Review: Asus Chromebook CX14

Like the mediocre quality of the display, the touchpad is also rather middling. I’ve used worse, but its plastic surface isn’t as smooth and responsive as glass ones. The click mechanism is loud and requires too much effort to press. It’s also loose, so you can depress the touchpad without registering a click. All of this is common in cheap laptops, and over time, it’s something I think I could get used to. But when you jump back to something more premium, you’ll notice a huge difference. The keyboard isn’t quite as troublesome, but the keys do feel squishier than I like. I don’t mind the grippy texture on the keycaps.

There’s a solid selection of ports, including HDMI 1.4, USB-A 3.2, USB-C 3.2, a USB-C port for charging, and a headphone jack. It’s well rounded, but there’s a problem: They’re all on one side. You’ll only find a Kensington lock slot on the right side of the device. Unfortunately, that means you’ll only be able to charge the laptop from the left side.

Just Enough Power

There are two versions of the Asus Chromebook CX14 available right now. My review unit was the more expensive configuration, which comes with more of everything—a faster CPU, twice as much RAM (8 GB), and twice as much storage (128 GB). The processor is the Core 3 Series 1, otherwise known as the Intel Core 3 N355. It’s an interesting chip, using only eight efficiency cores and no performance cores, compared to the conventional dual-core setup of the Celeron chips.

Performance isn’t anything to write home about, though it was 38 percent faster in the Speedometer 3.1 benchmark than the Celeron-based Asus Chromebook CX15 I tested last month. That means web applications feel a bit snappier and more responsive, especially when you have a lot going on at the same time. It’s hard to argue with the price of that cheaper configuration (especially when it’s on sale), but if you intend to use the CX14 for active work or studying, you’ll appreciate the boost to performance and extra storage.

Asus claims the CX14 lasts for eight hours on a charge. In my tests, it lasts for about that long. Mind you, this is on local video playback with the screen at 100 lux—not exactly a heavy load. My normal work day use dropped that down by quite a bit, and I certainly needed a recharge during the day. So no, that’s nowhere near as long-lasting as the Lenovo Chromebook Plus 14, nor is it comparable to more premium laptops like the MacBook Air or Surface Laptop. But for a laptop of this price, it’s decent.