Hi, this is Wayne again with a topic “Pixelbook Go Review: The Google Laptop”.
[ Narrator ] Sponsored by Surfshark VPN. At 2019’s, Made by Google event in New York City. I expected to come away entranced by the smartphones and apathetic about everything else., But it turns out that a Chromebook aimed at those who stay mobile. Well, that’s right up! My alley., This is the Pixelbook Go and while it’s not the best deal you can get in the Google Store, it is the Chromebook that I would buy.
( upbeat. Music ) Chromebooks have come a long way since that budget model I covered a couple years: back. They’re still designed mainly for browsing, writing and other light work, but that also means they’re faster to boot, simpler to use and last longer on a charge than full PCs. And the fact that they can now run almost every app that an Android phone can that makes’em a lot more versatile than they once were.. A lot of vendors make Chromebooks, but Google has only made a handful of its’ own.. 2017’S Pixelbook was a triumphant blend of aesthetics and power that you had to pay at least 1,000 bucks to own.
And last year’s Pixel Slate was a disaster.. It tried to be tablet and laptop and pretty much failed at both.. The Pixelbook Go is more limited in its ambitions and, as a consequence, it’s much more focused..
This is a purebred laptop.. You can’t pop the screen off or fold it behind the keyboard. You open it to use it and close it when you’re done.. That makes it less exciting and in the opinion of Android Central’s Ara Wagoner less practical than other Chromebooks.. We’Ll come back to that. But first I got ta give Google props for the hardware here..
This is one of the most comfortable laptops, I’ve used., It’s all pillowy curves., The bottom plate is scalloped in this way. I’Ve never seen before, and the keyboard is soft and quiet without falling into the trap of being mushy.. I could type on this all day. Matter of fact. I have for five days. The Pixelbook Go passes the one-handed opening test.
Thank you for that and the casing is painted magnesium, but in the same way the Pixel 4 doesn’t feel like glass. This feels too soft to be metal.. Speaking of the Pixel 4, if you pair it to the Pixelbook Go, you can use Smart Lock to bypass your password., Just unlock your phone and then you can tap right in on the touchscreen.. You can also turn on your phone’s wifi hotspot, right from Chrome OS rather than fish your phone out of your bag.. You don’t need a Pixel, 4 or a Pixelbook Go to take advantage of these features in a Chromebook, but after not using Chrome OS for a while and forgetting about these features, I was really happy to have them back.. For the past five days, I’ve used the Pixelbook Go for the writing and research part of my workflow, which means juggling an average of eight to 10 Chrome, tabs Slack Evernote, Spotify and Pocket Casts which, by the way, absolutely rocks on these speakers.
[ Ara ]. The bestselling Chromebook today, I believe, is the Lenovo C330, the $ 250 Chromebook and it runs all day. [ Man ]. When do we set the clocks back [ Computer ], First Sunday in November., Here’s a summary from WebExhibits.
They’re, not quite as spacious and crisp. As my MacBook Pros, but they are just as loud. And with that typical workflow, I’ve averaged about eight hours of continuous use between charges, far short of the 12 hours Google promises, but every manufacturer overstates battery claims and more to the point. Eight hours is far better than the four to five I’ve come to expect from my MacBook and most PCs. Google says the included 45 watt. Adapter can replenish it quickly and here the company delivers like Domino’s.
After my review unit died. I plugged it in for 20 minutes then unplugged. It set my watch and got exactly the promised two hours of use from that 20 minute top up. Between this and the new Microsoft Surfaces. I love that fast charging is finally becoming common on laptops.
Quick word on the trim level. This is the mid-tier Pixelbook Go, so it’s powered by an Intel Core i5, backed up by eight gigs of ram.. Now, if you want, you can spend more to get double the memory in the next higher tier Chrome.
Os loves its’ ram, but I’ve had no performance complaints, even with my mid-range unit., If you’re gon na upgrade do it to get a higher resolution screen if anything. This full HD panel is fine, but I wish it was sharper and brighter. As we approach the critical Point where I tell you whether I think it’s a good buy or not, I’m gon na do two things.. Secondly, I wan na come back to Ara Wagoner’s points about the competition and, firstly, I want my sponsor to tell you how to stay secure on the internet.. You’Ve probably heard me talk about my sponsor Surfshark VPN, but you might not have heard about its’ latest feature HackLock., It’s fun to say, and it’s also kinda like a tripwire for online security.. It keeps an eye on your personal information and alerts you if it sees something awry, so you can take action before it gets out of control. Punch in your email address and you can see if you’ve been the subject of any data breaches. So you know which passwords you need to change before it’s too late..
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Now at the link below and use promo code, MRMOBILE. You’ll get 83 % off a year subscription and one month absolutely free.. Okay, now Ara’s point., The thing that kills the Pixelbook Go for a lot of folks is value.. Go to the Chromebook part of the Google Store yourself and set the price slider to the middle..
You’Ll quickly find that you can get a Samsung Chromebook Plus with a stylus tablet mode and a built-in 4G connection, and that Chromebook is $ 50 cheaper than this one.. You could even use the difference in price to buy yourself a microSD card to expand your storage on that Samsung, which the Pixelbook Go, cannot do. And even that’s. Expensive.
Ara carries the Lenovo C330, which performs just as well as she needs as long as she doesn’t overdo it on the Chrome tabs. She tells me and that can be had for 250 bucks. With a competition like that. It’S no wonder some people take one.
Look at this device and call it Pixelbook No., But if you’ve been watching my channel for long enough folks, you know what I’m about to say.. I don’t want a generic machine, some mass-market laptop, that a manufacturer pulled off the Windows budget production line to flash Chrome OS on., I’m willing to pay more for a thoughtfully designed, narrowly tailored product.. If that product has great battery life and a chassis that I can still call comfortable even after having worked five days straight on it so much the better.
Do I wish it had built-in LTE Absolutely. Or some of Chrome, OS’s pain, points overdue for correction Absolutely.. I want Android apps to be more responsive on this platform. I want the track pad to be more comfortable and I want a display that doesn’t disappear completely. When I wear polarized sunglasses.
Seriously, that’s crazy. Do I think it’s too expensive Absolutely., But it’s also absolutely the laptop that I would buy if I were shopping for a Chromebook., ( upbeat, music ). This video is made possible by a Pixelbook Go review sample sent by Google, which also provided travel and lodging for some members of the media who attended the New York launch event myself included. Mr.
Mobile doesn’t produce paid reviews, however, and Google did not receive copy approval Of this review, which means they’re, seeing it for the first time right alongside you., If that’s the kind of video you’d like to see more of, please subscribe to theMrMobile on YouTube and special thanks to androidcentral for its help with this review as well. Until next time. Thanks for watching and stay mobile, my friends.
( upbeat music, ) .