Asus launches two Chromebooks with Intel Tiger Lake processors (and one with AMD)

Asus has launched two new Chromebooks, both powered by 11th-gen Intel Core “Tiger Lake” processors.

The new Asus Chromebook CX9 (9400) is a 14 inch laptop with a starting weight of less than two pounds, and the Asus Chromebook Flip CX5 (CX5500) is a 15.6 inch convertible with a touchscreen display that weighs in at 4.2 pounds.

Asus also introduced a Chromebook Flip CM5 (CM5500) variant with an AMD Ryzen processor and gaming-inspired design, for some reason.

Asus Chromebook CX9 (CX9400)

Despite its thin and light design, this model packs a punch. It’s available with up to an Intel Core i7-1185G7 processor and an entry-level model features an Intel Core i5-1135G7 processor with Intel Iris Xe graphics.

The notebook has a black magnesium-alloy chassis that measures just 16mm (about 0.63 inches) thick, and the laptop sports a 14 inch, 1920 x 1080 pixel IPS LCD display with support for up to 400 nites of brightness.

Available with 8GB or 16GB of LPDDR4X memory, the laptop has dual M.2 slots for up to 4TB of PCIe NVMe solid state storage.

Ports include:

• 2 x Thunderbolt 4
• 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A
• 1 x HDMI 2.0b
• 1 x microSD card reader

The laptop also has a fingerprint reader, support for WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1, a 720p webcam with a privacy shutter, a spill-resistant backlit keyboard, and a microphone array.

Asus says the 1.94 pound version of the laptop comes with a 50 Wh battery, but there’s also a 2.31 pound version equipped with a 66 Wh battery. The Chromebook CX9 comes with either a 45W or 65W USB-C power adapter.

Asus Chromebook Flip CX5 (CX5500)

Available with a choice of Intel Core i3-1115G4, Core i5-1135G7 or Core i7-11165G7 processors, this convertible tablet-style Chromebook has a 15.6 inch full HD touchscreen IPS LCD display with support for pen and finger touch input and a 360-degree hinge.

This model tops out at a 512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD and 16GB of LPDDR4x onboard storage, and features two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C ports, a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port, HDMI 2.0a port and a microSD card reader.

The laptop has a 720p webcam without a privacy shutter, a 51Wh battery and 45W USB-C power supply, a backlit keyboard, and WiFi 6 support.

The laptop measures 0.73 inches thick and weighs 4.17 pounds.

Asus Chromebook Flip CM5 (CM5500)

Rather than an Intel Tiger Lake processor and 51Wh battery, this 4.17 pound convertible laptop has an AMD Ryzen 3000C series processor and a 57Wh battery.
It’s likely to be a cheaper notebook since it only supports up to a Ryzen 5 3500U processor and comes with 4GB, 8GB, or 16GB RAM options and a choice of eMMC or PCIe NVMe storage.

But Asus made the odd design decision to highlight the W, A, S, and D keys in orange as if this were a gaming laptop, which it very much is not.

That said, I suppose you could use it to play Android games downloaded from the Play Store or to stream games from Stadia or GeForce Now.

The Asus Chromebook Flip CM5 has an aluminum lid and comes in a “mineral gray” color with orange power and volume buttons.