ASUS C436 14" FHD 2-in-1 Chromebook Flip

Let's be honest, if you're considering this laptop you've already considered the Galaxy Chromebook and the Asus C434. I did too. I decided on this one because it got better battery life than the Galaxy Chromebook, and more performance than the C434 with a comparable battery life. BUT! For a premium price you can have high expectations, and this falls short in 3 key areas. I use my Chromebook to run an eCommerce business. Now that that's all out of the way, let's get right down to it. 1. The battery life is not anywhere near as advertised in real world use. Real world multi tasking (browsing, videos, music, documents, spreadsheets) I was getting 3 to 4 hours. No Lie... That. Is. Unacceptable. I've tried deleting apps and extensions to extend battery life. Bluetooth is off, and brightness is kept to 60%. It doesn't help. Considering for $200 more you can get the Galaxy Chromebook which is better in every other way. The only reason I purchased the C436 over the Galaxy Chromebook was battery life, and it doesn't deliver. I can't even have a single productive day at the coffee shop! 2. The brightness on the C436 Chromebook is admittedly bad. Chrome Unboxed rates this for ~220 nits. The C434 gets over 300 nits. This C436 is unusable in sunlight or even besides a window. It is a measurable real world specification. It has bad brightness. If I sit next to a window at the coffee shop I'm at max brightness. I knew this going on, but still worth mentioning in a review in case you weren't aware. 3. This is the most frustrating for someone like me who takes care of their stuff. The body is made of a magnesium alloy, which is super lightweight. BUT! It scratches VERY easily. I haven't dropped the C436 yet and it's covered in scratches, all from putting it in and taking it out of a backpack. I take care of my stuff and it's so frustrating that no matter how well I take care of my expensive $800 laptop, it gets covered in scratches. In summary, if you're considering this laptop to get better battery and premium performance from a premium laptop, it isn't the perfect solution. I have owned this laptop for over 8 months. Plus the first one I bought had a defective trackpad. I'm going to be "Downgrading" to a C434 or Pixelbook Go, because battery life is very important to me. Plus, the main feature over the C434 was the fingerprint scanner, but because of security reasons ChromeOS has you enter your PIN or password 25% of the time anyway. So sometimes I go in to unlock with fingerprint, only to be told "PIN required for more security." I'd rather be without the fingerprint scanner than be unable to use it 25% of the time. Good luck computer shopping, I hope this review helped.