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The Asus Chromebook 14 (CM3401) is a laptop with a 14 inch, 1920 x 1200 pixel display, an AMD Ryzen 3 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage, which puts it squarely into mid-range Chromebook territory.
What helps set it apart from most other mid-range Chromebooks though, is the processor. It’s one of the first Chromebooks you can buy to feature an AMD Ryzen 7020 series processor based on AMD’s “Mendocino” architecture. The new Asus Chromebook 14 is available now from Best Buy for $499.
The laptop is powered by an AMD Ryzen 3 7320C processor, which is a Chromebook-specific version of AMD’s Ryzen 3 7320U Mendocino processor. It features four AMD Zen 2 CPU cores, 8 threads, and support for speeds up to 4.2 GHz, as well as AMD Radeon 610M integrated graphics with two RDNA 2 compute units and speeds up to 1.9 GHz.
In my experience, that GPU is sufficient for video playback and light gaming, but it’s not in the same league as the AMD integrated graphics solutions used in the Steam Deck or Asus ROG Ally.
The Asus Chromebook Flip CM34 weighs 3.97 pounds and measures 0.82 inches thick, and features a 1080p webcam, HDMI, 3.5mm audio, and microSD card reader ports, as well as a single USB Type-A port and two USB Type-C ports. The laptop supports WiFi 6 and features LPDDR5 memory and solid state storage.
It does not have a backlit keyboard. And while the Best Buy product page describes the notebook as a 2-in-1 laptop with support for “laptop, audience, tabletop, and presentation modes,” there are no pictures on that page showing the screen tilted back.
Asus and AMD did recently recently announce a Chromebook Flip CM34 (CM3401) model recently which definitely does have a 360-degree hinge, as well as support for up to 16GB of RAM, up to 512GB of storage, and up to a Ryzen 5 7520C processor.
But that model has a stylus that stores in a “garage” in the side of the laptop when you’re not using it, and the version Best Buy is selling doesn’t seem to have a stylus.
via Chrome Unboxed
A 14″, 4lb Chromebook at $500? Yikes. Does it at least have a nice OLED screen or something?
Not bad specs for a Chromebook. $399 and I’d buy it as a replacement for my Pixelbook Go.
A 500$ suckbook? no way