Asus Chromebook Enterprise Flip CB5 review: A big-screen Chromebook built for business

Recent high-spec, big-screen Chromebooks have all had one thing in common: they were all designed primarily for gamers. Sure, the (now end-of-life) Acer Chromebook 516GE and Lenovo IdeaPad 5i Gaming Chromebook Plus were fantastic Chromebooks that could work well in a business setting, but what if you weren't bothered with RGB lighting and a screen with a 120Hz refresh rate? What if you just wanted a Chromebook with a screen big enough for serious multi-tasking and a keyboard you could work all day on? And would it hurt if it looked a little more professional? 

Well, if the gamer bling of those Chromebooks put you off, the Asus Chromebook Enterprise Flip CB5 could be just what you're looking for. It has a 16-inch screen in a 16:10 aspect ratio with a 1920 x 1200 resolution. It comes packing an Intel Core i5-1235 CPU, alongside 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. It also has a fantastic keyboard and battery life to spare, yet its 2-in-1 convertible design is flexible, stylish, and office-friendly. While it's on the pricey side by Chromebook standards, it feels like a premium device. If you value comfort and features over lightweight portability, the Enterprise Flip CB5 is well worth paying a little extra for.

Asus Chromebook Enterprise Flip CB5: Design

The basic design of the Chromebook Enterprise Flip CB5 might be familiar if you've seen Asus's old CX5500 Flip Chromebook or the more recent Chromebook Vibe CX34 Flip. Like them, it's a 2-in-1 convertible laptop that's perfectly usable in the regular clamshell format, but where you can fold the lid flat against the base to create a kind of massive, chunky tablet. Alternatively, you can fold it back to around 270 degrees and use it with the screen upside down and facing outwards in a tent configuration, or with the base working as a stand to hold the screen facing front and upwards. The latter two options are particularly useful for touchscreen applications or ad-hoc presentations, though the sheer size of the 16-inch screen makes using the tablet format slightly weird, especially with no stylus bundled in.

And like the CX55500 Flip and Vibe CX34 Flip, the Enterprise Flip CB5 has a robust, powder-coated aluminum body, here in a slick matt dark grey. It's relatively thin and light for a 16-inch laptop, with a 358 x 262mm desktop footprint and a maximum thickness of just under 20mm, and when you combine that with the slim bezels around the 16:10 screen you get a rather elegant machine. It's robust too, meeting MIL-STD-810H requirements for dust and shock resistance. 

The ErgoLift hinge raises the keyboard as you push the screen back so that it sits at a comfortable typing angle, and there's still ample room for a good range of connections, including two 10Gbits/sec USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, a single USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port and an HDMI 2.0 video output. Throw Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity into the mix, and you've got everything you need for a full desktop setup onboard. It's only if you want dual displays, wired networking, or the convenience of a single cable that you'd need to invest in a separate dock.

Crucially, the larger size makes this a laptop you can work on all day long. The keyboard suffers from a tiny left shift key, cramped cursor keys, and an undersized numeric keypad, but the feel is excellent, with 1.4mm of travel and speedy but still clicky action. The 128 x 72mm touchpad is also larger than the norm, and while it hasn't got the glassy feel of a touchpad on a high-end laptop, it's still reliable in its tracking and smooth to the touch. Here a mouse is a nice-to-have rather than a must-have. 

Asus Chromebook Enterprise Flip CB5: Display

If there's one area where Asus should have gone further, it's the screen. It's big and the 1920 x 1200 resolution is perfectly adequate, but if you've been spoilt by the 2560 x 1600 resolution of the IdeaPad 5i Gaming Chromebook Plus and Chromebook 615GE, you'll notice that this one isn't quite as crisp or clear. What's more, the colors aren't as deep or vibrant; in tests, the Enterprise Flip CB5 covers just 59% of the sRGB color gamut and 43% of the DCI-P3 gamut, which is more what we'd expect from a budget Chromebook than a premium model.

In isolation, though, the image quality is pretty good. The screen goes bright, reaching 343cd/m2, making it usable in most lighting conditions bar direct sunlight, text looks sharp and there's plenty of contrast. What's more, the 16-inch screen size is easier on the eyes when you're working across multiple windows than the 14-inch screens on many rival Chromebooks.

Asus Chromebook Enterprise Flip CB5: Performance

The Chromebook Enterprise Flip CB5 combines a ten-core Intel Core i5-1235U processor with 8GB of RAM, and what would be a mid-range spec on a Windows laptop works as a high-end spec on Chrome OS. Benchmark results are similar to those of other high-end models like the Acer Chromebook Spin 714 and Asus Chromebook Vibe CX34, though the Flip CB5 lagged behind slightly in Geekbench 6's multithreaded tests, with 5615 to the Spin 714's 6568 and the Vibe CX34's 6292. It was closer in Basemark 3.0, at 1238 to 1245 from the Acer and 1360.24 from the Vibe CX34, and closer still in the Jetstream multitasking benchmark, where it scored 257.95 to 246.92 and 260.65.

In actual use, there's enough processing power here to handle a wide range of applications. You can have well over a dozen Chrome tabs open without a hint of any slowdown, while Android apps and even Linux applications shouldn't give you any problems with performance. 

As for battery life, the Chromebook Enterprise Flip CB5 confounded expectations by holding up for eleven hours and 49 minutes of 1080p video playback before conking out. That puts it ahead of the smaller Vibe CX34 Flip if not quite matching the Spin 714 with its epic 13-hour plus longevity. Even with the brightness turned up, you should be able to get through most working days without a recharge, which is impressive when you consider that you're working with a bigger screen. 

Asus Chromebook Enterprise Flip CB5: Is it worth it?

At £879 it's more expensive than the Chromebook Spin 714, but it's still not hugely pricey in comparison to other business-ready Chromebooks. It also looks and feels distinctly more premium than the recent clutch of Chromebook Plus models, with a thoroughly usable keyboard and impressive performance and battery life to boot. The Spin 714 has the edge when it comes to the quality of its display and is slightly better value for money, but if you're looking for a big-screen alternative, the Chromebook Enterprise Flip CB5 is as good as they come. 

Asus Chromebook Enterprise Flip CB5 specifications