ASUS Chromebox 2 — updated with Intel Broadwell

In spring 2014, ASUS has followed Samsung to produce their first Chromebox as an alternative to Google’s portable Chromebook line. The Chromebox is a small desktop computer that runs Google’s Chrome OS software which eventually spawned a new line up ranging from Intel Celeron to the Intel Core i7 processors based on the Intel Haswell architecture.

ASUS latest Chromebox offers several improvements over its predecessors with an Intel Broadwell processor that improves the graphics performance and also offers faster wireless WiFi connectivity.

The new ASUS Chromebox still retain the same size and form factor as its predecessor, measuring in at 4.9 inch x 4.9 inch x 1.7 inches. The tiny box now comes with an Intel Celeron 3205U processor with Intel HD5500 graphics and wireless AC. The rest of the specifications is pretty much similar to the previous version, which means four USB 3.0 ports, HDMI, DisplayPort, Gigabit Ethernet and audio jacks.

Labelled as the CN62, the new ASUS Chromebox have 2GB of DDR3 RAM and 16GB internal storage, you might say that 16GB is not enough but the ASUS Chromebox is running full Android OS in it. So it’s more than enough for the handling the tasks that you will throw at this computer.

The ASUS Chromebox CN62 is ready to pick up at USD 199 or approximately MYR 860 but the availability in Malaysia is still unsure.

Pokdepinion: It’s a little odd when the ASUS Chromebox is not using the latest Intel Skylake processors. Even though the Skylake processor might not offer a significant CPU performance boost but it does have a better graphics processing unit and reduced power consumption.