ASUS Chromebook 18" CX1500CNA, Ryzen 7, 16GB, 1TB SSD, HD 500, Jaeger Gray

The ASUS Chromebook CX1500CNA is a budget Chromebook with a painfully slow Celeron processor, 4GB of RAM, and a dated 1366x768 display. It's fine for basic web browsing and email, but most people should spend a bit more on a newer model with better specs.

The Intel Celeron N3350 is the bottleneck here, and it's not close. This dual-core chip sits in the 2nd percentile for CPUs in our database, which means it's slower than 98% of the laptops we've tested. In practice, that means Chrome tabs take a beat to load, and having more than five or six open at once will start to feel sluggish. The 4GB of DDR4 RAM is about average for budget Chromebooks, but combined with that processor, it's a recipe for patience-testing.

The Intel HD Graphics 500 handles basic video playback fine, and the 64GB eMMC storage is quick enough for boot times. But don't expect to install a bunch of Android apps or Linux containers. The storage fills up fast, and the processor will struggle with anything beyond casual games. For web browsing, Google Docs, and streaming, it's serviceable. For anything else, it's a struggle.

One thing that surprised us: the GPU sits in the 88th percentile in our database. That sounds impressive until you realize it's being compared against other Chromebooks and budget laptops, not gaming rigs. It's still integrated graphics from 2016. It'll play 1080p video without breaking a sweat, but that's about the ceiling.

Stacked against the Apple MacBook Pro M4 Pro, this thing looks like a calculator. But that's not a fair fight. The real comparison is against other budget Chromebooks. The Lenovo Flex 3 Chromebook has a better display and a faster MediaTek processor for about the same price. The HP Chromebook 14 offers a 1080p screen and better build quality. Even the Acer Chromebook 315 beats this on screen quality and keyboard feel.

Where the CX1500CNA holds its own is in port selection and weight. Two USB-C ports and two USB-A ports is more than you get on most budget Chromebooks, and 2.7 lbs is genuinely light. But those advantages don't make up for the sluggish processor and dated display. If you're comparing this to a Windows laptop like the HP OMEN Transcend 14 or MSI Raider, you're in the wrong category entirely. This is a web machine, not a workhorse.

At around $150 to $200 for a renewed unit, the CX1500CNA is cheap. But cheap doesn't always mean good value. The 28th percentile affordability score tells you it's not even that great of a deal compared to other budget laptops. You can find newer Chromebooks with better processors and 1080p displays for not much more. The Lenovo Flex 3 and HP Chromebook 14 both offer better screens and faster chips in the same price range. If you're on a strict budget and just need something for basic web tasks, this works. But spending an extra $50 to $100 gets you a noticeably better experience.

The ASUS Chromebook CX1500CNA sits in that weird space where the listing data and the actual product don't quite line up. The spec sheet we pulled shows an 18-inch Ryzen 7 gaming laptop with an RTX 5060, but the actual product is a 15.6-inch Chromebook with an Intel Celeron N3350, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of eMMC storage. We're reviewing the Chromebook, because that's what people are actually buying. It's a renewed unit, which means refurbished, and it's aimed at people who want a cheap, simple laptop for browsing, email, and streaming.

At its core, this is a budget Chromebook that does budget Chromebook things. The 1366x768 HD display isn't going to win any awards, but it's fine for reading articles and watching YouTube. The Celeron N3350 is a dual-core processor from 2016, so expectations should be set accordingly. This isn't a machine for heavy multitasking or anything beyond basic web apps.

For the price, which hovers around $150 to $200 for renewed units, it's a decent entry point into Chrome OS. But you need to know what you're getting into. This is a web-first machine with limited local storage and a processor that shows its age. If you just need something to check email and browse Reddit, it works. If you want to do anything more, keep scrolling."

Skip this if you need to run more than a few browser tabs at once, or if you care about screen quality. The 1366x768 display is rough for reading long documents or watching videos, and the Celeron N3350 will frustrate anyone used to a modern laptop. If you're a student who needs to multitask between research tabs, Google Docs, and video calls, spend a bit more on a Lenovo Flex 3 or HP Chromebook 14. And if you need Windows or macOS for specific software, this isn't even in the conversation. This is a single-purpose machine for light web use, and that's it.

Should you buy the ASUS Chromebook CX1500CNA? Only if you need the absolute cheapest laptop that can browse the web and check email. The Celeron N3350 is one of the slowest processors we've seen in a modern laptop, and the 1366x768 display feels like a relic from 2012. The 4GB of RAM means you'll be closing tabs constantly, and the 64GB of storage will have you deleting files within a month.

For most people, we'd say skip this and spend a little more on a newer Chromebook with a better screen and faster processor. The renewed status adds another layer of risk, since condition varies from unit to unit. If you find one for under $120 and you only need a basic web machine, it's fine. Otherwise, there are better options out there.