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Asus Chromebook CX15: Two-minute review
The Asus Chromebook CX1505 certainly has a budget price tag, but its features and spec hope to counter the charge that it’s a compromised device unfit for modern purposes.
While it might appear sleek, on closer inspection it’s not as thin or as light as its looks might lead you to believe. That ultra wide display and the long underside support bar sully its portability credentials somewhat.
Build quality isn’t the greatest, either, and isn’t up there with the best Chromebook constructions. It’s still within reasonable bounds, but there’s some flexing to the plastic chassis.
The thin bezel for the display is a welcome touch, though, helping to maximize its already generous width. The keyboard also feels built to a higher standard, which is fortunate since you’ll be making plenty of contact with it.
All the ports on the CX1505 are located on its left-hand side, which may be a little inconvenient for those wishing to connect multiple peripherals. More of a problem, however, is their paucity: there are only four, and only two of them are USB (one type-A and one type-C port).
What’s more, the Type-C must be used for charging, so it won’t be available to you all of the time. An HDMI 1.4 port and a 3.5mm combo audio jack round out the rest of the physical connectivity options, and they’re at least sensibly ordered.
The CX1505 acquits itself well in terms of performance. It can handle the productivity and entertainment tasks well enough, although 4K content streaming is just beyond its reach. It can handle some light gaming, though, albeit with relatively undemanding titles at low graphical settings.
More impressive is that large display. The width is useful for both entertainment and productivity purposes, while the Full HD resolution is still sharp enough for its size. It’s also bright and reasonably vibrant, making for pleasant viewing in all scenarios.
While the CX1505 is great for typing on, the trackpad is a let down. It’s jerky and imprecise when making small, slow movements, and its clicks feel unsatisfying.
The battery life of the CX1505 is reasonable, lasting seven hours in our movie playback test. However, many of its rivals can beat this figure – some by a considerable margin.
There was a time when a Chromebook costing this little wouldn’t have been worth your time, lacking the power and features to suit even basic usage. But the commendable – if not outstanding – performance of the CX1505, coupled with its generous and high-quality display, are certainly impressive aspects at this price, making it a contender for one of the best budget Chromebooks around right now.
Asus Chromebook CX1505 review: Price and availability
- Starts from $159.99 / £249.99 / AU$499
- Available now in multiple colorways
- Budget end of the market
The CX1505 starts from $159.99 / £249.99 / AU$499 and is available now in various colorways, including green and pink. It can be configured with 4GB or 8GB of RAM and 64GB or 128GB of storage. An Intel Core version is also available.
This is a great price, even in the Chromebook market. It’s considerably cheaper than the Asus Chromebook CM14, which we think is one of the best budget Chromebooks. However, the CX1505 performs better, and that wider display makes it better for productivity and entertainment – if not portability.
If you want a high-performing Chromebook, then the HP Chromebook Plus 15.6-inch is a better choice. This dispatches all kinds of tasks with ease, including harsher workloads such as gaming and multitasking; no wonder we think it’s the best student Chromebook. Its keyboard isn’t as good as that on the CX1505, though.
If you want to stay closer to the budget-end of the market and want something more compact but also powerful, the Dell Chromebook 3120 fits the bill very well, with more processing power and faster memory for a little bit more of an investment.
Asus Chromebook CX1505 review: Specs
My Asus Chromebook CX1505 review unit had an Intel Celeron N4500, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage.
| Row 0 – Cell 0 |
Asus Chromebook CX1505 |
|
Price |
Starting from $159.99 / £249.99 / AU$499 |
|
CPU |
Intel Celeron N4500 Processor 1.1 GHz (2 cores) |
|
Graphics |
Integrated, Intel UHD Graphics |
|
RAM |
4GB LPDDR4X |
|
Screen |
15.6-inch, 1920 x 1080, 16:9, Anti-glare display, 300nits |
|
Storage |
64GB eMMC |
|
Ports |
1x USB-A, 1x USB-C, 1x HDMI 1.4, 1x 3.5mm combo audio |
|
Wireless |
Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) (Dual band) 2*2, Bluetooth 5.4 |
|
Camera |
720p with privacy shutter |
|
Weight |
3.51lbs (1.59kg) |
|
Dimensions |
14.15 x 9.14 x 0.79in (360 x 232 x 20mm) |
ASUS Chromebook CX1505 review: Design
- Sleek and vibrant looks
- Compromised portability
- Lacks ports
The CX1505 has a neat, minimalist appearance buoyed by the vibrant colorways; I found the light green finish of my review unit particularly fetching, suiting its overall design well. The rounded corners and smooth, flat planes add to its appeal.
It’s quite a thin unit, although the prominent support bar running underneath rather spoils its sleekness. It’s also heavier than you might expect; coupled with the atypical width, the portability of the CX1505 is somewhat compromised.
What’s more, build quality isn’t particularly impressive, either. The slightly textured plastics may look and feel interesting, but they’re not the sturdiest and can succumb to considerable flexing.
The hinge for the lid feels sturdy in operation, but its looseness becomes evident once set in position. This isn’t disruptive, but it is noticeable, and isn’t exactly an auspicious sign for its longevity.
On a positive note, the bezel around the display is pleasingly thin, which allows the already generous real estate to be realized to its full potential, while the keys have a subtle graining which makes them feel tactile to use. They also actuate smoothly and solidly, with very little play or uncertain feedback.
If you’re looking for a Chromebook with plenty of connectivity options, you’ll be disappointed with the CX15. Despite its large size, there are only four ports (five on the Intel Core model, thanks to its extra USB-C port), all located on the left-hand side.
There’s one USB-C port (which is used for charging as well), one USB-A port, one HDMI 1.4 port, and a combo audio jack. At least they’re sensibly ordered; I’m always happy to see the power port at the end and the audio jack at the very front.
ASUS Chromebook CX1505 review: Performance
- Reasonable multitasking capabilities
- More demanding tasks
- Good wide display
Benchmarks
These are the results of our benchmarking tests for the Asus Chromebook CX1505:
TechRadar Battery Life Test: 7 hours
Jetstream2 Benchmark: 121.752
Kraken Benchmark: 1254.9ms
Speedometer 3.1: 5.74 (±0.20)
The CX1505 is capable enough for everyday tasking. It can handle word processing and spreadsheet creation with ease, while streaming hi-definition content is also well within its grasp. However, expect some significant buffering if you’re watching anything above 1440p.
Even with the modest 4GB of RAM installed in my review unit, the CX1505 managed to juggle multiple browser tabs admirably. I still encountered some lag in such instances, but not to a frustrating extent. However, more demanding multitasking scenarios, such as running numerous apps simultaneously, lead to more severe slowdowns, as you might expect.
Light gaming is just about within its reach as well. Asphalt Legends ran smoothly enough when I reduced the maximum frame rate to 30fps, but I encountered frequent stuttering when ratcheting it up to 60fps, even on the default medium graphics settings. Those after some casual enjoyment are catered for, then – but those who take their gaming a little more seriously will be disappointed.
The display is pleasingly bright and vibrant. Colors are vividly reproduced rather than washed-out, as they can be on other Chromebook displays in my experience.
And despite its large size, the 1920 x 1080p resolution still looks sharp and clear. That wide ratio also makes various productivity tasks easier, as well as serving entertainment content well.
The keys of the CX1505 are well damped, resulting in softer presses than you might expect, but they’re still as snappy and as light as you would expect from a laptop keyboard. They’re well spaced, too, and thanks to that wide chassis, the numberpad doesn’t cramp the layout, as is the case with some other laptops and Chromebooks.
The trackpad has a solid and noticeable click, but it feels nasty and cheap, owing to the lack of dampening. Gliding isn’t the smoothest, either, with attempts to make small and precise movements resulting in lag and cursor jumps.
Taps are better, but inconsistent: being unresponsive at times, and too eager at others. The surface area of the pad is quite small, too, despite there being plenty of space for a larger module. At least it’s solidly installed, with no wobble to it.
The overall connectivity of the CX1505 is good for the most part. However, the Bluetooth radio stopped working on one occasion, severing connection with all my devices. Thankfully, fixing the issue merely required disabling and then re-enabling Bluetooth from the status area in the bottom-right corner.
Asus Chromebook CX1505 review: Battery life
The CX1505 has a respectable, if not impressive, battery life. It should see you throughout the day, but it only managed seven hours in our playback test, where we ran a movie on a continuous loop.
This beats the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2 360, which only managed six and a half hours, but it’s bested by rivals such as the Acer Chromebook Spin 312 and the HP Chromebook Plus 15.6-inch, which both achieved times around the 11-hour mark. And the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 Chromebook can last a hugely impressive 16-plus hours.
Should I buy the ASUS Chromebook CX1505?
| Header Cell – Column 0 |
Notes |
Rating |
|---|---|---|
|
Value |
There aren’t many new Chromebooks priced this low, still less those with competing specs. |
5 / 5 |
|
Design |
It may look sleek and minimal, but it’s surprisingly heavy, and it’s not the sturdiest, either. |
3.5 / 5 |
|
Performance |
Considering its middling spec, the CX1505 is impressive in action, if not spectacular. |
4 / 5 |
|
Battery life |
Battery life is good but not outstanding; there are plenty of Chromebooks that can outlast it. |
3 / 5 |
|
Total Score |
It might not be a powerhouse, but the CX1505 is capable and cheap enough to make it excellent value. |
4 / 5 |
Buy it if…
Don’t buy it if…
ASUS Chromebook CX1505: Also consider
If the Asus Chromebook CX1505 doesn’t sound right for you, here are some alternatives:
How I tested the Asus Chromebook CX1505
- Tested for several days
- Used for various tasks
- Plentiful Chromebook experience
I tested the CX1505 for several days, during which time I used it for productivity, entertainment, and general browsing.
I used it for word processing and spreadsheet editing, as well as streaming HD and 4K content. I also played mobile games downloaded from the Play Store, and ran our series of benchmark tests for Chromebooks.
I’ve been using Chromebooks for years and have extensive experience reviewing them. I’ve also reviewed other kinds of mobile devices, including tablets and laptops designed for productivity and gaming.
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lewis.maddison@futurenet.com (Lewis Maddison)
