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Asus Chromebook Flip C436 pre-orders begin at $799.99, availability on February 24

The main question we were left with from the Asus Chromebook Flip C436 introduction was the price. And now we have it: The base model of this 2-in-1 with 10th-generation Intel processors starts $200 less than the $999 Samsung Galaxy Chromebook at $799. But, that’s not a true apples to apples comparison.

Chrome Unboxed caught wind of an Amazon pre-order page for the new Asus Chromebook Flip C436, showing just what you get for $799.99. Amazon says the product will be released on February 24, 2020.

Here’s a rundown on the specifications for this base model:

CPUIntel Core i3-10110U Processor
GPUIntel UHD Graphics
Display14-inch 16:10 1080p touchscreen,
USI stylus support, 100% sRGG color gamut
Memory8 GB DDR3
Storage128 GB NVMe M.2, microSD card
for expansion
ConnectivityDual-band Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax),
Bluetooth 5.0
InputBacklit keyboard, multitouch
trackpad, integrated quad-mic array,
webcam
Ports2 USB Type-C (3.2), combination
microphone / headphone jack
Battery42 WHr, claimed run-time
of 12 hours
Weight2.4 pounds
SoftwareChrome OS automatic update
expiration date: TBD

How does this compare to the $999 Samsung Galaxy Chromebook?

Well, you lose the 4K AMOLED display for starters. And you don’t get an integrated stylus although you can purchase an optional USI pen that will work with the Flip C436. The Asus also drops down from the Core i5 processor and 256 GB of storage inside the Samsung. Both devices come with 8 GB of memory.

There is a plus for the Asus Chromebook Flip C436, at least on paper. Asus expects this 2-in-1 to run for up to 12 hours on a charge while Samsung told me to expect 9 hours from its $999 Chromebook.

A truer comparison between the Asus and Samsung offerings is better found in the $999 configuration for the Chromebook Flip C436, also available for pre-order on Amazon.

This price bumps up the C436 to the same Intel Core i5-10210U found in the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook, a whopping 512 GB of storage and double the memory: You have 16 GB of RAM to work with for $999 in the Asus.

As nice as I found the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook in my hands-on time, I’m not sure which I would go for.

That 4K AMOLED display on the Samsung is stellar but I could forgo that by getting more battery life and double the memory, which are more important to me personally. Others looking for a strong performing 2-in-1 could be happy to save $200 and just get the base model of the Flip C436.

Anyone pre-ordering the Asus Chromebook Flip C436 or are you holding out for the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook, expected by March?

author avatar
Kevin C. Tofel

10 thoughts on “Asus Chromebook Flip C436 pre-orders begin at $799.99, availability on February 24

  1. Chromebooks are going off the rails. I am writing this on last-year’s Acer Spin which has better overall equipment and specs and cost $200 less. And that is too much to spend for a Chromebook.
    A Chromebook brings you the Chrome Browser, Google Docs, and Android apps. That’s it. And you run Docs in the Browser, not directly on the computer. If you pay up to about $300 it can be a good deal, if that is all you need.
    But for $400 you can get a Windows computer with the same equipment and specs as the Acer Spin featured here, and then you have the ability to run –
    The Chrome Browser (or others if you prefer); Docs in the Browser, just like on the Chromebook; the Industrial Strength Google services in G Suite, which integrated the Google stuff with the Windows file system (G Suite does not run well at all on a Chromebook); and then the entire universe of Windows apps. And if you need to do photo or video editing or manuscript development or any number of other projects, you need Windows. And games?
    You got to have Windows to be serious. This setup will not run Android apps – but the functionally they are covered. And all that for a lot less money.
    You might note that by buying this Acer Spin for $600 is went against my own advice – true. But I did it before I had researched the situation.
    If this is wrong in any respect, please let me know – but I am working off of information from Google directly in most of the points.

    1. You’re assuming that someone is willing to futz with Windows. Chromebooks are futz-free. And that’s why Windows is irrelevant. Sure, at work I must use a Windows machine, and it’s so tightly managed that it’s also essentially futz-free for me. Also, you would think that enough people actually want to BUY a $1,000 Chromebook that it’s profitable for Samsung, Asus, Acer, Lenovo, etc. to build and market them. And if someone wants a decent Chromebook that costs $150, they can still buy that, too. And then there’s CloudReady for all those graveyard PCs. Diversity of choices is a wonderful thing!

      1. Choices are good, and I don’t argue against that. But informed choices are even better. If your needs for capability from a computer are met with Chrome – fine. Go Chrome. I still would favor the $300 variety over the $600 or $1,000.
        But if you need capabilities that Windows offers, you can have both at a lower price – in dollars. Still the Windows bureaucracy to deal with, but everything is a tradeoff.

    2. “A Chromebook brings you the Chrome Browser, Google Docs, and Android apps. That’s it. And you run Docs in the Browser, not directly on the computer.”

      And full Linux desktop apps, which I use for editing audio, photos and creating apps. 😉 Not everyone has the same needs as I do, of course, but Chromebooks are still pretty capable devices. And I second the comment about not wanting to deal with Windows updates, drivers, antivirus, etc…. just not worth it to me.

  2. At $999, I think that the Asus with 16 GB RAM will have greater appeal to Linux users, particularly programmers. I can’t see that many hardcore programmers having that much use for a 4K AMOLED display just to edit text. On the other hand, I can’t imagine why someone would need or want a Chromebook with 16 GB RAM if they don’t intend to use Linux. But the animation/video/graphics of the OS and many Web/Android apps might be much more aesthetically captivating on the display of the Samsung, if that’s where you spent most of your time. For the mobile office though, longer battery life probably trumps everything else, and the $799 Asus would be a better buy than the $999 choices.

  3. The 16GB memory and 512GB storage will make the $999 Asus C436 a very formidable competitor to the $999 Samsung Galaxy (which I believe will come with 8GB and 256GB). Also, I believe the Asus will come with active fan cooling of it’s Core i5 processor, which the Galaxy will not, and which may make the Asus a better performer under stress. The only red flag regarding the Asus in my mind is its “ErgoLift” hinge design, which makes the display lid prop up the keyboard by coming in direct contact with the table surface. I have read at least one report this can result in scratching/damage of the table surface, which to me would be a dealbreaker. Kevin, have you had any first-hand experience with the “ErgoLift” hinge design of the Asus and do you believe it may be capable of damaging some table surfaces?

  4. What’s great for Linux users is that Dell and Lenovo continue to add very capable new laptops and desktops to the list of Ubuntu Certified computers. Dell increasingly offers models with Ubuntu pre-installed instead of Windows. For some Linux users, Crostini on high-end Chromebooks may be an attractive alternative. We can expect that demand will continue to shape pricing.

  5. THE SHORT VERSION:

    1) What the [expletive deleted] is it with everybody forgetting about Linux on ChromeOS? The OP isn’t the only one, I see it everywhere, even from professional journalists.

    2) Please somebody help me make up my mind between the Chromebook Flip C436 and the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook! 😀

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    THE LONG VERSION:

    What is it with Chromebooks and everyone forgetting that it runs full fat Linux desktop apps? I know that the follow up comments here are replete with references to Linux, and solid rebuttals to the OP, which is good. But the OP seems to have been completely unaware that they even existed (I’d also be super curious to know in which ways he perceives his old hardware to be better than these. IIIIIIIIIII’m guessing it was just a ranter ranting).

    Now, this might have been simply me being too nitpicky, and too harsh on the guy, were it not a trend that I’m seeing everywhere. People seem to not even know that Linux is a thing on Chrome. There are even professional tech journalists, who write for big sites, who even make high-profile anti-Chromebook manifestos, where Linux doesn’t even factor into their analysis at all. In fact, though I’m sure they’re out there, I have yet to even see a single negative Chrome OS review that factors Linux in in any way, shape, or form.

    Is it possible that these trained professionals, who live and breathe tech actually are less informed on Chrome than me? I’m no expert on anything at all, let alone Chrome, and would certainly not feel qualified to attempt to make a living on tech journalism. And yet, they really seem to be completely, truly, madly, deeply oblivious to such a game changing aspect of Chrome. The OP in our comments here can be easily written off as just “one more idiot on the internet”….just like I can. But people who do this for a living? And a multitude of them? Yikes!

    I mean, indeed, were it not for the presence of Linux, I would agree with them that Chrome is just a glorified toy, and that anything more than a $400 Chromebook would be completely superfluous. However, the presence of Linux, in my mind, changes EVERYTHING. It’s completely different calculus now! In the beginning, Chromebooks were simple internet derpers, and nothing to be “taken seriously” at all. Then Android app support came, which made them better playthings, and somewhat more useful, though still not a power user option. But Chrome has been really coming into its own lately, first with Linux support for the power user, and supposedly coming soon, full Steam support for gamers as well. These are huge changes, which completely rewrite the narrative of what ChromeOS even is, as well as its potential future in the industry. And even if one is far less impressed with the whole Linux thing than I am…..it should still at least factor into their analysis, don’t you think?

    Now, of course ChromeOS is not perfect. Linux is still in beta, and so it is a bit buggy, missing a few important features, and overall less satisfying for this relative Linux noob to use than, say, Ubuntu or Mint. Android apps on Chrome are not perfectly executed as well, and may never be. And the worst thing about Chrome in my opinion by far is how cumbersome the silo’d, containerized nature of the system makes sharing and using files between Chrome OS proper, and the Android and/or Linux containers, and their respective important programs and apps. But that silo’d nature also brings with it the benefits of, a) being a lot less likely to brick your device if something nefarious or otherwise unfortunate happens on one of the secondary containers, and b) when you’re not running those containers, then you’re just running plain, lean, clean Chrome, which makes general internet derping and simple tasks fly! Nothing, and I mean NOTHING beats Chrome OS for those simple little tasks that it was initially designed to do.

    As one who is in the early phases of gradually migrating away from Mac and Windows for his daily computer use, Chrome is becoming an increasingly attractive option. I will probably still favor a more conventional “full fat” Linux distro set up on my desktop computers over Chrome for the time being, but in the laptop / tablet space, I think I’m pretty committed to Chrome…….

    ……which brings me at *VERY* long last to the ultimate reason for my reply: I’m planning to use tax money to buy a super pumped Chromebook to replace my super wimpy, tired old Lenovo N22 Touch Chromebook (which I’m typing this on, incidentally), and I’ve pretty much narrowed it down to either the Asus Chromebook Flip C436, or, of course, the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook. But I’m pretty stumped on which way to go.

    The Samsung is certainly the more alluring with that arresting red body color, and a 4K AMOLED screen. However, I don’t know how much real world advantage that 4K display would give you in such a small form factor, other than, of course, the “technoporn” of a sharper, more dazzling display. And then, of course, being an AMOLED on a laptop where there will be so many static items on screen (especially in such a drab, stationary OS like Chrome), it seems like it would be really prone to burn-in, which is a bane for me. Also, a 14″ 19×10 seems so much more functional and practical to me than 13.3″ 16.9 one (and supposedly the Acer’s display is a pretty good looking one as well). Also, at price for price, the Acer seems like it would have more storage and RAM, though that is upgradable on both. I’m assuming that they’re basically equals in terms of inputs and SD storage, and they both have backlit keyboards, which will be a must for me. And though I tend to be a wall outlet hugger, and this may not mean the world to me, the extra battery on the Acer, presumably from not having to run a 4K display is very nice as well, though either would be a huge upgrade in the battery department over the N22.

    I dunno, it seems like the Acer is the smarter, more practical, and probably “better” way to go, with the only apparent actual “practical” advantage the Sammy has is a proprietary stylus packed right in (and maybe the enhanced portability of a slightly smaller machine)…..but damn, I JUST CAN’T STOP thinking about that Galaxy.

    Please help me sort out my thoughts on this and come to a decision, gang! I won’t really be doing much, if any graphic design on it, and probably won’t watch a ton of Netflix or Disney + on it either. Other than the obvious “internet derping”, and basic email / office stuff, primarily what I’ll be using it for is moving production work on my mixtape-style video game music podcast* away from my Mac Mini and GarageBand over to it, and probably something like Ardour or Mixbus, as well as probably a bunch of audio media consumption while I work, such as Spotify, etc. I’ll probably do light to moderate Android gaming on it, and when the Steam thing finally happens, maybe a little bit heftier gaming that way.

    So, under those circumstances, other than the “eye porn” of the world’s most boring-looking desktop OS in 4K HDR on the world’s best laptop display (which may itself turn to mourning in short time via burn-in problems), and a packed-in proprietary stylus, is there anything at all that would really commend to me “the lady in red”, other than just the fact that she is simply “the lady in red” to begin with? I kinda want you to say “yes”, to tell me why there would be actual real-world benefit to choosing the Sammy over the Acer…..but I kinda feel like Acer will be the one that wins the day for me.

    Anyway, please help me out, gang! 🙂

    Thanks!

    -St. John (* = “Nerd Noise Radio” – now in its 4th year, and as featured on NPR’s “Hearts of Space”)

    1. Enjoyed reading your post. I believe the Asus C436 will come with active (fan) cooling while the Samsung Galaxy will not. This will theoretically make the Asus less prone to throttling when running hard and may be another reason (other than the 16GB RAM /512GB SSD) to go for the $999 C436 over the $999 Galaxy.

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