Chromebook Pixel 2015 Review – Neat update for expensive Chromebook

Cons

• Price in combination with Chrome OS
• Only 32GB emmc/no removable storage

In 2013, Google surprised friend and foe with the announcement of its own laptop. In the mobile field, there were already the Nexus devices, but these were phones and tablets that were clearly made by, for example, Samsung, LG or Motorola. The Pixel, as the laptop is called, is completely designed by Google and is also emphatically pushed forward as a Google device.

At the same time, Google is targeting a specific audience with the Pixel. With the laptop, the company wants to show what an ideal laptop with Chrome OS should look like in its eyes, but it also wants developers to work with technology that you don’t see much with other Chromebooks. In 2013, for example, that was a high-resolution touchscreen. Google’s goal is for developers to create web apps that use that technology. Google also wants to show that its Chrome OS does not only have to serve the lower end of the market, but is mature enough for premium products. That combination of ideal laptop and new technology makes the Pixel extremely expensive compared to other Chromebooks.

With the 2015 version of the Pixel, Google continues on the same path. It is true that the dollar price has been reduced from 1299 to 999 dollars, the equivalent of 883 euros, but that is still more than the price of alternative Chromebooks, which fluctuates around 300 euros on average.

Although two years have passed since the introduction of the original model, at first glance very little has changed about the Pixel. For an extensive discussion of the appearance, we would like to refer to the review from then: Google Pixel: a laptop of extremes .

The sturdy aluminum housing has remained and the screen is still a touch-sensitive 12.85″ panel with an aspect ratio of 3:2 and a resolution of 2560×1700 pixels. In addition, the model still weighs 1.5 kilos, which means it is not only a heavyweight among Chromebooks, but also relative to ultrabooks. That’s definitely a downside to this laptop. Just because the two Pixel laptops look nearly identical doesn’t mean there aren’t differences. There are plenty upon closer inspection.

Keyboard and trackpad

One of the most noticeable differences concerns the trackpad. It is no longer black, but gray, just like the rest of the housing. The soft finish has been replaced by glass, so the trackpad now looks the same as that manufacturer’s with the fruit logo. The trackpad has become a bit smoother, but the operation is just as nice. It’s one of the nicest trackpads we’ve used, and Chrome OS is fluid with gestures like two-finger scrolling and two-finger swipe for page back. The advantage of not using the black finish is that grease stains are no longer visible on the surface.

A change has also been made to the keyboard. The top row of keys, the one with escape and volume and page controls, was a contiguous row of touch keys on the old model. That row of keys has been replaced by regular keyboard keys with the same functions. It makes working with it a little nicer; the keys now have the same fine travel and feedback as the others and no longer the stiff touch of touch keys. The backlight now turns on when you, as a user, put your hands above the keyboard, thanks to the presence of a proximity sensor in the trackpad.

Less noticeable, but no less fun, are the changes to the light bar , the slot with colored LEDs in the lid. It no longer shows the blue, Knightrider-like glow, which turns red when the battery is running low. The blue, red, yellow and green LEDs are now visible as standard and the separation between the colors is a lot clearer than with the older model. A cool feature is that you can tap the cover with your finger when the laptop is closed. The LED lighting then gives an indication of the remaining battery life in yellow.

For further external changes, we need to turn the laptop over. The 2013 version of the Pixel had a rubber square in each corner that the laptop rested on. Google has changed this to two full-length four-stripes that the laptop now rests on. This should better protect the underside of the Pixel.

Usb-c generation 1

The Pixel of 2015 has two USB-C. The handy thing about this connector is that it can be used for rapid charging of the laptop with the 60W charger and that it is reversible. It concerns USB 3.1 generation 1 and not generation 2, so we do not gain speed with it. The speed remains at 5Gbit/s, just like USB 3.0. However, type-c can be used via adapters for the video signal via HDMI, displayport and d-sub. The display port of the 2013 Pixel has therefore disappeared from the 2015 version. Fortunately, Google has opted for two connections. If you are charging the laptop, you can use the other connection for video or other applications.

In addition, there are two regular USB 3.0 ports. So even without adapters you can continue to use all your USB accessories. The presence of these ports does mean that the laptop could not become thinner. USB-C is not yet commonplace, but that will soon change. At the Computex trade fair in Taiwan in early June, hardware manufacturers already showed a wide range of laptops, motherboards and other products with the connector.

The Pixel 2015 also has an SD memory card reader and a combined audio input and output.

The Processor

Under the hood we see perhaps the biggest change; the Core i5-3427U of Intel’s Ivy Bridge generation has been replaced by the Core i5-5200U of the Broadwell series. The latter has a higher clock speed, 2.2 versus 1.8 GHz, while the tdp has been reduced from 17 to 15W. So we can expect better specifications and a longer battery life.

We measure performance on Chrome OS by running Kraken.

Judging by the results of the JavaScript benchmark, performance has improved quite a bit. The 2015 Pixel is by far the fastest Chromebook. The results of Futuremark ‘s Peacekeeper show the same list .

The battery life

Does the performance gain come with an increase in battery life? The battery life of the original Pixel was unimpressive; it was one of the negative point. We’ve started the browser test to see how it’s doing now.

The battery life has improved by leaps and bounds. Where we could not record 4.5 hours at the time, the Google laptop now lasts 10 hours and 30 minutes. With this, the laptop not only beats Chromebooks with significantly slower processors, but the model can also compete with the best ultrabooks and Apple’s MacBooks.

Google hasn’t magically increased battery life. The manufacturer has simply built in a considerably larger battery with a capacity of 72Wh. In combination with the more efficient CPU and, presumably, optimizations with Chrome OS, this leads to excellent battery life. We will retest the old Pixel with the latest Chrome OS version to see how the software optimizations affect it.

Despite the large battery, the charging time is fine and this is thanks to the 60W charger. So anyone who was afraid that the new USB standard would lead to longer loading times will be disappointed.

The Pixel has 8GB of memory, which is a nice amount, so you can open enough tabs without the machine slowing down. The storage amount is still only 32GB, provided by a Kingston emmc module. This is due to Google’s philosophy that Chrome OS should be used in conjunction with online storage.

In addition to the processor, memory and battery capacity, the network card has been refreshed. The Pixel already had a 2×2 network card for good reception, but now also supports Wi-Fi-ac, the latest generation of Wi-Fi, with support for higher bandwidths and better range. At the same time there is bluetooth 4.0 support.

The screen

According to Google, the screen can radiate 400cd/m², but we did not get beyond 322cd/m². That is less bright than the 2013 model, which also does not reach 400cd/ m² , but fluctuates around 390cd/ ^m² and is therefore close. We tested both models under the same conditions at the same time.