While we expect to find out more specifics in the coming weeks at CES 2021 – virtually, of course – it looks like we might be in for at least two flagship-level ASUS Chromebooks in the early parts of 2021 in the form of ‘Woomax’ and ‘Delbin’. In the event you are unaware, Chromebooks come with code names and we’re tracking an absolute boat load of them at the moment.
The significant thing about ‘Woomax’ and ‘Delbin’ is the fact that they are different baseboards with very different chips inside. ‘Delbin’ belongs to the family of devices built on the ‘Volteer’ baseboard, and that means it will come equipped with the latest 11th-gen Intel Tiger Lake processors. This is significant because it means we’ll get far-improved graphics performance due to the inclusion of Intel’s new Xe GPU that is on board.
‘Woomax’ belongs to the ‘Zork’ family of Chromebooks and comes equipped with the newer AMD 3700C chip that is also equipped with a far-beefier GPU than what we’ve seen in older Chromebooks. Along with a far-faster CPU, these new AMD-powered Chromebooks will bring vastly improved performance versus what we’ve seen in prior AMD Chromebooks, and all that extra power should come at a very reasonable price, too, if AMD-powered Windows laptops are anything to go by.
How we’ve identified ASUS
So, you may find yourself wondering how we know these two devices will come bearing ASUS branding. For that, we turn to the Chromium Repositores and glean some clues from the folks who do their work there. It isn’t always the case, but sometimes we have certain email addresses that we tend to see only on certain devices. When you find one of these contributors and they only add to the repositories for devices all made by the same manufacturer, you can get a pretty clear idea who they likely work for and, by deduction, who will be making certain upcoming devices.
For this time around, Daniel Peng is our contributor and he has only been involved in prior ASUS products in the past. He has contributions to ‘Helios’ (ASUS Flip C436), Shyvana/Leona (ASUS Flip C433 and C425), and ‘Rammus’ (ASUS Flip C434) all to his credit. The newest additions to his work? ‘Woomax’ and ‘Delbin’.
It doesn’t take much to pin these two devices to ASUS, and it seems clear that both will bear the ASUS branding when they do show up. With so many great mid-range Chromebooks available in 2020, it is interesting to see how these devices will be positioned. The more-affordable Chromebooks are getting really good at this point, so we’re all interested to see where ASUS positions themselves in 2021. These two Chromebooks will go a long way in crafting that narrative.