GOOGLE PIXELBOOK GO
Google aims high with its new laptop – and it looks like it might have come up with something a bit special…
The new flagship Chromebook is a great reminder of the strengths (and
weaknesses) of ChromeOS
From US$649 store.google.com
The Pixelbook Go is here to dethrone the original Google Pixelbook – now more than two years old – as Google’s flagship Chromebook, the device that shows off Chrome OS at its best. It aims to be for Google what the Surface Laptop is for Microsoft, or what the MacBook Pro is for Apple, and it hits very close to this target.
First and foremost, it’s a stylishlooking computer made from tough yet light magnesium. We like the overly curved corners, the matte finish, and the ribbed, textured underside of the laptop, which adds extra ‘stickiness’ for moments when the Pixelbook Go is sat on your lap or on a table. You can buy the Pixelbook Go in black or light pink, depending on the model you order.
The 13.3-inch display that Google has attached to the Pixelbook Go is top-notch, too: bright and sharp, and able to display photos and movies with a real punch. We wish the bezels were a little smaller, but they’re fine as they are. Four different Pixelbook Go models are available: three with a 1,920 x 1,080 pixel Full HD display, and the top-tier model with a 3,840 x 2,160 pixel 4K display.
Those screen options all operate at a 16:9 aspect ratio, which is distinctly different from the 2017 Pixelbook aspect ratio of 3:2. The widescreen look is better for Netflix and YouTube, but anyone upgrading from the original Pixelbook is going to miss the extra depth for browsing the web and working on documents.
Unlike that Pixelbook predecessor, the Google Pixelbook Go doesn’t have a display with a full 360-degree hinge. You can’t fold it into a tent configuration for video watching, or fold it flat so that it doubles as a tablet – it’s just the standard laptop hinge. We’re big fans of the backlit keyboard, which is elegantly designed and a pleasure to type on.
Specs-wise, you can opt for 8GB or 16GB of RAM, 64GB, 128GB or 256GB of internal storage, and your choice of 8th-gen Intel Core m3, i5 or i7 processors. Any of those should be able to run Chrome OS comfortably, but the more you spend, the better able the Pixelbook Go will be to cope with multiple browser tabs and more complex web apps.
Chromebooks are able to run Android apps now too, which is another area where some extra oomph can help – in mobile games and photo editing apps, for example. Still, even the base Pixelbook Go spec should be able to cope with everything you can throw at it.
Fast mover
Our review laptop was an Intel Core i5 model, with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, and it proved snappy and responsive to use. Web apps and Android apps alike whizzed along, and one of the pleasures of using a Chromebook is that it doesn’t really slow down over time as hard drive space shrinks and bloat increases.
Sound from the stereo speakers is decent: it lacks a little bass but is fine for movies and videos, and at a push a few tunes as well (though really any proper speaker sounds better). Battery life was solid too, with our Pixelbook Go lasting around nine hours between charges after some pretty intensive use.
The only question left is whether Chrome OS is for you. Essentially it’s just a web browser, but with web apps getting more advanced, offline support improving, and Android apps now available on Chromebooks, that’s not as limiting as it once was.
You don’t get access to programs such as Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop or advanced music or video editing tools on a Chromebook; but you don’t need to worry about software updates, antivirus programs, or backing up your work because everything lives in the cloud anyway.
Cheaper Chromebooks are available, but we think the extra polish and power of the Pixelbook Go make it worth the additional cost – certainly at the basic level. A Pixelbook Go purchase gets harder to justify at the higher price points, however.