Asus has finally launched the much-anticipated "Intel Project Athena" laptop that it first showed off last January at CES 2020.

Called the Chromebook Flip C436, it follows the C434 and is still very much a premium laptop that runs Chrome OS. The C436 features a 1080p 13-inch touchscreen (1080p) display, a lightweight magnesium alloy body, a 10th Gen Intel Core processor, up to 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity, a fingerprint sensor, stylus support, two USB-C ports, a backlit keyboard, and a 12-hour battery life.

More importantly, it is Project Athena-verified. What does that mean? Well, Project Athena, at its purest form, is basically a set of standards that Intel wants for laptops, such as a minimum nine-hour battery life. Intel's engineers have been working with companies like Asus, as well as HP, Dell, and many others, to create laptops that meet these standards. It'll even test them before they're verified.

We previewed the Flip C436 in January, and although our time was brief with the new Chromebook from Asus was brief on the showfloor, we came away impressed with the overall design, performance, and approach of the device. This is premium territory space from Asus. From what we've seen, if you're about to buy a "premium" Chromebook, like the Pixelbook, this warrants a closer look first.

We look forward to having a further play with the laptop soon. It comes in two colors - transparent silver and aerogel white - and starts at $799. Asus is expected to sell the convertible laptop through its site, Amazon, and Play Store.