ASUS Chromebook C201

Updated on June 5, 2026

Chrome OS updates for the ASUS Chromebook C201 stopped at its Auto Update Expiration date in June 2020, so the machine receives no further security patches or feature releases. Current models are listed on the Chromebook comparison chart.

The C201 (model line C201PA) arrived in May 2015 as a sub-$200 Chromebook built on an ARM processor. The 11.6-inch laptop was built around the Rockchip RK3288C quad-core ARM SoC, one of the very few non-Intel Chromebooks of its era (the contemporary Acer Chromebook 13 with Nvidia Tegra K1 was the other main ARM option). It paired 13-hour battery life, silent fanless operation, and a 2.1-pound chassis with a starting MSRP of $169.

Related Videos

ASUS Chromebook C201 Comparison Chart

	ASUS Chromebook C201	ASUS Chromebook C201	ASUS Chromebook C201	ASUS Chromebook C201
Price	List Price: $179.00 Amazon Prices: Check Price on Amazon	List Price: $199.00 Amazon Prices: Check Price on Amazon	List Price: $169.00 Amazon Prices: Check Price on Amazon	List Price: $179.00 Amazon Prices: Check Price on Amazon
Model number	C201PA-DS02-PW	C201PA-DS02-LG	C201PA-DS01	C201PA-DS02
Performance Rating	2.5	2.5	2.0	2.5
Chromebook Plus	No	No	No	No
Processor	Quad-core 1.80 Ghz Rockchip RK3288C	Quad-core 1.80 Ghz Rockchip RK3288C	Quad-core 1.80 Ghz Rockchip RK3288C	Quad-core 1.80 Ghz Rockchip RK3288C
RAM	4 GB	4 GB	2 GB	4 GB
Internal Storage	16 GB eMMC	16 GB eMMC	16 GB eMMC	16 GB eMMC
Screen Size	11.6"	11.6"	11.6"	11.6"
Screen Resolution	1366x768	1366x768	1366x768	1366x768
Screen Type	LED Backlit TN	LED Backlit TN	LED Backlit TN	LED Backlit TN
Touch Screen	No	No	No	No
Stylus / Pen	No Stylus Support	No Stylus Support	No Stylus Support	No Stylus Support
Dimensions width x length x thickness	11.2 x 7.6 x 0.7 inches (284.48 x 193.04 x 17.78 mm)	11.2 x 7.6 x 0.7 inches (284.48 x 193.04 x 17.78 mm)	11.2 x 7.6 x 0.7 inches (284.48 x 193.04 x 17.78 mm)	11.2 x 7.6 x 0.7 inches (284.48 x 193.04 x 17.78 mm)
Weight	2.1 lbs (0.95 kg)	2.1 lbs (0.95 kg)	2.1 lbs (0.95 kg)	2.1 lbs (0.95 kg)
Backlit Keyboard	No	No	No	No
Webcam	720p HD	720p HD	720p HD	720p HD
WiFi	802.11 a/b/g/n/ac	802.11 a/b/g/n/ac	802.11 a/b/g/n/ac	802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 4.1	Bluetooth 4.1	Bluetooth 4.1	Bluetooth 4.1
Ethernet	No	No	No	No
Cellular Modem	No	No	No	No
HDMI	Micro HDMI	Micro HDMI	Micro HDMI	Micro HDMI
USB Ports	2 USB 2.0	2 USB 2.0	2 USB 2.0	2 USB 2.0
Thunderbolt Ports	No	No	No	No
Card Reader	microSD Card Reader	microSD Card Reader	microSD Card Reader	microSD Card Reader
Battery	2 cell, 38 Whrs, Lithium-ion	2 cell, 38 Whrs, Lithium-ion	2 cell, 38 Whrs, Lithium-ion	2 cell, 38 Whrs, Lithium-ion
Battery Life	13.0 hours	13.0 hours	13.0 hours	13.0 hours
Fanless	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Auto Update Expiration Date	June, 2020	June, 2020	June, 2020	June, 2020

Only the RAM and the finish set the variants apart

The C201 shipped as the C201PA model line in four cataloged SKUs, all of which share the same chassis, processor, display, and AUE date:

The Rockchip RK3288C, the 38 Whr battery, and the dual-band 802.11ac module are identical across all four. Storage is 16 GB of eMMC in every case, soldered in place with no upgrade path.

Browser benchmarks near Intel Bay Trail speeds

The C201 runs a Rockchip RK3288C at 1.8 GHz with four ARM Cortex-A17 cores and an ARM Mali-T764 GPU. That chip was a then-recent application processor more typically found in Android tablets, chosen here over Intel’s Bay Trail and Nvidia’s Tegra K1.

OMG Chrome’s benchmark testing recorded Octane results that came in “just short of 7,000,” Kraken at 4,984 (lower is better), and SunSpider at 657 (lower is better). OMG Chrome characterised the result as “roughly on par last years Nvidia Tegra K1 Chromebooks” and “comes almost within touching distance of costlier Chromebooks using Intel Bay Trail chips.” The tester quoted in that piece, Chris Elkendier of Technology Resource Advisors, told the publication he was “pleasantly surprised” with the C201’s performance given the price.

Trusted Reviews’ Alastair Stevenson recorded a Kraken score of 5438.8 ms (lower is better), and reported in everyday use that “applications opened instantly and the Chromebook never once chugged, even when running” multiple tabs at once. Stevenson also wrote that “as long as you have an active internet connection Chromebook’s should offer significantly” faster performance than the spec sheet suggests, because Chrome OS pushes the heavy lifting to the server.

Lon Seidman ran an in-browser Octane comparison against the more expensive ASUS C200 (Bay Trail Celeron N2830) and the Nvidia Tegra K1 Acer Chromebook 13. He found the Rockchip performed roughly on par with the C200’s Intel chip and held its own against the Tegra K1, at a noticeably lower price.

Muted screen colour in a light, sturdy shell

Viewing angles are limited, the common TN failure mode, which makes side-on screen sharing awkward. Trusted Reviews described the 11.6-inch 1366x768 display as having “Reds are particularly washed out and lack any real dynamism” and “whites have a bit of a murky hue, which hints to me the screen hasn’t” been factory-calibrated to a useful target.

At 2.1 pounds and 0.7 inches thick in an 11.2 x 7.6 inch footprint, the machine is light to carry. Trusted Reviews noted that during the review period the device survived “an accidental drop onto a hardwood floor from a coffee table” without functional damage.

Dual-band 802.11ac and 5 GHz networking

Two USB 2.0 ports, one micro HDMI (Type D) output, one microSD card slot, a combo headphone / microphone jack, and a barrel power input make up the physical connections. There is no USB 3.0 anywhere, no Ethernet jack, and the HDMI is the micro variant, so external monitors typically need a micro-HDMI-to-HDMI cable or adapter.

The C201 ships with dual-band 802.11ac WiFi and Bluetooth 4.1. ASUS’s own product page advertises “802.11ac Wi-Fi for speeds up to three times (3X) faster than 802.11n,” Lon Seidman explicitly called out “wireless AC built in, two channel AC wireless. It even supports 5 gigahertz Wi-Fi” on camera, and Austin Evans noted “full 802.11ac Wi-Fi for top notch internet speeds.” Owners on dual-band routers should use the 5 GHz network for less interference and better throughput.

Reviewer insights

OMG Chrome on the Rockchip benchmark surprise

OMG Chrome benchmarked the Rockchip against the Intel and Nvidia parts then shipping in Chrome OS laptops. Their tester Chris Elkendier’s recorded results (Octane just short of 7,000; Kraken 4,984; SunSpider 657) put the C201 close to Intel Bay Trail Chromebooks at a lower price. Elkendier’s broader read was that the Rockchip would “do well in the EDU market, and that’s exactly what it’s made for.”

Trusted Reviews: 4 stars, with display caveats

Trusted Reviews’ Alastair Stevenson awarded the C201 a 4-star Recommended badge in his September 2015 review. The verdict text concluded that “of its disappointing screen the Chromebook C201 is a competent laptop” that meets typical productivity and web-browsing needs for most buyers. The same review measured “10 to 15% per hour” discharge in mixed everyday use, with a full 0-to-100% charge in roughly 45 minutes. Stevenson’s stated reservations were the TN panel’s washed-out colour reproduction and its limited contrast.

TechGearoid: retrospective view

TechGearoid’s retrospective review revisited the C201 several years after launch. The publication reported that the device “powers up within seconds” and that “web browsing is fast with no freezing or timeouts”. The review’s spec table also lists “Wi-Fi 802.11 A/C enabled,” consistent with the launch press and the ASUS product page.

Neither MrChromebox nor chromeOS Flex supports the RK3288

Google set the C201’s Auto Update Expiration (AUE) date at June 2020. After that date the device stopped receiving Chrome OS security updates and feature releases. The hardware still boots, Chrome still loads, but Google no longer ships patches for newly disclosed vulnerabilities, and an increasing number of web platform features have rolled past what the frozen Chrome version supports. The Chromebook Auto Update Expiration FAQ covers the broader policy context.

Post-AUE options for owners of an ARM C201 are narrower than for an Intel-based Chromebook of the same vintage. The MrChromebox firmware utility supports only Intel-based Chromebooks; it does not flash custom UEFI / coreboot on Rockchip ARM Chromebooks like the C201. That removes the easiest “install a current Linux distribution” path that Bay Trail-era Chromebooks enjoy. The realistic options on a working C201 in 2026 are:

• Keep Chrome OS in place and use the device only for tasks that do not depend on a current browser or current security patches: a dedicated guest browser on a trusted home network, or a static-page kiosk.
• chromeOS Flex is not an option for the C201 either, since it requires an x86_64 CPU; the RK3288 is ARMv7 (32-bit ARM).
• Boot a custom kernel + Debian / Arch on the Rockchip directly. The RK3288 is supported by the mainline Linux kernel and there are community recipes (Arch Linux ARM, Debian) for running a current ARM Linux distribution on the C201 by replacing the Chrome OS partition layout. This is hobbyist territory: it requires developer mode, a clean reinstall, and an external SD card for any meaningful working storage given the 16 GB internal eMMC.

ARM stayed niche until MediaTek’s Kompanio line

The C201 sits in a small group of ARM-based Chromebooks that proved an alternative architecture could ship credibly in the category. The Rockchip partnership demonstrated that non-Intel processors could deliver acceptable Chromebook performance at a meaningfully lower BOM cost, which mattered for the education channel. MediaTek’s Kompanio line brought ARM Chromebooks back into volume in the 2020s; today most low-cost Chromebooks ship on Intel N-series or MediaTek Kompanio silicon rather than Rockchip.

The C201 followed ASUS’s earlier Chromebook C200 (Intel Bay Trail) and was a sibling to the education-focused Chromebook C202SA (Intel Bay Trail again). Its pricing put it in the sub-$200 tier for education and budget buyers, a tier ASUS has continued with the CM14 and CX1 series.

Frequently asked questions

Q: Is the ASUS Chromebook C201 safe to use online in 2026?

A: Not for anything that handles sensitive data. The Auto Update Expiration passed in June 2020, so the C201 no longer receives Chrome OS security updates. For light personal browsing on a trusted home network the practical risk is low but non-zero; for anything that touches banking, work, school, or personal email logins, retire the device or reflash it to a current Linux distribution.

Q: What processor does the ASUS Chromebook C201 use?

A: The Rockchip RK3288C, a quad-core ARM Cortex-A17 SoC at 1.8 GHz with an integrated ARM Mali-T764 GPU. It was one of the very few non-Intel processors used in Chromebooks during 2015.

Q: Does the ASUS Chromebook C201 have 802.11ac WiFi?

A: Dual-band 802.11ac WiFi and Bluetooth 4.1, per ASUS’s official product page, Lon Seidman’s launch review, Austin Evans’ launch review, and TechGearoid’s retrospective spec table.

Q: How long does the ASUS Chromebook C201 battery last?

A: ASUS rated the 38 Whr 2-cell pack at up to 13 hours. Trusted Reviews measured 10 to 15 percent discharge per hour in mixed everyday use, which lines up with 11 to 13 hours real world. The pack charges from 0 to 100 percent in roughly 45 minutes when new. After more than a decade, original packs will have lost meaningful capacity.

Q: Can the C201 run Android apps?

A: Android-app support arrived on Chrome OS during the C201’s supported life, but the Rockchip ARM architecture made compatibility uneven: some Android apps optimised for Intel-based Chromebooks did not run cleanly on the C201, while ARM-native Android apps generally worked well. Post-AUE, the Play Store no longer receives the security updates that make running modern Android apps on the device a reasonable choice.

Q: What are the main differences between the ASUS Chromebook C200 and C201?

A: The C200 used an Intel Celeron N2830 Bay Trail processor; the C201 used the Rockchip RK3288C ARM SoC. The C201 was lighter (2.1 vs 2.5 pounds), had longer battery life (13 vs roughly 11 hours), and was fanless where the C200 used a quiet fan. Both have dual-band 802.11ac WiFi; the older C200 has USB 3.0, which the C201 dropped.

Q: Can I install Linux on the ASUS Chromebook C201?

A: Not via the MrChromebox firmware path that works for Intel-based Chromebooks; that utility does not support Rockchip ARM devices. The realistic Linux path on the C201 is a community recipe (Arch Linux ARM, Debian) that boots a mainline Linux kernel after putting the device into developer mode and reinstalling the partition layout. The 16 GB internal eMMC is tight for a full Linux desktop, so plan to add an SD card for working storage.