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amazon Asus ChromeBook Flip C434 reviews
The Asus Chromebook Flip C302CA was one of our favorite Chromebooks when it was released in 2017. Asus finally replaced it in 2019 with the Chromebook Flip C434 using smaller bezels to accommodate the size larger screen size into a moderately small chassis while including the latest components.
Asus sent us a mid-range configuration, with Intel’s low-power 8th Gen Core i3-8100Y CPU, 8GB of RAM, 64GB of eMMC storage, and a 14-inch, 1080p display. The configuration costs $570, which is in the mid-range of how Chromebooks are priced these days.
The Chromebook market, like the Windows 10 space, is getting crowded with 2-in-1 devices. Does the Chromebook Flip C434 offer anything to entice buyers away from the multitude of competitors?
Build quality punches above the price
The Chromebook Flip C434 is a well-built laptop for $570. Acer has built a 2-in-1 aluminum alloy, which gives it more than just structural rigidity compared to laptops high-level and has some nice modern looks. The hinge is a bit stiff, requiring two hands to open, but it holds the screen in its place in each of its four modes – clamshell, tent, media, and tablet.
The chrome beveled edges add a bit of flair, and the bottom of the chassis has corners in all the right places. Overall, the aesthetic is not about bling but rather an overt attitude, and it works. Kudos to Asus for creating a reasonably priced laptop.
We also note that Asus has applied some of its bezel-less expertise to the Chromebook Flip C434, giving it a modern look for a budget laptop. The 87% screen-to-body ratio doesn’t match the 92% or higher of the most modern small-bezel Windows 10 laptops, but it’s better than most. That makes the Chromebook Flip C434 smaller than other 14-inch Chromebooks like the Acer Chromebook 514, and it’s also thin at 0.61 inches and relatively light at 3.1 pounds.
The C434 has the usual Chromebook connectivity, offering two USB-C 3.1 Gen 1 ports, a USB-A 3.1 Gen 1 port, and a microSD card reader. Wireless connectivity is provided by Wi-Fi 2×2 MU-MIMO 801.11ac and Bluetooth 4.0.
Typing, swiping, and typing is a pleasure.
One component that’s often shortened on budget laptops is the keyboard, and the Chromebook Flip C434 is a welcome start. It enjoys an island keyboard with full-size keys that provide enough travel and flexible mechanics. All the usual five levels of Chrome OS backlighting are present. It’s not a keyboard as good as you’ll find on expensive Windows 10 laptops like the HP Specter x360 13 or the Dell XPS 13, but it’s better than a lot of laptops at this price point.
Asus has applied some of its bezel-less expertise to the Chromebook Flip C434.
The touchpad is equally good. It’s smooth and comfortable, and it supports all of Chrome OS’s multi-touch gestures with reliability and precision — making it one of the best Chromebook trackpads around. Thankfully, the buttons also have a nice click without being too loud.
The touchscreen also works well, meaning you can easily swipe through long web pages with just your thumb. Of course, you’ll need that touch panel when you flip the display to tablet mode.
The screen and sound are a bit overwhelming.
The Chromebook Clip C434 uses a 14-inch Full HD display that’s welcome at this price point, and it’s sharp enough for all but the most dedicated pixel peepers. It’s a 16:9 aspect ratio, all in all, which means we’re still waiting for manufacturers to move to more productivity-friendly 3:2 or 16:10 aspect ratios across the board. The HP Chromebook x2 has a 3:2 ratio, and we love it.
We were unable to test the Chromebook screen with our colorimeter due to the lack of software. But we can give a subjective assessment, and in our eyes, the screen of the Asus Chromebook Flip C434 is just average. It’s not very bright, and it doesn’t have top contrast. Colors are pleasant and seem accurate enough for productive work, but creative types can be let down.
When we watched our Avengers test trailer during the battery test, we found the image to be a bit dark, implying that the gamma might be off a bit. It was still a pleasant enough experience. All in all, the display left us satisfied but not excited. The HP Chromebook x2, Acer Chromebook 13, and Google Pixelbook all have much better panels to put them in another class.
The sound quality is also average. The volume isn’t very loud but still has minimal distortion, making it unsuitable even for larger rooms. The mids and highs were present enough with the usual lacking bass. We recommend pulling out some headphones if you want to listen to some tunes or Bluetooth speakers to catch up on some videos with a few friends.
Great Chrome OS Performance for Productive Users
We couldn’t put the Chromebook through the same set of standards as Windows 10 and macOS laptops, but we could easily see a Chromebook performing well from a device that fell behind. Right off the bat, it’s clear the Asus Chromebook Flip C434 has enough power to keep most Chrome OS productivity users happy.
The Asus Chromebook Flip C434 display left us satisfied but not excited.
Our review unit was equipped with a Core i3-8100Y, a dual-core low-power CPU that will leave a Windows 10 laptop wanting more power. But Chrome OS eats it, and we saw little if any lag when we opened multiple pages of the Chrome browser and ran a few Android apps on the side. It’s not as fast as the Acer Chromebook 13 with its full-powered, quad-core i5-8250U CPU, but it’s competitive with the x2 with the HP Chromebook’s 7th-gen Y-series processor.
In Geekbench 4, the Chromebook Flip C434 scored 3,751 in the single-core test and 5,804 in the multi-core test. That beats the HP Chromebook x2’s single-point result of 3,441 but falls behind the multi-point result of 6,685. The Acer Chromebook 13 was much faster at 4,275 and 8,792, while the Acer Chromebook 514 (Pentium N4200) was much slower at 1,556 and 4,837.
In the Speedometer 2.0 web benchmark, which tests how quickly Javascript apps can load, the Chromebook Flip C434 managed a score of 71 compared to the Acer Chromebook 13’s 88.6. The HP Chromebook x2 was slightly faster at 75.1.
64GB eMMC storage is slower than solid-state drives (SSDs) in other machines like the Google Pixelbook and Windows 10 laptops. But in real-world use, we never saw a Chromebook Flip The C434 suffers from any noticeable delay when opening applications and saving files.
Bottom line: Chrome OS doesn’t demand as much from its components as Windows 10 and macOS. That means the Chromebook Flip C434 is fast for all productivity workers, and we had no complaints during our testing. The 8GB of RAM on our review unit also means incredibly slow multitasking that slows everything down.
We tried a few Android games on the 2-in-1, and they performed just as well as on the other Chromebooks we tested. You can certainly play games on a laptop, as the limited selection of Android titles we tried was fast and smooth.
All-day battery life, as long as you work.
Asus packs a reasonable 48-hour battery capacity into the chassis of the Chromebook Flip C434. Coupled with Chrome OS’s low-power CPU and naturally efficient nature, we hope that the 2-in-1 can get us through a workday on a single charge.
When it turned out, although we had trouble getting started with testing. Normally, we use the Basemark web benchmark to test battery life under load, but the Chromebook Flip C434 wouldn’t complete the test.
So we entered our browsing test, running through many popular sites until the battery ran out. Here, the Asus lasted for a very good ten and a half hours. That’s better than the Acer Chromebook’s eight and a half hours and the HP Chromebook x2’s another hour. It also competes with high-end Windows 10 laptops like the Dell XPS 13.
In our video looping test running through the local Avengers trailer until the machine shuts down, the Chromebook Flip C434 managed over 11.5 hours. It’s almost three hours longer than the Acer Chromebook 13 and about two hours longer than the HP Chromebook x2 and Google Pixelbook. However, the premium Windows laptop will last longer in this test.
Overall, you should be able to get a solid day out of your Chromebook Flip C434, as long as the majority of your work is made up of common Chrome OS productivity tasks. Turn on Android games, and you will see the battery waste faster.
where can you get a Asus ChromeBook Flip C434 online
ASUS Chromebook Flip C434 2-In-1 Laptop, 14″ Full HD Touchscreen 4-Way NanoEdge, Intel Core M3-8100Y Processor, 4GB RAM, 64GB eMMC Storage, All-Metal Body, Backlit KB, Chrome OS- C434TA-DSM4T, Silver: Buy it now
ASUS Chromebook Flip C434 2 in 1 Laptop, 14″ Touchscreen FHD 4-Way NanoEdge Display, Intel Core M3-8100Y Processor, 4GB RAM, 32GB eMMC Storage, Backlit Keyboard, Silver, Chrome OS, C434TA-DH342T: Buy it now