Laptops finally came back in full force this year.
Apple's MacBook Pros -- I'm not even going to get into the Touch Bar -- finally grew into their own with much-needed speed upgrades. Microsoft released its first proper clamshell laptop, the Surface Laptop.
And now, Google's blessed us with the Pixelbook, a premium Chromebook so beautiful, functional, and fun to use that I'd happily plunk down $1,000 for it. It's just that fantastic.
The Pixelbook is Google's third try at building a Chromebook and its best one yet. The first two Chromebook Pixels (the company's a little obsessed with the Pixel brand) were thick and heavy clunkers. You had to have been slurping the Google Kool-Aid pretty hard to justify buying the overpriced Chromebooks instead of a MacBook or Windows laptop with a real operating system that could run true x86 apps.
But not anymore.
The Pixelbook is finally a real laptop with little compromise. Alright, Chrome OS still isn't as full-featured as macOS or Windows 10, but Google's made some real strides over the last few years that close the gap. At least in terms of getting work done.
The file manager is more robust and support for over 2 million Android apps from the Google Play Store has filled in the holes that previously made Chrome OS inferior. It's truly a whole new world where web apps and services like Google Docs and Google Calendar work alongside Android apps.
I've been using the Pixelbook daily for nearly two weeks and I keep loving it more and more. The last time I really felt this way about a laptop was when I bought a 13-inch MacBook Air in 2011. You immediately know a gadget's really great when you can't stop using it.
Impeccable attention to detail
Unlike the unmemorable and boring-looking Pixel 2 phones, the Pixelbook has a sleek design that invites intrigue in the same way a MacBook does.
And that's largely because it's so thin a light. The laptop's 0.2-inches thinner (0.4-inches) and a whole pound lighter (2.4 pounds) than the previous Chromebook Pixel 2.
This thinness is all the more impressive when you realize the Pixelbook is a 2-in-1 computer with a hinge that allows the screen to flip a full 360-degrees into tablet mode. (Side note: Why are they called 2-in-1s? They're technically 4-in-1s because of the four modes they can be used in: laptop, tablet, tent, and stand.)
Slim as it is, the Pixelbook feels built to last. The aluminum body is dense and durable. The glass panel on the lid with only the Google "G" logo in the corner really gives it some class. When you're asking people to spend $1,000 on a Chromebook, it damn better look and feel expensive so everyone knows it, and the Pixelbook does.
There's the slightest bit of flex to the screen, but it's almost unnoticeable unless you try to bend it. And though my 12-inch MacBook is lighter, I can't say that I felt the Pixelbook's extra half pound weight in my messenger bag.
I simply can't express how much I appreciate the care and attention that the Pixelbook's designers and engineers put into building it.
You may not notice or care about little details such as the trackpad having the same 3:2 aspect ratio as the screen or the LED battery light indicator being recessed inside of the microphone hole so that it's not so blindingly bright. But these are the tiny things that separate good products from great ones. The Pixelbook has craftsmanship on a level that I've only seen on a few devices.
So much fun to use
I know I've just been gushing about the Pixelbook's design, but the laptop's also an absolute joy to use in all modes. Seriously, I can't remember the last time any laptop was actually fun to use and brought me so much delight.
I can't remember the last time any laptop was actually this fun to use.
The 12.3-inch display may seem a little small on paper, especially when compared to a 13-inch laptop or even a larger 12.9-inch iPad Pro. But I assure you the 3:2 aspect ratio makes up for the smaller screen with more vertical pixels than a normal 16:9 widescreen.
The bright and high-res (2,400 x 1,600) screen is superb. By default, it's set to pixel-doubling so the native resolution is technically only 1,200 x 800, but you're getting the same crispiness you'd see on a MacBook Pro's Retina display.
You could go into the settings and crank up the resolution, but everything will look smaller on the screen, and if you pick the higher resolution, performance takes a hit. I recommend just sticking to the default. It looks sublime and it works better with touch.
Like the previous Pixel Chromebooks, this baby comes with a touchscreen and it's, I dare say, perfect. It's smooth and responsive like a high-end smartphone with no lag. Some companies may not believe a touchscreen has a place on a laptop, but I disagree. It perfectly complements the keyboard on the Pixelbook, and "gorilla arms" is a myth that I've yet to experience and I've tested a lot of laptops with touchscreens.
I immediately fell madly in love with the keyboard and trackpad. I'm calling it now: They're better than a MacBook's and might be the best I've ever used on a laptop.
While Apple decided to flatten the key travel to 0.5mm (it's like typing on a table) the Pixelbook has keys with 1mm key travel. It may seem like a half millimeter doesn't make any difference, but it really does. The keys are admittedly not as bouncy as the ones on the MacBook Air, Surface Laptop, or even the old Chromebook Pixel 2, but they're still very satisfying to type on. They're quiet, but feel semi-mechanical.
The keyboard and trackpad might be the best on any laptop.
The glass trackpad is equally as lovely to use. It's not obscenely large and is smooth as hell. Google tells me it custom designed the entire component to make it the best trackpad it's ever shipped. I can confirm it's really awesome.
Google sells the Pixelbook in three configurations: Intel Core i5 with 8GB of RAM and 128GB, Intel Core i5 with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, and an Intel Core i7 with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. Bumping up to 256GB will cost you an extra $200 on top of the $1,000 base and a whopping $650 to move up to the 512GB model.
I tested the base model and it handled dozens of Chrome tabs and several Android apps (Slack, Twitter, Instagram, Spotify, Feedly, Google Keep, Google Docs) running in their own windows without any real choke-ups. There were a few times when the Slack app crashed, but nothing that couldn't be fixed by closing the app.
Having used many cheap Chromebooks with low performance processors, I thought the Core i5 chip and 8GB of RAM would be a little overkill, but it wasn't. Chrome OS is lightweight compared to macOS or Windows 10, but Chrome is still a memory hog like it is on those platforms. So too are Android apps.
I was very happy to see performance balanced so well on the Pixelbook. I don't recall a single Chrome tab ever crashing because it ran out of memory. And outside of the rare stutter when switching between laptop and tablet mode and from landscape to portrait (and vice versa), I've been loving how the Pixelbook just works smoothly.
Nor did the laptop ever get hot since it has a fanless chip. On occasion, the base warmed up, but not to any noticeable degree. It only happened when I pushed the system to juggle like 40 tabs, while streaming music from Spotify and playing 3D games like Asphalt: Xtreme.
Battery life is easily the Pixelbook's weakest point. Google says it should get up to 10 hours of battery life with mixed usage. In reality, you're probably going to get around 4-5 hours of mixed usage if you're using it all day as much as I did. Because if you're spending $1,000 on a Chromebook, why wouldn't you be pushing the laptop to its limits? You should be.
Starting my work day at 9 a.m., I had to reach for the charger by around 1 p.m. Dropping the brightness and a lot many Android apps like Instagram helped the Pixelbook last a little longer, but not by much. The good news, though, is that the laptop supports fast charging, which'll get you two hours of use with a 15-minute charge.
I saw a few additional hours when I kicked back on my couch to casually browse the web, read the news on Feedly, and watch a few videos on YouTube and Netflix. Battery life is always going to be different for everyone, but 10 hours of continuous use with Chrome tabs and multiple Android apps open is a real stretch.
The Pixelbook only comes with two USB-C ports (none of which are Thunderbolt 3) and a headphone jack. Both USB-C ports support power delivery so you can charge (and fast charge with the included power adapter) on either side. Additionally, they also support 4K video output to an external monitor.
I'll always grind my teeth over the loss of the SD card because I shoot a lot of photos and videos, but I purchased a USB-C hub for my MacBook that includes the slot and USB-A ports and it worked perfectly with the Pixelbook.
Android apps complete Chrome OS
Chrome OS has always felt lacking compared to a real operating system because of its extremely limited web app support. Nothing wrong with web apps, especially ones that also work offline, but they're no replacements for full-fledged apps.
Well, Chrome OS still doesn't support native apps, but it does run Android apps from the Google Play Store. Google announced last year that Android apps were coming, and while the initial beta rollout was pretty rough, things are a lot better now.
I had no issues running Instagram, Slack, Spotify, Twitter, Feedly, and a bunch of other Android apps I use daily on the Chromebook. The apps are made for smartphones, but in some cases you can full-screen them if they have a tablet version. It's really neat, and as I said last year when I first tried Android apps on Chromebooks, access to powerful mobile apps like Snapseed, Adobe Lightroom, and more make working on Chrome OS that much easier than before.
It'll be up to developers to add keyboard and trackpad support to their apps to really unlock their laptop potential, but, truthfully, I kind of liked using Android apps on the larger screen with touch. It was very natural for me to simply reach up and touch familiar apps and not have to learn any keyboard shortcuts. And in many cases, it was faster to use these apps with touch than click.
Android apps aren't going to be able to replace every real app, but for most people, they'll work just fine in a pinch. I personally didn't find Android apps to be too limiting. In fact, it's better that some apps are Android apps because they have features that you can't get on a laptop. For example, Netflix's offline downloads only works on mobile devices (and through the Windows 10 app). But because the Pixelbook is emulating the app, you can get the feature on your laptop -- a big plus if you're a Mac user.
Google says it's working with developers to create more hardcore Android apps that offer more feature parity with their other platform counterparts. AutoCAD is one app that'll launch in the near future.
Infused with AI
Similar to the Pixel 2 phones, the Pixelbook has the Google Assistant baked right in, and once you get used to it having a presence on your laptop, it's hard to go back.
Google thinks the Assistant will be so important that it gave it a dedicated button right on the keyboard between the Control and Alt keys.
Press the Assistant key and the familiar digital assistant window pops up asking how it can help you. You can type out a query or ask it just like you could on a phone. And if you want, you can turn on voice controls to launch the Assistant with an "OK Google" command.
The Assistant gets better when you pair it with the Pixelbook Pen (sold separately for $100). Google also sells a Pixelbook Pen stylus that it says is the world's most accurate stylus ever made with a 10-milliseconds of latency (Apple Pencil has 20ms and Microsoft's Surface Pen has 21ms).
With the Pen, you can press its button and circle an image on the screen and the Assistant will analyze it and try to serve up relevant information on it. It's kind of like Google Lens fused with Google Search.
It works on some famous people, places, and things. But like Google Lens, it's not quite there yet. I got more "I can't find anything on your screen I can help with" than I would have liked, but I believe it'll get better with time.
I wouldn't buy the stylus just for this feature, but if you're an artist who likes to draw, it's very accurate and the pressure-sensitivity and tilt-detection is excellent.
Crazy no more
Dropping a grand on a Chromebook used to be considered crazy, but I don't think it is anymore. People are spending $1,000 on a Galaxy Note 8 and the iPhone X, so why not a really nice Chromebook that checks off virtually all the boxes?
The majority of Chromebooks are and probably will always be under-powered garbage. But that doesn't mean every Chromebook needs to be. Nor does it mean a really nice one can't exist.
Google's Pixelbook is the exception.
It's the best Chromebook ever made, and it's also the most fun computer I've used in ages. Google's figured out how to perfectly blend keyboard, trackpad, and touch so that they work harmoniously. And Android apps make up for Chrome OS's lack of "real" apps.
Never have I enjoyed using a 2-in-1 so much until the Pixelbook.
Google Pixelbook
The Good
Gorgeous, bright touchscreen
Incredibly tactile and responsive keyboard and trackpad
Beautiful, sturdy aluminum and glass construction
Runs Android apps from Google Play and really well
The Bad
USB-C ports aren't Thunderbolt 3
Battery life is a little weak
The Bottom Line
The Pixelbook is the best Chromebook ever made and just a really a joy to use.
Topics Android Google Reviews Mashable Choice Gadgets
