Asus Chromebook Flip C214 review: Nifty little machine

The light weight of 1.2 Kg is an advantage and the cost of Rs 23,999 make it a tempting buy

As I typed out the review of the Asus Chromebook Flip C214 on the machine itself, it dawned on me that we hardly need high amounts of processing power, top-of-the-line graphics units and insane amounts of RAM to do daily office tasks. A Chromebook like this will suffice very well.

Sure, it is great to have an Intel Core i7 or AMD Ryzen 7 machine with 32 gigs of RAM that is capable of light gaming. But for the user who is hardly interested in gaming, why would he or she want to spend valuable dough for a high-spec machine. It just would not make sense. Or perhaps, are we too worried about future-proofing?

How does it feel after using Windows? Thanks to using Android smartphones, it is just like using a bigger phone with the convenience of a proper keyboard and a 11.6-inch HD touchscreen. One has the convenience of the Google Play Store from where the user can sync apps from the smartphone.

The light weight of 1.2 Kg is another advantage and the cost of Rs 23,999 make it a tempting buy.

The audio and video are surprisingly good. On the video front, 4K YouTube clips were pretty good to watch with skin tones and colours looking natural. The sound quality was good with the high frequencies having a lot of detail. The hinge can make the lid flip 180 degrees and the device can be used in tablet mode or can even stand up like an inverted ‘V’ while you watch videos or do other stuff. There is also a secondary camera below the keyboard for video calls. The primary camera is an HD one.

When it comes to the internals, the Flip C214 features an Intel Celeron N4020 dual core processor with a 1.1 GHz base clock speed. The device has 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM and 64 GB of internal storage. That might not be a lot these days but the MicroSD card slot can take upto a 2TB chip. There is also dual band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0.

Now comes the interesting part. The Flip C214, apart from the Type-A USB port, has two Type-C USB ports that support DisplayPort and power delivery. Asus has really packed a lot into this little machine.

The spill resistant keyboard has a bit of resistance than some other keyboards in laptops at this price range. But it was in no way tiring to type for long hours.

Corners have been reinforced to take the rigours of daily life. Reinforcement also comes in the form of rubber feet in case of accidents.

The 45 Whr battery easily lasted the working day with juice left. That is with normal and not very battery-hungry tasks. So, no complaints in that department.

Overall, I think that this is a very well-rounded package with some very good features. Things like the USB Type-C port is a great inclusion for a machine at this price point. Add to that the convenience of the Chrome OS.

This can be a great machine for students and professionals who do not need a powerful laptop. So, it’s a go from us.

Get the latest news on new launches, gadget reviews, apps, cybersecurity, and more on personal technology only on DH Tech.