Customer Ratings & Reviews

As a gamer you know that you can never have enough gaming platforms. In this case i wanted to try something a little more powerful than a tablet but not as much a full fledged gaming laptop. And in this instance a gaming Chromebook is a nice middle ground but we'll discuss this in a bit. :::Initial impressions::: Taking this out of the box the first thing youll notice is that this is a heavy duty product. It feels premium because it is heavy so it isnt something youll be holding for extended periods of time with one hand. And it has a premium look to it as well it has pretty much all the kind of I/O that you would find on a windows based gaming laptop. From a gamers perspective this is both esthetically pleasing and in terms of hardware it is what you would want. I am curious though if the storage could be upgraded. Although 256 is plenty for a Chromebook it would be great if possible. :::General thoughts::: If you have ever owned an Asus gaming laptop then you know exactly what you are getting. The typical red color scheme is back and looks good. At first i was a little confused on who this product would really benefit but after using it for sometime it grew on me and I ended up answering my own question. So I am going to avoid the usual review spiel about specs I don't see the point in repeating whats already available on the product page. So lets take a look at what matters the display, battery life and how well the hardware and os works. -Display- The display is glossy and is quite a bit reflective but it's not any different from whats already out there. Now here is the thing for a "cloud gaming" device the display is only as capable as the network, the service you are using. Dont get me wrong the display is clear and plenty bright but don't give it too much thought because Chromebook gaming isn't as demanding as actual PC games in high settings. -Keyboard- This keyboard is what is available on the gaming laptops so it is tried and true. Asus isn't new to this so the travel is good the keys do not stick and it feels right. Also a plus is the backlit keyboard. WASD is highlighted in red and looks good. There's a full sized keyboard along with the number keypad on the side I definitely wasn't expecting that but it is a great addition. -Hardware- You have a desktop intel based cpu under the hood along with 256gb of storage so there is more than enough power to run everything on this. Just remember though most folk will use this for cloud gaming. I use Gamepass & Steamlink and I am more than happy with my experience. There are games on the play store that you can download but they won't really fully utilize the hardware to its full capability. :::Pros & Cons::: Pros: -powerful hardware -beautiful screen -battery life is great (chromebook quality) -keyboard is top notch -quality materials Cons: -The OS :::Closing thoughts:::: This product is meant for those who like to game on a number of other platforms. I use steam, gamepass, emulation and sometimes games from the play store. As long as you dont expect this to work like a windows laptop then you'll love this. Chrome OS is different and offers a completely different experience from Mac & Windows. So here is the million dollar question why should anyone buy this? If you are looking for a gaming device that isnt crazy expensive then consider this. It is more powerful than a tablet, as powerful as a windows device and comparable battery life. ::TL;DR:: You want a gaming laptop device that isnt the same old thing then you need to pick one of these up and grab a controller if thats your thing and a pair of headphones. You'll have a great time as I currently am.

## What to know before buying - This is not a Windows gaming laptop, so you can't install a game like Fortnite directly on this laptop. - Instead, this Chromebook is optimized to use *streaming* gaming services like NVIDIA GeForce NOW and Xbox Cloud Gaming. These services typically require a monthly fee, but you may find some free-to-play titles (for example, you can stream and play Fortnite for free with Xbox Cloud Gaming at the time of this writing, but the game offerings can change at any time). - So while this Chromebook can play games, it requires a fast and stable internet connection in order to do so, as well as an account with a cloud gaming service. ## Design The Chromebook definitely has a more aggressive gaming design compared to most Chromebooks. It has a distinctive look that’s both stylish and functional, with orange WASD keys to help you quickly find the directional keys during online play. It has a large 15.6-inch 144 Hz Full HD monitor that provides a sharp display for gaming. Being a touch screen, it does have a very reflective surface, making it difficult to use outside or if there is a bright light source or window behind you. The screen can also be folded 360 degrees to use the laptop in tablet mode and to also use it in tent mode, which can be handy when gaming with a controller. However, at this price point for a Chromebook, I thought that ASUS could have took the design a little further and added RGB lighting effects, for example. ## Performance I tested this laptop with Fortnite on the XBox Live Gaming service with a fast Wi-Fi connection on FIOS. Gameplay was surprisingly good, with only a tiny delay between pressing a button on my controller and having the game react. Most of the time, I didn't even notice the delay. Graphic quality was also very good and visible on the large 15.6-inch screen, but like any streaming video, there are occasional artifacts and pixelation in the video display while playing. However, I still found Fortnite very playable on this machine. It's important to remember that gaming quality is very dependent on the quality of your internet connection. For example, if you're watching a show on Netflix, the video is not actually on your computer; it's streaming from a remote server, so the video quality is dependent on your internet quality. The same goes for these cloud gaming services. I was a tester for one of the first Chromebooks, and I'm impressed how far they have come through the years. They are capable machines for those who want something easy for word processing (Google Docs), web browsing and social media (Google Chrome), basic gaming (Android apps), video conferencing (Google Meet), and even some coding (Linux environment and VS Code). Chromebooks are also a lot easier to maintain and install updates compared to Microsoft Windows, and the security protections in place with ChromeOS help protect against a lot of the viruses and malware out there. ## Battery Life This laptop can last up to 10 hours on a single charge and can be recharged via USB-C. The USB-C also allows you to connect it to a monitor for times when you want to game at a desk. I was happy to find that the USB-C connection worked with my Belkin dock, but this doesn't necessarily mean it will work with every USB-C dock out there. ## Summary The ASUS Gaming Chromebook is great if you're into streaming gaming services, but remember that the games can't be installed directly on this machine and the gaming quality is highly dependent on your internet connection and requires an account with a cloud gaming provider that supports the Chrome browser. However, it still functions like a normal Chromebook and can be used for web browsing, social media, Google Docs, some Android and Linux apps, and video conferencing.

high quality for a Chromebook! love that it is laptop quality at a Chromebook price point. so easy to use, a great size as well. have used it for gaming (ie. sims) is able to run these programs but not at the best quality, would not recommend as a daily use gaming laptop, but works well for the occasional gamer who doesn't want to drop a dime on a PC setup. great for travelling, streaming, work stuff. good battery life, much faster than my i3 chromebook

The Asus Cloud Gaming Chromebook is a sleek and stylish looking device in my opinion. The mineral gray aluminum-alloy metal lid looks very professional. The 15.6” FHD display is a responsive touchscreen with 144Hz response time and resolution of 1920x1080. The screen is responsive while in tablet mode as well as in laptop or tent mode and I found it to be bright and clear. The Intel Core i5 processor and 8GB of RAM has been able to handle everything that I have thrown at it so far. The harman / Kardon speakers are positioned on the bottom sides and fire downward. I am very impressed with the sound they make, they can get very loud and when in Tent mode, they are actually firing towards you and they still sound fantastic. I was not expecting sound quite like this from a Chromebook. The backlit gaming (RED WASD) keyboard is one of my favorite aspects of this device. Typing feels natural and smooth as you press the keys with your fingers. I had no issues with typing at all and in dimly lit situations, being backlit really helps and the backlight is adjustable and the travel on the keys is great. The built-in HD webcam and dual microphones worked well as I video chatted with my family and friends. They were impressed with the quality and sound. This is a slightly heavy Chromebook and it’s not as portable (0.73” and 4.17lbs) as some of the other models out there, but with that being said, it has a very large 16:10 screen and is a power house when it comes to Chromebooks. Oh yea, this one you can game on fairly well as a bonus. Streaming games now is becoming more feasible now and if you have a fast, stable internet, you can easily stream and play the latest AAA titles on this. An NVIDIA GeForce NOW’s streaming service trial for 3 months comes with this so you can try out what this can do. Unfortunately, the features listed say you get the top membership tier, but on my device it would not let me activate that tier (59.99 month) and I could only get the next to top tier (29.97) Also, I attempted to activate the other offers such as Amazon Luna+ and Google One and they would not activate, only redirect me to a page that said “sorry, this offer is only for Chromebooks”. I suspect it may be a quick fix if you call support, but I didn’t try that in my short time with this. So, back to playing games, I tested out Destiny 2 and it ran perfectly at 120FPS with a few spots it would drop down to 90FPS, and the input lag was not noticeable at all. Racing games such as Asphalt 9 runs smooth as butter and is a pleasure to play on such a large screen. Another great feature of this is the ability to hook up an external HDMI monitor and use it as a second screen. It will display the games on that screen via HDMI as well. Battery life has been really good as well and with some normal usage I was seeing about 8 hours on average, but with playing games, that was cut down a little bit. This can easily last someone most of the day if you decide to work remotely and it does have the power to handle nearly anything out there.

The Asus CX5501FE is my first Chromebook. A few years ago, I made the switch from Apple to Android for my tablet and phone. I've enjoyed my Android devices. I was curious what I could do with a good Chromebook. So, for the last week, I have been putting this Chromebook through the paces. I tested this Chromebook with an eye for whether or not I could replace my existing PC, tablet, or laptop with the Chromebook experience. While I discovered there is a good deal you can do with a Chromebook and in particular this Chromebook, the experience still felt rather limited to me. This Asus Chromebook is "functional". It's not bad, it's just very, very limited. If you're in the market for a Chromebook, this is a solidly built device. But you should know that there are some limitations over a traditional Android tablet or a Windows or MAC PC. Gaming? Well, I was excited to try a "gaming" Chromebook. A gaming computer is usually designated as such based on the video card and processor. But, this Chromebook is a gaming device in that it streams games from Geforce Now or XBOX. But, Geforce Now and XBOX Game Pass will require a subscription. So what gaming hardware sets this Chromebook apart? It has a Wifi 6 Intel 201 card. It isn't 6G, but it does get pretty good speeds assuming you have a WiFi 6 router. It also has an illuminated keyboard with a highlighted WASD keys. But outside of some mobile games from Google Play (more on that later), this is a gaming through streaming experience. Geforce Now could access my Epic Games, Steam, and Ubisoft games, but not all of my purchased games were accessible. For instance games from EA, Square Enix, and CD Projekt Red were available, but games from Rockstar and Sony were not. Streaming games is interesting. I'm sure the experience will get better. This Chromebook came with a three month subscription to Geforce Now. Basically, with a paid subscription, another computer is processing your gaming experience and you are then streaming that game to your computer over the internet connection. I believe the data is advertised at around 9 gigs per hour. Anyone on a restricted data plan should be careful. I played a few games. FPS games and twitch heavy games worked, but the fast movement felt compressed. Occasionally, I would get a hiccup in the stream and that would interfere with the experience. Playing Cyberpunk 2077 worked, but colors looked slightly washed out. Movements felt less crisp and clear than if you were playing the game on your PC. Stream gaming is never going to be my preferred option. If I'm at home with my WiFi 6 router and fiber internet, I'm going to be playing on a PC or console. Streaming would only make sense on the go, and at that point, I couldn't guarantee a fast internet connection or that my data cap wouldn't be an issue. Plus, Geforce Now and XBOX apps are available on tablets, phones, Windows PCs, and TVs. I'm not sure it's a selling point for this device when I could just as easily stream games to my iPad or a cheaper Windows based laptop. You can't download games directly to your Chromebook. You can't access every game in your Steam library. And, the amount of "free" games is pretty limited. So, you can play games, but I couldn't help but feel like the experience is far from optimal. Software Limitations: Google and Asus expect you will do pretty much everything through Chrome. There are apps, but many of them I tried weren't optimized for the Chromebook experience. For instance, Netflix, Disney+ and Amazon Prime streaming apps were stuck on SD and had a horrible screen flicker. But, I could stream through the websites just fine. Having said that, Google TV, Youtube, and Pluto TV worked as expected. Some of my my previously purchased games like Ticket to Ride worked well. There is no Microsoft Office app for Chromebooks. If you want to type in Word or work on a spreadsheet in Excel, you will need to use the Office 365 web interface. It works for the most part, but is severely limited. For instance, if you want to open a document, it has to exist on one drive. It feels weird to me that I can get a Word app for my Samsung Android tablet, but not for a Google Chromebook. Hardware: This Chromebook can be set up as a traditional laptop, a tablet, or fold it like a tent as a mobile display. The keyboard is responsive. There are two USB-C ports and one USB-A port. The MicroSD slot makes expanding storage rather simple. The battery life on this Chromebook is amazing. I got seven to nine hours depending on usage. The built in speakers are loud and clear. Unfortunately, the entire thing is a bit of a fingerprint magnet. It's also surprisingly heavy. As a tablet, it always feels a bit large and awkward. But, tablet mode does work well. I love how easily this integrates with my Samsung Galaxy S22 phone. The interface is very clean. Setup is quick. The device boots up and shuts down in just a couple of seconds. So, do I like it? Yes. But, I feel like the experience is incredibly limited. Better app support and a better experience with game streaming would probably make this a much easier recommendation. As is, I recommend it, but only for people who know full well what they are getting into. 3/5

This is a good Chromebook especially if you get it on sale. Screen is fantastic, battery life is what expected with a Chromebook, has a good CPU for cloud gaming. Not as good as Acer's gaming Chromebook and also lacks the Ethernet port. However Ethernet port USB adapters solve that. And what this has over Acer's is touchscreen and 4-in-1 design that are so handy for Chromebooks to navigate and consume media as you want.

I'm not a gamer. So I just got this for me studying. It's great for me! Beautiful looking, Smooth moves, automatically wireless transferring files. Battery is last longer than my old Dell.

Works great. Fast delivery. Easy to use. Great battery power. Would recommend it to my friends and family.

Seems ok. Touchscreen is not very sensitive. Holds charge for suffiently long period. And chromebooks in general require a number of operational changes that take getting used to

The Asus 15 5" touchscreen Cloud Gaming Chromebook has worked out really well for me. Some people have complained about the weight, and I definitely wouldn't call it light at over 4 lb, but I normally tell people if an extra pound or 2 is too much for you, maybe a few trips to the gym are in order. Besides, this isn't a tablet, it's a laptop. Chrome OS happily runs along on the Core i5 processor, 8 gigs of RAM is more than sufficient, and a 256 gig SSD is plenty for a Chromebook. This Chromebook is slim and the build quality seems really good. The hinge allows the screen to be flipped over on itself if you want to hide the keyboard. Because it's a large laptop, there is room for a number pad, which is a plus. And battery life is phenomenal. Design wise, my only complaint is with the matte black finish. While it looks great, it shows fingerprints like crazy. Get yourself a good cloth and be prepared to clean it regularly. But how does it do with gaming? All of the games I played had great graphics and smooth motion. I'm really into cars, so the majority of the games I play are racing games. With both Asphalt 9 and Real Racing 3, frame rates seem good, and graphic quality was excellent. The ASUS Cloud Gaming Chromebook works great for its intended purpose, but doubles as a general purpose laptop. And I feel like the price is fair for what you're getting. No regrets here.

I feel like ASUS is really doing it again and again. I have now had several of their products and have yet to be disappointed. This 15 inch gaming touchscreen Chromebook is excellent and no exception. First for it not being a true PC, it still comes with a 256GB SSD and 8GM of RAM running on an Intel i5 processor. Booting is done in seconds and I'm up and running in no time. The monitor has up to 1920x1080 HD resolution and is very crisp. As an additional benefit, it's a touchscreen that also folds in half so I can use it as a tablet at any point. Whether watching a movie or playing a game that works well with touch, that feature is now a must have. The battery is great as well. After charging it to full, I have easily gotten about 10 hours in total use between two movies and some light gaming with some good graphics. Network connectivity is really good but make sure you have a strong WiFi signal so that when streaming your content, you avoid buffering, lag or dropped connectivity. In my case, I have not had any of that. The sound of the built in Harmon Kardon speakers is very good as well. Decent bass and treble without changing any type of settings. I also paired my over the ear noise cancelling headphones very easily so I didn't bother everyone else. Again, the sound is great and the pairing process was very smooth. When thinking about a purchase like this, keep in mind this is a Chromebook and not a full fledged desktop or laptop computer. Although built like an entry level MS Windows machine, some of your everyday apps won't work natively, but if they have the ability to work direct from a browser, you should be just fine. There are ample specs on this Chromebook to make for a great secondary entertainment device that can be used for some of your non-movie or gaming activities. I would absolutely recommend this as long as you keep in mind what it would mainly be used for. Great job ASUS!

I have to admit I knew very little about the Chromebook before I received the Asus 15.6" Touchscreen Chromebook. The learning curve has been a bit of a challenge because I initially approached the entire experience with the expectations it would be just like any other computer I had ever owned. But the "philosophical" differences became quite apparent right from the start. The Chromebook is, and always has been designed as a cloud computer, that is, your files are stored in the cloud and can be accessed from any other computer with access to the cloud. This frees up the burden of needing a lot of storage built in to the laptop itself. Okay, I am liking it so far. Because it requires so little storage needs, the system can operate at much faster speeds. Now I am really liking it. Google offers a wide array of apps that are compatible with many Microsoft applications that are easily accessible via the web, such as Word, Excel, and so on. At this point I am pretty much sold on the idea of the Chrome OS. It was only when I understood that Chrome OS was never designed to be just another version of Windows or MacOS, but was intended to stand on its own merits as a viable and needed alternative to the other two operating systems, that I began to appreciate its true value. But let me address the ASUS laptop. As always, ASUS designed a beautiful laptop, elegant, durable, and worthy of the ASUS brand. It sports a rather impressive Intel 11th Gen Core i5 processor. This particular processor far out--performs many other processors in laptops costing much, much more. With 8 GB RAM, it has the ability to execute several tasks at the same time, and is certainly capable of staying up to speed with everything it is designed to do. I experienced zero lag with anything I tried to do. One of the greatest things I like about the ASUS/ChromeOS marriage is that it even allows users to enjoy several rather engaging online gaming experiences such as Fortnite, Halo, and others, making the ASUS not simply a dedicated boring work computer! The graphics card, the Intel UHD Graphics 630, is a decent graphics card, and that's all it is intended to be. My gosh, at this price point, I was highly impressed. Listen, for people who are looking for a great work computer with the ability to enjoy a little fun during down time, this is the perfect choice...touchscreen, lit keyboard, plenty of storage, and super battery life. I have only had a little while to get used to the ChromeOS, but I can see that I am now a solid convert. Of course, if you have already been using the ChromeOS, I don't need to try and persuade you, but if you are, or have been curious in the past, let me assure you it is absolutely worth giving it a try. I will most certainly be encouraging my friends and family to get this ASUS Chromebook.