The Chromebook Pixel (2015) Review
by Brandon Chester on March 16, 2015 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
- Chrome OS
- Chromebook
- Chromebook Pixel
Final Words
Despite its limitations, it's really hard to not like the Chromebook Pixel. Google has clearly put a lot of thought and effort into designing it, and what it does do it does really well. I think the move to USB Type-C is forward thinking, and makes the Pixel very versatile when it comes to connecting to both current and future displays and peripherals. The little details like tapping the top to see the remaining battery capacity, and the ability to charge on either side also help make it a very lovable laptop.
The Pixel's hardware is top notch. The build quality is every bit as good as what you'll get on a MacBook Retina, and both the keyboard and touchpad are comfortable to use. The CPU and RAM are completely overkill for running Chrome OS, but given that the Pixel has absolutely stellar battery life I'm not complaining about the additional hardware power. I think Google could have done more to calibrate the display, but in all honesty I doubt any users who buy the Pixel will be bothered by it, and it is still incredibly sharp.
The only big criticism I can really throw at the Pixel is the fact that its software is limited. But that is the entire point of how Chrome OS has been designed, and I do not know if it really makes sense to complain about something doing exactly what it was intended to do just because you wish it could do more. Chrome OS is definitely not the OS for everyone though, and although you can run other versions of Linux overtop, it's not exactly a real solution to the problem.
The final question is obviously whether or not someone interested in the Pixel should buy one. The answer is more complicated than a yes or a no. For anyone who wants to develop with Chrome OS in mind, the Pixel is the laptop to buy if it is within their budget. Other Chromebooks are definitely more affordable, but the Pixel is just so much nicer than any other Chromebook. I think that the Pixel can also be an appealing device for any user who can work within the limitations of Chrome OS, although I heavily stress that buyers make sure they know exactly what those limitations are before they spend $1000 on a laptop.
Google clearly doesn't intend for the Pixel to be a mass market item. It's quite expensive, it runs Chrome OS, and it's only sold in the US and the UK. There's clearly a small market for people that want a laptop like the Pixel though, and those are the people that Google are targeting. I am not one of them, and I do not know many people who are, but they do exist. In the end I find myself wishing that the Pixel could do more, because it's a genuinely nice laptop. I really like the Chromebook Pixel, but I personally just couldn't justify buying it.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
123 Comments
View All Comments
Sushisamurai - Monday, March 16, 2015 - link
Just nit picking, but for the battery / charge time section, I think you should add a chart for normalized values, to compare efficiency - I think it'd be neat to see how efficient these new laptops are getting (it's the new trend!)Sushisamurai - Monday, March 16, 2015 - link
But yeah, cool read. If it didn't have chrome book logo written on it, i think I might just mistake the keyboard/trackpad design for a Macbook design. The body could use some contours IMO. That LED light bar is a novel ideaandychow - Monday, March 16, 2015 - link
My only real complaint is the lack of "page-up/page-down" buttons. They had the space left and right of the "up" button. I use those a lot normally. I know you can do alt-up or alt-down, but, I would like those buttons.Otherwise, great device that fixes the only real problem with the first one: the battery life.
I can't find this on the google store, but as soon as it's there I'm buying one.
Brandon Chester - Monday, March 16, 2015 - link
Are you in the US or UK? It should be available there right now.melgross - Monday, March 16, 2015 - link
"All these little details result in a really unique design, and its been clear since the original Pixel that Google wanted to create their own device instead of just carbon copying another laptop"Well, as this looks almost exactly like a Macbook Pro to most people, I wouldn't say that it's so original. It seems that to pc makers, and now this extends to Google's Chrome efforts, being "original" means copying Apple (again).
Yes, I expect to get flamed here, but that doesn't change the facts.
Brandon Chester - Monday, March 16, 2015 - link
I have both Retina MacBook Pros and the Pixel is distinctly different in many ways.aliasfox - Monday, March 16, 2015 - link
As someone who's seen and used a variety of different MacBooks as well as the first generation Pixel, I'll say that if a Retina MacBook Pro makes the average laptop look cheap and chintzy, then the Pixel makes the rMBP look and feel like a low-effort design. The Pixels that I've handled and seen seem to have tighter tolerances and lower torsional flex than even the unibody MacBooks, which make them seem even more 'hewn from one piece of metal' than Apple's products do.In terms of look and feel, if the average laptop was a Toyota Corolla and a MacBook Pro was an Audi A6, then the Pixel is like a Mercedes Benz S-Class. It really is very noticeable.
MykeM - Tuesday, March 17, 2015 - link
Knowing Mercedes, the attention to details cover more than just the exterior design but also the engine or the engineering throughout the entire vehicle. If you look at the typical Mercedes, it would look something like this:http://i.imgur.com/DQg0bp4.jpg
Now if you look inside a Chromebook, you'll see this:
http://i.imgur.com/V9BVu2N.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/ZnK3YTJ.png
And compare it to the inside of a Retina MacBook Pro:
http://i.imgur.com/O5LcAHg.jpg
Now tell me again which of the two is the Mercedes and the Toyota Prius?
http://i.imgur.com/Ua07lwU.jpg
Braincruser - Monday, March 16, 2015 - link
This is a price range for many gaming laptops. Infinitely more powerful, better storage AND better facebook machine.MantasPakenas - Monday, March 16, 2015 - link
Nice review. However, I see a couple of glaring issues I'd like to see addressed:Even though you criticize the Pixel, even if indirectly, for running a somewhat limited OS for this price bracket, you (and to be fair, most other reviewers) fail to mention it's one huge advantage (given the limitations) - killer security features and 0 hassle with updates or almost anything else OS related. That's worth a lot to a lot of people, even if most of them look for something much cheaper.
Pardon, but I just don't see how benchmarking the Pixel against tablets and vastly cheaper and inferior Chromebooks makes any sense at all. This is, after all, an ultrabook, and one costing $1000 or more. These benchmarks give me somewhere around 10% of (somewhat) useful information, and omit the 90% of the really important one. I can understand how including one or two more powerful Chromebooks makes sense as a baseline, but this laptop has a display, battery, and processor that needs to be compared only agains Macbook Pros, Airs, Lenovo Yoga Pros and Dell XPS 13s! Especially since this is targeted at developers and these guys are more than likely to run at least Linux on it, doing most of the same tasks they would do on their Windows or OSX machines.