Whether it's the HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9, or one of many others, lightweight 14-inch business laptops are the mainstay of traveling executives. According to Asus, that goes for "cloud-first business," too: The Chromebook CX9 (starts at $749.99; $999.99 as tested) can slug it out with any Windows slimline, but it relies on Chrome OS and Google Workspace. Impressively light yet packed with features ranging from a fingerprint reader to Thunderbolt 4 ports, the CX9 is a pricey but strong performer that will please any enterprise that's chosen to adopt Chromebooks.
The Core i7 Is Probably Overkill
The $749.99 base model of the Asus Chromebook CX9 combines an 11th Generation Intel Core i3 processor, 8GB of memory, a 128GB solid-state drive, and a full HD (1,920-by-1,080-pixel) touch screen. Stepping up to our $999.99 test unit gets you a quad-core, 2.4GHz Core i5-1135G7 CPU with Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics, 16GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD (with PCI Express Gen 3 instead of the fractionally faster Gen 4 interface, but that's still far swifter than the eMMC flash storage of cheaper Chromebooks).
As you'll see in the performance section below, our Core i5 CX9 proved to be one of the fastest Chromebooks we've ever tested, but if you crave still more speed you can spend $1,149.99 for a Core i7-1165G7 model with 512GB SSD. Another $100 on top of that gets you a 4K (3,840-by-2,160) resolution display.
Like elite Windows business notebooks, the Asus meets Intel Evo specifications for connectivity and responsiveness and has passed MIL-STD 810H torture tests for shock, vibration, and environmental extremes. There's barely any flex if you grasp the screen corners or mash the keyboard, which is tilted for comfortable typing by the ErgoLift hinge also seen in Asus' deluxe Windows laptops. (The bottom of the display bezel props the base at a slight angle.)
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Its aluminum alloy chassis measures 0.71 by 12.7 by 8.1 inches and tips the scales at a trim 2.31 pounds. The HP Elite c1030 Chromebook Enterprise has a 13.5-inch screen with 3:2 instead of the Asus' familiar 16:9 aspect ratio, skewing its proportions to 0.7 by 11.6 by 8.5 inches, and weighs 2.87 pounds. Our business Chromebook Editors' Choice award winner, Lenovo's ThinkPad C13 Yoga Chromebook, is a pound heavier than the CX9 despite its smaller 13.3-inch display, but that goes with its convertible hinge.
We give major props to Chromebooks that have HDMI ports rather than making external monitor users fuss with DisplayPort dongles. The Asus has one on its left side, along with two USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 4 capability, one of which accommodates the AC adapter. On the right, you'll find a USB 3.2 Type-A port, a microSD card slot, an audio jack, and a security lock slot.
A Screen Worth Seeing
The bottom screen bezel isn't particularly thin but is hidden below the keyboard by the ErgoLift hinge; overall, Asus claims a nearly borderless 92% screen-to-body ratio. The 1080p display offers ample brightness and contrast. Reflections on the touch glass are the only things that spoil extreme viewing angles.
Colors are rich and well saturated, and white backgrounds are pristine instead of dingy. Fine details are sharp; as with most Chromebooks, you can select from an array of "looks like" faux resolutions—the default is 1,536 by 864—if the native 1080p makes screen elements too small for your liking.
The 720p webcam captures colorful, slightly blotchy images with a bit of noise or static. It has a sliding shutter in the top bezel for privacy. A fingerprint reader at the right of the keyboard deck lets you sign in after locking the system or skip typing passwords. Bottom-mounted speakers pump out loud sound, a bit boomy or harsh at high volume; bass is minimal, but you can make out overlapping tracks.
The brightly backlit keyboard offers a standard Chromebook layout (with a search/launch key in lieu of Caps Lock) and a snappy typing feel. A generous-size, buttonless touchpad glides and taps smoothly; it has an easy, quiet click action.
Testing the Chromebook CX9: 11th Gen CPUs Lead the Way
The only other corporate-specific Chromebook to complete our new benchmark regimen is the abovementioned HP Elite c1030 Chromebook Enterprise, so I collected an assortment of other systems including HP's Chromebook x360 14c, a 14-inch Core i3 convertible. The 2021 version of Lenovo's IdeaPad Flex 5 Chromebook is a 13.3-inch convertible now in the review pipeline that features an 11th Generation Core i3 chip, while the 15.6-inch Samsung Chromebook 4+ is an example of an entry-level laptop with Intel Celeron power, sure to trail in our test results. You can see their basic specs in the table below.
We test Chromebooks with three overall performance benchmark suites—one Chrome OS, one Android, and one online. The first, Principled Technologies' CrXPRT 2, measures how quickly a system performs everyday tasks in six workloads such as applying photo effects, graphing a stock portfolio, analyzing DNA sequences, and generating 3D shapes using WebGL. The second, UL's PCMark for Android Work 3.0, performs assorted productivity operations in a smartphone-style window, while Basemark Web 3.0 runs in a browser tab to combine low-level JavaScript calculations with CSS and WebGL content. All three yield numeric scores; higher numbers are better. (See more about how we test laptops.)
The Asus raced to the win in CrXPRT 2, with the 11th Gen Core i3 Lenovo edging the 10th Gen Core i7 HP for the silver medal. The Elite c1030 got its revenge by posting the highest PCMark for Android score, but the CX9 was a strong second, with the IdeaPad the surprise winner in Basemark Web 3.0. The Asus proved the best performer overall, with the cheap Samsung predictably the poorest.
Another Android benchmark focuses on the CPU: Primate Labs' Geekbench uses all available cores and threads to simulate real-world applications ranging from PDF rendering and speech recognition to machine learning. Finally, to test a Chromebook's battery life, we loop a 720p video file with screen brightness set at 50%, audio volume at 100%, and Wi-Fi and keyboard backlighting disabled until the system quits. If there isn't enough internal storage to hold the video, we play it from an external SSD plugged into a USB port.
The new Core i5 in the CX9 powered through Geekbench's processor workout, with the HP Elite's older Core i7 not far behind. The Samsung's Celeron performed pitiably. The Chromebooks' battery life fell short of current Windows ultraportables', but proved more than enough to get you through a full day of work or school.
Getting Down to Business
We've been impressed with Intel's 11th Generation mobile chips in Windows notebooks, and we're impressed with them in Chrome OS laptops, too. The Asus Chromebook CX9 is costly at $999.99 for our well-equipped Core i5 unit or $1,249.99 for a Core i7 model with a 4K display, but your money buys you a nearly faultless corporate Chromebook, with nothing important missing except maybe mobile broadband for use away from Wi-Fi hotspots.
It's light yet sturdy, with great performance, plenty of ports, and a first-class screen and keyboard. A $100 or $200 price cut would have captured it an Editors' Choice award.
It could stand a price cut, but the 14-inch, 2.3-pound Asus Chromebook CX9 is the very model of a capable business Chromebook.
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