No matter how powerful our phones get, there's still a place in our lives for a laptop with
a physical keyboard to help us do the tasks we need to do on a daily basis such as completing
documents, catching up on emails, or doing an assignment.
And I get asked all of the time the laptop that I recommend for students or people just
looking for a device to get things done.
Hi everyone, it’s KJ the MiTechGuy here and when I got sent the Pixelbook Go, I honestly
didn't think it would fit into my day to day, since I used my MacBook Pro and iPad Pro on
a daily basis already.
But because of the things that I have discovered and will talk about throughout this video,
the Pixelbook Go has actually become a laptop that I think is perfect for most people.
Let's get right into it.
The model that Google sent me to check out is the midrange model that uses the 8th Gen
Intel Core i5 chip, has 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of SSD storage.
Nothing there is out of the ordinary, and those are decent specifications for a midrange
laptop.
However, keep in mind that this does run ChromeOS, which will be heavily optimized for this computer.
This means that the power that Google packed into this computer will be plenty for whatever
you'd ever want to do with this laptop.
That also means that battery life should be excellent, and in my experience it has.
It is rated for 12 hours of battery life, but in my experience if you do any sort of
video streaming on it, that battery life should come down to around 9-10 hours, which is still
really great.
The design of the Pixelbook Go is where it starts to really excel in my opinion.
It weighs only 2 pounds and is only 13 mm thick.
And let me tell you, it is really light.
Especially if you've gotten used to using bigger laptops.
It has two USB C ports and a headphone jack, And a problem that most manufacturers don't
address with their laptops, is the fact that they could be very slippery and susceptible
to dropping.
With the Pixelbook Go, Google made the bottom ridged to really keep in mind the people that
are on the go and want to be able to just take their laptop with them everywhere.
The ridges make the Pixelbook Go very easy to pull out of a bag, and because it is such
a compact package, I am able to put the laptop in slots in my backpack that aren't even meant
to be for laptops, so it will even be able to fit in most decently sized purses or bags
as well.
The screen itself on the Pixelbook Go is a 13.3 inch touch screen.
This makes it extremely easy to do things such as open up the app drawer or change settings
quickly as you would on your phone.
The screen on the model I have is 1080p, but you do get a 4K screen if you get the top
of the line version.
In my experience, the screen is definitely a quality one, which I think matters more
than the resolution itself, and even if I am usually someone who loves high resolutions,
I am totally fine with the 1080p panel on my Pixelbook Go.
For such a small and thin laptop, the speakers on the Pixelbook Go are also impressive, and
Google includes a 1080p webcam up top, which should make this a nice video chatting device
as well.
Okay so I know what a lot of you are thinking.
KJ this is a glorified Chromebook and since it doesn't run Windows or Mac, it is basically
useless.
And to that I'd say I will acknowledge that yeah ChromeOS will not allow you to run windows-only
or Mac-only apps.
And there are some people out there that are forced to buy either a Mac or Windows computer
just for certain apps.
However, the title of this video is I think this laptop is perfect for most people, and
I will stand by that.
Hear me out.
First of all ChromeOS, its constant software updates, and built in virus-provention will
mean that you simply will not ever have to worry about getting a virus.
Next there are a lot of Android apps that are available to download and use on the Pixelbook
Go.
I'm not just talking about apps like Instagram and Twitter, which do in fact work on the
Pixelbook Go, I'm talking about apps like the Microsoft Office Suite and Adobe Lightroom
CC, which allow me to be productive on the laptop, as my data can sync to my other devices
easily.
And because of the extra horsepower Google packed into this model, apps like Lightroom
run very smoothly and the Pixelbook Go makes editing pics a breeze.
But I think the top feature of at least this version of ChromeOS that really made me a
Pixelbook Go stan, is the fact that you can use the Linux terminal and essentially download
any Debian-compatible Linux program.
For my sake, this meant that I was able to download Atom, which is a nice coding IDE.
It is not in the app store, but it is Linux-compatible, and a couple of terminal commands later, I
had it installed on the Pixelbook Go.
These Linux apps that you download will just go in a special folder in your app drawer,
but yeah, the range of compatible applications the Pixelbook Go can run grew significantly
just with the fact that ChromeOS works really nicely with Linux applications.
When you open the Linux terminal or Linux applications, these simply pop up as if they
were native ChromeOS app.
No virtual machine or dual-booting necessary.
The fact that the laptop is made by Google means that it also works really well with
the Google Assistant.
The voice processing tech is actually built into the Pixelbook Go, which means that instead
of processing voice commands from a server, it can do it locally.
All this means practically is that voice commands work almost instantly, which has actually
made me use the Google Assistant more often than I would've expected myself to.
With the Google Assistant, which also has a dedicated button, you can of course ask
questions like math or the weather, but with the Pixelbook Go, the integration is deeper
than that.
You can also do things like open applications and change settings, which is pretty cool.
The trackpad is something that I have a love/hate relationship with on this laptop.
On one hand, it has some pretty cool gestures like being able to slide three fingers left
or right to switch between tabs in Chrome, or slide three fingers up to create or switch
between desktops.
On the other hand, the trackpad is ridiculously loud to press.
In certain situations, tap to click isn't an option, so I have to click down on the
trackpad to make selections, and it makes a significantly loud thumping click regardless
of how lightly I try to press it in.
It's unfortunate because the keyboard is actually very pleasant to type on, is backlit, and
does not make much noise at all.
But overall, the trackpad is actually very responsive and I'd say it is above average,
but like every other laptop out right now, still doesn't come close to Mac-level smoothness.
Buying a Pixelbook Go is similar to buying an iPhone in the phone space.
Yes, there are plenty of laptops out there that will be more powerful or feature filled,
and some people do need that extra power.
However, most people just need a device that simply works, and they need a device that
does so with a solid keyboard and trackpad experience.
The Pixelbook Go just works.
As I've said before, I use my Macbook Pro and iPad Pro on a daily basis, and still there
are moments where I'd actually rather bring the Pixelbook Go along with me.
If I need to catch up on emails, book a flight, or work on my calendar, I will probably use
the Pixelbook Go because of how light and compact it is, and also because of its pleasant
typing experience.
Things like the smart keyboard case on the iPad still don't come close to the typing
experience found on attached keyboards like on the Pixelbook Go.
And you factor all of these things in with the fact that you can now run Linux natively
on the Pixelbook Go, I think a lot of gaps that were present on past Chromebooks are
starting to be accounted for.
With Linux support, the Pixelbook Go could now even be the computer I pick up first when
I'm trying to complete a coding assignment, or when I'm trying to tinker with different
Linux applications for research purposes.
When I first received the Pixelbook Go from Google, I was intrigued, but honestly not
very opttimistic.
But having used it for the past couple of months almost daily, my opinion has changed
quite a bit.
This video isn't sponsored by Google, nor did Google even require me to make a video.
I decided to make this video because I actually believe it is that good.
Don't get me wrong, for people like hardcore video editors or mechanical engineers who
need to CAD, the Pixelbook Go isn't right for you because you'll probably want those
full desktop applications found on Windows and Mac.
But if you are someone who doesn't necessarily need to use a hardcore desktop app and just
needs a reliable laptop that you know will just always work, that's where the Pixelbook
Go is an easy recommendation from me for most people.
And if more people give the Pixelbook Go a chance, app developers will have the incentive
to develop apps that take advantage of the optimized platform that is ChromeOS.
I'm going to leave any links down in the description.
Right now my Believe in Yourself hoodies are selling fast worldwide and I'll give the people
who made it this far in the video a 20% off code.
Just use promo code 'Pixelbook'.
If you haven't already, make sure to follow me on Instagram and Twitter to keep up to
date with what I'm doing, and make sure to subscribe and have the notification bell clicked
because I am going to be posting a lot of videos this month!
As always, thanks for watching and I will see you in the next video.