The good news is that the keyboard and trackpad are pretty good. The Chromebook CM14 offers a comfortable typing experience, and the trackpad is spacious, though the materials Asus used offer a bit more resistance than I’d prefer. It doesn’t flex during normal use, and it’s supported by the laptop’s solid base.
The 14-inch screen gives you a full resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels, but Asus sets the display scaling to standard, so it looks like a 1,536 x 864 pixel screen. Adjust the scaling back to the native resolution and it looks suitably sharp; however, the same can’t be said for the TN display’s washed-out colors, dim maximum brightness, and poor viewing angles.
Photo: Daniel Thorpe Lancaster
If there’s one superpower that the MediaTek platform gives the CM14, it’s efficiency. I was impressed with the battery life of this laptop; I got about 10-11 hours of mixed use during a typical workday. Asus claims you can get up to 15 hours of battery life, so you could potentially get even longer depending on how you use it.
The webcam is nothing special, but it offers a 720p video that looks good for video calls, and it’s nice that it can be blocked with a physical switch for added privacy. Ports are also pretty good for the price, with two USB-C ports, one USB-A port, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a microSD card slot. The 64GB of built-in storage is definitely limiting, so the microSD slot is a nice touch if you need extra storage.
Pursue sales
So should you buy the Asus Chromebook CM14? Probably. When buying on a budget, there are always trade-offs, and they show up in the poor display and lackluster performance. But with strong points like great battery life, solid build, and a great keyboard, if you’re happy with the basics, the CM14 is a Chromebook worth considering.
This decision is tough because of aggressive pricing, with more powerful Chromebook Plus laptops starting at $399, but often selling for much less. The Chromebook CM14 has a list price of $299, so it’s worth considering whether you can spend a bit more on a sale to get a more powerful option like the Acer Chromebook Plus 514. That said, I’ve seen the CM14 drop to $180 on sale, and at that price it’s definitely a bargain.
