At $270, ASUS’s New Chromebook Has No Business Being This Good

The budget laptop category has a long reputation for disappointing displays, short battery life, and builds that feel provisional rather than considered. Most sub-$300 machines get you to the internet and not much further before something creaks or slows down. It’s a price bracket that tends to ask buyers to accept tradeoffs that shouldn’t really be necessary in 2026, and ChromeOS devices have historically been no exception.

The ASUS Chromebook CM15 and Chromebook CM32 Detachable take a different approach to that bracket. Both run on the MediaTek Kompanio 540 processor with up to 8 GB of LPDDR5X memory, pass 24 MIL-STD-810H military-grade durability tests, and come with a three-month Google AI Pro trial bundled in. They aren’t trimmed-down machines trying to look complete. They’re designed to cover the full range of what most people actually do on a laptop.

Designer: ASUS

The CM15 is the larger of the two, a 15.6-inch clamshell with an FHD anti-glare panel, a 180-degree lay-flat hinge, and a chassis that weighs 3.26 lbs and comes in four colors: Pure Grey, Fabric Blue, Cream Pink, and Misty Green. Each has a washi-paper-inspired texture that gives it a bit more character than the usual matte plastic. The port selection includes HDMI alongside two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C ports and a USB Type-A, and ASUS specifically flags HDMI as an unusual inclusion at this price point.

The CM32 Detachable is smaller and considerably more flexible, at 1.41 lbs without the keyboard attached. Its 12.1-inch, 2.5K 120 Hz touchscreen is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass, and it comes with a magnetically attached stand, a detachable keyboard with 1.35 mm key travel, and a wirelessly charged stylus shaped like a traditional ballpoint pen. The whole system connects and disconnects cleanly without any of the fussiness that detachable keyboards often carry.

Both devices boot in under ten seconds, handle background updates automatically, and run Android apps from Google Play, which in practice means Netflix, Adobe Lightroom, Zoom, and Microsoft 365 are all accessible out of the box. The Google AI Pro trial includes NotebookLM and Gemini integration across Gmail and Docs, adding genuine productivity value without requiring a separate subscription to access.

Where the two models diverge is in their use case and price. The CM15 starts at $269.99 and suits anyone who wants a wide screen with a full-size keyboard for daily tasks at home or school. The CM32 at $579.00 is the pick for people who need the flexibility of a tablet one moment and a laptop the next, particularly given the stylus and the 120 Hz display. The CM15 body is also made with 30% recycled plastics and sustainable packaging, a commitment that extends the value of the machine beyond its shelf life.

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Everything Apple Needs to Fix Before the Final iOS 27 Release

Everything Apple Needs to Fix Before the Final iOS 27 Release An iPhone storage menu showing Apple Intelligence taking up 19 gigabytes of space.

iOS 27 introduces a range of updates aimed at enhancing functionality and user experience. From a redesigned Siri interface to advancements in Apple Intelligence, the update reflects Apple’s ongoing commitment to innovation. However, these changes are accompanied by certain usability challenges and increased storage demands, raising questions about whether the update truly improves daily interactions. […]

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Free Unsloth Repo Upgrades a Used Gaming PC Into an AI Rig

Free Unsloth Repo Upgrades a Used Gaming PC Into an AI Rig A close-up view of a used RTX 3090 graphics card resting on a workbench.

Turning a used gaming PC into a capable AI training rig might sound ambitious, but Unsloth, an open source repository, makes it not only possible but practical. By using techniques like Low-Rank Adaptation (LoRA) and Quantized LoRA (QLoRA), Unsloth drastically reduces the memory and computational demands of fine-tuning large AI models. For example, a consumer-grade […]

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XREAL XBX A01 Plus Brings 120Hz OLED AR Glasses For $299

XREAL XBX A01 Plus Brings 120Hz OLED AR Glasses For $299 A person comfortably wearing the XBX A01 Plus video glasses.

The XBX A01 Plus, part of XREAL’s product lineup, is an augmented reality headset priced at $299. Tyriel Wood highlights its key features, including dual micro OLED displays with a 1920×1080 resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate, which provide clear and smooth visuals. Weighing just 56 grams without shades, the device is designed for comfort […]

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Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra vs. Fold 8 Wide — New Design Leaks Just Rewrote the Rules

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra vs. Fold 8 Wide — New Design Leaks Just Rewrote the Rules Side-by-side comparison of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Fold 8 Ultra

The floodgates have officially opened. Just days ahead of Samsung’s highly anticipated July 22nd Galaxy Unpacked event, a massive wave of design leaks has completely unmasked the tech giant’s upcoming lineup. We aren’t just looking at minor spec bumps either—these visuals give us an unfiltered look at a massive design divergence for the Galaxy Z […]

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Motorola Just Built the Android Phone Samsung’s Galaxy S26 Almost Was

Wireless charging on Android has been a bit of a mess. Most phones support it, but the speeds tend to lag behind proprietary fast-charging standards, and the Qi2 situation has been particularly awkward. Samsung’s Galaxy S26 series supports Qi2 speeds but skips the built-in magnets, meaning you still need a special case to get the alignment right. Other Android phones that did include magnets weren’t hitting the full 25W Qi2 ceiling. It was always one or the other.

The Motorola Edge 70 Max closes that gap. It’s the first mainstream Android phone outside of Google’s Pixel line to offer true Qi2 wireless charging with built-in magnets and the full 25W MPP25 speed, no magnetic case required, no extra ring to stick on the back. Drop it on a Qi2 pad, and it snaps into position and charges at the maximum rate the standard allows. That’s a more meaningful distinction than it might sound.

Designer: Motorola

For anyone who keeps a charging pad on a nightstand or desk, alignment has always been the friction point of wireless charging. Miss the coil slightly, and speeds drop, or charging stops entirely without any notification. Built-in magnets solve that by locking the phone into position automatically, the same way MagSafe works on an iPhone. Android users have had to use workarounds for years to get the same result, and most still don’t bother.

Beyond the charging story, the Edge 70 Max arrives with serious hardware throughout. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 chip delivers a 36% CPU improvement and 11% GPU improvement over its predecessor, and a vapor chamber cooling system with liquid metal and a 5,500 mm² chamber keeps temperatures in check during sustained loads. Up to 12 GB of LPDDR5X memory and up to 1 TB of storage round out the platform.

The 7100 mAh silicon-carbon battery earned a DXOMARK Gold Label with 160 points, and 90W TurboPower wired charging adds enough for a full day in just six minutes. The 50MP Sony LYTIA 710 main camera handles photography with AI-assisted processing, and the phone debuts Motorola Qira, a unified AI system shared across Lenovo PCs and tablets that carries context between devices.

The Quad HD+ (2K) display is rated as the brightest in its category, and the build is aircraft-grade aluminum framed with matte premium glass and MIL-STD-810H certification. Motorola has also made clear that the packaging is fully recyclable and printed with soy-based inks, a detail that reflects the broader Lenovo sustainability push rather than just a spec-sheet line.

The Android wireless charging ecosystem has needed a phone willing to commit fully to Qi2 rather than taking the halfway approach that most manufacturers have favored. The Edge 70 Max is the first non-Pixel Android flagship to do it without compromise, and with the rest of the hardware backing it up, the charging system stops being a headline curiosity and becomes a genuinely practical reason to pick one platform over another.

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Testing Steam Machine: GTA V Holds 60 FPS with Ray Tracing

Testing Steam Machine: GTA V Holds 60 FPS with Ray Tracing The physical Steam Machine console resting on an entertainment center.

The Steam Machine is a hybrid device designed to combine the customization of PC gaming with the accessibility of a living room console. At a $1,000 price point, it stands out for its ability to handle demanding games like Doom at over 120 frames per second, all while maintaining a sleek, minimalist design. According to […]

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