Asus CX15 Chromebook ZDNET's key takeaways Asus' CX15 Chromebook is available now for $159. It's one of the most affordable 15-inch laptops released this year, with a handful of features that make it especially good for students. The modest hardware puts a limit on its performance. $159 at Walmart Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. Asus' CX15 Chromebook is an affordable, durable laptop that handles the basics for $159. With a standard hardware loadout and solid 15-inch form factor, you've got a solid budget device that's especially good in an educational setting. The CX15 is one of the least expensive new Chromebooks you can buy right now, having just been released by Asus this summer alongside the Lenovo Chromebook Plus, a premium Chromebook with an OLED that's more than double the price. Also: This Lenovo Chromebook easily replaced my Windows laptop for work - and I can't go back But in terms of usability, these two devices aren't necessarily worlds apart. The CX15's combination of modest hardware and a stock plastic build keeps prices low, but it still comes with the latest productivity apps in ChromeOS. In terms of physical form, the 15-inch Asus CX15 isn't exactly the lightest Chromebook on the market at 3.5 pounds, but the plastic body feels durable enough, especially for a classroom device that will be used by multiple students throughout the day. It also comes in four colorways that give it some character: Pure Grey, Fabric Blue, Cream Pink, and Misty Green, a nice change of pace from the sea of corporate gray and white laptops -- and something that will appeal to younger users. Also: Why this 16-inch Acer is the ideal ThinkPad replacement (especially at this price) Under the hood, the CX15 has a modest selection of hardware designed to handle everyday tasks. It comes with an Intel Celeron N4500 processor that runs at 1.1 GHz, and an Intel UHD GPU. The laptop is powered with either 4GB or 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM, and 128GB of eMMC storage. Kyle Kucharski/ZDNET This kind of storage (Embedded multimedia card) is older technology and a good way to keep the price low, since it's less expensive than an SSD (solid state drive) and a reasonable sacrifice to make since you don't need lots of local storage on a Chromebook, anyway. Instead, working in the cloud and navigating the lightweight, streamlined ChromeOS feels just fine, with all the snappy performance you'd expect. The full-sized keyboard allows for solid productivity work, with durable, plastic keys and a functional, if perfectly standard trackpad, if a little on the small size. Also: This $500 Chromebook Plus has better performance than some PCs I've tested The 15.6-inch, 16:9 FHD display caps out at 300 nits of brightness and isn't the most premium, but the matte coating looks just fine navigating ChromeOS, working in NotebookLM, Gmail, or on YouTube, with the 1080p resolution giving the device more bang for its buck. Along these lines, the speakers are pretty standard. They're not the best, but I've heard worse, and they get just loud enough. For TV shows and YouTube content, they're absolutely equipped for the job. In terms of connectivity, the CX15 has one HDMI port, a headphone jack, up to two USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 ports, and up to two USB-A ports. They're not the fastest ports, limited to 5GB per second data transfer, but again, for the price, it's more about the access. Notably, it also comes with a Kensington Nano security slot, further increasing its utility as an enterprise device or for use in schools. Also: Why this 16-inch Acer is the ideal ThinkPad replacement (especially at this price) The device's 42Whr battery isn't particularly big, but it's sufficient for the processor and display. We got about 10 hours in our battery test, but it didn't last for a whole workday for me with the brightness turned all the way up. It prompts to be plugged in after about 7 hours. You can, however, get an entire workday out of this laptop if you turn the brightness down. ZDNET's buying advice If you're looking for an inexpensive Chromebook but prefer a larger screen, the Asus CX15 is about as affordable as it gets. For $159, you're getting a laptop that happily handles the basics, comes with a full-sized keyboard, has enough battery life for a full day of work (as long as you're not running at max brightness), and is durable enough for kids. There are limitations on its performance -- the CX15 is not going to multitask like a dream with dozens of browser tabs, but it's not made for that. In that sense, I'd recommend this laptop for anyone who understands its intended use case as a device for everyday tasks. If you want a Chromebook with more horsepower, I'd recommend the Lenovo Chromebook Plus or the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook. If you want an affordable 15-inch laptop that runs Windows, I recommend the Asus Vivobook S 15.