Announced in January as the first 16-inch Chrome OS laptop, the newest Asus Chromebook Flip CX5 still isn’t on store shelves. It’s likely coming sooner rather than later though, as there’s now a dedicated product page. On it, you can see the full Asus Chromebook CX5 specs, which offer a range of configuration possibilities.
Also known as the Asus Chromebook Flip CX5601, this convertible laptop is powered by 12th-gen Intel Alder Lake processors. Depending on the model you choose, you’ll either get Intel UHD Graphics, or the more powerful Intel Iris Xe GPU. The latter comes standard with an Intel Core i5 or i7 configuration.
Here’s a rundown of the various chipsets inside the Asus Chromebook Flip CX5, all of which have power and efficiency cores:
- Intel Core i3-1215U Processor 1.2 GHz (10M Cache, up to 4.4 GHz, 6 cores)
- Intel Core i5-1245U Processor 1.6 GHz (12M Cache, up to 4.4 GHz, 10 cores)
- Intel Core i5-1235U Processor 1.3 GHz (12M Cache, up to 4.4 GHz, 10 cores)
- Intel Core i7-1265U Processor 1.8 GHz (12M Cache, up to 4.8 GHz, 10 cores)
- Intel Core i7-1255U Processor 1.7 GHz (12M Cache, up to 4.7 GHz, 10 cores)
All of the processor choices are from the Intel “U” line of chips. However, there are two “U” types offered by Intel: One for 15W chips and one for 9W chips. According to Intel’s information on the above list, the 16-inch Asus Chromebook Flip CX5 comes with the more power-hungry silicon.
This suggests that the Asus Chromebook Flip CX5 will have a fan. Well, that and the fact that I can see intake vents on the back of the chassis.
Along with Intel’s hottest new CPU for laptops, there’s that 16-inch display with a 16:10 aspect ratio. It’s a glossy 1920 x 1200 LCD with touch support, 300 nits of brightness, and can render 45% of the NTSC color gamut.
That’s about average to above average with a nice amount of brightness. There’s no 4K option, which would benefit from the larger screen size as compared to a smaller one. However, Asus says that HDMI 2.0 port supports an external 4K monitor at up to 60 Hz.P
Memory choices are either 8 or 16 GB of LPDDR4X; the latter is specified as the most. All three storage options use fast NVMe flash, available in either 128, 256, or 512 GB of capacity. There is a microSD card reader for additional storage as well.
We already knew about the ports but here’s a recap: A USB Type-C port with Thunderbolt support on each side, one Type-A port, an HDMI jack, and a microphone/headphone combo. And the old image I captured in January, shown above, no longer has what appears to be a garaged stylus. My guess: This convertible will work with an optional USI stylus.
The keyboard is backlit and sits atop a massive 5.84-inch trackpad. Of course, there’s room for a full numeric keypad as well. Key travel is reportedly 1.4 millimeters.
Perhaps the best part about the specs to some is another small change.
Instead of a 720p webcam, the Asus Chromebook Flip CX5 has a 1080p sensor. Plenty of readers tell me that a 720p webcam on a Chromebook is so 2019. That camera can hide behind the privacy shutter as needed. Unchanged is the connectivity, but that’s not a bad thing. You’ll get WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 with this laptop.
There’s still no mention of price or availability, unfortunately. I’d expect a base model to be around $700 with prices going up accordingly from there, depending on the configuration. I can’t see a fully loaded model going for less than $1,200, however, if Asus can prove me wrong, I’ll be thrilled.
10 Comments
Please note: while this line tops out at 2 performance cores, the HP Elite Dragonfly’s Core i7-1280P will have 6 performance cores, making the HP one a productivity powerhouse and this machine better for consumption, mobile gaming and light work (even in the Core i7 model) by comparison. It really makes you wonder whether Asus screwed up by not going with 3 ARM SOCs of varying performance for this device instead of a lineup of dual (performance) core Intel CPUs.
I don’t disagree, but… given the higher-end Intel CPUs coming in the Dragonfly, I think people will be shocked by the starting price. I have an idea on the cost. Not going to say though. Let’s just say this Asus will likely be noticeably less expensive.
Almost exactly what I’ve been waiting for except (1) it doesn’t ‘sound’ like it’s fanless (in any flavor), and (2) really don’t want a numpad (really do want TKL).
I’d love to see more premium fanless devices this year.
I’d love to see more devices period. Has any new ChromeOS device seen a wide retail release since October? (Limited quantity OEM website only stuff like the Acer 514 doesn’t count.) Also beyond this device, the HP Dragonfly Chromebook – April – and the Acer 513 – June – there is nothing in the pipeline. For example, the Galaxy Chromebook and Chromebook 2 were announced in January and available by March, and Lenovo usually does the same.
And this is following an exceedingly disappointing 2021 where the MT8192 and MT8195 Chromebooks that were supposed to launch 1Q/2Q 2021 never actually arrived, and many of the 11th gen Core i5/i7 Chromebooks were limited availability or cancelled outright also. It really stinks that ChromeOS had to be so disproportionately impacted by the component shortage despite the platform more than doubling in sales – going from 17 million in 2019 to 37 million in 2021 – the past couple of years.
When/if Chromebook sales decline in 2022 people are going to attribute it to people going back to work/school instead of there being nothing but outdated machines to buy.
So close but still a miss. New devices need biometric fingerprint to be competitive.
Another failure. This should have a 4K option and fingerprint sensor, not to mention no less than 400 nits. If not for the HP release this spring I would likely switch back to Microsoft Surface and just run Chrome on it. Asus, Acer and Lenovo need to step up their games.
ASUS should clearly up the screen to 400 nits and 4k. So much else nice about this laptop that it’s disappointing they didn’t innovate in the display dept.
Insight says it’s in stock. (I’m not going to give an ugly link here.)
ASUS Chromebook Flip CX5 CX5500FEA-YZ568T
15.6″ – Core i5 1135G7 – 16 GB RAM – 128 GB SSD
$872
It looks like it’s going to be available widely by Easter. (my guess)
All chromebooks have been scrubbed off the google store, so a refresh seems to be near.
That’s an older model. Waiting for the CX5601 to arrive with an i5 or i7.