To make a splash in the mobile computing space these days, you have to offer something different; something unique that others don’t. As far as we’re concerned, the absolute must haves on a laptop must include – strong battery life; a well-built aesthetic; comfortable keys and lastly be easy to use daily. The Pixelbook Go has all of these and much more!

While this may be considered the cheaper built by Google, compared to last years iteration, it still is one of the more expensive chromebooks you can buy. Coming in three different processor and storage configurations, the base model will still run you just over $650, however, we would argue, you are getting a lot of bang for your buck, especially, when you look at more budget options that just can’t compete.

The first thing you notice about the Pixelbook Go is its design, it is super thin at just half and inch and super light at just over 2 pounds. This is made possible thanks to its magnesium alloy build complete with a painted matte texture and rippled base that feels amazing in the hand and offers considerable grip which we love. You also get arguably one of the best and quietest keyboards on a laptop paired with some decently loud stereo speakers for media consumption. You also get some an array of connectivity and output options with two USB-C 3.1 ports that both charge and display out, in addition to a 3.5mm headphone jack. Lastly, the inclusion of a front facing camera capable of 1080p HD video is a revelation and perfect for those video calls on the road, the quality looks great and this is a nice addition.

When it comes to performance, this is largely unmatched by other chromebooks. Despite the configuration, we found day to day tasks to be incredibly fluid, thanks in part to the Intel processor paired with 8 or 16GB of RAM which helps this become a multitaskers dream. It is also worth noting the Chrome OS is also incredibly light and not taxing on resources which means even with multiple browser windows and apps open, we did not experience any slow downs or lag navigating between them. Speaking of the OS, it is often labelled as one of the most misunderstood computing platforms, it is simply not what PC or Apple users would be familiar with. Put bluntly, it is a network-centric system that is perfect if you are reading news stories, surfing social media, or using other web-based services like Gmail and Google Docs and it does so very well. A supercomputer for web apps, Google has also added its own Google Assistant to add a little personal AI to the experience whereby you can talk or type your queries and get a response instantaneously and is something we hope to see more of.

Another great thing with the OS is the ability to run Android apps alongside native Chromebook apps, at times though, it does feels like you are running two very different but similar apps in the same space, not to mention, there are lots of apps that have both web and Android versions, so you’ll need to choose one and this can lead to some confusion for the average user. While a lot of work has been done to simplify the experience, it does need to be more cohesive in future iterations. It is also worth mentioning that the Pixelbook Go does get security and OS updates every six weeks or so, making this one of the most secure systems on the market and this is paramount in 2020.

Finally, is battery life, to put it simply, the Pixelbook Go has the best battery we have ever experienced on a Chromebook. Google promises a massive 12 hours of battery life on a single charge and we averaged about 11 hours and 30 minutes which is very close. This is not a laptop you will have to ever have to worry about needing an outlet to keep your day going. Best of all, with the included quick charger, you can also top up in just 20 minutes giving you an additional 2 hours of usage or more.

To sum up, we are huge fans of the Pixelbook series by Google. They offer users a fast, fluid and reliable experience for those on the go (see what we did there?). Sure, the Chrome OS is not perfect but with anything new, it just takes some time to make it your own and with regular updates, it has the potential to truly disrupt this market and is one to watch in 2020.

BUY yours here – Google Pixelbook Go M3 Chromebook 8GB/64GB Just Black