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ASUS Chromebook Flip C101 Hands-On Video Surfaces

By 22 Comments

by Robby Payne
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I love the internet! Within a day of posting about the ASUS Flip C101’s new availability in Japan, we’ve received a comment from Stu Lowe at Geeky Teachers stating that his school in Hong Kong just had 90 of these devices shipped to them.

In the video, Stu takes about five minutes and gives us his initial impressions on ASUS’ follow up to the massively-popular Chromebook Flip.

Two Big Upgrades

As we’ve discussed before, this new Flip contains a few upgrades over its predecessor that make it a very compelling offering.

First, we have a much brighter screen. While we’ve not had any official proof of this up to this point, in the video Stu makes a point to explain this screen is far brighter than the first flip with additional levels of contrast and deeper blacks. That’s a win!

Second, the device is much faster. Thanks to the inclusion of the same OP1 processor (Rockchip RK3399) that resides in the Samsung Chromebook Plus, the new ASUS Flip gets along quite well from what we are seeing in the video.

I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating: this device and its 1280×800 resolution present far less computational load on the processor. Though the OP1 does well in the Samsung Chromebook Plus, it will fare much better in this latest ASUS Chromebook. Another big win!

Other Things To Note

Additional upgrades are here as well. The micro-HDMI port is gone in favor of a USB-C port, and that is important. Micro-HDMI has always presented weak connection ports that usually end up in fully-failing ports over time.

Additionally, the proprietary charging port has also been replaced with a second USB-C port, flanked by a 3rd USB port of the type-A variety and a micro SD card slot.

For the slim and small form-factor this device has, that port selection is quite healthy.

Overall, after seeing this video, I’m very, very excited to get my hands on one of these devices for a review. If the price stays down, I think ASUS could have a huge hit on its hands this holiday season.

Enjoy the video!

  • RMP

    Smart upgrades. No other brand yet competes with the same handy sized Chromebook. Odd, because Asus sells tons of these.

  • 88cooper

    Is this new Asus ruggedized? One would think so if it is going to schools but the English teacher didn’t mention this. By the way, I thought only Japan got these devices so far.🤔

    • Gabriel Brangers

      Not ruggedized, all aluminum like the c100. I believe the school he works at is in Japan.

      • 88cooper

        Thanks, Gabe! I already have have the C100PA and I dropped it early-on and broke the screen. I’ll keep looking for the “perfect” ruggedized Chromebook for me, and I’ll keep reading “Unboxed”, as this is where Chromebook news breaks first!

    • Mr Stuart Lowe

      It is definitely not ruggedized at all, you’d want the Asus C213 for that. We are actually in Hong Kong and not Japan. To give a little background, we were sent the listing for this model in late May from a Chromebook supplier. We decided to order it and were initially told by Asus that it would arrive in mid-July. They then knocked that back to first week of August and then finally gave us a delivery date of 23rd August. In terms of regional release dates for individual consumer purchase, I don’t know. If a school wants it though in most countries where Asus operates their own supply and distribution then I would assume they can order it now. Hong Kong has no Chromebooks released for purchase by customers in shops, Google decided to only launch for schools through certain suppliers.

      • Gabriel Brangers

        Thanks for the update Stuart and thank you for the awesome video. We have been looking forward to seeing this Chromebook.

      • Gabriel Brangers

        By the way, we have some readers asking it the display is glass on this model or plastic like the C100. Are you able to tell?

        • Mr Stuart Lowe

          hmmm, I’m poking it now and actually not sure. it is cold to the touch and feels the same as my iMac screen next to me which makes me think it is glass. I don’t have my C100 at the moment to compare as another school borrowed it. Any way to tell easily?

        • Mr Stuart Lowe

          The box lists the display as ‘LCD:10.1 WXGA USLIM/B GL TP WV’ if that helps 🙂

          • Gabriel Brangers

            Same as the Asus Transformer series so I’d guess glass but we’ll see if we can verify with Asus.

  • Peter Sellmer

    What is it with CB’s and MASSIVELY thick bezels? ESPECIALLY, in such a small footprint as this, what would the added cost be for a humane bezel? Cell phones seem to have gotten the message that minimizing bezels is a good thing, but CB’s are still in the previous century unfortunately. Maybe the Pixel…

    • Mr Stuart Lowe

      For this one it would need the screen size increasing for a smaller bezel. The keyboard really couldn’t be any smaller than it is now and goes pretty close to the edge. I would love to see this model with an 11.6 inch display in this form factor but I think it comes down to available screens, I’ve not seen much supply of super thin touchscreen displays in 11.6″ sizes. Here’s hoping though that Asus could pull it off.

  • White_Pointer

    The fact that this device actually retains a USB-A port (a standard that is NOT dead yet) is a big plus for me. It was the main thing that turned me off the C302 (along with it’s ridiculous markup in Australia) despite the device’s many other qualities. This has a USB-A port in it though in addition to USB-C ports, ensuring backwards compatibility while also making it future proof. Needing to buy converters for any USB device I want to plug into the thing is a pain I’d rather not have.

  • Mr Stuart Lowe

    Just finished setting all 90 of these up and Asus QC has not been wonderful this time. We had 20 units that refused to charge at all after powering on. They required the battery to fully expend before they would start charging (which is weird but at least they are working now). One unit refuses to power on or charge and appears DOA. Another is dented along the bottom casing (it’s box was damaged too). This is a direct from Asus shipment, hopefully it’s just first batch issues. We’ll monitor to see if we encounter any further issues or not.

    • 88cooper

      Thanks, so much, for your video and your followups to our questions, Stuart! Your first-hand experience is so valuable to me, as I am seriously looking for a new “ruggedized” Chromebook. I want it with more horsepower, etc., and I expect that one of these devices will show up within a year. I guess your Asus is not for me as it is not truly ruggedized with at least Gorilla Glass, military specs., and a spillproof keyboard, etc. I am curious, why did they sent this Asus non-ruggedized devices to young kids??

      • Mr Stuart Lowe

        No problem at all and glad it’s helpful. We have been a Chromebook 1:1 school for a few years now and the type of chromebooks we buy depends on the age of the students. For these ones they are for our 10 and 11 year olds who are pretty responsible with the devices and have very little damage or breakage with their previous chromebooks. I’m happy they will be fine with these ones. For our younger students last year, 6 and 7 years old, we bought the Edxis Chromebook Plus which is a drop proof, water proof machine with a safe carrying handle. The purchasing decision for which models we buy is our own as an IT team based on the last few years experience.

        • 88cooper

          Stuart – You really know how to hurt a guy. The 10-11yr olds are safe with non-ruggedized Chromebooks and I already admitted that I dropped mine! Ha, ha! 😅

          No matter, I know that if I dropped mine once, I know that I will one day do it again. I’m gonna get the best ruggedized Chromebook with a powerful processor and 8-Gigs of memory and use the heck out of it for 5-years to justify the dinero I will have to fork over. There are some devices out there that are close to my ideal but not quite there. I will bide my time, they will be here soon enough.

          Thanks again for all your help, good buddy! The kids are lucky to have someone as helpful as you in their formative years. I still remember some of the teachers in my earliest years for the things they showed me that helped me succeed in life. Even little kids remember these things, they may not show it, but they do.

          • Mr Stuart Lowe

            The difference for us is that we get 3 year warranty and accidental damage coverage 🙂

            Have you looked at the new C213 at all? It might not be powerful enough but its a nice machine and plenty rugged.

  • mkumar12345

    So many good suggestions in the comments here. If they could increase the screen size in the same form factor, to say 11.6″ so that bezels are a decent size, make the screen Full HD (3:2 would be better) and add Wacom capability, it will be the perfect merger of laptop and tablet for many people. I will want it more than the upcoming Chromebook Pixel. They can easily sell it for $100-$150 more. Why not have two versions?

    • 88cooper

      I agree with your suggestions, especially going to 11.6″. 11.6 is really the way to go with Chromebooks for people, like me, who tote them around all day long. Big enough to read comfortably, small enough to be toted and concealed.

  • ChrisGX

    Geeky Teachers is a wonderful website. I recommend having a look at the information and videos found there. It is great to see the way computerised technology has been imaginatively integrated into the primary school curriculum at Beacon Hill School (Hong Kong). BHS features strongly in the materials on the Geeky Teachers site. The children look like they are having a lot of fun while learning.

    • Mr Stuart Lowe

      Thanks very much 😀