Yesterday, Google unveiled the latest addition to its Chromebook family: the Chromebook Pixel. Grabbing headlines with a starting sticker price of $1299, the device features a MacBook Pro-like high-resolution display and a price tag to match.
In this article, we’re going take a look at the Chromebook Pixel, how it stacks up to similar devices, and question why exactly the crew in Mountain View even bothered sending it to retail.
The Recipe Of A Pixel
The Chromebook Pixel sports a 12.85″ display that runs at an impressive 2560 x 1700px resolution. The display’s also touch-enabled, with a Gorilla Glass 2 lower to top off the impressive display.
At the heart of the device is a 1.8GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor with its integrated HD 4000 graphics and 4GB of memory. Furthermore, the machine sports two USB 2.0 ports, a mini display port and SD/MMC card reader. It also includes 32Gb of onboard storage, which is suprisingly little for a machine of this class, except for the fact that Chromebooks are aimed at users storing all of their data in the cloud. And the Chromebook Pixel is ready for this. Under a category that Google affectionately calls “goodies”, it’s also worth noting the included terrabyte of Google Drive cloud storage, included for the first three years.
Worth noting: 1TB of Google Drive storage costs $49.99/month, so over 3 years, that’s worth $1,799.64 – more than the price of the Chromebook Pixel, but only of value if you really use that much online storage.
The Chromebook Pixel in all its glory.
You’ll also find an HD webcam inside with a built-in microphone array, Bluetooth 3.0, a glass touchpad, and, optionally, Verizon LTE connectivity alongside the standard 802.11 a/b/g/n WiFi functionality. The LTE option will add $100 and a 6 week wait time for delivery, but you’ll get 100Mb of bandwidth free per month.
And, you’ll be running Google’s Chrome OS, which for almost all intents and purposes is the same as the Chrome browser you could run on any Mac, Windows, or Linux computer. The Pixel will only run Chrome and any web apps and Chrome extensions/apps you throw at it, so you’ll never be able to put that Core i5 to its fullest use. No Creative Suite, no App Store: if there’s not a web app for it, the Chromebook won’t be doing it.
Comparing the Competition
From their inception, Chromebooks have always been likened to similar ultra-portable devices, especially Ultrabooks – including the MacBook Air – and tablets. However, the lower average price point of a Chromebook and generally weaker specifics have always distinguished Google’s devices against their rivals in the ultra-portable category. They’re best seen as competition to netbooks, the cheap, small notebook category that’s all but dead now.
The Chromebook Pixel starts to blur the line between Chromebook and non-Chromebook with an attempt to beef up the specs and set a more premium price. Its biggest competitor is the MacBook Air, starting at $100 less for the comparable 13″ model. That $1199 machine boasts the same processor specifications, but features 4 times the storage space, USB 3.0, Bluetooth 4.0 and Thunderbolt. Plus, it gets nearly double as much battery life, since Google’s rating the Chromebook Pixel’s battery at only 5 hours. It also runs OS X, and can also run Windows and Linux, if you want, meaning you can use any native app on a MacBook, along with the wealth of web apps online, while the Chromebook Pixel will only run web apps.
The MacBook Air is Google’s closest competitor.
So why would you buy a Chromebook Pixel, not a MacBook Air? Notably, the device does have a higher pixel density than the MacBook Air and comes in $200 cheaper than the entry-level 13″ MacBook Pro with similar Retina Display (of course that $200 can be accounted with significantly better processing power, memory and storage, too). You’ll also be able to pay a premium to get LTE connectivity, a feature not available as an option on any of Apple’s Mac lines, and will have a touchscreen, something none of Apple’s MacBooks include.
Because They Can
Even after comparing the competition, we’re still left questioning what Google’s motives are behind introducing the device, especially when the Chromebook was first introduced as a cheaper alternative to traditional PCs for users who only ever use their browser. The product itself isn’t that bad and continues to have the same appeal as other Chromebook devices, a valid option for those that would only ever use Chrome on a MacBook Air anyway. The Chromebook Pixel is anything but a bad machine, but at its price, it should be the very best of the best, and many of the included specs (especially the USB 2, Bluetooth 3, and limited storage space) leave it dated. It’s beautiful, but tragically limited.
The Chromebook Pixel’s price will forever remain an obstacle to the potential popularity of the machine. Yet, that’s probably not what Google cares about. Instead, the device signifies further commitment to a Google having its own brand of devices that currently includes the Nexus family for Android.
Ultimately, you’re probably not going to buy a Chromebook, at least not a Pixel. You could buy a MacBook or countless other PC laptops – or even a Microsoft Surface – and run Chrome along with tons of native apps, and still save money. Unless you really want a higher-resolution display and don’t fancy shelling out an extra $200 even with the other specifications that come with a MacBook Pro, or hate the idea of using a separate device for LTE connectivity, a MacBook Air is going to be the better option.
But the release of the Pixel is positive, and hopefully paves the way for more future in-house hardware release from Google. Only next time, we hope the devices they release are a bit more competitive.