quality and battery life.
These embody formal artificial benchmarks and scripted assessments, plus a sequence of real-world checks, corresponding to how properly it runs well-liked apps.
Used as our predominant laptop computer for over per week
Examined efficiency in a variety of situations with business normal benchmarking instruments.
We examined the display via real-world use.
We examined the battery with a benchmark check and real-world use.
FAQs
It certain is, and helps multi-touch so you may zoom round paperwork with simply your fingers.
Yep. It features a stylus that may tucked right into a ‘storage’ on the aspect and charged in 15 seconds.
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