Asus' Chromebook Flip C436 is all speed, battery life and more speed

Intel Project Athena verified, the premium 14-inch Chrome two-in-one is designed to be ready to work when you are.

Joshua Goldman Managing Editor / Advice

Managing Editor Josh Goldman is a laptop expert and has been writing about and reviewing them since built-in Wi-Fi was an optional feature. He also covers almost anything connected to a PC, including keyboards, mice, USB-C docks and PC gaming accessories. In addition, he writes about cameras, including action cams and drones. And while he doesn't consider himself a gamer, he spends entirely too much time playing them.

Expertise Laptops, desktops and computer and PC gaming accessories including keyboards, mice and controllers, cameras, action cameras and drones Credentials

More than two decades experience writing about PCs and accessories, and 15 years writing about cameras of all kinds.

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Joshua Goldman

Jan. 8, 2020 3:31 p.m. PT

2 min read

The Chromebook Flip C436 is one of the first verified for Intel Project Athena.
Asus

You're going to see more laptops in 2020 that give you an experience more like using your phone thanks to Intel's Project Athena program. It's not limited to Windows 10 PCs anymore, either, with Intel announcing at CES that Google has partnered with the chip maker to verify Chromebooks for the program like the upcoming 14-inch Asus Chromebook Flip C436 two-in-one.

In order to be verified for Project Athena, the Chromebook had to meet certain performance and battery life metrics, or key experience indicators. When you lift the lid, for example, it will start up in less than a second. Its responsiveness will remain consistent on battery as when plugged in with at least 9 hours of battery life under real-world conditions and 16 or more hours of battery for local video playback. And when the battery is low, the laptop needs to charge fast, giving you at least four hours of battery in 30 minutes. A fast, persistent wireless connection is also part of the package.

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To help the Flip C436 achieve this, Asus used the same caliber of components you'd find in a premium Windows two-in-one -- atypical for Chromebooks.

Up to an Intel Core i7-10510U
Integrated Intel UHD graphics
8GB or 16GB of memory
Up to 512GB M.2 SSD
Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0

chromebook-flip-c436-aerogel-white-intel-project-athena.png — Asus

Made from magnesium alloy, the Flip C436 is ultralight at 2.4 pounds (1.1 kg) -- impressive for a 14-inch two-in-one -- and with slimmed-down bezels on the full-HD display, the C436 has an 85% screen-to-body ratio. Its 360-degree hinges let you use it as a laptop or tablet and it has USI active pen support with 4,096 levels of pressure. And it's one of the rare Chromebooks with a fingerprint reader -- built into the power button -- for unlocking it without a password.

The Asus Chromebook is expected to be available in the first half of the year. No pricing was announced.