Asus is adding a new option to its line of Chromebooks, listing a new C301 model as coming soon.
Laptops running Google's Chrome operating system are growing in popularity, as they offer good specifications at affordable price points. The upcoming Asus C301, meanwhile, seems to be one of the company's most expensive Chromebooks to date, but it's also among the first to boast some more advanced specifications.
The new Asus C301 is a 13-inch Chromebook with a full HD (1080p), LED-backlit, anti-glare display and an Intel Braswell N3160 quad-core processor firing things up at 2 GHz, or up to 2.24 GHz with Turbo. Other specifications include integrated Intel HD graphics, 4 GB of RAM and 16 GB of eMMC storage, and the device will retail at $279.
Although this price tag makes it notably more expensive than other Asus Chromebooks, the C301 does boast a full HD display and a heftier 4 GB of RAM, which makes it stand out from the crowd.
Other specs and features of the Asus C301 Chromebook include an HD camera, a three-cell 48 Whrs battery, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, two USB 3.0 ports, an HDMI port, Bluetooth 4.2, and an SD card reader.
In terms of weight and dimensions, the C301 tips the scale at roughly 3 pounds and measures 13 x 9 x 0.9 inches.
Asus did not announce a specific launch date for the C301 Chromebook yet, but it already listed the device on its website with a "coming soon" label. The company is expected to unveil more details regarding its plans for this year at the upcoming Computex 2016 trade show, which takes place next week in Taiwan.
Either way, one thing's for sure: Chromebooks are on the rise and they're constantly gaining more traction on the U.S. market. Just recently, a new IDC report revealed that Chromebooks are actually outperforming Apple's Macs in terms of U.S. sales, and that's no small achievement.
More options and higher-end specs will likely contribute to the Chromebooks' success, and the upcoming option from Asus seems worthy of consideration. We'll keep you up to date when it becomes available for purchase, so stay tuned.
