ASUS L210MA-DB01: How Good Is This 11.6-inch Budget Laptop?

Taiwanese computer maker ASUS has continued to impress us in recent years. With affordable yet impressive range of laptops, desktops, displays, motherboards and other products, ASUS has steadily gained faithful userbase.

The company’s latest offering is an 11.6-inch budget laptop that’s impressive at its price, to say the least. Powered by an Intel Celeron processor with 4GB RAM, this ASUS L210MA-DB01 is slim and lightweight, features a 180-degree lay-flat hinge and an all-day battery life.

In a nutshell, it’s a laptop that can convince you not to spend a lot of money to get the same performance you would get in a $300 laptop like this one.

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Look and Feel

We don’t expect a budget laptop to look like a beauty queen. Nor like a piece of brick. ASUS has sturck a balance with L210MA-DB01 which is not the slimmest laptop out there but is surely sleek. At the first glance at this laptop, you notice its minimal looks and smooth curves. It doesn’t have what’s called ‘barely-there’ bezels but they aren’t too big either. Measuring 0.7-inch thin and weighing only 2.2 lbs (0.99 kg), this laptop is your compact companion that slips in your bag and can be carried around with ease.

The biggest attraction in ASUS L210MA-DB01 is it’s 180-degree lay-flat hinge. For an affordable laptop such as this, the hinge not only lays flat, it’s also well-built. It doesn’t feel loose or gimmicky and offers a way to share screen and collaborate with others. It would have been great to be able to use this laptop in tent or tablet mode, too. But we know it’s a lot to ask for from a laptop in this range.

If you use number keys quite a lot, you know it’s hard to find a small laptop such as this one to have dedicated numeric keys area. ASUS has came up with a solution by incorporating a numeric pad right in the touch pad. With a touch, you can switch from touch pad to number pad. Once done, turn it off and you get your touch pad back. It will take time to get used to it and it surely can’t fill-in for proper number keys on the keyboard. But it’s good to have something than nothing at all.

There’s one more thing to notice about the design of this ASUS laptop and it’s not visible because it’s inside the body. This laptop features a fanless design. The laptop does a good job at keeping things cool inside without a noisy fan to distract you.

Also worth mentioning is a backlit chiclet keyboard with 1.4mm key travel and a bright yellow Enter key. It’ smooth to type on this keyboard even for long hours while a 6-inch touchpad with palm resitrance helps with fast navigation.

In short, this is not merely a glossy piece of plastic but a laptop featuring minimal looks, smooth curves and sleek profile that’s fun to look at and carry around.

Tech Specs and Performance

Powered by a 1.1GHz Intel Celeron N4020 processor with Turbo up to 2.8 GHz and 4M cache, ASUS L210MA-DB01 has enough power to tackle day to day tasks with ease. Coupled with a 4GB DDR4 2400MHz RAM, the processor does a good job at executing tasks and running multiple apps simultaneously.

For storage, ASUS has provided 64GB eMMC flash stroage which of course isn’t a lot. But it’s primary purpose is to host operating system while all your data has to reside on an external hard disk or a memory card. Instead of making the laptop bulkier by installing an HDD or making the cost higher by having an SSD, ASUS has taken eMMC approach. The storage performs well with data trasnfers and other regular operations running smooth.

The 11.6-inch LED-backlit offers HD display of 1366 x 768 pixels. It’s a 60Hz anti-glare panel with 45% NTSC that produces decent visuals for text, images and videos. For a laptop in afforable range, the display does its job well and leaves nothing to complain.

As its operating system, this ASUS laptop carries Windows 10 S – the stripped down version of Windows 10. It does lack some features from Home and Pro versions but provides smooth software experience. It’s responsive, boots up quickly and is bloat-free.

Another ‘wow-factor’ of this ASUS offering is its battery. The 2-cell 38 Wh polymer battery helps you keep charger at home by providing around 10 hours of usage on full charge. That’s remarkable for an ultra-affordable laptop!

Working on multiple Office documents, researching on the web and listening to music at the same time doesn’t slow this ASUS laptop down. At the same time, it’s good to keep in mind that it’s a budget laptop so it shouldn’t be expected to be a powerhouse.

Ports and Connectivity

While new flagship laptops costing more than $1000 come with hardly a port or two, there are laptops that carry plenty of ports. ASUS has provided 1 USB2.0 type-A, 1 USB 3.2 (Gen 1) type-A, 1 USB 3.2 (Gen 1) type-C and 1 HDMI ports along with a card slot and an audio jack. That means you have a lot of room for connecting multiple devices to this laptop.

For wireless connectivity, ASUS L210MA-DB01 features 802.11ac WiFi which is a surprising edition to a budget laptop. It’s way faster than previous WiFi generations and helps maintain connectivity without interruptions. Streaming HD videos, movies and music or downloading large files – wireless connectivity in this laptop is solid.

A VGA webcam is also present which may not be as good for online meetings or classes but is there when needed.

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ASUS L210MA-DB01: Overall Impressions

Powered by an Intel Celeron N4020 processor and 4GB DDR4 RAM featuring 64GB eMMC storage and 11.6-inch HD display with 180-degree hinges, this ASUS laptop is a wondeful budget offering. For its price, this little laptop performs really well, leaving nothing to complain. Moreover, a backlit keyboard, superfast WiFi, day-long battery backup, and sleek, lightweight and durable build make this laptop a desirable one in this range.

If you are a student or a casual user who does not need an expensive and powerful laptop for their daily tasks, you will love this laptop. Priced a bit more than $300, ASUS L210MA-DB01 offers great value for money. Its features, performance, price and value for money has made this ASUS laptop number 1 new release on Amazon.

There are may other budget laptops under $500 and by spending a little extra, you might be able to get better options if your budget allows.