Asus has unveiled its newest edition of Chromebook Flip convertible laptop at CES 2020. The new Chromebook Flip C436 comes with a 360-degree hinge, allowing the Chrome OS-powered notebook to transform into a laptop, but the real innovation is under the hood. The latest model gained Intel’s Project Athena certification, meaning that it’s designed to be thin and light with sustainable performance alongside all-day battery life.
With up to Intel’s 10th-Gen Core i7 processor under the hood and up to 16GB of RAM and a 512GB M.2 solid-state drive, the Chromebook Flip C436 will be a welcome addition to the premium Chrome OS market. It also supports Intel’s Wi-Fi 6 Gig+ connectivity for low latency and fast internet connectivity when connected to a compatible Wi-Fi 6 hub or hot spot. There are also a pair of USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C ports for wired connectivity and support for Bluetooth 5.0. The built-in micro SD card slot can accommodate memory cards as large as 2TB if you don’t want to solely rely on Google Drive to handle your cloud storage needs.
Road warriors will appreciate that this laptop — which ships with a 14-inch display — weighs just 2.4 pounds, making it an ideal travel companion. The light weight and slim size is achieved thanks to a magnesium alloy chassis, Asus claims, and the notebook also features a modern frameless NanoEdge touchscreen display to maximize screen size while reducing bulk. This gives the laptop an impressive 85 percent screen-to-body ratio, which Asus said means the 14-inch notebook has a footprint that’sequivalent to a comparable 13-inch laptop.
“The Chromebook Flip C436 is one of the first Chromebooks enabled by co-engineering efforts between Asus, Google, and Intel through Intel’s Project Athena innovation program.
This Chrome OS-powered laptop is available with a Full HD display and can be used with a stylus when in tablet mode. When used with the digital pen, the screen supports up to 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity. Though creatives may not want to port their entire workflow over to Chrome OS, on the go professionals can take advantage of the screen’s 100 percent coverage of the sRGB color space to check edits and approve artwork while mobile. And with all the tech loaded onto this premium Chromebook, you can still expect up to 12 hours of battery life, which will help further reduce bulk for those who may not want to carry around a power charging brick with their laptops while in the field.
Pricing information was not immediately available for the Chromebook Flip C436, but Asus representatives claim that this laptop will begin shipping in either the first or second quarter of this year.