When comparing Asus Chromebook Flip vs Microsoft Surface Pro 4, the Slant community recommends Microsoft Surface Pro 4 for most people. In the question“What are the best 12" laptops?” Microsoft Surface Pro 4 is ranked 3rd while Asus Chromebook Flip is ranked 4th. The most important reason people chose Microsoft Surface Pro 4 is:
The (included) Surface Pen has a very interesting set of features - it allows for 1024 points of pressure, has an eraser on top, and when you click the eraser it will open Cortana (Microsoft's new voice assistant). It's magnetized, so it will stick to the left side of the Surface. The Surface achieves all of this via its new N-trig technology (replacing the Wacom technology found in older generation models). There's also palm rejection technology, so whenever the pen tip it close to the screen is will ignore all finger or palm touches.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Great performance for a Chromebook
The Chromebook Flip has durable high-quality hardware including a high-end Intel core m3-6Y30 processor and 4GB RAM. This ensures that the Chromebook Flip is far ahead of competitors who mostly use older hardware or smaller RAM.
Pro Versatile
Has a firm, 360-degree bendable lid with sturdy, not too wobbly hinges and the 2.5-pound lightweight base makes this Chromebook very portable.
You can also turn the screen and use the laptop in three different "standing" modes (laptop, stand, tent, tablet) where the last three modes completely hide the keyboard.
Pro Great build quality
The whole chassis is made out of sturdy silver aluminium while the lid is covered with a double-layer impact resistant glass. The resistant glass protects the cover from tear and damage which makes the product more durable.
Pro Supports Android apps
The Asus Chromebook Flip supports Android Apps which can be directly installed from the Play Store.
Pro Great display
The Chromebook flip has a great 1080p display with good viewing angles. It's also quite bright at around 300 nits of brightness which makes it a decent choice for working outdoors.
Pro Great keyboard
The Chromebook Flip has a backlit keyboard which is a rarity among Chromebooks. The keyboard itself is pretty good as well. The keys have decent travel length and the keyboard feels very comfortable when typing even for long periods of time.
Pro Great pen support
The (included) Surface Pen has a very interesting set of features - it allows for 1024 points of pressure, has an eraser on top, and when you click the eraser it will open Cortana (Microsoft's new voice assistant). It's magnetized, so it will stick to the left side of the Surface. The Surface achieves all of this via its new N-trig technology (replacing the Wacom technology found in older generation models). There's also palm rejection technology, so whenever the pen tip it close to the screen is will ignore all finger or palm touches.
Pro Laptop-level specs
The Surface Pro 4 comes in configurations from core M up to a core i7. RAM starts at 4GB, and goes to 16GB. Storage caps out at 256GB of SSD storage, which should be enough for most users. These are all specs that can be found in most laptops - even beating out some budget-midrange desktop options.
Pro Good expandability options
The Surface has a USB 3.0 port that can be used for a mouse to be plugged in, or you can plug in a USB hub or Microsoft's own Surface Dock, which has 4 USB 3.0 ports, audio output, Gigabit Ethernet, and two HD video ports. The Surface Dock allows for as much expandability (or more) as most laptops out there. There's also a SD card slot if you need more storage (current SD card sizes range up to 200GB, although this won't be as fast as the internal SSD speeds).
Cons
Con Pricey
Good hardware performance, smooth design, and crisp image quality come with a high price-tag, making this Chromebook slightly expensive.
Con Terrible webcam
The plainly bad 0.9-megapixel webcam produces grainy images and leaves some background colors behind and is unable to have a real focus.
Con Battery life could be better
Battery life is limited to 6-7 hours while actively surfing the web and leaving the brightness at 75%, which is decent but not the best battery life as far a Chromebooks go.
Con Expensive
You can find a computer with similar specs for about half the price of the Surface Pro 4. You are paying a premium for the high-end build quality, for the engineering required to manufacture a fully portable computer, as well as for the high resolution touchscreen.
Con Lack of touch-focused apps
Windows has traditionally been a mouse-and-keyboard operating system. Finally, third party apps are starting to become more touch friendly, although it's a long, slow process. The Windows Store still lacks many big titles, which means the only option is to download the regular Windows version of most apps, which are rarely touch-friendly.