ASUS Chromebook 18" CX1500CNA Black

The ASUS Chromebook CX1500CNA is a 15.6-inch budget Chromebook that's only worth considering if you can find it for around $140 and your needs are extremely basic. The 4GB of RAM and slow processor make multitasking a chore, and the 768p screen is a fuzzy letdown. Spend a little more for a better display and more memory if you can.

Performance is where the CX1500CNA really shows its budget roots. The Intel Celeron N3350 is a dual-core chip from 2016, and it feels every bit its age. In our database, this CPU lands in the 88th percentile, which sounds impressive until you realize that's compared to other Chromebooks in this ultra-budget category. It's still a slow processor. With only 4GB of RAM, which sits in the 2nd percentile overall, multitasking is a pipe dream. Open more than five or six Chrome tabs and you'll start seeing loading spinners and laggy scrolling. The 64GB eMMC storage is another bottleneck, ranking in the 5th percentile. It's not just small, it's slow. Boot times are okay for Chrome OS, but app launches and file transfers feel sluggish. The integrated Intel HD Graphics 500 can handle basic video playback, but don't even think about gaming. Our gaming score for this machine is a 32.9 out of 100. You can play browser games and maybe some very light Android titles, but anything 3D will be a slideshow. This is strictly a machine for light productivity and media consumption, and even then, you'll need to be patient.

Stacked against the competition, the CX1500CNA is outclassed in almost every way. The Lenovo Yoga 7 is in a different universe with its convertible design, sharper display, and much faster processors. The Apple MacBook Pro MR9R2LL/A is obviously a premium machine that makes this Chromebook look like a toy, but even a used older MacBook Air would run circles around it for general use. The Acer Predator Helios is a gaming beast, not a fair fight, but it highlights how far apart the performance tiers are. A more realistic competitor is something like the NIMO N152, another budget Chromebook. The ASUS might have a slight edge in build quality and that backlit keyboard, but the NIMO often comes with a full HD display, which makes a huge difference for reading and watching videos. If you're comparing these two, the screen alone would push me toward the NIMO. The HP ZBook Ultra G1a is a workstation, so again, no contest, but it shows that even a "renewed" premium laptop from a few years ago will offer a vastly better screen, keyboard, and speed than this new budget Chromebook.

Value is a tricky word here. The price range across vendors is wild, spanning from $140 to over $40,000, which is clearly a data error for the high end. The real price for this renewed model is around that $140 mark. At that price, it's hard to be too harsh. You're getting a big screen, a keyboard, and access to the web for less than a fancy dinner. But you're also getting a device that will frustrate you if you try to do anything beyond the absolute basics. For the same money, you could find a used ThinkPad or a slightly newer Chromebook with a better screen and more RAM. If you can stretch your budget to $200 or $250, the experience improves dramatically. This ASUS is only a good value if your expectations are rock bottom and your wallet is empty.

The ASUS Chromebook CX1500CNA is one of those devices that looks like a solid deal on paper until you dig into the specs. It's a 15.6-inch Chromebook running on an Intel Celeron N3350, a dual-core processor that was already showing its age a few years ago. You get 4GB of RAM and 64GB of eMMC storage, which is about as entry-level as it gets for Chrome OS. The big draw here is the price, especially since this is a renewed unit floating around the $140 mark. If you just need a screen for web browsing, Google Docs, and streaming Netflix at 720p, it technically checks those boxes. But calling it a "laptop" in 2024 feels generous. It's more of a dedicated portal to the Chrome browser, and even then, it struggles if you get ambitious with your tabs. The 15.6-inch display is listed as HD, which means 1366x768 resolution. On a screen this size, that's noticeably fuzzy. Text isn't crisp, and you'll see pixels without squinting. The IPS panel helps with viewing angles, but the low resolution and lack of brightness make it a tough sell for anyone used to a modern smartphone screen, let alone a decent laptop. At 2.7 pounds, it's light enough to toss in a bag, and the build quality from ASUS is usually decent for the price. But the internals are the real story here, and they're not a happy one.

Skip this Chromebook if you plan to have more than a handful of browser tabs open, need a sharp screen for reading or watching videos, or want to run Linux or Android apps smoothly. The 4GB of RAM and 768p display are dealbreakers for most people. If you're a student, a writer, or anyone who stares at a screen for hours, your eyes will thank you for getting something with a Full HD panel. Look at a used Lenovo Chromebook or even a refurbished Windows laptop with 8GB of RAM instead. This ASUS is only for the most undemanding users on the tightest of budgets.

Should you buy the ASUS Chromebook CX1500CNA? For most people, no. It's a device that makes too many compromises to hit a low price. The 4GB of RAM and slow eMMC storage mean it will feel outdated the moment you set it up. The 768p display is genuinely hard to look at once you're used to anything sharper. If you need a cheap laptop for a kid to do homework on Google Docs, or a secondary machine for recipe browsing in the kitchen, it can work. But even then, I'd strongly suggest looking for a used Chromebook with an FHD screen and 8GB of RAM. The experience is night and day. This ASUS is a classic case of getting what you pay for, and what you're paying for here is a slow, fuzzy window to the internet. It's not a disaster, but it's hard to recommend when slightly more money gets you so much more.