As we said in part one of our series on Google’s big announcements, the tech company came out swinging in Boston. They have doubled down on devices, focusing on integrating the Google Assistant. We already talked about the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL phones; now let’s look at the new high-end Chromebook, the Pixelbook.

Design

Pixelbook is clearly a direct shot at Microsoft’s Surface. It is a similarly designed laptop/tablet hybrid. From what we saw in the pictures it looks pretty good. Encased in an aluminum uni-body, and sporting a 12.3-inch touch screen, it is well sized for most tasks. It is also very light weight, weighing only 2.42 pounds. As far as physical quality the reviews from those who got to play with it found it very good.  A reviewer for Cnet who got to get hands-on went as far as to say  that “it screams quality the moment you open the smooth hinged lid…”

Hardware

The Pixelbook sports higher-end specs then normally seen in a Chromebook. The base model has an Intel Core i5 processor with the i7 available in the higher end models.  As far as RAM goes there’s plenty, the base model has 8 GB, and 16 Gb is available at the high-end.  As far as storage, you will have options starting at 128 Gb going up to 512 GB. Google is saying that Pixelbook’s battery will last 10 hours on a full charge, and 2 hours of on a 15-minute charge.

Other Features

Some other cool features include the Pixel Pen, which is a stylus similar to what you find in other offerings. The $99 accessory includes a button where you can circle an item on the screen and have Google Assistant look it up for you. On that note, like most of Google’s new devices, Google Assistant is a centerpiece of Pixelbook’s feature set. This doesn’t really appeal to me, but for those that want such things, it will be a bonus.  Of course one of the greatest things about the Chromebook comes to Pixelbook. It will be able to run apps from the play store, as well as chrome specific applications.

Pixelbook is looking like a solid device for sure. But with the $999 starting price , t’s a bit of a stretch for me to really need in my life. Especially when for a few hundred more dollars i could get a Surface Pro , running Windows. Regardless I would still like to get my hands on one to try it out. At the very least it has my interest.

(Via: Google Blog/Google Store/Cnet)