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When the new cloud gaming-focused Chromebooks arrived last fall, it was pretty easy to spot
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the one that didn't quite fit in. While Acer and Lenovo launched devices with big, high-refresh screens, color-changing keyboards
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and 12th-gen Intel internals, Asus chose to show up with a regurgitated device that had
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an older processor, no RGB keyboard, and a dim 250-net display. It pretty quickly became clear that this device was basically the Asus Chromebook CM5 from
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the year prior with a few small changes. and you could tell right away it was simply thrown into the mix as a placeholder for the Chromebook
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that they really wanted to release. And this, the Asus Chromebook Vibe CX34 Flip, is the type of
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course correction we love to see when manufacturers swing and miss. It's everything the original
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Chromebook Vibe should have been, and on the path to building a great laptop for cloud gaming
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Asus actually ended up making a stellar Chromebook in just about every category. So
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let's take a deeper look. First off, this new Vibe Chromebook doesn't look like any Asus that has come before
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After clearly recycling their first gaming Chromebook, I was really glad to see that this
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was the case at CES 2023 where we first got to lay hands on this device. The white outer parts
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are coated and feel like an eggshell almost, resisting fingerprints and looking really sweet
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while doing so. I don't think I've wiped off this Chromebook one time since we got it in the office
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and I love that, especially in an all-white device. And the rest of this build is substantial and top-notch too
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There's no creaking or bending in any sense, even though the entire bottom is made of what feels like some sort of plastic
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The anti-fingerprint soft-touch coating continues throughout the device, and there's no place that it feels cheap or flimsy
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Look, I'll say it over and over again. I don care what the chassis materials are in a Chromebook as long as the device feels good and this one feels great It a tad thick at 21 millimeters but the overall feel isn bulky at the just under
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four pound weight. It feels much lighter than you would expect on this portable 14 inch Chromebook
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And that little bit of extra thickness makes room for plenty of ports. There's two USB type C's
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a USB type A, micro SD card, full size HDMI port, headphone microphone jack, and a Kensington lock
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It's the same array we've seen on a few devices lately, and it makes the need of having a dock on the desktop kind of unnecessary, and I like that a lot
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But there's one other addition Asus saw fit to add, a garaged USI pen
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And the inking experience is pretty good with this thing. It's not the most necessary addition, but I love seeing stowed pens in higher-end Chromebooks, and it comes in handy from time to time
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And the bottom half of that firm, smooth chassis houses a really comfy keyboard
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impressive speakers, and a wide, smooth trackpad. I don't think it's glass, but we're also at the point where all trackpads don't have to be glass in order to be excellent
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There are all sorts of materials that make good trackpad services, and this one absolutely nails it
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Zero complaints here. And the same goes for the speakers. They're loud, they're full, and really enjoyable for content, calls, and gaming, too
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The keyboard, however, has one aggravating flaw, the backlight. Sure, the keys can turn all sorts of colors, and with the latest changes to Chrome OS
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those colors can match your overall theme. But with the gray keycaps we have here, this device has the same issue that has plagued
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all sorts of other Chromebooks with gray keyboards in the past. That means you need to turn the backlight completely off in the daytime light in order
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to see anything on your keyboard. Where devices like the Dragonfly Pro get this right with lots of keyboard backlight, the
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The ASUS CX34 just misses the boat here. You're not gonna wanna mess with keyboard backlighting
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until you're in a dim lighting situation. But swinging things back to the positive the 14 inch 16 by 10 full HD 144 hertz display on this Chromebook is fantastic It bright at 400 nits and it super smooth when it plugged in
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And wisely, Asus chose to pull back that refresh rate when you're on your battery
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so the display actually goes to 60Hz when you're off the charger in order to save battery
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And thankfully, this display handles that transition really well, even though things are animating in a fraction of the 144Hz capabilities
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At 60 hertz, it doesn't look janky or strange like we've seen with other devices that kind of ramp down those refresh rates
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And with that throttling, the battery stays under control, giving you 7-8 hours of usage on charge with regularity as long as you keep your screen brightness somewhere around 50-60%
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Above that excellent screen is a very bad webcam that I'd avoid using unless absolutely necessary
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For a Chromebook this nice, I'd expect at least 1080p here, but this one is 720p
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It's grainy and only good for video calls when absolutely needed. With most video chats now moving to 1080p, this is a pretty big miss by Asus in my opinion
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and one that there's just not really an excuse for. There is a physical camera shutter to hide the camera when you need to, so I guess that's something
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And as expected, this Chromebook packs in the internals. Our review unit has the 12th gen Core i5, 16 gigs of RAM, and 512 gigs of NVMe storage
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It's fast. It's like really, really fast. And the lower config with 8 gigs of RAM and 256 gigs of storage is going to be crazy fast too
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Look, if fast is what you're after, this Chromebook has it. And as it's being presented as a gaming Chromebook, you'd expect to see that
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And on that front, I won't get into the whole gaming Chromebook thing, except to say that
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these devices do make for better experiences on streaming services like GeForce Now. Their bright
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high screens just do better with games and whenever Google does get Steam gaming fully ironed out and delivered to Chromebook users these devices should theoretically be great at that too But we not there yet And for most casual gamers
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the exact ones that like to play lots of games on something like GeForce Now
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the perks you get in a gaming Chromebook are more like small niceties. They're great if you have
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them, but you don't really miss them when you don't. And that's why it's great for Asus that
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this Chromebook is an overall fantastic device all on its own. It's easily my favorite Asus
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Chromebook since the CX5400 from a couple years ago, and one that I'd be happy to use as my daily
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device in most cases. The price, $769 or $869 depending on your spec, is steep, and the limited
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availability of it means we're probably not going to see too many sale prices. I mean, since it
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launched, I don't think there's been a single discount, and that means you need to love the
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stuff it does right to justify this kind of price. If a well-made convertible Chromebook with a
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bright screen, solid keyboard, trackpad combo, a stowed stylus, plenty of power, and great battery
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life is what you need, I'd say this is a great option. Normally I'd say wait for a sale, but
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that's just not in the cards for this one probably anytime soon. But conversely, if you need a good
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camera or you happen to place a priority on a thin and light Chromebook, this one's probably not for
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you. But more than likely that's a small subset of users, and I'd wager most people looking for a
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great Chromebook, we'll find a lot to like in the Vibe CX34 Flip. I know I've loved it, and I think
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if you're ready to spend this kind of money to invest in a high-end Chromebook, you probably
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will too. But guys, that's it for this one. If you enjoyed this video, give us a thumbs up, head
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