We'd be amazed if the Google Pixelbook did not experience some renewed attention, considering all it can do these days. A true hybrid vehicle in every sense of the word, the Google Pixelbook brings a great deal to the table, both in performance and compatibility, so that the priciest Chromebook Pixel just could not.

It is not simply one of the greatest Chromebooks available on the marketplace -- the Google Pixelbook is one of the very best 2-in-1 laptops, interval. This is due to its capacity to offer a flavor of Android, while still keeping the features and design of Chrome OS undamaged -- something Windows 10 simply can't offer. Together with the Pixelbook, Google has packed a great deal of modern design flair to some maturing form variable, something mirrored at the Google Pixel Slate.

• Buying Guide: 15 best laptops for most people in the world today
• Buying Guide: 10 best Chromebooks in the world today
• Buying Guide: 10 best 2-in-1 laptops in the world today

These are all features that we can not wait to see replicated or pursued further in the Google Pixelbook 2 -- at anything kind it takes.

The Pixelbook Pen also considerably enhances the Pixelbook experience, even if it is not from the box, since it eliminates the hassle you will anticipate from loading Android apps on a laptop. The Google Pixelbook's capacity to change into a tablet helps for this.

Looking just like a conventional Chromebook combined using the Google Pixel C, the Google Pixelbook includes a lot going on under the surface. It is supported with 7th-generation Intel Core CPUs plus a gorgeous 2,400 x 1,600 display -- it is fantastic. And, to top it off, the Google Pixelbook includes a modest price tag that can make Apple's similarly specced offerings hide in shame. There are a slew of reasons to pick up the Google Pixelbook, even long after its launch.

Price and availability

There's no denying it -- the Google Pixelbook is an expensive Chromebook. Starting at $999 or £999 and capping out at $1,649 or £1,649 -- without counting the $99 (£99, about AU$130) Pixelbook Pen, although Google is pitching at a pen loop for people in need of a place to store the pencil.

For that superior, you are also getting 7th generation Kaby Lake Intel Core i5 processors on either the entry-level 128GB option and $1,199 (£1,199, about AU$1,555) mid sized 256GB option, each paired with 8GB of memory. On the other hand, the top-end 512GB option comes packing a Core i7 processor with 16GB of memory. Every one of these processor options are Intel's low-power, low-heat Y series processors, so all of the Pixelbook models are fanless.

Things are somewhat different in Australia. There are just two configurations out there. The first will put you back AU$1,522, coming with an Intel Core i5 CPU along with a 128GB SSD. The most capacious version of the Google Pixelbook will feature a Core i7 processor and only 256GB of SSD space. This model will set you back $1,804 And, sadly, because it doesn't seem like Google has released the Pixelbook from Australia, you are going to need to manage importing it in the United States.

Now, let us talk about how this holds up from this season's Samsung Chromebook Pro and Asus Chromebook Flip, each of which have been designed in close conjunction with Google to jump start the company's Android app push Chrome OS. The two of these laptops are much less costly, together with Samsung and Asus' now selling for $499 (about £375, AU$647) and $459 (£675, AU$899), respectively.

But they're both less powerful, including the exact same 6th-generation Intel Core m3 processor that's similarly designed for non power, and therefore reduced warmth, allowing it to make the most of fanless chassis designs. That said, they're equally amazing Chromebooks within their own right, even when they offer less memory and storage.

After all is said and done, these 2 Chromebooks are a much better bargain to get the Chrome OS platform because it is today, however, the Google Pixelbook is not about what is today -- it looks supporting tomorrow. The Google Pixelbook would be into the Chromebook exactly what Microsoft's Surface was to Windows 10 2-in-1 laptops that followed it.

Design

The Google Pixelbook is the gorgeous result of years of work on Google's role in optimizing a unified design across its hardware offerings. However, the Pixelbook could also be seen as a type of coming of age for Google's design philosophy.

It's simple to state that this is the most attractive and well-designed computing product from Google yet. In the brushed aluminum frame with flush borders to the rubberized palm rest and bottom, each design element has attained style and material in equal degree.

In case you haven't purchased a laptop in the past couple of years, you could have difficulty adjusting to the absence of ports . However, the Google Pixelbook is future proof. Which reminds us the webcam is equally prepared for an increasingly video-centric potential using a 720p resolution and 60 frames per second capture rate.

The exact same can not be said of the audio, yet. It is now regular in thin and light notebooks: Google has jammed the speakers under the keyboard, and the result is tinny sound. Fortunately, there's a 3.5millimeter audio jack that allows you use the finest headphones using the Pixelbook.

On the upside, the glass trackpad is a joy to use, monitoring super easily and correctly both with single- and-multi-touch gestures. But we found that the trackpad does not enjoy us resting our thumb on the trackpad to click while monitoring with our index finger -- a frequent use case, but maybe not that editor's individual taste.

Similarly, the Pixelbook keyboard is one of the finest we have ever tested. The backlit keyboard's keys are well-spaced, along with the 0.8 millimeter travel is a pleasure with strong feedback. In addition, we appreciate the subtle, profoundly satisfying clicking sound the keys make -- it is different from each laptop keyboard we have examined, and today we are going to expect it anywhere.

The Pixelbook gets the 'pixel' as it comes to the 3:2 display. In 235 ppi, with true colour reproduction the Pixelbook display contests some of the finest about, Chromebook or otherwise. It is in the exact same league as the 227 ppi 13-inch MacBook Pro as well as the 267 ppi Surface Pro 6.

The panel works well for films and photos, and of course photo editing. The 400 nits of brightness benefit tremendously with this, however it is nevertheless a shiny screen and as such does not stand up to direct sun all that nicely. At any speed, the display can be also harshly true to the touch, particularly if under the Pixelbook Pen.

Pixelbook Pen and Google Assistant

First off, we will just say that it is a damn shame that the Pixelbook Pen is not included in the purchase price of the laptop, since it is arguably imperative to the experience. But we are not about the state that the stylus is not worth the price of admission, because it 100% is well worth it if you can spare it.

The Pixelbook Pen functions excellently as a stylus, offering lots of pressure reaction in addition to tilt support, which makes drawing the display a joy. The display's snappy response aids the electronic ink trace close enough behind the pencil that any delay is imperceivable.

About the Pixelbook Pen stays one button that's basically a Google Assistant button, but also seems to integrate a number of the newest Google Lens technology found in smartphones, such as the Google Pixel 2. Pressing the button while inking turns that ink to some blue, but does not really draw anything.

Rather, anything captured inside this blue collar is delivered to Google Assistant for evaluation, which then presents everything and anything Google's servers may muster about anything you surrounded. Circle a photo of a hippopotamus, and Google Assistant will strike you using a Wikipedia page on the creature. In reality, Google's knowledge chart runs so deep that we circled an image of Office Space's Ron Livingston, also Google Assistant spat back his character's title -- Peter Gibbons -- telling us more about the celebrity.

This is going to be an incredibly effective tool for pupils, especially, but users generally will benefit.

Another incentive seeing the Pixelbook Pen is that it is opened up Google Maintain to support pen inputfrom the lock screen, which makes note-taking that a lot simpler. There are apps that may transcribe the Pixelbook Pen's scrawlings into conventional text.

But one enormous flaw from the Pixelbook Pen is that it does not connect to the laptop at all, not even through magnets, such as the Surface Pro. This oversight makes it that much easier to eliminate this stylus that cost you much money. Additionally, it runs on AAAA batteries, whereas a rechargeable battery alternative would have been more deserving of the purchase price .

In terms of Google Assistant, the service may be accessed either via a dedicated keyboard button via your voice, even if you do not purchase the Pixelbook Pen. However, the latter only works once the laptop is tucked in to -- waking the Pixelbook using a 'Hey, Google' control is in the works, we are told.

Generally, Google Assistant is equally as useful as it's about smartphones and renders at the specific same manner, having an OS-level chat document in addition to a voice reply.

Performance

To mention that the Google Pixelbook is a powerful performer is not going to surprise anybody, but that is precisely the circumstance. Frankly, we would not take anything less from such a costly Chromebook, especially considering just how lightweight of an operating platform Chrome is.

The Google Pixelbook handles our whole workload via the Chrome browser from Google documents and spreadsheets to Slack chat as well as Lightroom photo editing -- without a hitch. It is impressive given how broadly RAM-hungry the browser is, but in Chrome OS there seems to be far more headroom in that respect compared to say, Windows 10 or macOS.

Obviously, the Pixelbook is going to outperform Samsung and Asus's most up-to-date premium Chromebooks on browser benchmarks, but that's neither here nor there. Frankly, you are not going to see much of a performance gap between the three in real-world use -- maybe that's testament to how well Chrome OS functions with low-power hardware.

Battery life

In terms of how long the Pixelbook will survive, anticipate shorter durability numbers than you are used to seeing on lower-power Chromebooks. Google promises the Pixelbook will last 10 hours on a single charge, a number that has been attained based on 'a mixture of standby, web browsing and other use,' based on its product page.

Within our TechTnet battery evaluation, where we analyzed that a locally stored 1080p picture at 50% brightness at 50% brightness and quantity together with the keyboard backlight and Bluetooth disabled, the Pixelbook lasts for 7 hours and 40 minutes. That's impressive in and of itself, however, the Samsung Chromebook Pro lasted 8 hours and 43 minutes to the exact same test, along with the Asus Chromebook Flip lasted a mind boggling 10 hours and 46 minutes.

We would say the difference in battery life between the 2 devices is located in them both running low-power Intel Core m3 chips that have battery life quicker, in addition to the Chromebook Flip's lower-resolution panel. We still anticipate the Pixelbook to survive longer throughout real-world use -- also, it outlasted the Surface Pro and 13-inch MacBook Pro by 50 minutes and within one hour. And of course that only 15 minutes hooked up to an outlet provides you up to 2 hours of use, because of USB-C rapid charging.

Full-blown Android on a Chromebook

Possibly the most used feature of the Pixelbook is its own wholecloth support of Android apps along with the Google Play store, and of course the brand-new launcher interface to access these apps. That's right, following a few people efforts through none other than Samsung and Asus, we have the promised Chromebook that may run Android apps.

The result is, honestly, fantastic, and it is testament to Android's enormous flexibility. Irrespective of which Android apps we installed -- whether it was Sonic the Hedgehog or the VLC video player -- they worked without difficulty and looked gorgeous underneath the pixel compact display. Of course, there are a few compatibility problems in that some settings windows leave as though they were on a smartphonebut that's more about the app programmers than on the Pixelbook itself.

This is the point where the masses of storage start to make a whole lot more sense than they did on past Chromebook Pixel models: you are going to want a place to store each of these apps along with the files they'll interact with.

Obviously, Google also had a new interface by which to access each of these apps, and that's where the brand new Chrome launcher comes in. Accessible via a key that has replaced what could otherwise be 'Caps Lock' and a round button in the taskbar-like 'shelf'this application permits you to search through all installed apps as open apps using a screen tap.

(Do not worry, the 'Caps Lock' function could be accessed by holding the 'Alt' key and pressing the launcher button.)

In the end, this degree of Android app support stands to dismiss Chrome OS wide open, effectively removing its reliance on the Chrome web store for app-like experiences. It attracts the operating system much closer in capacity and flexibility to that of Windows 10 and macOS, basically making what was a thick line involving considerably, much skinnier.

What is more important, however, is that we are finally at a stage where there are little to no compromises for nearly anybody to switch from a Windows or Mac system into a Chromebook, as a result of Android. That's thanks to the Pixelbook.

General assessment

We have compared the Google Pixelbook to rivaling premium Chromebooks, for what ought to be obvious reasons, but we might have easily put this up from the Surface Pro or even the MacBook Pro because of its design. That should speak volumes regarding how impressed we are from the Pixelbook, and also just how far Google has obtained the Chromebook platform since its beginning.

The Google Pixelbook is the first Chromebook worthy of thought together with the many high-end Windows and Mac laptops and 2-in-1 devices. That alone ought to tell you all that you want to learn about the Pixelbook: This really is the very best Chromebook thus far, bar none.

That said, this is certainly not the Chromebook you are probably used to. In the event that you were expecting a reasonable laptop that the Chromebook name is now synonymous with, then there are lots of places to look elsewhere. If you would like to get on ground level of what very well might be the future of Chromebooks from the top area, look no further -- you will not be disappointed.