ASUS CX1 15.6" CX1500CKA-DH44F Transparent Silver 2022

A big, basic Chromebook that's reliable for light work but chokes on heavy multitasking. The 15.6-inch screen is the main draw, but the dim panel and sluggish 4GB/64GB config hold it back. Only worth it if you find it for under $200.

Let's be real, the Celeron N4500 and 4GB of RAM are a bottleneck waiting to happen. For a single Chrome tab with a document open, it's fine. Start piling on a handful of tabs, a YouTube video, and maybe a Play Store app, and you'll feel the slowdown. The RAM sits in the 2nd percentile of all laptops we track, which is rough. The 64GB eMMC storage is also painfully slow and tiny, landing in the 5th percentile. You'll be leaning hard on cloud storage and microSD cards. The integrated Intel UHD graphics are what you'd expect, fine for video but a complete non-starter for gaming, where it scores a dismal 3.3 out of 100. This is a one-thing-at-a-time machine, and you have to respect its limits.

Stacked against something like a Lenovo Yoga 7 or an HP OmniBook X Flip, this ASUS isn't even playing the same sport. Those are premium convertibles with powerful processors, vibrant touchscreens, and real storage. The CX1's real competition is other budget Chromebooks and maybe a base model Acer Swift. Even then, most competitors at a similar price will offer a similar experience, but you're getting the ASUS mostly for that larger 15.6-inch screen. If portability matters more, a smaller 14-inch or even an 11-inch model will be lighter and often have better battery life. The NIMO N152 is a direct competitor in the budget space, but the ASUS likely has a slight edge in build and brand support based on user feedback.

Pricing on this model is all over the place, ranging from $175 to $324 depending on the seller. At the low end, around that $175 mark, it's a fair deal for a basic internet terminal with a big screen. Once you creep past $250, the value proposition falls apart. You're getting dangerously close to used or sale-priced Windows laptops with proper SSDs and double the RAM, which will run circles around this Chromebook. If you can snag it for under $200, it's a sensible buy for a student or a kitchen laptop. Paying over $300 for this hardware is a mistake.

The ASUS CX1 CX1500CKA is a barebones Chromebook built for one thing: getting online and getting basic work done without fuss. It packs a dual-core Intel Celeron N4500, 4GB of RAM, and a tiny 64GB of eMMC storage. That spec sheet screams 'budget,' and honestly, it is. But Chrome OS is light enough that for simple tasks like Google Docs, email, and streaming, it chugs along without throwing a tantrum.

You get a 15.6-inch 1080p screen, which is a nice size for split-screening a research paper and a notes app. Just don't expect it to look amazing. The display is dim at 220 nits and the colors are washed out with only 45% NTSC coverage. The build is plastic, it weighs nearly 4 pounds, and the 180-degree hinge is a neat party trick for sharing your screen. This is a machine for students or anyone who lives in a browser and needs a cheap, big-screen laptop.

Anyone who keeps more than five browser tabs open at once should look elsewhere. The 4GB of RAM will have you pulling your hair out with constant reloads. If you need to run Linux apps, do any photo editing, or even think about gaming, this machine will disappoint you instantly. Spend a bit more for a Chromebook with 8GB of RAM and a proper SSD.

The ASUS CX1 CX1500CKA is a single-purpose tool. Buy it if you need a cheap, big-screened laptop for writing, email, and streaming, and you understand that you can't push it hard. It's a reliable, no-frills Chromebook that owners seem to genuinely like for light college work and daily browsing. Just don't expect it to be anything more than that.