Google Pixelbook Go
No longer the go-to Chromebook due to its dated specs, but the design looks as good as ever
PRICE £690 (£829 inc VAT) from store.google.com
Having set the st standard for high-end Chro Chromebooks with the original Ch Chromebook Pixel, Google did the same for more affordable models with the Pixelbook Go. Out went the high price tags and square forma format screens in favour of something more accessible with a wider choice of specs. But the Pixelbook Go launched in late 2019. Does it still stand up today?
The physical design hasn’t become any less interesting or practical. At just over 1kg in weight and less than 14mm thick, the Pixelbook Go is still one of the most lightweight and portable Chromebooks, giving you a 13.3in screen in a form factor you can happily lug around all day. It’s beautifully finished in what Google calls “finely painted magnesium”, although it now seems impossible to get it in any colour other than jet black. It’s tough too: that magnesium lid isn’t bending anywhere, while the ridged texture on the base helps to guard against any unwanted flex elsewhere.
There’s a minimalist approach to connectivity, with just two USB-C 3.1 ports and an audio output, so you’re going to need some kind of docking solution or hub if you plan to do more than connect, say, the power supply and a monitor at the same time – and you’ll need a USB-C adapter before you can do that. Still, if that’s the price of having something this thin and light, it’s one most people will be happy to pay, and you have Bluetooth 4.2 support for wireless mice, speakers and headsets. Google now looks a little backwards on the Wi-Fi front, with only 802.11ac supported, but with a dual-antenna MIMO configuration it’s pretty fast.
The most important features here might be the screen and keyboard.
The latter is superb, making up for quite a limited travel with a lovely light action that still manages to give you feedback when each tap registers. It’s the kind of keyboard that your fingers seem to dance across, and arguably the best Google has ever implemented. The touchpad is every bit as good, with a large surface area and a great, tactile click. There are no problems navigating around the desktop, even if the sensitive touchscreen feels a little less vital on a straight clamshell device.
The Full HD IPS screen isn’t the best on test this month: the Acer Chromebook Spin 713 has a higher resolution and a more brightness to work with, while the Dell Latitude 7410 and Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 give it strong competition. All the same, it’s very good, with a brightness of 367cd/m2 and 99.1% sRGB coverage, along with impressive contrast and colour accuracy. Whether you’re browsing, working or watching videos, it’s an enjoyable experience, although you might igh want to plug l some headph headphones in as the sound is a little tinny.
That aside aside, it’s hard to fault the Pixe Pixelbook boo Go for video mee meetings. g It’s one of the few affordable laptops with a built in 1080p webca webcam, and it gives detailed and well-exposed image quality both i in daylight and artificial light.
What’s more more, it uses
LEFT You can summon the Google Assistant with a mere press of the dedicated key
two mics in an array for effective noise cancellation and we found this worked well, particularly as there’s no noticeable fan noise.
If you’re after the fastest Chromebook, look elsewhere. While the top-end Pixelbook Go runs on a Core i7 CPU, it’s an older eighthgeneration low-power effort and no match for the tenth-generation Core i7 processors in some more recent Chromebooks. Our Core i5-based sample only made it to the middle of most of our benchmark tables, below the fastest models from Acer, Asus, Dell, HP and Lenovo.
Yet in real-world use this shouldn’t be a deal-breaker; it’s still fast enough to run demanding web-based apps and keep a shedload of browser tabs running without any awkward pauses, and you shouldn’t even find it slow running Linux apps. Meanwhile, our battery tests showed it lasting just less than 12 hours on a single charge.
In short, this is still a beautiful and thoroughly usable Chromebook with great ergonomics and enough performance to get by. But is it still the best? That’s tricky. The Acer
Ch Chromebook b kS Spin i 713 and d Asus Flip C436FA are arguably better er for most people, and either ither cheaper p or competitive ompetitive on price, p while ile the
Lenovo IdeaPad Pad Flex gives you a fine ine keyboard and d a great screen for less. ss. The Pixelbook ok Go’s style makes us want ant to plump for Google, but the competition n is hotter than a it t was. as.
“It’s still fast enough to run demanding web apps and keep a shedload of browser tabs running without any awkward pauses”