This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
This Chromebook surprised me at just how much performance ASUS managed to squeeze out of an otherwise modestly appointed 14” 2-in-1. We already have two Windows-based ASUS 2-in-1s at home; a 13.3” ZenBook Flip S and a 15.6” ZenBook Flip 15, so I kind of knew what to expect from the “Flip” model line going in. And yet even though both of those ASUS models cost about 3x more than this similarly styled Chromebook, the ASUS CM3401 Flip manages to trade blows with its big brothers in many important respects.
Let’s start with all the positives. If you’re already familiar with the Google/Chrome ecosystem, you’ll feel right at home with the Chromebook. But even as a lifelong Windows user like me, my transition to the Chrome OS was essentially seamless (this is our second Chromebook in as many years)—Chrome OS really has come a long way in recent years to become a legitimately viable alternative to MS’s more bloated and resource-intensive Windows OS for basic computing and multimedia needs. But what I love most about Chrome is the simplicity and greatly streamlined user experience…if you just want a simple Internet appliance that works, and works quickly, the Chromebook is arguably the way to go.
Setup was mercifully simple with initial updates and getting the laptop ready for the first use taking just 5 minutes from first opening the lid to mousing about on the desktop. From a full power-down, it takes about 6 seconds to get to the desktop again (or 0 seconds if you’re just opening the lid from sleep state to get back to work), and the CM3401’s AMD Ryzen 3 chip manages to keep everything feeling snappy and responsive, even with many open tabs on Chrome. My Intel i7-equipped ZenBook Flip S was built around Intel’s new EVO design philosophy--it’s a way to makes Windows feel more portable and “Chrome-like” in terms of responsiveness, but it still takes my ASUS Flip S nearly 25 seconds to power up and sadly the Windows experience feels positively glacial compared to how quickly apps and browser tabs open on the ASUS CM3401 Flip. And although I’m a PC gamer at heart, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the ASUS Chromebook could handle some Android games from the Google Play store that actually looked pretty impressive on the screen.
The Chromebook is well-spec’d with two USB-C ports (one on each side) both with DP and power delivery, a 10GB/s superspeed USB-A port, a full-sized HDMI port for easy hookup to TVs or other external displays, 3.5mm mic/headphone combo port, and a micro-SD card slot for additional storage. There is a dedicated power button on the side as well as a volume rocker which are very convenient physical controls to have at-the-ready when you use the laptop in tent-display or tablet modes.
If you plan to use this 2-in-1 for productivity or web surfing, you’ll definitely appreciate the taller 16:10 aspect ratio of the 1920x1200 screen that makes it easier to see more of your documents or web pages onscreen at any time. Sadly, I don’t have a stylus that works with Chrome that I could use for testing, but the touchscreen display is greatly appreciated, especially for things like navigation and operation when in tablet mode…I can only imagine how a stylus would make the tablet experience an even more productive one. Speaking of productivity, I took the Chromebook to work with me a few times and routinely got more than 8 hours on a single charge of mixed media and productivity use throughout the day—none of my Windows laptops could *ever* go a full work day without heading back to the wall socket for some more battery juice.
The built-in speakers sound pleasant and are loud enough to use the Chromebook as a media player in its own right, though obviously you’re not going to wake the neighbors or rattle the walls with any deep, gut-punching bass. The built-in webcam has HD-resolution and actually provides very clear image/video quality—and I especially like the onboard privacy slider that clearly shows a red dot when the lens is covered; more laptops need to take a cue from this design feature.
The chicklet keyboard is solid with a very nice/bright backlight for the keys. Fortunately, the lettering on the keys is nice high-contrast white against a black background so it’s easy to read the keys even without backlighting. I’m not necessarily a big fan of the lower-case keycaps, but that’s nitpicking at this point. Key travel is minimal (obviously), but the keys don’t feel mushy or slow. Virtually all keycaps are full size except for the half-height function keys (brightness, screen capture, task/desk switcher, etc.) and the arrow keys. The trackpad is on the larger side of those I’ve seen on a small laptop and it’s very smooth and solid feeling.
You might initially be put off by the rather spartan-sounding 128GB SSD, but as many Chrome OS assets and files are cloud/web-based, the SSD will go a bit farther for you than they might on a conventional laptop unless you like to clutter your drive up with a LOT of video files, images, or large Google Play apps. Again, however, don’t forget that you have the SD slot on the slide to add as much additional storage as your wallet can handle—I put a 1TB SanDisk Extreme card into the slot that was formatted in Windows and it was recognized immediately…including the custom .ICO file I created to give me a thumbnail picture of the drive itself in the file explorer.
Finally, I give ASUS props for creating a handsome-looking device with a “Ponder Blue” colorway that is a nice departure from the black, grey, or silver sea of laptop colors that most devices seem to sport these days. The hinges are set off from the rest of the shell with a heavy, shiny metallic finish that gives the Chromebook a bit of visual flair without looking totally over the top.
With so much going for it—is there anything NOT to like? Truthfully, not much. This laptop is built like a tank. It has a reassuringly solid feel with zero flex around the keyboard and trackpad, and the 2-in-1 hinges help hold the display smartly in place regardless of whether you’re using it fully open like a laptop or tented for table-top display—you can even move it around with one hand without changing the angle of the screen unless you start violently shaking the Chromebook around (not sure why you would, but that’s your business).
That said…this laptop is also built like a tank. Despite the description touting the device as “ultrathin and ultralight,” the CM3401 Flip is not very svelte or sexy-thin. The added depth (and LARGE vent cutouts on the bottom) undoubtedly helps with heat dissipation—in fact, I don’t recall ever really hearing the fan kick in even when I was playing a few graphically complex Google Play games. But you can see how it compares to the objectively more portable/travel-friendly ASUS ZenBook Flip S in one my review photos.
What’s more, the Chromebook CM3401 Flip is deceptively heavy in the hand for what you would expect for a device of its size. In tablet form, the 14” screen actually seems ideal for on-the-go notetaking in class or meetings, but the weight of the unit may make tablet use and one-handed support just a little awkward—those of you who have difficulty holding heavier electronics and tablets for long periods of time may want to give the CM3401 a test drive first.
Finally, the screen, while clear and nicely sized, is shiny—like REALLY shiny. This gives the impression of colors with a little more pop, but it can also be distracting in brightly lit rooms as it’s hard to view the screen from pretty much any angle without a lot of intrusive reflections. For dark video content, I noticed just a tad of backlight bloom in the lower right corner of the screen—but it was nothing as bad as some of the IPS glow I’ve seen in other laptops. However, you can also see in the side-by-side comparison to the smaller ZenBook Flip S’s OLED screen that the CM3401 Flip’s screen lacks a bit of punch and depth when it comes to color reproduction; it will also not render HDR or Dolby Vision video content. Still, the ZenBook Flip S is nearly 3x the price, has more than 6x the pixel resolution, and features different display technology than the Chromebook CM3401 Flip; therefore, I would expect to see such differences anyway--but it’s hard not to notice the downgrade in PQ and video performance once you’ve seen better.
Nevertheless, if you’re in the market for a Chromebook, even at the asking price, the CM3401 Flip is already a VERY good value; and if you can get it on sale, it becomes a “what are you waiting for?” proposition—VERY HIGHLY recommended with just those few quick asides you should know going in.
