Category: Laptop

Review: Microsoft Surface Pro X

Microsoft says the Surface Pro X—the latest version of its vaunted 2-in-1 tablet-puter—is the thinnest, fastest, lightest, longest-battery-lived, and fastest-charging Surface to date. Most of these superlatives are made possible by the inclusion of a brand-new CPU called the SQ1, which was designed not with Intel or AMD but rather with Qualcomm.

The catch is that, like the smartphone CPUs Qualcomm makes, it’s designed to be a small, cool, power miser … and not something to give you the full-blown Windows experience. Nonetheless, Microsoft’s stated goal with this machine was “to take a mobile architecture and push the technology to make it a fully functioning powerful PC.” Whether the Surface Pro X is actually “fully functioning” is open for debate.

Chip Switch

The new SQ1 chip runs at 3 GHz, and the review system Microsoft sent to me came with 16 GB of RAM and a 256-GB SSD. The 13-inch screen runs at 2880 x 1920 pixels. Connectivity comes via two USB-C ports (and that’s it).

There’s no question that the Surface Pro X will be a decidedly divisive device, an exercise in compromises that may be OK for many but which will be a nonstarter for power users. Let’s start with the biggie: The SQ1 can run Windows 10 and the Microsoft Office suite, but there’s also a lot that it can’t run. Namely, it can’t run any 64-bit Windows programs designed for Intel chips (which, today, is almost everything), and it can only run older 32-bit programs via a behind-the-scenes emulator.

I tried downloading a number of the most popular apps from the Microsoft Store and found that several wouldn’t install—nor would the vast majority of the standard benchmarks I run. Even apps that did install didn’t always work right. An old 32-bit version of PCMark 8 (originally released in 2013) crashed midway through its run, for example. Apps that do run, like the 32-bit version of Chrome, are noticeably slow. Running browser-based tests like Speedometer and JetStream on Chrome put performance on par with your typical $300 Chromebook. In other words, I hope you like Microsoft Edge. (It’s also worth noting: The system takes three times as long to boot up as the Surface Pro 7.)

Want to run Photoshop? Fortnite? You can’t—at least, not in any meaningful way. Critically, Microsoft says that Adobe’s Creative Cloud is being ported to run on the SQ1, but no one is offering a timeline, which may as well mean never. I did manage to get one gaming benchmark to run on the Surface Pro X: Monster Hunter. For the sake of comparison, I managed a score of 3,304 on the Surface Pro 7 and a mere 1,954 on the Surface Pro X.

But hey, you might be saying, I’m on board with Microsoft’s vision and really do just want to use my tablet for web browsing and writing the occasional poem in Word. I don’t need to run AutoCAD and never will. Is the Surface Pro X right for me?

Unfortunately, I still think not. Part of the concept behind the SQ1 is that the power-sipping ARM chip will give the system unheard-of battery life. That’s curious, because just last month, Microsoft bragged about the Surface Pro 7’s epic battery life, which topped eight hours in my testing. But when I ran the same rundown test on the Surface Pro X (a standardized YouTube loop at maximum brightness), I managed just over 6.5 hours. Sure, the Surface Pro X’s screen is about 10 percent brighter than the Surface Pro 7’s, but the claim still doesn’t add up. After I knocked the brightness down to a bit below that of the Surface Pro 7, I still only managed less than 7.5 hours of running time. Only when I dropped the brightness down to its absolute minimum (which makes the screen barely visible in daylight) did I manage to top the system’s claimed 13 hours of battery life.

Add It Up

OK, so compatibility is poor, performance isn’t great, and battery life doesn’t measure up, either. Surely that means the Surface Pro X is designed with affordability in mind, right? Sorry, as with anything with “X” in the name, the Surface Pro X is a premium-priced product that starts at $999. My test unit was $1,499 as configured. Again, to compare, the Surface Pro 7 starts at just $749.

That extra $250 does get you something, at least. The screen is slightly larger—13 inches versus 12.3 inches—and the system is virtually the same thickness and weight as the Pro 7. (Technically the Pro X is 1 gram lighter than the Pro 7.) The new Surface Pro X keyboard is slimmer and comes with a nifty magnetic tray that holds the bundled stylus, but these are still sold separately from the Pro X; the combo will run you an extra $270. One hands-down plus: LTE is included with every version of the Pro X; just add a SIM card and a data plan and you’re ready to go mobile.

I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention the bizarre behavior I experienced after my first day of using the Surface Pro X. Out of nowhere, the system began behaving as if possessed, scrolling through web pages, opening new tabs, selecting and clicking on text, and even repositioning the task bar from the bottom of the screen to the left. I eventually discovered that phantom screen taps were being registered when the system was otherwise not in use, and after some back and forth, Microsoft sent me a whole new unit to test. One potential diagnosis was that I was charging the system via one of its two USB-C ports instead of via the magnetic charger. That didn’t turn out to be the problem, but if that’s an actual issue, it’s an even bigger deal-breaker than any of the above complaints.

Additionally, my system crashed more than once, giving me an honest-to-God blue screen, even during minimal workloads. Several days into my testing Microsoft rolled out a hardware update designed to improve stability and battery life. I didn’t encounter any additional trouble after that, but it will take long-term testing for people to discover whether these kinds of problems will be ongoing.

After several days of working with the Surface Pro X, I remained confused as to why the product exists. It’s inferior to the Surface Pro 7 in nearly every imaginable dimension, and it smacks of either corporate hubris, greed, or both, with Microsoft attempting to position its own brand as a credible alternative to Intel. The way it stands now, that’s an utter fool’s errand.

Here’s my prediction: The Surface Pro X will go down in history alongside Microsoft Bob and Clippy as one of the worst mistakes it has ever made. I expect it will be quietly discontinued in a year or so.

Also, you should not buy one.

Surface Pro X teardown finds a new high in ‘repairability’ for Microsoft

Microsoft’s Surface Pro X is even more repair-friendly than the Surface Laptop 3, getting a bigger thumbs-up from the teardown experts over at iFixit.

While iFixit scored the Surface Laptop 3 as a 5 out of 10 when it came to repairs, the freshly unleashed Surface Pro X managed to creep ahead with a 6 out of 10.

The most positive facet was the SSD being ‘truly user-replaceable’ as it’s accessed without having to remove the screen, and can be taken out with just a SIM eject pin (and a T3 Torx screwdriver is needed to undo a single screw).

“That’s awesome to see in such a slim form factor,” enthuses iFixit, while observing that the solid-state drive is the same model used in the Surface Laptop 3, and so standardization across the range means it’s easier for third-parties to support repairs on these devices.

Screen pass

All the screws used in the Surface Pro X are standard Torx affairs, and the iFixit team were particularly impressed with how easily the display came out, with no globs of glue holding the screen in place (rather there’s foam adhesive which can be cut easily enough, without requiring any heating and possible accidents with cracked displays).

There’s even a tongue-in-cheek mention of a celebratory dance and the fact that “we never thought we’d get into a Surface Pro this easily”.

The caveats here are that iFixit noted that almost all repairs do require removal of the screen – and it still isn’t a trivial matter – plus the battery remains firmly glued in, so there’s no change here.

Still, Microsoft is clearly moving in the right direction with this and the Surface Laptop 3, and is certainly a long way away from the days when iFixit wanted to give the Surface Laptop 2 a negative score for repairability.

Related product: Microsoft Surface Pro X

Our Verdict:

☆☆☆☆☆

The Surface Pro X is an astoundingly impressive looking and feeling Windows tablet – possibly the best yet in that department. Still, while we understand Microsoft’s faith in its new ARM processor, we’ve yet to see an ARM-based Windows device perform to expectations for the price it will cost you. Consider us impressed, though cautiously optimistic.

FOR Refinement of Surface Pro design

Fantastically bright and vibrant display

Brilliant Surface Pen implementation

AGAINST ARM CPU is worrisome

No more microSD slot

Lenovo ThinkPad P53 review: A powerful workstation with 16GB Quadro RTX graphics

Way back in the old days of March of this year, I reviewed the Lenovo ThinkPad P52, and I advised that you probably shouldn’t buy it unless you needed a mobile workstation at that moment. At the time, GeForce RTX GPUs were out for desktops and laptops, and Quadro RTX was out for desktop workstations. The writing was on the wall: Quadro RTX for mobile workstations is coming.

Well, it’s here, and it comes in the form of the ThinkPad P53. Yes, this is a beast of a machine. Now packing Intel’s ninth-generation 45W processors (you can get Core or Xeon), the other big improvement is that you can get it with a 4K OLED display, although that’s not included in my unit.

As usual, $4,419 is the current price on Lenovo.com, as it does fluctuate. The base price before discounts is $5,179. Also, this PC starts at $1,399, and that gets you a Core i5-9400H, 8GB RAM, a 256GB SSD, and an Nvidia Quadro T1000.

Design

The Lenovo ThinkPad P53 is thick and heavy, but that’s the price of power. It’s over an inch thick, and it weighs in at over five and a half pounds, and that’s just the starting weight. But it also packs a 45W hexa-core processor and a 16GB GPU. Those are some heavy internals, that require a ton of ventilation.

It comes in black, just like most ThinkPads, and it’s made out of glass fiber reinforced polymer. The lid has the standard ThinkPad logo stamped in the corner. While it’s probably the most powerful ThinkPad that exists, it doesn’t have the same glossy black logo that the premium X1/P1 models do.

Also, like all ThinkPads, the P53 passes 12 MIL-STD-810G tests, which means that it’s made for durability. It can handle tough conditions like extreme temperatures, shocks, vibrations, dust, and so on. In fact, Lenovo says that it has the best durability of any workstation.

It’s also loaded up with ports, something that you’ll definitely need on a machine like this. On the back, you’ll find an Ethernet port, two Thunderbolt 3 ports, and a power port. This machine uses Lenovo’s proprietary charger, since it requires a 230W adapter; that’s way too much for USB Type-C.

On the left side, there are two USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A ports, one of which is always on. There’s also HDMI 2.0, which allows you to output to 4K displays at 60Hz without a problem. And finally, there’s a 4-in-1 media card reader.

Finally, the right side has a SIM tray, a USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C port, and a 3.5mm combo audio jack. As you can see from the image, there’s no actual hole for a pin to remove the SIM tray, because this isn’t a cellular model. Like all ThinkPads, the cellular and non-cellular models use the same chassis, so the port is still there; it just doesn’t do anything.

The placement of the ports is just right. Ports in the back are great for cable management, but it’s notable that the only ones back there are the ones that you’ll not need to unplug, like the power port and Ethernet. The ones on the sides are better for peripherals that you might be attaching while you’re using it, such as a VR headset.

The bottom panel is easy enough to remove with seven Philips-head screws. That gives you access to the internals, where you can easily upgrade the SSD and RAM, or add secondary and tertiary storage.

Display and audio

The ThinkPad P53 model that Lenovo sent me includes a 15.6-inch 1080p display with 500-nit brightness, which is pretty bright. Outdoor usage is great, not that this is the type of machine that you really take on the go. I feel like it’s meant to be portable when you need it to be, rather than all the time. The screen also supports Dolby Vision HDR400, and it supports 72% color gamut.

There are other display options though. There’s the regular 300-nit FHD display, which is what comes in the base model, and there’s also an option for a 500-nit 4K panel with Dolby Vision HDR500 support.

But there’s one more, which is the OLED one. When Lenovo refreshed its workstations this year, all of the 15-inch ones came with 4K OLED options. And of course, OLED means that you get true blacks and more vibrant colors; this is also the only display option that supports multitouch. It also supports Dolby Vision HDR500.

Another thing to be aware of is that everything except the OLED model is an anti-glare screen. In other words, if you need anti-glare for your use case with this workstation, don’t get the OLED option. Otherwise, you should totally get OLED.

The bezels around the screen are pretty large, although this really isn’t a narrow bezel type of PC. Above the screen is a webcam and an IR camera for Windows Hello. There’s also the ThinkShutter privacy guard, a physical switch to cover the camera, so there’s no need to put a piece of tape over it.

Audio quality is pretty solid. As I write this review, I’m playing music from the speakers above the keyboard, and the sound really fills the room. Depending on the type of project that you’re working on, the dual 2W Dolby Audio Premium speakers really make a difference.

Keyboard and trackpad

Probably my biggest issue with the P53 was the keyboard, since that’s probably the most important feature to me in a laptop. I’m always looking for the type of machine where I can perform powerful tasks and still write articles, my true all-in-one portable PC.

I didn’t care for the keyboard, and it’s weird, because I always like ThinkPad keyboards. As is always the case with ThinkPad clamshells, the key press has a pretty long throw. It’s definitely one of the deeper keyboards these days. The problem with this one is that the keys just feel too resistant. I almost felt like I was hurting my fingers typing on the keyboard.

Still, the keys are accurate and precise, which is always a good thing. There’s also a number pad to the right of the standard keys, since the chassis is certainly big enough for it.

As always, there’s a TrackPoint between the G, H, and B keys. This can be used for moving the pointer around the screen, just like with the trackpad. You don’t have to use it if you don’t want to, but it’s there if that’s your jam.

And then there’s the Precision trackpad itself, which is off-centered to the left, a common trait for big machines like this one. It’s centered with the main portion of the keyboard though, rather than centered with the full keyboard including the number pad.

There are physical buttons both above and below the trackpad, as the trackpad itself is not clickable. Generally, the ones above it are meant for use with the TrackPoint, and the ones below it are meant for use with the trackpad. I’m a big fan of physical buttons with trackpads though; it just makes drag-and-drop operations a lot easier.

Performance and battery life

To put it briefly, performance is great and battery life is not. Both of those things are expected on a machine with these kinds of specs. The model that Lenovo sent me includes a Core i7-9850H, a 45W hexa-core CPU with 12 threads, although you can have it configured with a Xeon; this is a workstation, after all.

The GPU is an Nvidia Quadro RTX 5000 with 16GB GDDR6, so yes, it’s a beast. This is the one that I told you to wait for last year, knowing that Quadro RTX was on the way. Nvidia’s RTX lineup allows for real-time ray tracing and machine learning improvements, and it makes a big difference over the previous generation.

This is a $5,000 mobile workstation, and it’s built to handle any kind of task that you throw at it, such as complicated CAD projects or enterprise VR environments. This isn’t even the most expensive model. It comes out to $7,334 before discounts if you spec it out with 128GB RAM, three 2TB SSDs, and the 4K OLED display.

Battery life though, is less impressive. You can have power and you can have battery life, but you can’t have both. There are, however, some adjustments that you can make. At full power, you’ll probably get about two hours of battery life. Microsoft has a battery slider in Windows 10 that has four settings, and also, Lenovo gave me another solution. You can boot into the UEFI settings and switch to Hybrid Graphics instead of Discrete Graphics. If you use both options to conserve battery, battery life will increase drastically, but of course, it won’t be as powerful. The nice thing is that you can use it the way that you want to use it, when you need to.

Conclusion

If power is what you need, then look no further. The Lenovo ThinkPad P53 is a beast. With a Core i7-9850H CPU, an Nvidia Quadro RTX 5000 GPU with 16GB GDDR6, 64GB RAM, a 2TB SSD, and an option for an OLED multitouch screen, there’s not much that you can’t do with this thing. You can use it as your desktop PC by just plugging in some monitors and some peripherals, and it’s surely powerful enough to do what you need it to, and then you can just unplug it and take it somewhere else.

And that means it comes with the necessary compromises to make that happens. It’s big, it’s bulky, it’s heavy, and the battery life isn’t great. My biggest disappointment was the keyboard though. Maybe I’m becoming accustomed to the increasingly used shallow keyboards, since I don’t think it felt uncomfortable to me with the P52, and I doubt that Lenovo changed the deck much, or at all.

To be fair though, if you buy a ThinkPad P53, you’re not buying it to write articles that will be published on the internet. You’re buying it for much more power-intensive tasks than that, and the P53 has all the power. If you’re going the mobile workstation route, the ThinkPad P53 is a sure bet. And unlike with last year’s P52, I don’t have to say that with a caveat since there was newer hardware coming. You’re pretty future-proofed with this one.

Windows 10 vs. Ubuntu 19.10 vs. Clear Linux Performance On The Dell Ice Lake Laptop

Last month I posted benchmarks looking at the Windows 10 vs. Linux OpenGL and Vulkan graphics performance for the Ice Lake “Gen11” graphics. But for those wondering about the CPU/system performance between Windows and Linux for the Core i7-1065G7 with the Dell XPS 7390, here are those benchmarks as we compare the latest Windows 10 to Ubuntu 19.10 and Intel’s own Clear Linux platform.

Windows 10, Ubuntu 19.10, and Clear Linux 31340 were all cleanly installed and benchmarked on the same Dell XPS 7390 Ice Lake laptop under test. This system features the Intel Core i7-1065G7 with 4 cores / 8 threads, 16GB of RAM, Intel Iris Plus Graphics, and 512GB Toshiba NVMe SSD.

Each operating system was freshly installed and benchmarked at its defaults besides running with all available stable system updates as of testing time, which happened back in October. This is part of our ongoing series in investigating the Intel Ice Lake Linux performance after purchasing this laptop.

A wider variety of Linux distribution benchmarks from this Core i7-1065G7 laptop will be coming up in the weeks ahead. All of these Windows/Linux benchmarks were carried out using the Phoronix Test Suite.

AOC Q27T1 Monitor Designed by Studio F.A. Porsche Looks the Part

Amsterdam-based AOC has been collaborating with Studio F. A. Porsche (created by a grandson of the sports car maker’s founder) and came up with the Q27T1, a slim and sleek 27-inch QHD monitor. 

The Q27T1 sports an IPS panel with a 75 Hz refresh rate and 5ms response time. That means it won’t be one of the best gaming monitors, but should be suitable for less competitive gamers, especially with the FreeSync support, for fighting screen tears at refresh rates of 48 Hz and higher.

The display’s max brightness is 350 nits, and color gamut coverage is decent with 107% sRGB. Being just an 8-bit panel with 16.7 million colors, it’s not meant for creative pros. 

The design consists of a black glossy panel with slim bezels, and it has an asymmetric metal stand. This stand doesn’t support any adjustments beyond the panel’s tilt, but it does look neat. The rear of the monitor comes in white and black with a large AOC logo, and the I/O has its own cover to keep things looking good from the rear. The I/O itself consists of DisplayPort 1.2, two HDMI 1.4 ports and line in and out jacks.

All things considered, it’s a pretty decent monitor that certainly looks the part. Just don’t expect the greatest gaming performance from it, nor the ability to use it for professional creative work. 

AOC’s Q27T1 is available in the U.K for £269, which translates to about $350 USD. For these specs, there are more competitive options available, but it looks like AOC is charging a premium for that stylish design. 

An upcoming Chromebook may support Ambient EQ

Taking a note from the recently released Pixel 4, it appears that a future Chromebook may include support for Ambient EQ. This capability would help relieve eye strain when working under various lighting conditions through the use of automatic white balance adjustments.

Multiple commits in Chromium Gerrit—a tool used for code review—point towards the functionality being added to Chrome OS. These commits include details for adding a flag to display/hide the Ambient EQ UI, testing if the current device supports Ambient EQ, and adding a UI control for Ambient EQ.

Ambient EQ is implemented in a fashion similar to that of auto-brightness. An ambient light color sensor collects information about your surroundings, then modifies the screen temperature to allow for better viewing.

This marks the first time such a feature would become available in Chromebooks. Currently, Chromebook hardware lacks the required color sensor a device would need in order to perform this function — we’d need to see the launch of a new model in order for this to become a reality.

Besides the Pixel 4, this functionality has also been used on the Google Nest Hub and Nest Hub Max. If these commits are to be believed, it looks like Chromebooks are next.

Dell XPS 13 (2019) Slays Benchmarks With 6-Core 10th Gen Intel Comet Lake

Intel officially launched its 10nm Ice Lake-U family back in August, and there have been a handful of systems shipping with the power-sipping processors. Among the first OEMs to jump onboard was Dell with the XPS 13 2-in-1 (2019) we recently evaluated. When that refreshed convertible launched, it was available with one of three processors:

Intel Core i3-1005 G1 processor (2C/4T, 4MB cache, up to 3.4GHz)

Intel Quad Core i5-1035 G1 processor (4C/8T, 6MB cache, up to 3.6GHz)

Intel Quad Core i7-1065 G7 processor (4C/8T, 8MB cache, up to 3.9GHz)

Not long after those Ice Lake processors were announced, Intel launched its 10th generation Comet Lake-U processors. Dell has since given us access to a new SKU of the standard XPS 13 that is rocking one of those fresh Comet Lake-U processors. More specifically, it is making available the Core i7-10710U, which is a 6-core/12-thread processor. Although Comet Lake-U is based on aging 14nm++ process tech, it still packs quite a punch within its 15-watt TDP.

The Core i7-10710U has a base clock of 1.1GHz, a single-core turbo clock of 4.7GHz, and an all-core turbo clock of 3.9GHz. With this new laptop in hand, we decided to put it through a few benchmarks to show what you can expect with respect to performance gains over the existing Ice Lake-U based offerings.

First up is Geekbench, where the 6-core Core i7-10710U puts up a strong showing against the 2-in-1 version of the laptop with a Core i7-1065G7 (Ice Lake-U) in the single-core benchmark. However, the Core i7-10710U really flexes its muscles in the multi-core benchmarks, where its extra two cores come in handy against the quad-core Ice Lake-U.

Moving along, we again see the Core i7-10710U coming up a little short in the single-core benchmark for Cinebench R20. However, it more than makes up for it in the multicore benchmark with a roughly 33 percent uplift over the Core i7-1065G7.

Finally, we decided to fire up BrowserBench, which focuses on web application performance. Here’s the Core i7-1065G7 managed to edge the 6-core Core i7-10710U by roughly 8 percent. 

We should stress that this is just an early look at performance of these new Comet Lake-U parts in the Dell XPS 13 and we hope to have an extended look at performance and battery life in a future article very soon, so stay tuned.

Phantek Evolv Shift: A living room PC case?

The Phantek Evolv Shift is a Mini-ITX PC case that could easily fit like a piece in your living room and here’s why it a very matte black case, so it doesn’t draw too much attention to itself, and it is stylish because of the more verticle rather than the horizontal design of the case.

The Phantek Evlov Shift is a PC you could put in your living room and not be embarrassed about it!

So one of the main features of the case is that it is able to be completely broken down, you can take off all the side panes to easily service a certain part for either a replacement or an upgrade. The size of the footprint of this case are as small as 27cm x 17cm, meaning this can easily fit on your desk without your desk feeling cramped in any way.

This makes one of the main issues of these smaller cases less of an issue, serviceability, in my review of the Cougar QBX, I specified the “wing” feature which made servicing the part a lot harder to do. I also stated how I had to remove 3 – 5 parts just to get access to the pins for the power button and power light.

While most of these smaller cases are usually built with either specifically water-cooling or air-cooling in mind, this lands in the former being specifically designed to be in use with an AIO cooler. This makes the case makers worry less about airflow and more specifically where to put the Radiators and mounts for the fans, making the design team have to do far less work to get this masterpiece of a case.

Now since the case has this small of a footprint there are some downsides to it:

Mini-ITX Motherboard This means only one PCIe Slot from the motherboard

The Price tag for these smaller motherboards is usually very high, compared to an mATX motherboard counterparts.

Power Supply size is limited to SFX The size available for the power supply is an SFX only, meaning because of the smaller size the price tag moves up considerably, compared to the standard ATX power supply costs.

Overall, this case looks amazing and if you are trying to make a gaming station in your living room this could be the case to do it, just be aware that you’ll most likely end up paying more for some of the components of the computer to accommodate the size of the case. The Phantek Evolv Shift is currently on sale for $109.99 on Amazon, and it worth every penny.

TUF Gaming VG249Q is a 24″ inch monitor from ASUS, with FreeSync enabled

ASUS is coming out with a new 24-inch monitor, the TUF Gaming VG249Q. This monitor carries a 144Hz refresh rate with some amazing features to set this monitor apart from the other 24-inch displays.

The TUF Gaming VG249Q is 144Hz, 1ms, and Full HD 1080p

The 1ms is a moving picture response time rating, this helps with the screen blur that some LCD and VA panel have.

The total specs of the TUF Gaming VG249Q are:

Total Size is 23.8inches at a 16:9 aspect ratio While some may find this monitor more on the smaller size, the 16:9 aspect ratio makes the monitor large enough to immerse you in the game.

The resolution of this monitor 1080p, which some people think isn’t appropriate in 2019, but with the combination of the 144Hz would making gaming on this monitor amazing.

144Hz is the refresh rate of the TUF Gaming VG249Q This makes for amazing smooth gameplay, the 144Hz refresh rate is very common for high-action packed games centric monitor.

The Viewing Angles The amazing Viewing angles of 178 degrees, meaning from almost any angle without any loss to detail or color to the image displayed.

The I/O to the Monitor The connections include an HDMI, DisplayPort, and a VGA port (one of each type), 3.5mm headphone jack and onboard 2W stereo speakers. The HDMI port is HDMI standard version 1.4 This means that this can support up to 4K video frames rate up to 30 frames per second.

The DisplayPort is DisplayPort 1.2

This monitor while not a 34″ inch, 1440p, 144Hz (like the MI Surface Monitor, Shown here) it would be a good budget monitor if priced correctly, as the price has not been released as by ASUS. The monitor would have to be under $200, if not it would be in competition with the VG248QG, being a 24″ G-Sync compatible, at a blazing fast 165Hz (which is overclockable per ASUS’s own website.)

The TUF Gaming VG249Q is worth the price (if listed as under $200) because while the size is only 24″ inches across, the 144Hz refresh rate makes any gameplay smooth and very consistent with the FreeSync technology. This means that the Monitor will sync per the frames that are currently being pushed out by your graphics card.

Pixelbook Go review: Premium price for a premium device

Before I share thoughts after using the Pixelbook Go for more than 80 hours, I want to explain why this review didn’t appear alongside the many others last week, when the embargo lifted.

Simply put: It wasn’t ready. I don’t write reviews to an artificial deadline, at least not unless I feel they’re actually complete and provide maximum value to readers. I wanted to make sure I fully tested the device in as many ways as possible, which I now have done.

So let’s get started with the Pixelbook Go!

Specs and benchmarks (only because people want to see them)

So I’m sure by now, nearly every potential Pixelbook Go buyer knows all the hardware specifications and configurations; most are similar, if not identical to the Google Pixel Slate.

Still, this is necessary info to set the stage, so here’s what’s inside and out of the Pixelbook Go, which is a clamshell laptop. Note that my review unit, like every other one that I know of, is the $849 configuration. I’ll discuss the $649 model later though, I promise.

I’m not a fan of benchmarks, but I know others are.

To me, benchmarks are only a general indication of performance comparisons but everyday use is more important to me. I ran industry-standard tests on the Pixelbook Go in Guest Mode.

Here’s how they compared to the original Pixelbook as well as last year’s Pixel Slate and Acer Chromebook Spin 13 as I use both of those devices.

I wasn’t surprised at all by these test results, most of which have a small margin of error on the plus or minus side. The original Pixelbook uses a 7th-generation Y-series processor while the Pixelbook Go uses a comparable 8th-gen chip. Hence, the first column should have the lowest scores.

As I noted, the Pixelbook Go uses the same internal hardware for the most part as last year’s Pixel Slate. And as you’d expect, benchmarks between the two are similar.

I included the Acer Chromebook Spin 13 for two reasons: First, it’s in the same MSRP range as the other three options. And second, it illustrates the rough benefit of having Intel’s U-series chip in a Chromebook: It can run under a heavier processor load for longer, although it does require a fan.

What’s it like to use the Pixelbook Go?

I found the Chrome OS experience on the Pixelbook Go is little different than on my Pixel Slate. Well, after the Pixel Slate got a handful of software updates to improve the experience. That is to say: It’s really good.

With 8GB of memory paired to the Intel Core i5 chip, Pixelbook Go is a browsing and web app champ. When I’m working on a Chromebook, I generally don’t have more than a dozen open tabs.

I pushed that limit to nearly two dozen and the Go handled them like a champ: No slowdowns, no page refreshes, no lagging cursor, nothing.

Moving back to my normal workflow, I ran three Android apps (Spotify, Microsoft Word, and Snapseed) alongside my typical up to 12 tabs, as well as the Twitter PWA. Again, no issues here although the Android apps I used weren’t massive games. If you’re going to play on Android with the Go, or any other Chromebook, I’d say, close everything else for the best experience.

Lastly, I kept my tabs open, closed Word and Snapseed, and then fired up a few Integrated Development Environments to do some light coding within Linux. First, I used Microsoft Visual Code to test some Flutter code for a few hours. I then closed Visual Code and worked on some small Java apps for my Computer Science class in Android Studio, which is more resource-intensive.

In both cases, I was able to get my work done but it took longer to build and run my code than it does on my Acer Chromebook Spin 13. I expected that due to the lower performing Y-series processor in the Pixelbook Go, not to mention that my Acer has 16GB of memory. That’s a better device for full-time development, but I only mention that for the developers out there.

Most people considering the Pixelbook Go aren’t likely to be in that crowd. And those who want to use Linux with the Go for traditional desktop apps will be just fine with this device.

By the way, the Pixelbook Go handled Virtual Desktops just fine in all scenarios and I saw no performance issues when connecting my 1440p 60fps monitor either.

The Pixelbook Go is also great for watching 1080p videos on YouTube and traditional programming on YouTube TV, no problem, particularly because of the internal hardware and the 16:9 1080p display which has good color saturation and brightness except in an outdoor setting where it falls a bit short.

And while finishing this review, I was watching Samsungs SDC 2019 Livestream at 1080p on the external monitor; only 20 dropped frames in the first 10,000 or so.

From an overall performance standpoint then, the Pixelbook Go in the $849 configuration is more than enough Chromebook for just about anybody, with the exception of people highly dependent on running intensive Linux apps for hours at a time.

One additional item as it pertains to battery life. I’m not getting the claimed 12 hours of battery life on this Pixelbook Go, likely because battery life is highly dependent on a number of variables, such as your usage activities and brightness settings.

However, with brightness set to around 60 percent, I averaged around 9 hours of continuous run-time on a charge. That’s still excellent but the real hidden gem here is the quick-charge capabilities. I can verify that yes, with a 20-minute plug-in, you’ll get around two more hours of run-time. I don’t know of another Chromebook that supports this outstanding feature today.

What about the $649 Pixelbook Go?

Although I haven’t used the base Pixelbook Go model, I have used several Chromebooks with the same Core m3 processor inside of the least expensive Pixelbook Go. 

Based on my experience, the $649 Pixelbook Go (which also has 8 GB of memory) shouldn’t show a noticeable performance drop from the $849 model, except in the most demanding of situations. I’d say most people will be better served with the base model of the Pixelbook Go and I’ll have more to say on pricing in a bit.

Premium hardware adds to the experience

I wanted to get the performance and user experience out of the way before discussing the hardware, mainly because I think this is one of those devices that you can’t evaluate from a website or photos. You have to get the Pixelbook Go in your hand before understanding the package that you’re getting.

The build quality is as least as good as it was on the original Pixelbook, which is pretty much the standard for a Made By Google Chromebook. There’s no plastic here; everything is housed in a magnesium alloy chassis with a matte finish, which greatly reduces fingerprints and feels good in the hand.

And at 2.3 pounds, you’ll want to carry this around in the hand. I can’t say that the ribbed bottom of the Pixelbook Go adds any grippiness, but I have small hands. You may find otherwise. In either case, it’s not a detriment, only a potential positive.

I do love opening the Pixelbook Go with a single finger. It’s a little touch but I appreciate the design thought.

Indeed, when you use the Go, it’s the design attention that really jumps out and sets this Chromebook apart from competing devices that are in the same price range or lower. This is not a budget Chromebook in any way, shape or form. It’s a less expensive Pixelbook, something that I didn’t understand until spending hours using it.

The display with smaller bezels than in prior models is crisp with a quality panel. It does appear a bit warmer than most of my other Chromebooks though; something you’ll want to see with your own eyes to see if this yellow-ish hue offends your retinas.

As far as the aspect ratio, it’s well suited for my content consumption needs, but I struggle a bit when being productive. To be clear, 16:9 is good for splitting the screen with two tabs or productivity apps side-by-side. I think most folks will be fine and it will great for any Stadia gaming as well. When I code, however, I personally prefer the 3:2 aspect ratio on Google’s prior Chromebooks.

Speakers on the Pixelbook Go aren’t quite as good as those on the Pixel Slate. They’re close. Sound levels actually sound louder on the Go but the clarity, while above average, is not up to par with the Pixel Slate. I do think they’re noticeably better than those on the Pixelbook, for what it’s worth.

Then there’s the keyboard and trackpad. I love them.

Google took the hush-key design of the Pixel Slate Keyboard and combined it with the already outstanding keys from the Pixelbook. The result is fantastic: Quieter, comfortable typing with traditionally shaped keys that have just enough bounce and responsiveness.

The trackpad too is quite good in my experience. It’s super smooth, a bit larger than the one on the Slate Keyboard and works great for multi-touch gestures. It is a bit loud when fully depressing the glass, but it does support silent taps for presses as well. Both the trackpad and keyboard picked up my skin oils within a day, but hey, maybe you have drier skin!

Let’s talk about the elephant in the Chromebook: pricing

If you’re the kind of person that simply looks at specs and pricing on paper, I can understand why you’d feel the Pixelbook Go is too expensive. After all, you can find other Chromebooks with the same or similar specs at lower prices, whether looking at MSRP or sale pricing.

For example, the Asus Chromebook Flip C425 which is also a clamshell touchscreen device, has an MSRP of $499.99 and can be had on Amazon today for a rock-bottom $379.99. Inside is the same Core m3 and 8 GB of memory but half the storage of the Pixelbook Go. You can expand that storage with a memory card on the Asus; something that’s not possible on the Go.

The 14-inch 1080p panel on the Asus is limited to a 45% NTSC color gamut if that matters to you and weighs 0.6 pounds more than the Go at 2.9 pounds. I’ve found Asus keyboards and trackpads to be adequate, but not in the same class as any made by Google.

So yes, there’s a valid complaint about the Pixelbook Go pricing when the $649 base model is priced $260 more than the discounted sale price of an Asus Chromebook Flip C425 as an example. The question is: Do you want premium build materials, input methods, and a lighter device without sacrificing any battery life and the quick-charge feature?

That’s your call and to be fair, if I were on a limited budget, I’d go the “specs and price” route for this Asus model on sale. If I had the money for the Pixelbook Go though I wouldn’t think twice about picking one up over a less expensive non-Google branded Chromebook.

Additionally, there’s no way I’d consider a low-end Chromebook – say sub-350 – to be a Pixelbook Go competitor. You’ll get lesser performing internals for sure, a hit-or-miss display panel, a bulkier and/or mediocre design and less battery life.

There’s the other side of the coin to look at too: What about similarly priced or more expensive high-end Chromebooks? I can tackle that one too since I spent $819 on that 16 GB Acer Chromebook Spin 13 I mentioned.

In that case, I gave up a thin and light Chromebook option to get more performance. In addition to the gobs of RAM, I also gained a higher tiered Intel Core i5-8250U processor, which as I noted earlier, improves overall performance.

I did that because I needed the heavy-duty hardware for programming. The configuration is overkill for all but developers in my opinion. And that $819 price was reduced because of the refurbished status; the MSRP of that model is $1,059, which is much more than a comparably Pixelbook Go.

My point is: Buy hardware you need that can handle the tasks you do. The Pixelbook Go can meet most Chrome OS user’s needs but it’s up to you if the premium qualities are worth the price difference. If I wasn’t coding as much as I do, I’d strongly consider the Go because after using it, I appreciate those premium qualities.

I would say that having a touchscreen hasn’t added much value to my Pixelbook Go experience. I saved that for the pricing thoughts mainly because Google could have saved some costs by skipping the touch feature, making for a more competitively priced device.

In fact, I’d recommend that Google consider non-touchscreen options for the Pixelbook Go, particularly if they could also reduce the price of that configuration by $50. That would put the base model at a more palpable $599.

People pay Microsoft Surface and Apple Mac premiums, so why not Google?

One more point on the pricing argument after reading dozens of complaints about it: This is what Microsoft and Apple do as well.

What I mean by that is that you were to look at a Microsoft Surface Laptop or an Apple MacBook Air, the specs on paper don’t look like they justify the costs either.

That $1,099 MacBook Air a slightly better 8th Gen Core i5-8210Y processor, for example, although it does have a higher resolution screen compared to the Pixelbook Go.

Want a light 2-in-1 with pen support? The $899 Surface Pro 7 comes with a newer 10-generation Intel Core i5 processor, which is a nice performance bump, the same 8 GB of memory and 128 GB of storage as the Pixelbook Go. Don’t forget though: It doesn’t come with a keyboard; that’s another $160 for the full premium Surface experience.

Don’t get me wrong, these are both great devices. Indeed, I bought a Surface Pro last year and it was great. I don’t have an Air but we do have a MacBook in the house. It’s also superb.

They’re both good not just because of the internal hardware though, which can be as I said overpriced as compared to less expensive devices with similar specs. They’re also good because of the design, look, and feel that both companies put into them. And people are willing to pay a premium for those attributes.

It’s not any different with the Pixelbook Go. Think of it as Microsoft’s Surface or Apple’s MacBook line: You’ll pay more but there’s a good reason to do so if you choose to. You’ll feel like you’re getting your money’s worth, even if you could get more features or performance for less with another brand.

Who should buy a Pixelbook Go?

Obviously, if Chrome OS isn’t your thing, the Pixelbook Go is a pass.

And developers? I’d stay away, even from the higher-end models; you’re going to much happier with a U-Series processor inside of your Chromebook, even if you’re sacrificing some weight, design or other attributes.

Everyone else?

I alluded to it before: This is the Pixelbook model for the masses.

I say that because you get the premium quality materials, design, and keyboard with better performance than the original $999 Pixelbook at a substantially lower price.

Google has effectively reduced the cost of entry for a mid- to high-end Chromebook while cutting the size and weight, and adding battery life. If those attributes don’t matter to you or you have a limited budget, you’ve got less expensive options, of course.

I’ll continue using the Pixelbook Go as my primary device for the next few weeks. If you have any specific questions or want anything within reason tested – no, I’m not going into Developer Mode or dual-booting! – drop a comment and I’ll try to address as many as I can.