Asus X553SA-BHCLN10 15.6″ Laptop with Intel Celeron / 4GB RAM / 500GB Hard Drive

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The Asus X553SA-BHCLN10 is a cheap entry-level notebook with a 15.6-inch HD display, Intel Celeron processor, 4GB of system memory, and a 500GB hard drive.

The Celeron CPU included in the X553SA-BHCLN10 is the N3050 from the latest power-efficient and cool-running Braswell chip family. The N3050 indeed consumes low amounts of power – 6 Watts versus 15W of the popular Intel Core series CPUs. But, computing performance is good only for the common basic tasks like web surfing, email checking, work in Word, Excel, and other Office applications, or movie playback. It won’t perform so well during intensive duties such as video editing, which remain the domain of the faster Core-series processors. For more info on the CPU, you can check out this Celeron N3050 review.

RAM and HDD capacities of 4GB and 500GB respectively are standard for the budget notebook category. 4GB RAM is enough for basic multitasking and will satisfy most of the home and office users. The hard disk offers enough space for common programs and users’ files but it’s generally a slow storage device and you won’t experience blazing fast program load times with it.

As for the display, it doesn’t stands out from the crowd in any sense. The HD 1366-by-768-pixel resolution doesn’t deliver sharpness of Full HD screens and the panel doesn’t provide wide viewing angles since it lacks IPS technology. However, the screen specs are typical for a low-cost notebook like the Asus X553SA-BHCLN10.

The laptop doesn’t lag behind the competition when it comes to other included features. It has a full-size keyboard with numeric pad, one-piece trackpad with integrated “mouse” buttons, a DVD burner drive, and stereo speakers. Furthermore, it incorporates a low-resolution VGA webcam for video conferencing programs like Skype, the popular HDMI video output connector and old-school VGA port for older external displays and projectors, a media card reader, combo audio port, a USB 3.0 port, and a USB 2.0 port. For getting you online, the laptop uses Wi-Fi 802.11N wireless module and wired Ethernet network jack.

Components of the X553SA-BHCLN10 are encased in a plastic but attractive looking black chassis. The finish on the palm-rest resembles brushed metal, while the lid sports radiant metallic-looking pattern. Thinness of the chassis of 1″ adds to the elegance of this affordable laptop. With a weight of 4.9 pounds this model is averagely heavy.

The provided 2-cell 30 WHr battery isn’t capacious by no means. But given the CPU doesn’t consume too much power, you can expect a relatively decent battery life of 4-5 hours.

Asus X553SA-BHCLN10

Specifications of the Asus X553SA-BHCLN10

Here are the specs of the Asus X553SA-BHCLN10 with descriptions of its features. For comparison against other laptops, you can use the "Compare Specs" button.

Brand Asus
Screen Size 15.6-inch

This is by far the most popular laptop screen size. It provides a lot of screen real estate, while avoiding bulkiness of the 17.3" laptops.
Screen Resolution 1366x768 pixels HD

This is an entry-level screen resolution, oftentimes found on budget laptops. It doesn't deliver picture sharpness and space on the screen like the Full HD or higher resolution laptop displays do.
Touchscreen No

This laptop doesn't support touchscreen input.
Other Display Specs TN type

Displays based on the old TN technology lack wide viewing angles you can find on IPS screens. The colors may look washed out or inverted at certain viewing angles.
Processor (CPU) Intel Celeron N3050 (able to complete everyday tasks, but can be sluggish)
Graphics (GPU) Intel HD integrated graphics of low-end CPUs (only for the lightest gaming)
System Memory (RAM) Size 4GB RAM

4GB is a small RAM size for computing in 2023. For smooth operation of a laptop during everyday tasks, at least 8GB is recommended.
Data Storage 500GB HDD

This is a very good capacity, but HDD is a slow type of storage.
DVD Optical Drive DVD writer
Keyboard & Input Non-backlit keyboard with dedicated number pad

The keyboard has a separate numeric pad on the right side of the keyboard, but it has no keyboard backlight.

Touchpad with click buttons built into the surface

The left and right click buttons are built into the surface of the touchpad, as opposed to separate physical buttons.
Camera Front-facing web camera

Laptops usually feature a frontal webcam located on the display bezel. This laptop is no exception.
Speakers & Audio Stereo speakers

As usual, the device features a pair of built-in stereo speakers.

Combo microphone and headphones audio jack

This laptop has the ordinary 3.5mm combo audio jack that supports both headphone output and microphone input simultaneously.
Wi-Fi Wireless 802.11N

802.11N is an old Wi-Fi standard, precursor of the 802.11AC and the latest 802.11AX with improved data transfer speeds and connectivity. 802.11N is rarely used in modern laptops.
Ethernet Network Port Yes

This laptop has an Ethernet LAN port for wired internet and networking connectivity.
Mobile broadband (4G LTE) No
Bluetooth No

This laptop has no built-in Bluetooth module.
USB Ports 1 x USB 3.0 + 1 x USB 2.0

A pair of standard full-size USB ports.
Video Output Ports 1 x HDMI + 1 x VGA

HDMI is a widely used digital video output port. You can find HDMI-in ports on most computer monitors and TVs. VGA is an old analog type of video connectivity used on older computers, monitors, TVs, and projectors.
Media Card Reader SD card reader

The laptop has a slot for full-size SD memory cards, used in many digital cameras. You can also use microSD cards with a card adapter.
Battery 2-Cell 30 WHr
Weight 4.9 pounds
Height 1"
Width 15"
Depth 10.2"
Windows Version Windows 10 Home

Windows 10 Home is aimed at the regular home and office computer users. Only select business users need the Professional edition. Windows 10 Home users are eligible for a free upgrade to the latest Windows 11 Home.
Warranty 1-year

A typical laptop warranty.

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User Reviews and Q&A on the Asus X553SA-BHCLN10

Below you can read and submit user reviews, questions, and answers about the laptop. Thank you for your contribution.

Current rating: 3 out of 5 stars
  1. Gavin

    When was this laptop released? Model x553sa

    • Danijel Z

      I noticed it for the first time in 2nd half of 2015.

  2. Eleanor

    Would this laptop suit a university student, I’d only use it for work and Netflix

    • Danijel Z

      It’s among the slowest new laptops on the market, but still it can handle day-to-day tasks like work in Office apps and video streaming, including 1080p resolutions. User experience will be very similar to this described in the review of the Celeron N3050 CPU, which is used in the Asus X553SA-BHCLN10 as well. Link to the review: http://laptoping.com/cpus/product/intel-celeron-n3050/

  3. Brandon

    Would this laptop be enough for a highschool sophomore for homework purposes. It wouldn’t, be for gaming just homework.

    • Danijel Z

      If you do your homework in Office apps like Word, Excel, or other similarly light apps, the X553SA-BHCLN10 will do the job. However, it has one of the slowest processors on the market. If you’re planning to get this laptop at the current price of $250 (it was just $140 on Black Friday), I would suggest you to try to get this model instead for just $50 more during Cyber Monday sales:

      http://laptoping.com/specs/product/lenovo-g51-80m80020us-cheap-15-6-laptop-amd-a8-cpu-8gb-ram-1tb-hdd-black/

      It has a much better CPU which will make programs run faster as the most important advantage and also larger RAM and HDD. In other aspects Lenovo and Asus are quite similar.

      Cyber Monday at Best Buy starts on Sunday, Nov. 29th.

  4. Joey

    How good is this laptop for gaming?

    • Danijel Z

      It’s simply not good for gaming. Check out the Intel Celeron N3050 gameplay videos on this page: http://laptoping.com/cpus/product/intel-celeron-n3050/ . Among the tested games playable at decent frame rates and low settings were only League of Legends and Minecraft.

  5. Susan

    Is the Ram and Hard Drive upgradeable and if so, to what max? Thanks

    • Danijel Z

      If you take a look at this video about the Asus X553 series

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD5d8iuGQNw

      , you’ll see that upgrading the HDD and RAM is possible but complicated. Unlike on some other laptops with dedicated easily-removable covers for access to components.

      There’s a single RAM slot, so you can have up to 8GB RAM maximum, and a 2.5″ HDD which you can replace with another HDD or a 2.5″ SSD.

      UPDATE: I’ve just checked out the Q and A section on the Best Buy’s Asus X553SA-BHCLN10 product page and an Asus representative stated that RAM isn’t upgradeable on this laptop.

    • 3 out of 5

      EggsAreNeverSafeWhenAllInOneOrTwoBaskets – NamedFacebookOrGoogle

      “Best Buy? Asus X553SA-BHCLN10 + an Asus representative stated that RAM isn’t upgradeable on this laptop.”

      – That’s possibly just what they WANT you to think (for warranty-voidance avoiding purposes, i.e. people breaking the laptop to try to upgrade the RAM since Asus designed it badly for this purpose).

      It doesn’t make it impossible or inevitable to break it if skilled and cautious.

      Note: I haven’t tested any of this to be proven fact, just how the market works.
      I was researching this for a friend who complained his laptop ran like a dog for development work (newbie student).
      Unsurprising, really.

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