ASUS Chromebook Plus 14" CX34 2024, Core 5 120U, 8GB, 128GB UFS, Staid Black

The CX34 packs a 10-core Core 5 120U and MIL-STD durability into 1.43kg, but the 128GB storage is 5th percentile and the 8GB RAM is 21st. At USD 365 it's a decent budget Chromebook. At USD 729 it's a hard pass.

The Core 5 120U is a 10-core chip with a 1.4GHz base clock, and it lands at the 52nd percentile in our CPU rankings. That's about average for this category, which means it'll handle Chrome tabs, Google Docs, and video streaming without breaking a sweat. The 8GB of LPDDR5X is where things get tight. That's the 21st percentile for RAM, and ChromeOS is lighter than Windows, but 8GB is still 8GB. Open a dozen tabs plus a Linux container and you'll feel it.

The integrated Intel Graphics sit at the 47th percentile, which is fine for a Chromebook but don't expect much beyond casual games and smooth UI. The 128GB UFS storage is the real bottleneck here. UFS is faster than eMMC but slower than NVMe, and 128GB is the 5th percentile. You'll be leaning hard on Google Drive and that 12-month Google One AI Premium trial with 5TB of cloud storage. The Wi-Fi 6E is a nice touch for fast networks, and the FHD webcam with privacy shutter is a practical win for students and remote workers.

Against the Lenovo Slim 7, the CX34 gives up RAM and storage headroom but likely undercuts it on price at the low end. The HP OmniBook X Flip 14 has a better display and more premium build, but you'll pay for it. The Apple MacBook Air M2 absolutely demolishes this in CPU, GPU, screen, and storage, but it's also in a different price bracket entirely. The Dell Latitude XPS 13 offers better build quality and screen, though ChromeOS versus Windows is a lifestyle choice. The Samsung Galaxy Book6 Pro has a superior OLED panel and more RAM, but again, more money. The CX34's real competition is the Lenovo Slim 7 at the budget end, and the CX34 holds its own on CPU and portability while losing on storage and screen.

Pricing is all over the place. US listings range from USD 365 to USD 729 across 4 vendors, which is a USD 364 spread. That's a huge gap for the same machine. At USD 365, this is a compelling budget Chromebook with a solid CPU and durable build. At USD 729, you're in MacBook Air M2 territory and that's a completely different conversation. The affordability percentile sits at 81, which reflects the lower end of that range more than the top. If you're shopping this one, the value story depends entirely on which listing you find. The cheapest US vendor is the only one worth considering.

The ASUS Chromebook Plus CX34 lands in a weird spot. It's got a 10-core Intel Core 5 120U, 8GB of LPDDR5X, and a 128GB UFS drive, which sounds decent on paper. But our database puts that storage at the 5th percentile for this category. That's not a typo. You're getting less local space than almost every other laptop we track, and ChromeOS leans on cloud storage anyway, so maybe that's fine. Maybe.

The screen is a 14-inch 1920x1080 IPS touch panel at 60Hz with 250 nits. That brightness lands at the 31st percentile, which means it's fine indoors but you'll be squinting near a window. The whole thing weighs 1.43kg and carries a MIL-STD 810H durability rating, so it's built for backpack life. Social proof is strong at the 84th percentile with a 4.3/5 from 27 reviews, and affordability sits at the 81st percentile. But the internals tell a more complicated story.

Skip this if you need local storage. The 128GB UFS drive is the 5th percentile in our database, which means you'll be living in the cloud whether you like it or not. Also skip it if you do any gaming, since the 6.2/100 gaming score is basically a polite way of saying no. If you work in bright environments, the 250-nit screen at the 31st percentile will frustrate you. And if you're seeing this listed anywhere near USD 729, walk away. That's MacBook Air M2 money for a machine with a fifth of the storage and a dimmer screen.

The ASUS Chromebook Plus CX34 is a solid Chromebook for students and light productivity users who can find it near the USD 365 mark. The Core 5 120U is capable, the build is durable, and the touchscreen adds flexibility. But the 128GB storage at the 5th percentile and 8GB RAM at the 21st percentile mean this machine has a short runway for anything beyond basic tasks. If you're mostly in Google Workspace and streaming, it works. If you need local storage or heavy multitasking, look elsewhere. The 4.3/5 rating from 27 owners suggests people who bought it knew what they were getting, and that's the key. Know what you're getting.