Tested: This $160 Asus Chromebook is basic, but in a good way

Price When Reviewed

$159

Best Prices Today: Asus Chromebook CX15

$159

$269.99

Want to purchase a laptop for less than $200? If so, you’re in for a tough time. Laptops bought within the excessive finances class usually wrestle with sluggish efficiency, unhealthy shows, and questionable construct high quality.

Asus Chromebook CX15 doesn’t keep away from the primary downside (efficiency), but it surely does dodge the others. That makes it a good selection if you need a just-the-basics laptop computer for the value of dinner, drinks, and a film.

Asus Chromebook CX15: Specs and options

The Asus Chromebook CX15’s specs are as fundamental as you’ll discover in any new laptop computer. It has a dual-core Intel Celeron processor paired with simply 4GB of RAM and 128GB of eMMC storage. The show is 1080p, at the least.

• Model quantity: CX1505CKA
• CPU: Intel Celeron N4500 (2 cores, 1.1GHz as much as 2.8GHz)
• Memory: 4GB LPDDR5X
• Graphics/GPU: Intel Integrated
• NPU: None
• Display: 15.6-inch 1080p LCD
• Storage: 128GB eMMC
• Webcam: 720p with privateness shutter
• Connectivity: 1x USB-C 3.2 with DisplayPort and Power Delivery, 1x USB-A 3.2, 1x HDMI 1.4, 1x 3.5mm combo audio
• Networking: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.4
• Biometrics: None
• Battery capability: 42 watt-hours
• Dimensions: 14.5 x 9.14 x 0.79 inches
• Weight: 3.51 kilos
• Operating System: ChromeOS
• Price: $159.00 MSRP

The fundamental specs include a low value connected. The Asus Chromebook CX15 I reviewed retailed for simply $159. That’s MSRP, not a limited-time sale. It’s potential (even, I’d say, seemingly) that the laptop computer can be inexpensive sooner or later.

Asus Chromebook CX15: Design and construct high quality

IDG / Matthew Smith

I unboxed the Asus Chromebook CX15 anticipating the worst. $160 isn’t a lot for a laptop computer, and plenty of fashions on this class endure horrible construct high quality. Fortunately, the Chromebook CX15 defies that development.

Don’t get me improper: it nonetheless feels cheap. The laptop computer is constructed from easy plastics that lack a particular texture and really feel hole. On the upside, although, the laptop computer is surprisingly stable general. The show hardly flexes when opened and the decrease chassis feels inflexible when held from a nook.

It’s not unhealthy to have a look at, both. The silver exterior and inside present a easy, minimalist look that’s inoffensive and matches in properly with most dwelling décor. You might simply spend $500 on a laptop computer and find yourself with a machine that appears no extra enticing than this humble $160 Chromebook.

There are practical advantages to the design, as effectively. The laptop computer weighs simply 3.51 kilos and measures about eight-tenths an inch thick. While loads of thinner and lighter 15-inch laptops can be found, from the MacBook Air 15 to the LG Gram lineup, they are typically way more costly.

Asus Chromebook CX15: Keyboard, trackpad

IDG / Matthew Smith

I used to be once more stunned by the Asus Chromebook CX15’s keyboard. It gives good key journey, affordable tactile really feel, and a few audible suggestions with every keystroke. The plastics used for the keycaps do really feel hole, which cheapens the expertise, but it surely’s not horrible. I fortunately wrote most of this evaluate on the keyboard.

A numpad is included, as effectively. The numpad keys are barely undersized, nonetheless, so it might show a cramped expertise. A keyboard backlight isn’t included. That’s all the time disappointing, but it surely’s anticipated at this value level.

The touchpad, then again, hints on the Chromebook CX15’s excessive finances value. It measures about 4 inches vast and three inches deep, which makes it the smallest touchpad I’ve tried on any 15-inch (or bigger) laptop computer in 2025. Multi-touch gestures are responsive however will be tough to execute contained in the touchpad’s restricted space.

Asus Chromebook CX15: Display, audio

IDG / Matthew Smith

The Asus Chromebook CX15 has a 15.6-inch show with full HD (1920×1080) decision. That’s not a headline function in 2025, but it surely’s not assured at this value level. A fast look at Amazon reveals plenty of Chromebooks with an inferior show decision of 1366×768. A laptop computer with a 1366×768 show isn’t price shopping for in 2025, irrespective of the value, so I’m glad Asus prevented that mistake.

The CX15’s 1080p decision, paired with a matte show coat, helps the laptop computer present a crisp, clear picture in most conditions. It’s not a vibrant show, so don’t count on to make use of it outside or close to a completely sunlit window, but it surely’s fantastic for many indoors use.

Color efficiency is the place the show reminds you of the laptop computer’s low value. The show has a boring, flat look with muted colours. Intense reds are likely to look orange; intense greens are likely to look pastel. It’s tolerable however not the most suitable choice for streaming Netflix or enjoying a recreation over Amazon Luna or GeForce Now.

Viewing angles are restricted, too. Brightness and colour shifts noticeably when viewing barely off-axis in all instructions. Vertical viewing angles are notably tight with just a few levels of tilt separating a picture that appears fantastic and one which’s practically unusable.

The Chromebook CX15’s audio system proceed the development of beating the expectations set by the laptop computer’s value. They present good quantity and first rate readability in much less advanced content material, like video calls or podcasts. Music rapidly overwhelms them, notably at most quantity, however the audio system are workable for informal use.

Asus Chromebook CX15: Webcam, microphone, biometrics

The Asus Chromebook CX15’s webcam and microphone, then again, aren’t nice even for a reasonable laptop computer.

The laptop computer has a muddy, grainy 720p webcam and a mediocre dual-array microphone that picks up satisfactory however barely comfortable audio. A bodily privateness shutter is included to cowl the digital camera when it’s not in use.

Biometric login isn’t accessible on Chromebook CX15. That’s hardly a shock given the value. Most laptops bought under $500 don’t embody facial recognition or a fingerprint reader.

Asus Chromebook CX15: Connectivity

You’ll cost the Asus Chromebook CX15 with the laptop computer’s sole USB-C port. It additionally helps DisplayPort, so it may be used to attach with an exterior show. An HDMI-out port can be accessible, although, which makes it simple to attach the Chromebook to a TV, projector, or older displays. A single USB-A port and a 3.5mm combo audio jack spherical out the choices.

This is a modest choice of ports even for finances Chromebooks. Many alternate options, just like the Lenovo Ideapad 3 and Acer Chromebook 315, supply an additional USB-A port. Some even have a microSD card reader. HDMI-out is usually omitted, although, particularly on Chromebooks which have USB-C with DisplayPort, so it’s good to see it included right here.

Asus Chromebook CX15: Performance

At this level you is perhaps scratching your head in regards to the Asus Chromebook CX15’s $160 price ticket. It’s not an incredible laptop computer but it surely gives a slim design, satisfying keyboard, and 1080p show. So, why is it so inexpensive?

Because it’s sluggish.

• CrXPRT 2: 82
• Speedometer 2.0: 101
• Basemark Web 3.0: 506
• Kraken: 1298.4
• Jetstream: 111.289

The benchmark outcomes don’t look nice. The Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 is way faster with scores that usually doubled the Chromebook CX15’s outcomes. Even the Lenovo Chromebook Duet, which has a MediaTek Kompanio 838, usually acquired the higher of the Chromebook CX15. Overall, the Chromebook CX15 is the slowest ChromeOS machine PC World has reviewed in a number of years (although additionally, to be honest, the least costly).

The Intel Celeron N4500 processor is partly guilty. It’s a dual-core chip with a base clock of 1.1GHz and a most increase clock of two.8GHz. That’s not a lot, and it reveals.

However, I feel the laptop computer’s RAM is the place it actually drags. 4GB of reminiscence is extremely slim for any trendy laptop computer, even a Chromebook, and rapidly turns into an issue. The laptop computer’s efficiency is appropriate with a pair browser tabs open however, because the tab rely grows to a half-dozen or extra, it begins to sluggish. Opening too many tabs may cause the laptop computer to utterly freeze up for a number of seconds, and it stays sluggish till some tabs are closed.

Performance is prone to be the deal breaker—or the explanation to purchase—relying on what you want. People who simply need to browse the online with a couple of tabs open, watch YouTube, and ship emails will discover the Chromebook CX15’s efficiency satisfactory, if not superb.

But if you wish to multitask, the laptop computer’s 4GB of RAM will maintain you again. Even in case your “multitasking” consists of nothing greater than two net apps open side-by-side within the Chrome browser.

Asus Chromebook CX15: Battery life and portability

Asus ships the Chromebook CX15 with a small 42 watt-hour battery–that’s not very large. By comparability, most 15-inch Windows laptops have a 60 to 80 watt-hour battery.

I recorded 10 hours and 57 minutes within the CrXPRT 2 battery take a look at. That’s significantly lower than the Asus Chromebook CX34, which topped 13 hours, or the Asus Chromebook Spin 314, which endured 14 hours.

While the Chromebook CX15’s battery life isn’t nice, it nonetheless gives a full workday of stable use. I additionally observed that the laptop computer’s real-world battery life held up, enduring 5 hours of sunshine use (largely net searching) with 51 p.c of the battery remaining.

As talked about earlier, the Chromebook CX15 is slim and light-weight for a 15-inch finances laptop computer. It additionally ships with a small USB-C energy brick that delivers simply 45 watts. That means the CX15 will be adequately powered by all kinds of USB-C energy bricks.

Asus Chromebook CX15: Conclusion

The Asus Chromebook CX15 is a $160 laptop computer that gives the necessities with none evident flaws that will make it unappealing. It’s not quick sufficient to deal with something past informal net searching and doesn’t final as lengthy on battery as dearer Chromebooks. But it nonetheless gives a crisp 1080p show, slim design, and a good keyboard.

Consider the Chromebook CX15 the minimal viable laptop computer. It’s not nice at something, however it might deal with the fundamentals at a particularly low value.