Google’s Pixelbook Go Is Really Weird, But Holy Crap That Battery Life

ThePixelbook Gois the gaudy Chromebook Google has made to engagement . Google ’s flagship Chrome OS devices typically protrude at $ 1,000 , so the $ 650 toll tatter on the base - grade Pixelbook Go is incredible . compare to other Google - made Chrome OS equipment , the Pixelbook Go is a fantastic budget alternative that gives you some of the best elements of Chrome OS in a very thin , light , and well - made gimmick . The problem is Google is n’t the only one defecate Chrome OS twist , and $ 650 is , in fact , an norm to above - average price for a Chromebook not made by Google , and it ’s an above - average cost for a Chromebook that ca n’t be used as a tablet . You will be present with a tough head when considering the Pixelbook Go versus the 10000 of cheap and more various Chromebooks : Is it really safe enough to justify paying $ 650 ? The stamp battery liveliness alone makes me call up yes .

Pixelbook Go ’s barrage life is some of the most remarkable we ’ve see in a laptop at this price point . Without that , you ’d find yourself confused by the Pixelbook Go . There are four variants of the Pixelbook Go , a $ 650 reading with an eighth - gen m3 processor , 8 GB of RAM , 64 GB of storage , and a 1080p touch sensation showing , a $ 850 rendering that find the central processing unit up to an i5 and the storage to 128 GB , a abysmally priced $ 1,000 rendering that append on an extra 8 GB of RAM , and finally a maxed - out $ 1,400 version with an i7 processor , 16 GB of RAM , a 256 GB SSD , and a 4 K video display . The $ 650 version is what most mass should be considering , but Google sent us the $ 850 interpretation , and that ’s what ’s boast here .

Google Pixelbook Go

The texture on the bottom of the device is definitely interesting. Those screws may be exposed, but nothing in the Pixelbook Go is user upgradable.Photo: Alex Cranz (Gizmodo)

What is it ?

Google ’s fresh base - grown Chromebook .

Mary Leontyne Price

The texture on the bottom of the device is definitely interesting. Those screws may be exposed, but nothing in the Pixelbook Go is user upgradable.

The texture on the bottom of the device is definitely interesting. Those screws may be exposed, but nothing in the Pixelbook Go is user upgradable.Photo: Alex Cranz (Gizmodo)

Starts at $ 650 ; Reviewed at $ 850

The battery life is incredible . It ’s also super light and feel very high calibre .

Photo: Alex Cranz

Photo: Alex Cranz (Gizmodo)

No Like

It ’s weirdly priced and ca n’t duplicate as a tab – most Chromebooks can .

I say the $ 650 reading is what most citizenry should consider because I ’ve used a wad of Chromebooks over the yr , and aninordinately magnanimous turn of them this year alone . Chrome OS is a splendid little operating system of rules that ’s perfect for 2 - in-1 devices meant to serve as merriment tablets for playtime and niggling laptops for employment time . It ’s very sound , but it still is n’t good enough , in most instances , to justify a high Mary Leontyne Price on hardware compared to a Windows or macOS machine .

The amount of stuff you’re able to do on a Chromebook continues to pale compared to macOS and Windows . There is now the option to become on Linux tools , which makes it a much more solid auto for some quick dev and programming work . But there ’s still a bound on what you’re able to do in Linux . Google ’s Pixelbooks are rooter - spare products , so if you start getting too intense with the CPU workload , it will slow down to avoid overheat .

Most mass do n’t want a Pixelbook for coding though . You just require a really good Chromebook that ’s , ideally , cheaper than a Windows or macOS twist . The problem for the Pixelbook Go is , it ’s priced very oddly . If you opt for the $ 850 one Google sent Gizmodo , there ’s a really solid selection of similarly priced Windows laptop computer you’re able to get for around the same price . TheHP Envy 13andLenovo Yoga 700series both set forth for around $ 750 and leave you to do a destiny more — include some light PC gaming . The downside is , they ’re swelled and heavier gimmick .

Google ’s play seems to be to betray a laptop computer at the same price as those Windows equipment , but that does less and yet is way more portable . At 2.3 Pound and just .5 inches thick the Google , Pixelbook Go is lighter and thinner than the contender and feel just a fiddling more stout . The waves along the bottom are a unique characteristic that give the Pixelbook Go a sense of purposeful panache that laptops at this terms range generally lack . It looks great , the 1080p display is sharp and responsive to touch , and even the speakers have a small more particular and boom than you await for a “ budget ” machine .

The keyboard , in particular , is outstanding . It sort of reminds me of theSurface Laptop 3 . It ’s not very clacky and gentle on your fingers . But where the Surface Laptop 3 veers into feel schmaltzy , the Pixelbook Go blockade just short of mushy . It ’s almost like there ’s a lilliputian tactile bump at the end of the keypress that slows each keypress down and do them feel more enjoyable . If I had to liken it to any sort of key available now I might compare it to theTopre intercrossed mechanical and membrane keystone — though it lacks that switch ’s excellent travel and gratify clonk .

But remember how I said the Pixelbook Go is price awkwardly ? That ’s because it ’s kind of smack in the middle between the best budget Windows laptops and the best budget Chromebooks . If you decide to go for it because you do n’t need the extra productiveness capabilities ( and exercising weight and size of it ) of a Windows equipment , then you ’re belike already in the securities industry for a Chromebook . If you ’re in the grocery store for a Chromebook , though , the $ 850 version of the Pixelbook Go commence to make a lot less sense . The $ 650 variant with the m3 processor and measly 64 GB of warehousing is really all you ’ll postulate , and it ’s spec’d quite likewise to fill in $ 600 Chromebooks like theAsus Chromebook Flip C434andSamsung Chromebook Plus V2 . Although , again , it ’s lite and smaller than they are .

And those devices , for the most part , are 2 - in-1 convertible laptops . The Pixelbook Go is strictly a laptop computer , and I ’m not crazy about that option . Google has made such an sweat to make a really piquant bone that easily shift between laptop computer and pill mood , and it ’s thwarting that , apart from a contact exhibit , there ’s no physical nod to Chrome OS ’s excellent touch element . It ’s also thwarting because a lot of the Android apps now available on Chrome OS just do n’t mold as well ( or at all ) with a mouse and keyboard . A 360 - degree flexible joint feels like such a relatively minor thing , but it would have made the Pixelbook Go just a small more free-enterprise with our favorite Chromebooks .

And this is where it ’s time to talk about stamp battery life-time , because as much as establish calibre and atomic number 76 choices and even 360 - degree hinge affair , for a quite a little of masses only two thing really weigh : cost and battery life , and the Pixelbook Go might be priced weirdly , but there ’s no question it has some blasted special battery biography .

Our assault and battery test is pretty round-eyed ( hereare the resolution for the latest round of Chromebooks ) . We set the smartness of the display to 200 nits , wrench off all the extra radios and apprisal and king - enfeeble stuff , pilot to a 24 - 60 minutes video on Youtube , and act it in full screen until the computer conk . That sadly does n’t replicate how we all employ our laptop computer ( except for me on weekend ) , but it ’s how we test every laptop computer and it give us a square service line for understand each one .

By our metric function , the Pixelbook Go has incredible assault and battery life . On median in our mental test , a Chrome laptop lasts 9 hours and 6 minute , and a Windows 10 laptop lasts 9 hours and 44 minutes . The Google Pixelbook Go live over 13.5 hours — the only auto that bunk it are wimpish Windows 10 gimmick with Qualcomm CPU . It ’s a singular battery life story — peculiarly give that I ’ve been using the i5 rendering . The cheaper m3 translation is presumably even safe , and that electric battery life-time alone make it a compelling choice . There ’s nothing that can really compete with it in terms of weightiness , size , or battery liveliness .

Back at the early October outcome where Google introduce the gimmick , I spoke with Google VP Phil Carmack and Senior Product Manager Ben Janfosky , and they insisted that every element of the Pixelbook Go was about creating a gimmick that ’s a perfect portable motorcar . I do n’t think it quite nailed that goal . Chrome OS is a cracking tablet OS , and it would be nice if the Pixelbook Go made economic consumption of that strong point . But it ’s also really faint , flimsy , has great build quality , and it has some of the good battery life found in a laptop computer flop now . It ’s not the perfect portable machine , but it fall rottenly close . If you ’re in the market for a Chromebook and you could afford to spend just a little more money , the $ 650 Pixelbook Go should be a laptop that endure you for hours after the tinny single have died , and if the terms ever drops there ’s no better Chromebook pick .