WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.904 --> 00:00:03.309 line:15% Hey guys, this is Valentina Palladino for Ars Technica, 2 00:00:03.309 --> 00:00:06.745 line:15% and today I'm here with the new Google Pixelbook 3 00:00:06.745 --> 00:00:09.045 and Pixelbook Pen. 4 00:00:09.045 --> 00:00:11.712 [uptempo music] 5 00:00:16.341 --> 00:00:20.213 This is the newest high-end Chrome OS device from Google. 6 00:00:20.213 --> 00:00:21.877 It started out a couple of years ago, 7 00:00:21.877 --> 00:00:23.893 with the Chromebook Pixel, 8 00:00:23.893 --> 00:00:26.048 and now that those models have been discontinued, 9 00:00:26.048 --> 00:00:29.717 line:15% we have the Pixelbook that came out a couple of weeks ago. 10 00:00:29.717 --> 00:00:31.889 line:15% Google is convinced that there will be an audience 11 00:00:31.889 --> 00:00:34.166 line:15% for a high-end Chrome OS device. 12 00:00:34.166 --> 00:00:37.287 Most of us are used to seeing Chrome OS devices 13 00:00:37.287 --> 00:00:41.280 at a very reasonable price point, typically under $500. 14 00:00:41.280 --> 00:00:43.697 The Pixelbook starts at $999. 15 00:00:45.319 --> 00:00:48.010 So I've been using it for about a week or so, 16 00:00:48.010 --> 00:00:49.265 and I'm gonna tell you some of the pros and cons 17 00:00:49.265 --> 00:00:51.271 of using the Google Pixelbook. 18 00:00:51.271 --> 00:00:53.088 One of the great things about the Pixelbook is its design. 19 00:00:53.088 --> 00:00:56.202 This is recognizably Google. 20 00:00:56.202 --> 00:00:58.656 This has an aluminum chassis, 21 00:00:58.656 --> 00:01:01.290 and it also has this kind of glass strip up here 22 00:01:01.290 --> 00:01:04.234 where the wireless signals come in and out, 23 00:01:04.234 --> 00:01:08.129 and especially compared to the more affordable Chromebooks 24 00:01:08.129 --> 00:01:11.509 that you'll find, this is incredibly sleek and very sturdy. 25 00:01:11.509 --> 00:01:13.215 It's certainly not the lightest device. 26 00:01:13.215 --> 00:01:16.053 It's about 2.4 pounds, and one of the best parts 27 00:01:16.053 --> 00:01:19.381 about the design are these rubber panels, 28 00:01:19.381 --> 00:01:22.645 both on the keyboard deck right here, 29 00:01:22.645 --> 00:01:24.902 and underneath the device. 30 00:01:24.902 --> 00:01:27.296 And, since this is a two-in-one device, 31 00:01:27.296 --> 00:01:29.152 you can flip it like this 32 00:01:29.152 --> 00:01:31.118 into what they call entertainment mode. 33 00:01:31.118 --> 00:01:33.424 And because you have those rubber panels 34 00:01:33.424 --> 00:01:35.640 underneath the keyboard, it's not really gonna move 35 00:01:35.640 --> 00:01:37.392 when it's in this mode as well, 36 00:01:37.392 --> 00:01:40.240 so you're kind of kept in the same spot no matter what. 37 00:01:40.240 --> 00:01:43.405 And also the ones next to the keyboard 38 00:01:43.405 --> 00:01:44.890 or underneath the keyboard, 39 00:01:44.890 --> 00:01:46.741 provide a really comfortable space 40 00:01:46.741 --> 00:01:48.122 for your palms to rest as you type. 41 00:01:48.122 --> 00:01:50.871 The keyboard is also very comfortable to type on. 42 00:01:50.871 --> 00:01:53.493 I was using this as my primary work device 43 00:01:53.493 --> 00:01:55.994 for about a week, and I never had a problem typing on it. 44 00:01:55.994 --> 00:01:58.834 I also really like the matte finish to the keys. 45 00:01:58.834 --> 00:02:01.595 I think it's really nice in the overall look of the design. 46 00:02:01.595 --> 00:02:04.832 And Google does add a couple of their own keys to this, 47 00:02:04.832 --> 00:02:07.498 since it is a Chrome OS device and this is Google making it. 48 00:02:07.498 --> 00:02:09.546 So, it has a new launcher button 49 00:02:09.546 --> 00:02:11.594 in place of the Caps Lock button, 50 00:02:11.594 --> 00:02:15.706 and this launches the new kind of app dock or app space 51 00:02:15.706 --> 00:02:17.989 where you can access all of your apps and programs. 52 00:02:17.989 --> 00:02:22.234 Another new key is the Google Assistant key, 53 00:02:22.234 --> 00:02:24.152 which you can press just to launch 54 00:02:24.152 --> 00:02:25.751 the Google Assistant window, 55 00:02:25.751 --> 00:02:28.249 and another one is the little kind of menu settings key 56 00:02:28.249 --> 00:02:29.571 that can give you quick access 57 00:02:29.571 --> 00:02:32.837 to your Google account and other device settings. 58 00:02:32.837 --> 00:02:33.930 The display is nice too. 59 00:02:33.930 --> 00:02:35.741 It's a 12 inch display, 60 00:02:35.741 --> 00:02:39.242 and it does have these kind of large bezels around it, 61 00:02:39.242 --> 00:02:42.035 but because this is meant to be a two-in-one device, 62 00:02:42.035 --> 00:02:44.597 it's kind of helpful when you have it in tablet mode. 63 00:02:44.597 --> 00:02:46.154 You have a place to grip. 64 00:02:46.154 --> 00:02:47.967 So overall I think Google did a great job 65 00:02:47.967 --> 00:02:51.109 of redesigning the Chromebook Pixel family in the Pixelbook, 66 00:02:51.109 --> 00:02:53.568 and it's certainly a design that will stand out 67 00:02:53.568 --> 00:02:55.347 among the other types of high-end notebooks 68 00:02:55.347 --> 00:02:57.034 that you'll see out. 69 00:02:57.034 --> 00:02:58.378 Another great thing about the Pixelbook 70 00:02:58.378 --> 00:03:00.896 is that this is the first notebook convertible 71 00:03:00.896 --> 00:03:03.669 to have the Google Assistant built in. 72 00:03:03.669 --> 00:03:06.336 So, previously, you could find the Google Assistant 73 00:03:06.336 --> 00:03:09.724 in the Google Home, the smart home speaker that Google has, 74 00:03:09.724 --> 00:03:12.434 and the Pixel smartphones, but now they have it obviously 75 00:03:12.434 --> 00:03:15.882 in their own in house made convertible, 76 00:03:15.882 --> 00:03:17.734 and it's probably at its most useful 77 00:03:17.734 --> 00:03:19.686 when it's bringing up personal information 78 00:03:19.686 --> 00:03:22.880 or things that are attached to your personal accounts. 79 00:03:22.880 --> 00:03:25.994 One of the best things I found that I really liked with it 80 00:03:25.994 --> 00:03:28.789 is bringing up a Spotify playlist just by using 81 00:03:28.789 --> 00:03:31.520 the OK Google command or the Hey Google command. 82 00:03:31.520 --> 00:03:33.024 Another great thing about the Pixelbook 83 00:03:33.024 --> 00:03:34.629 is the Pixelbook pen. 84 00:03:34.629 --> 00:03:36.784 So this does not come with the device. 85 00:03:36.784 --> 00:03:38.720 You have to pay an extra $99 to get it, 86 00:03:38.720 --> 00:03:40.106 which is kind of a shame. 87 00:03:40.106 --> 00:03:42.129 However, one of the things I really did like about it 88 00:03:42.129 --> 00:03:45.440 was searching using the Google Assistant just with the pen. 89 00:03:45.440 --> 00:03:48.426 So, what you can do is press this little button right here, 90 00:03:48.426 --> 00:03:50.943 press and hold it, and then circle something on the screen, 91 00:03:50.943 --> 00:03:52.754 highlight something on the screen, 92 00:03:52.754 --> 00:03:55.168 and that will ask the Google Assistant essentially 93 00:03:55.168 --> 00:03:56.960 to tell you anything it can about the thing 94 00:03:56.960 --> 00:03:58.643 that you circled or highlighted. 95 00:03:58.643 --> 00:04:01.376 So, I found this worked really interestingly 96 00:04:01.376 --> 00:04:03.762 and really cool with image searching. 97 00:04:03.762 --> 00:04:05.791 So, when I was browsing through Pinterest, 98 00:04:05.791 --> 00:04:08.416 I could kind of square off with the pen 99 00:04:08.416 --> 00:04:10.421 an image that I was curious about. 100 00:04:10.421 --> 00:04:12.264 Maybe it didn't have a caption that was very descriptive, 101 00:04:12.264 --> 00:04:15.904 and the assistant would tell me a little bit more about it. 102 00:04:15.904 --> 00:04:18.149 I really liked using this with kind of travel photos 103 00:04:18.149 --> 00:04:19.834 that I wasn't sure where this place was 104 00:04:19.834 --> 00:04:22.056 in the picture and I really wanted to know, 105 00:04:22.056 --> 00:04:24.102 and the pen did a pretty good job, 106 00:04:24.102 --> 00:04:25.893 along with the Google Assistant, 107 00:04:25.893 --> 00:04:28.485 telling me a little bit more about what I was seeing. 108 00:04:28.485 --> 00:04:30.049 It didn't always work. 109 00:04:30.049 --> 00:04:32.080 Sometimes it just couldn't recognize things 110 00:04:32.080 --> 00:04:33.868 that I was circling, whether it be an image 111 00:04:33.868 --> 00:04:36.005 or text or anything like that. 112 00:04:36.005 --> 00:04:38.629 You can literally circle anything on your display 113 00:04:38.629 --> 00:04:41.067 and the Google Assistant will try to figure out what it is. 114 00:04:41.067 --> 00:04:44.128 Another pro to the Pixelbook is its battery life. 115 00:04:44.128 --> 00:04:47.242 So, Google estimates that this will get about 10 hours 116 00:04:47.242 --> 00:04:49.052 of battery life with regular use, 117 00:04:49.052 --> 00:04:51.125 and in our main battery test so far, 118 00:04:51.125 --> 00:04:53.301 it's been around that amount. 119 00:04:53.301 --> 00:04:54.858 So now onto the cons of using 120 00:04:54.858 --> 00:04:56.453 the Pixelbook as your main device. 121 00:04:56.453 --> 00:04:58.768 One of the great things about it is the Google Assistant 122 00:04:58.768 --> 00:05:00.125 and the hot words that you can use. 123 00:05:00.125 --> 00:05:01.981 However, the hot words only work 124 00:05:01.981 --> 00:05:05.133 when the device is on and the screen is also on. 125 00:05:05.133 --> 00:05:08.054 That's really inconvenient, 126 00:05:08.054 --> 00:05:10.893 especially if you kind of leave the Pixelbook idle 127 00:05:10.893 --> 00:05:13.074 for a while and then expect to be able 128 00:05:13.074 --> 00:05:14.906 to use the assistant whenever you want. 129 00:05:14.906 --> 00:05:17.666 Another not so great thing has to do with the Pixelbook pen. 130 00:05:17.666 --> 00:05:20.290 So in my experience, the pen varies 131 00:05:20.290 --> 00:05:22.936 depending on the app that you're using it with. 132 00:05:22.936 --> 00:05:26.226 So Google claims that the low latency API for the pen 133 00:05:26.226 --> 00:05:29.064 allows it to bypass layers of Chrome OS 134 00:05:29.064 --> 00:05:31.928 that might slow it down so the app that you're using 135 00:05:31.928 --> 00:05:34.466 can just read the strokes of the pen immediately 136 00:05:34.466 --> 00:05:37.602 and get them right on the screen almost instantaneously. 137 00:05:37.602 --> 00:05:39.181 Google's saying this will get maybe 138 00:05:39.181 --> 00:05:40.973 about 10 milliseconds of lag, 139 00:05:40.973 --> 00:05:43.826 and I definitely felt that in certain apps. 140 00:05:43.826 --> 00:05:47.560 In an app like Google Keep, it was very responsive. 141 00:05:47.560 --> 00:05:50.354 I noticed very little latency, if any, 142 00:05:50.354 --> 00:05:52.125 when I was writing notes in that. 143 00:05:52.125 --> 00:05:55.216 However, in other apps, take like Adobe Draw for instance, 144 00:05:55.216 --> 00:05:58.717 I definitely felt the latency and I had to kind of wait 145 00:05:58.717 --> 00:06:02.884 until the stroke appeared on the screen after I drew it. 146 00:06:03.730 --> 00:06:06.011 Another con to the Pixelbook is unfortunately, 147 00:06:06.011 --> 00:06:10.077 the integration of Android apps with Chrome OS. 148 00:06:10.077 --> 00:06:12.018 Now, this has gotten better over time. 149 00:06:12.018 --> 00:06:14.941 This has kind of been a push from Google for a while now 150 00:06:14.941 --> 00:06:19.869 to have people use regular Android apps on larger devices 151 00:06:19.869 --> 00:06:23.005 that run Chrome OS, mostly laptops and convertibles. 152 00:06:23.005 --> 00:06:25.009 So, Adobe has worked with Google 153 00:06:25.009 --> 00:06:27.457 to kind of optimize their programs, 154 00:06:27.457 --> 00:06:29.802 their Android apps, for Chrome OS, 155 00:06:29.802 --> 00:06:32.168 and I found that using something like Lightroom CC 156 00:06:32.168 --> 00:06:36.335 is a really good experience but other apps are not as great. 157 00:06:38.282 --> 00:06:40.173 So I downloaded just one app called Pixlr 158 00:06:40.173 --> 00:06:42.176 just to see what the difference would be, 159 00:06:42.176 --> 00:06:45.314 and the app is certainly not optimized for Chrome OS. 160 00:06:45.314 --> 00:06:47.759 The orientation is pretty janky. 161 00:06:47.759 --> 00:06:51.448 It uploads photos in sometimes the wrong orientation 162 00:06:51.448 --> 00:06:54.182 than when they were shot, and the controls 163 00:06:54.182 --> 00:06:56.680 that you have available to you are very limited. 164 00:06:56.680 --> 00:07:00.133 They're mostly used for like, uploading to Instagram 165 00:07:00.133 --> 00:07:01.690 or uploading to social media. 166 00:07:01.690 --> 00:07:02.973 Now, it's not necessarily Google's fault. 167 00:07:02.973 --> 00:07:05.661 Maybe Pixlr just hasn't developed an Android app enough 168 00:07:05.661 --> 00:07:07.944 so that it will work on Chrome OS 169 00:07:07.944 --> 00:07:09.565 or they haven't put the time in 170 00:07:09.565 --> 00:07:11.570 to kind of change things to work on Chrome OS, 171 00:07:11.570 --> 00:07:14.941 but overall, that will be a hindrance 172 00:07:14.941 --> 00:07:17.096 of Chrome OS as a whole in the future. 173 00:07:17.096 --> 00:07:19.618 Another not so great thing has to do 174 00:07:19.618 --> 00:07:21.768 with the Google Assistant's integration with G Suite. 175 00:07:21.768 --> 00:07:23.451 There currently isn't any. 176 00:07:23.451 --> 00:07:25.757 Particularly, I found this irritating 177 00:07:25.757 --> 00:07:27.485 with agenda and calendars. 178 00:07:27.485 --> 00:07:30.066 I used my personal account and my personal account 179 00:07:30.066 --> 00:07:32.989 is attached, at least the calendars are, to my work account. 180 00:07:32.989 --> 00:07:36.274 With G Suite though, you can't actually connect it 181 00:07:36.274 --> 00:07:38.728 to your Google Assistant, so it won't be able 182 00:07:38.728 --> 00:07:41.224 to read you things like your calendar schedule, 183 00:07:41.224 --> 00:07:43.037 your agenda, or anything like that 184 00:07:43.037 --> 00:07:45.512 as long as it's attached to your G Suite account. 185 00:07:45.512 --> 00:07:46.983 That to me is a very big hindrance 186 00:07:46.983 --> 00:07:48.904 because if you are getting a Pixelbook, 187 00:07:48.904 --> 00:07:52.192 you will probably want to use it for both personal 188 00:07:52.192 --> 00:07:53.816 and maybe sometimes professional use, 189 00:07:53.816 --> 00:07:55.693 if not all the time professional use, 190 00:07:55.693 --> 00:07:57.788 but that's kind of impossible 191 00:07:57.788 --> 00:08:00.348 when it doesn't integrate fully with G Suite yet. 192 00:08:00.348 --> 00:08:01.725 So those are some of the pros and cons 193 00:08:01.725 --> 00:08:04.012 about Google's new Pixelbook and the Pixelbook pen. 194 00:08:04.012 --> 00:08:07.180 Be sure to check out ArsTechnica.com for the full review. 195 00:08:07.180 --> 00:08:09.763 [upbeat music]