ASUS ExpertBook CX54 Chromebook Plus Laptop with Google AI, 14″ 2560×1600 Display, Intel® Core™ Ultra 5 Processor, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD, ChromeOS, Fog Silver, CX5403CMA-DB588

Pretty Good But Has Design Flaws
Skip to pros and cons below for TLDR!First Chromebook in a long time. The last one I owned was the Google Pixelbook Go and the Pixelbook before that so I’m more interested in the premium market. I’m curious how ChromeOS and the hardware has developed during my hiatus.Software:First, I love the software and UI. As a frequent user of MacOS and Windows, I feel like ChromeOS borrows strengths from both and could become a serious contender… if only Google took this platform seriously.What I mean by this is that progress of the OS has been slow. In less than 30 minutes I’ve learned every feature that I’ve missed out on for the last few years and there’s nothing new to explore. Yes, I get the OS is supposed to be simplistic and leans itself towards the edu market but Google needs to up the anti if they want to compete with the big dogs.Why isn’t there better integration with android or Pixel phones? Example: There’s no dedicated android messaging app other than the “web app” which has lag issues and doesn’t sync 100% of the time. Why are apps still buggy on intel variants like this? Why aren’t there more ARM based offerings by ASUS if most of ChromeOS’s apps run better on ARM? Why is Gemini just a web page while the search key still uses assistant? Why is there no gaming or Egpu support? It feels like Google is boxing themselves into a specific niche and are barely innovating at this point. With the birth of their most recent Pixel 9 it’s surprising to see them not bolster their ecosystem a bit more.Hardware:Asus makes a great laptop. The frame feels nice, the keys are clicky albeit a bit soft, and the screen is gorgeous. There are just a few weird design flaws I can’t get past for this to be an “ExpertBook”. The frame of the screen is cheap black plastic and feels jarring against the aluminum body and gray keys. The keycaps have exposed paint where the backlight shines through the border (see image of T and R key). The keys are gray…. gray doesn’t work well with white backlights and makes the letters disappear in certain lighting. The camera is atrocious and makes me look washed out….the only saving grace is that my phone camera desaturates the image I have attached.Overall:I like the hardware, the software is beautiful and simple, but I expect more now that a macbook air M2 can be had for the same price. After all these years of laptops using the same materials and designs, the cost of premium Chromebooks should be much lower by now. With the aforementioned sales of the competition, I just can’t justify the purchase at this point.Pros-keyboard is nice-screen is bright and gorgeous-fingerprint scanner is fast-touchpad is decent and doesn’t wobble. Made of glass.-frame feels nice and weight is light-IO is excellent, 2 USBC, microSD, HDMI, 2 USBA, audio jack-AI goodies of ChromeOS and Google services like Slides, Sheets, Docs, makes this a great laptop for students (if they don’t need heavy software)Cons-Keycaps are gray and have paint defects. Hard to read lettering with backlight-Android apps buggy / nonfunctional due to Intel architecture-Screen frame is cheap black plastic and goes against design aesthetic-Camera is awful – low quality and washed out.-Touchpad has limited click range, not haptic-ChromeOS continues to be limited, can’t do any serious on-device gaming, graphical work, editing, etc.-Google ecosystem is still lackluster. Needs deeper integration with android / Pixel phones.-Gemini is a web app yet the built in search key uses assistant… inconsistent-Price: You can buy the macbook air m2 for 699 at the time of this review on sale. Hard to justify a premium chromebook with limited software unless you really hate MacOS.