I ditched my PC for a high-end Chromebook and was stunned by what occurred

Casting my thoughts again to the early 2000s, the very first working system I ever interacted with was Microsoft’s Home windows Me, in any other case often called Millennium Version. As a toddler, I keep in mind being enamored by Paint, Phrase, PowerPoint, and different packages that, a quarter-century later, we now take as a right.

After all, Home windows Me would in the end go down as one of Microsoft’s least popular OS releases of all time, however by the point the mud had settled, I used to be already nicely and actually in love with private computing. Over the following a number of years, I grew to become accustomed to not solely new versions of Windows as they launched, but additionally Apple’s macOS (née OS X).

One desktop OS that I’ve solely not too long ago begun to familiarize myself with is Google’s Linux-based ChromeOS (I do know, I am a number of years late to the celebration). Prior to now, I might written off the platform as much less succesful than its Home windows and Mac counterparts, and concurrently much less progressive than the mobile-first strategy of its Android, iOS, and iPadOS contemporaries.

In an try to problem my preconceived notions, and inside the context of Google’s upcoming plans to replace ChromeOS with its Android-based Aluminum OS in thoughts, I made a decision late final 12 months that the time was proper for me to lastly take a look at out the previous OS. Since booting up my first Chromebook — the Asus ExpertBook CB54 ChromeBook Plus — I’ve tweaked some basic settings, and I’ve found each limiting elements and delights scattered all through the system.

Quick-forward a number of months, and I’ve now been utilizing the ExpertBook CB54 for an prolonged time period, having wholeheartedly committing to ChromeOS within the course of. Listed below are my ideas on this specific high-end Asus ChromeOS laptop computer, from the angle of somebody who in any other case depends on Windows 11 PCs for each productiveness and leisure.

The ExpertBook CB54 is a well-rounded laptop computer

Asus has principally nailed the Chromebook Plus expertise

Placing apart working programs for a second, the Asus ExpertBook CB54 is a stable laptop computer from high to backside. The pocket book ships with as much as an Intel Core Extremely 7 processor, as much as 16GB of LPDDR5x RAM, as much as 512GB of M.2 PCIe 4.0 SSD storage, and a 63Wh battery. Different key specs embrace a 2K anti-glare, touch-enabled 2,560 x 1,600 60Hz LCD show, an 8-megapixel 1080p HD webcam, Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2, and a built-in capacitive fingerprint sensor.

Bodily talking, the system is on the bigger measurement by 14-inch laptop computer requirements, measuring in at 12.35 x 8.77 x 0.67 ~ 0.6-inches (31.37 x 22.28 x 1.69 ~ 1.69 cm), and weighing in at 2.87 lbs (1.3 kg). That being mentioned, it does provide army grade US MIL-STD 810H protection from the weather, and its I/O is full-featured with 2x Thunderbolt 4/USB4 ports, 2x USB Sort-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports, 1x HDMI 2.1 port, a microSD card reader, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

By all accounts, there’s a number of processing energy accessible contained in the ExpertBook CB54, all stuffed inside a bodily strong and fairly engaging {hardware} bundle. At a beginning worth of $700, I am not going to fault the system for missing a haptic trackpador Asus’ premium Ceraluminum build material, even when I might liked to have seen them each included right here.

So far as Chromebook Plus laptops go, Asus has constructed a premium product that may stand toe-to-toe with different ChromeOS-powered notebooks within the sector. The addition of contact is a pleasant bonus right here, even when its utility is stifled considerably by an absence of a 360-degree rotating hinge. The CB54 does not measure as much as the fit-and-finish of, say, Asus’ personal Zenbook S14 PC line, but it surely will get sufficient of the best way there whereas balancing its price ticket within the course of.

The ExpertBook CB54’s limiting issue is ChromeOS

ChromeOS could also be restricted in scope, but it surely does finest Home windows 11 in some areas

In some ways, I discover the ExpertBook CB54’s software program to be on the frustrating side. ChromeOS, no less than in its present non-Aluminum kind, lacks the strong customizability, legacy app and pc sport compatibility, and versatile file administration expertise I’ve come to know and love on Home windows 11 laptops in any respect worth factors.

However, I have been pleasantly stunned by ChromeOS in quite a few key methods. The working system’s user-facing UI components are all quick and responsive, its first-rate connectivity with Android smartphones is a serious high quality of life enhancer, and sure issues simply really feel ‘clean’ compared with even the best finish of Home windows 11 PCs.

For instance, waking up the CB54 from sleep, typing in my PIN or tapping my finger on the fingerprint sensor, and logging into the system can all be executed with much less friction than on an equivalently-specced Home windows laptop computer. Window administration, in the meantime, feels rather a lot smoother than I had anticipated it too, with tons of snapping positions to select from and, cleverly, the adoption of Microsoft’s Snap Layouts function when hovering over the maximize button on any title bar.

Anecdotally, I discover contact responsiveness all through ChromeOS to be stable however unremarkable, however the CB54’s trackpad expertise leaves me wishing for extra. I am uncertain if the difficulty stems from the trackpad {hardware} itself or from the best way ChromeOS handles enter, however I discover cursor actions and gestures ‘stiffer’ than their Home windows equivalents, which barely hinders my productiveness. Evidently, I discovered myself switching to an exterior mouse after just a few days of testing.

There’s a lot untapped potential with the ExpertBook CB54

This is hoping the laptop computer makes the eventual bounce to Aluminum OS

Credit score: Pocket-lint / Google

The ExpertBook CB54 is full of energy through its high-end Intel Core Extremely processor, its speedy SSD storage, its spacious RAM reminiscence, and its twin Thunderbolt 4 ports. In some ways, the laptop computer is hamstrung by ChromeOS, which limits the dimensions and scope of the system to progressive web apps (PWAs) and a restricted set of virtualized Android apps.

We all know that Google intends on transitioning some current Chromebook laptops to its upcoming Android-based Aluminum OS (via Chrome Unboxed), and I really feel that Asus’ ExpertBook CB54 is a primary candidate for making the bounce. With the added flexibility of Android under-the-hood, whereas additionally sustaining entry to full desktop-class net looking, I can invision the touch-enabled CB54 coming into its personal within the not-too-distant future.

After all, even with Aluminum OS theoretically beneath its belt, I reckon I am going to nonetheless wish to attain for my Home windows 11 pc to entry legacy PC packages and the like. That being mentioned, Android’s PC trajectory is extremely promising, and it has the potential to bloom right into a viable PC competitor in a manner that current ChromeOS merely doesn’t.

WIth this in thoughts, I sincerely hope to have the ability to revisit Asus’ ExpertBook CB54 in tomorrow’s Android-powered Chromebook world. The {hardware} right here is greater than stable sufficient for the value, and the system already covers primary computing duties with grace. If Android apps can show scalable for correct PC use, I can invision myself in the future switching to a Chromebook Plus system and never lacking Home windows 11 (or macOS, for that matter) within the slightest.

This system was offered to Pocket-lint by Asus.