Google Pixelbook Go Review
Our Verdict
The Google Pixelbook Become is a more affordable, longer lasting alternative to Google'south original Pixelbook.
For
- Low-cal chassis
- Sleek, minimalist blueprint
- Vivid, colorful panel
- Long bombardment life
Against
- No USB-A ports
- So-then audio
- Limiting clamshell design
Tom's Guide Verdict
The Google Pixelbook Go is a more affordable, longer lasting alternative to Google's original Pixelbook.
Pros
- +
Calorie-free chassis
- +
Sleek, minimalist design
- +
Bright, colorful console
- +
Long battery life
Cons
- -
No USB-A ports
- -
So-so sound
- -
Limiting clamshell design
We waited and waited for a sequel to the Google Pixelbook, an elegant merely flawed Chrome OS convertible that impressed us in 2017. Instead, Google's given that two-in-1 a more affordable sibling: the Pixelbook Go ($849 every bit tested, starting at $649). And while its clamshell design doesn't feel quite every bit right every bit the Pixelbook does for using touch-based Android apps, there's a lot to love well-nigh the Pixelbook Go.
Not only is it surprisingly light, but information technology also has a well-designed magnesium shell that looks and feels cracking. With a bright display and long battery life, this is non simply one of the best Chromebooks out in that location, but one of the best laptops likewise.
- The best Chromebook deals around
- The best laptops y'all can buy
- Check out our Acer Chromebook Spin 311 review
Google Pixelbook Go price and configurations
We tested the $849 edition of the Pixelbook Go, which comes with an Intel Core i5, 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Our unit of measurement is $200 more than the entry-level, $649 Cadre m3 version, which has the same amount of memory but just 64GB of storage.
In that location are pricier models; $999 gets you a bump to 16GB of RAM and $one,399 gets you a Core i7 processor, 256GB of storage and a 4K panel. But both neither of those is available notwithstanding (just similar the Not Pinkish colorway).
You tin currently find deals on the Pixelbook Go in our Chromebook Black Friday deals roundup, where we're seeing it over $100 off.
The Pixelbook Go arrived on October 17, 2019, simply while the Pixelbook Become has been out for over a year, Google has kept the pricing the same. Google hasn't launched a Chromebook since, and we're hoping to get an updated Pixelbook or Pixelbook Go this year.
Google Pixelbook Go specs
CPU: Intel Core i5-8200Y
RAM: 8GB
Display: 13.three-inch, 3840 x 2160
Storage: 128GB
Ports: 2x USB-C
Graphics carte: Intel UHD 615 GPU
Battery life: 11:29 (web browsing, tested) | Upwards to 12 hours (Google'south claim)
Wi-Fi: 802.11 a/b/thou/n/ac, 2x2 (MIMO), dual band (2.4 GHz, 5.0 GHz)
Bluetooth: 4.2
Touchpad: 4.6 x two.vi inches
Warranty/support: ane year
Size: 12.2 x 8.1 ten 0.5 inches
Weight: 2.iii pounds
Google Pixelbook Go design
There'southward a lot to like well-nigh the Google Pixelbook Go's wait, merely permit's address the elephant in the room: Information technology'due south a nonconvertible in an age when it really feels like all Chromebooks should exist 2-in-1s. The clamshell design may have allowed for a more affordable toll, but it means that Android apps feel a trivial less natural, because you can't fold the brandish backward to put the machine into tablet mode.
Yes, some Android apps take been adapted for a keyboard and touchpad — the popular racing game Asphalt nine is one case — but they don't really feel right in this setting. External controller support, which merely came to macOS, would help.
The Pixelbook Go'due south near iconic design touch is its rippled underside, which Google says is meant to make the laptop more "grippable" (their discussion). After spending some time with this design, I've come to the decision that this surface adds more aesthetic value than assistive help. It's that touch, plus the rounded edges and the indented lip for opening the Get with one manus, that help the laptop stand out in a field of increasingly like-looking MacBooks and MacBook imitators.
The "Only Black" Google Pixelbook Go nosotros tested bears a subtle resemblance to a classic Apple tree laptop, the 2007 black MacBook, which was more than expensive and rarer in the wild. My favorite little impact of the Pixelbook Go is the subtle grey Google "G" logo, which is much more than minimal (and to me, more than pleasing visually) than the Chrome logo and branding that is festooned upon most Chromebooks.
A grippable underside and a gear up of rounded edges help the Pixelbook Go stand up out in a field of increasingly similar-looking MacBooks and MacBook imitators.
There's likewise a "Not Pinkish" version, which bears a two-tone design that features a coral underside and a peak half that is … well, it's complicated. Equally its proper name suggests, information technology'southward not pink. If I had to phone call information technology annihilation, I'd say it's a 90% to 10% mix of foam and pinkish, respectively.
Almost importantly, the Google Pixelbook Go is really sparse and light, at 0.5 inches thick and 2.iii pounds in weight. The HP Chromebook fifteen (0.7 inches, four pounds) and Asus Chromebook Flip C434 (0.6 inches, 3.1 pounds) are both thicker and heavier. The original Pixelbook (0.4 inches and 2.v pounds) is thinner but heavier — and at least $350 more than expensive.
Google Pixelbook Go ports
Google'due south given the Pixelbook Go a pair of power-drawing and display-expanding USB-C ports, with ane on either side of the laptop. The left side also has a headphone jack.
This setup mirrors what you lot go from the pricier Pixelbook, while the HP Chromebook 15 and Asus Chromebook Flip C434 both take two USB-C ports, plus a microSD reader and a USB Type-A port. None of these reversible ports are Thunderbolt 3.
Google Pixelbook Go display
Thankfully, Google didn't cut corners on the Pixelbook Go'southward 13.3-inch display, which offers fine details (we tested the 1080p version) and bright, colorful paradigm quality.
Watching the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker trailer on the notebook, I saw explosions with warm oranges, laser blasts with strong reds and icebergs so blueish that I felt common cold. Scratches in a behemothic throne besides stood out, equally did all the little bells and whistles in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon.
Watching the Star Wars: The Ascent of Skywalker trailer on the notebook, I saw explosions with warm oranges, laser blasts with strong reds and icebergs and then blue that I felt common cold.
The Pixelbook Go'southward panel, according to our colorimeter, produces 108% of the sRGB spectrum, a rating that beats the 85% Chromebook average, as well as scores from the HP Chromebook xv (64%) and the Asus Chromebook Flip C434 (93%). The OG Pixelbook'south display (117%) is fifty-fifty more than colorful.
Our light gun picked upwards a 368-nit maximum brightness in the Pixelbook Get, which outshines the 265-nit Chromebook average, as well as results from the HP Chromebook 15 (247 nits) and the Asus Chromebook Flip C434 (286 nits). Over again, the original Pixelbook's 421-nit panel is the king of this round. And while the Pixelbook Go is vivid enough to keep colors strong when viewed from xxx to xl degrees to the left and right, its screen is super reflective, picking up lots of glare.
The Pixelbook Become'south thirteen.iii-inch touch screen responded promptly to my taps and jabs. Window navigation and website scrolling also moved smoothly.
Google Pixelbook Go audio
As I saturday at that place listening to Metallica'due south "For Whom the Bong Tolls" on the Pixelbook Go, I noted that while the laptop produces a decent amount of sound for its size, the sound itself isn't corking. Vocals and bass didn't kick that much, and drums sounded a bit brittle.
Google Pixelbook Go keyboard and touchpad
When I get-go tested the Pixelbook Get's keyboard, I was incredibly happy with information technology. That's largely because my fingers had spent the morn typing on a much shallower keyboard. I was using a MacBook Pro to cover the Google consequence where the Go was appear.
Back at our offices, I took the Pixelbook Go for a spin on the 10fastfingers.com typing test, where I clicked my mode to a score of 75 words per minute (close to my fourscore-wpm boilerplate) with 97.9% accuracy. The more than time I spent with this keyboard during my testing, the more I saw that its keys are still quite shallow compared to a non-Apple laptop's, only still alpine enough for comfy typing.
Google refers to these keys as "ultra hush," and while I didn't notice that typing was whatever quieter than usual in my normal testing, my colleague noticed the softer sound when nosotros did a blind exam between the Become and the original Pixelbook.
Oddly, using the Pixelbook Get's backlit keyboard requires you learn an obscure keyboard shortcut: holding Alt while y'all toggle the brightness keys. Turned all the mode upwards, the keys provide an acceptable amount of brightness.
As I navigated the Chrome OS interface and web pages, I noticed that the Pixelbook's 4.half dozen x 2.half dozen-inch touchpad offers authentic input recognition. Website-scrolling and window-navigation gestures too moved smoothly and promptly.
Google Pixelbook Go performance
The Pixelbook Go we tested packs an Intel Core i5-8200Y CPU and 8GB of RAM, offering enough ability for good multitasking and making good use of Chrome Bone's Android app emulation. I split my screen between a 1440p YouTube video and a dozen Chrome tabs (including ones for a Google md, our office Slack and Giphy), and I saw nary a stutter or pause every bit I jumped betwixt pages. Stability continued as I clicked on Android apps I had open up in the background, including Spotify, Todoist and Super Mario Run.
The Google Pixelbook Go scored a strong half-dozen,516 on the Geekbench 4.3 general-functioning benchmark (via Android emulation), which beats the five,506 Chromebook average. We saw higher scores of 7,823 from the HP Chromebook 15 (de0517wm) and vi,968 from the Asus Chromebook Flip C434 (Intel Core m3-8100Y with 4GB of RAM).
And since nosotros still take the original Pixelbook around, we ran the newer version of that test, Geekbench five, on both systems. They ranked relatively like, with the Pixelbook Go's 1,356 edging out the 1,137 from the original Pixelbook, which is running on the previous-generation Core i5-7Y57.
In the WebGL Aquarium test, which measures how fast a machine tin return digital fish, the Pixelbook Go displayed 500 fish at 60 frames per 2nd and 5,000 fish at 37 fps. These numbers lucifer what we saw from the HP Chromebook 15 (500 fish at threescore fps) and the Chromebook Flip C434 (v,000 fish at 37 fps). The original Pixelbook displayed 5,000 fish at a slightly slower rate of 28 fps.
More: Chromebook vs. Windows 10: Which Is All-time for You?
The Pixelbook Become'south JetStream two score of 85.9 shows that the car handles JavaScript content better than the boilerplate Chromebook (68.7), the original Pixelbook (75.five) and the Flip C434 (76.7). The HP Chromebook 15 (98.53) ranked even higher.
I carve up my screen between a 1440p YouTube video and a dozen Chrome tabs (including ones for a Google dr., our office Slack and Giphy), and I saw nary a stutter or suspension as I jumped betwixt pages.
When I took the Pixelbook Get out for a spin for some gaming, I saw mixed results. On simpler titles, such as Super Mario Run (which displays awkwardly, with big black bars on either half of the screen), everything moved smoothly every bit I jumped through blocks and baddies and picked upward coins. The racing game Asphalt 9, nevertheless, showed a little visual stutter, but it notwithstanding ran fast enough to exist played.
Google Pixelbook Go battery life
The Google Pixelbook Go improves on the original high-end Pixelbook when it comes to endurance. The Go lasted 11 hours and 29 minutes on our battery examination (Wi-Fi surfing at 150 nits), chirapsia the 9:31 category boilerplate, the ix:51 time from the HP Chromebook 15, the 9:58 from the Asus Chromebook Flip C434 and the lowly seven:43 from the original Pixelbook.
Bottom line
The Pixelbook Become's thin-and-light chassis, elegant design, stiff overall operation and lengthy battery life make it 1 of the best Chromebooks, period. However, we wish this Pixelbook had a convertible hinge or USB-A ports.
The Chromebook Flip C434 provides a 2-in-ane pattern at $599 ($250 less than the Pixelbook Go we tested), but its shorter battery life might give you pause. I recommend the Google Pixelbook Go, still, because information technology comes shut to the original Pixelbook's excellence at more than affordable prices.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/pixelbook-go
Posted by: wellshaved1950.blogspot.com
0 Response to "Google Pixelbook Go Review"
Post a Comment