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Asus Chromebook CX15: Two-minute evaluate
The Asus Chromebook CX1505 actually has a price range price ticket, however its options and spec hope to counter the cost that it’s a compromised system unfit for contemporary functions.
Whereas it would seem smooth, on nearer inspection it’s not as skinny or as gentle as its appears to be like would possibly lead you to imagine. That extremely extensive show and the lengthy underside assist bar sully its portability credentials considerably.
Construct high quality isn’t the best, both, and isn’t up there with the greatest Chromebook constructions. It’s nonetheless inside affordable bounds, however there’s some flexing to the plastic chassis.
The skinny bezel for the show is a welcome contact, although, serving to to maximise its already beneficiant width. The keyboard additionally feels constructed to a better normal, which is lucky because you’ll be making loads of contact with it.
All of the ports on the CX1505 are positioned on its left-hand aspect, which can be a bit of inconvenient for these wishing to attach a number of peripherals. Extra of an issue, nevertheless, is their paucity: there are solely 4, and solely two of them are USB (one type-A and one type-C port).
What’s extra, the Sort-C have to be used for charging, so it gained’t be accessible to you the entire time. An HDMI 1.4 port and a 3.5mm combo audio jack spherical out the remainder of the bodily connectivity choices, and so they’re at the very least sensibly ordered.
The CX1505 acquits itself properly when it comes to efficiency. It will probably deal with the productiveness and leisure duties properly sufficient, though 4K content material streaming is simply past its attain. It will probably deal with some gentle gaming, although, albeit with comparatively undemanding titles at low graphical settings.
Extra spectacular is that enormous show. The width is helpful for each leisure and productiveness functions, whereas the Full HD decision continues to be sharp sufficient for its measurement. It’s additionally vibrant and fairly vibrant, making for nice viewing in all situations.
Whereas the CX1505 is nice for typing on, the trackpad is a let down. It’s jerky and imprecise when making small, gradual actions, and its clicks really feel unsatisfying.
The battery lifetime of the CX1505 is affordable, lasting seven hours in our film playback check. Nonetheless, a lot of its rivals can beat this determine – some by a substantial margin.
There was a time when a Chromebook costing this little wouldn’t have been value your time, missing the facility and options to go well with even primary utilization. However the commendable – if not excellent – efficiency of the CX1505, coupled with its beneficiant and high-quality show, are actually spectacular facets at this worth, making it a contender for probably the greatest price range Chromebooks round proper now.
Asus Chromebook CX1505 evaluate: Value and availability
- Begins from $159.99 / £249.99 / AU$499
- Accessible now in a number of colorways
- Finances finish of the market
The CX1505 begins from $159.99 / £249.99 / AU$499 and is offered now in varied colorways, together with inexperienced and pink. It may be configured with 4GB or 8GB of RAM and 64GB or 128GB of storage. An Intel Core model can be accessible.
It is a nice worth, even within the Chromebook market. It’s significantly cheaper than the Asus Chromebook CM14, which we predict is likely one of the greatest price range Chromebooks. Nonetheless, the CX1505 performs higher, and that wider show makes it higher for productiveness and leisure – if not portability.
If you would like a high-performing Chromebook, then the HP Chromebook Plus 15.6-inch is a better option. This dispatches all types of duties with ease, together with harsher workloads akin to gaming and multitasking; no surprise we predict it’s the greatest scholar Chromebook. Its keyboard isn’t pretty much as good as that on the CX1505, although.
If you wish to keep nearer to the budget-end of the market and need one thing extra compact but additionally highly effective, the Dell Chromebook 3120 suits the invoice very properly, with extra processing energy and quicker reminiscence for a bit of bit extra of an funding.
Asus Chromebook CX1505 evaluate: Specs
My Asus Chromebook CX1505 evaluate unit had an Intel Celeron N4500, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage.
| Row 0 – Cell 0 |
Asus Chromebook CX1505 |
|
Value |
Ranging from $159.99 / £249.99 / AU$499 |
|
CPU |
Intel Celeron N4500 Processor 1.1 GHz (2 cores) |
|
Graphics |
Built-in, Intel UHD Graphics |
|
RAM |
4GB LPDDR4X |
|
Display |
15.6-inch, 1920 x 1080, 16:9, Anti-glare show, 300nits |
|
Storage |
64GB eMMC |
|
Ports |
1x USB-A, 1x USB-C, 1x HDMI 1.4, 1x 3.5mm combo audio |
|
Wi-fi |
Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) (Twin band) 2*2, Bluetooth 5.4 |
|
Digicam |
720p with privateness shutter |
|
Weight |
3.51lbs (1.59kg) |
|
Dimensions |
14.15 x 9.14 x 0.79in (360 x 232 x 20mm) |
ASUS Chromebook CX1505 evaluate: Design
- Modern and vibrant appears to be like
- Compromised portability
- Lacks ports
The CX1505 has a neat, minimalist look buoyed by the colourful colorways; I discovered the sunshine inexperienced end of my evaluate unit notably fetching, suiting its total design properly. The rounded corners and clean, flat planes add to its attraction.
It’s fairly a skinny unit, though the distinguished assist bar working beneath moderately spoils its sleekness. It’s additionally heavier than you would possibly anticipate; coupled with the atypical width, the portability of the CX1505 is considerably compromised.
What’s extra, construct high quality isn’t notably spectacular, both. The marginally textured plastics might feel and appear fascinating, however they’re not the sturdiest and may succumb to appreciable flexing.
The hinge for the lid feels sturdy in operation, however its looseness turns into evident as soon as set in place. This isn’t disruptive, however it’s noticeable, and isn’t precisely an auspicious signal for its longevity.
On a constructive notice, the bezel across the show is pleasingly skinny, which permits the already beneficiant actual property to be realized to its full potential, whereas the keys have a delicate graining which makes them really feel tactile to make use of. In addition they actuate easily and solidly, with little or no play or unsure suggestions.
Should you’re in search of a Chromebook with loads of connectivity choices, you’ll be disillusioned with the CX15. Regardless of its massive measurement, there are solely 4 ports (5 on the Intel Core mannequin, due to its further USB-C port), all positioned on the left-hand aspect.
There’s one USB-C port (which is used for charging as properly), one USB-A port, one HDMI 1.4 port, and a combo audio jack. At the least they’re sensibly ordered; I’m all the time completely happy to see the facility port on the finish and the audio jack on the very entrance.
ASUS Chromebook CX1505 evaluate: Efficiency
- Affordable multitasking capabilities
- Extra demanding duties
- Good extensive show
Benchmarks
These are the outcomes of our benchmarking checks for the Asus Chromebook CX1505:
TechRadar Battery Life Take a look at: 7 hours
Jetstream2 Benchmark: 121.752
Kraken Benchmark: 1254.9ms
Speedometer 3.1: 5.74 (±0.20)
The CX1505 is succesful sufficient for on a regular basis tasking. It will probably deal with phrase processing and spreadsheet creation with ease, whereas streaming hi-definition content material can be properly inside its grasp. Nonetheless, anticipate some vital buffering in case you’re watching something above 1440p.
Even with the modest 4GB of RAM put in in my evaluate unit, the CX1505 managed to juggle a number of browser tabs admirably. I nonetheless encountered some lag in such cases, however to not a irritating extent. Nonetheless, extra demanding multitasking situations, akin to working quite a few apps concurrently, result in extra extreme slowdowns, as you would possibly anticipate.
Gentle gaming is nearly inside its attain as properly. Asphalt Legends ran easily sufficient after I lowered the utmost body price to 30fps, however I encountered frequent stuttering when ratcheting it as much as 60fps, even on the default medium graphics settings. These after some informal enjoyment are catered for, then – however those that take their gaming a bit of extra significantly will likely be disillusioned.
The show is pleasingly vibrant and vibrant. Colours are vividly reproduced moderately than washed-out, as they are often on different Chromebook shows in my expertise.
And regardless of its massive measurement, the 1920 x 1080p decision nonetheless appears to be like sharp and clear. That extensive ratio additionally makes varied productiveness duties simpler, in addition to serving leisure content material properly.
The keys of the CX1505 are properly damped, leading to softer presses than you would possibly anticipate, however they’re nonetheless as snappy and as gentle as you’d anticipate from a laptop computer keyboard. They’re properly spaced, too, and because of that extensive chassis, the numberpad doesn’t cramp the format, as is the case with another laptops and Chromebooks.
The trackpad has a stable and noticeable click on, nevertheless it feels nasty and low-cost, owing to the shortage of dampening. Gliding isn’t the smoothest, both, with makes an attempt to make small and exact actions leading to lag and cursor jumps.
Faucets are higher, however inconsistent: being unresponsive at occasions, and too keen at others. The floor space of the pad is kind of small, too, regardless of there being loads of area for a bigger module. At the least it’s solidly put in, with no wobble to it.
The general connectivity of the CX1505 is nice for probably the most half. Nonetheless, the Bluetooth radio stopped engaged on one event, severing reference to all my units. Fortunately, fixing the difficulty merely required disabling after which re-enabling Bluetooth from the standing space within the bottom-right nook.
Asus Chromebook CX1505 evaluate: Battery life
The CX1505 has a good, if not spectacular, battery life. It ought to see you all through the day, nevertheless it solely managed seven hours in our playback check, the place we ran a film on a steady loop.
This beats the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2 360, which solely managed six and a half hours, nevertheless it’s bested by rivals such because the Acer Chromebook Spin 312 and the HP Chromebook Plus 15.6-inch, which each achieved occasions across the 11-hour mark. And the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 Chromebook can final a massively spectacular 16-plus hours.
Ought to I purchase the ASUS Chromebook CX1505?
| Header Cell – Column 0 |
Notes |
Score |
|---|---|---|
|
Worth |
There aren’t many new Chromebooks priced this low, nonetheless much less these with competing specs. |
5 / 5 |
|
Design |
It could look smooth and minimal, nevertheless it’s surprisingly heavy, and it’s not the sturdiest, both. |
3.5 / 5 |
|
Efficiency |
Contemplating its middling spec, the CX1505 is spectacular in motion, if not spectacular. |
4 / 5 |
|
Battery life |
Battery life is nice however not excellent; there are many Chromebooks that may outlast it. |
3 / 5 |
|
Complete Rating |
It may not be a powerhouse, however the CX1505 is succesful and low-cost sufficient to make it wonderful worth. |
4 / 5 |
Purchase it if…
Do not buy it if…
ASUS Chromebook CX1505: Additionally think about
If the Asus Chromebook CX1505 would not sound best for you, listed here are some alternate options:
How I examined the Asus Chromebook CX1505
- Examined for a number of days
- Used for varied duties
- Plentiful Chromebook expertise
I examined the CX1505 for a number of days, throughout which era I used it for productiveness, leisure, and normal looking.
I used it for phrase processing and spreadsheet modifying, in addition to streaming HD and 4K content material. I additionally performed cell video games downloaded from the Play Retailer, and ran our sequence of benchmark checks for Chromebooks.
I’ve been utilizing Chromebooks for years and have intensive expertise reviewing them. I’ve additionally reviewed other forms of cell units, together with tablets and laptops designed for productiveness and gaming.
