Dan Baker/Digital Trends
Arguably one of the most powerful and beautiful Chromebooks on the market today, Google’s Pixelbook is now at its lowest price ever with a $250 discount. This brings the cost of the entry level Pixelbook down to a more palatable price of $750 from its $999 price tag when it debuted, and the laptop could be ordered from Google’s online store, Amazon, and through Best Buy.
At $750, the Pixelbook still costs more than twice as much as an entry-level Chromebook, but you also get a faster processor, pen support, more storage and RAM, and a premium Swedish design for your money. The entry-level model comes with an Intel Core i5 processor, 128GB of solid-state storage, and 8B RAM in a convertible form factor where the screen can flip around to transform into a tablet. Google’s discount only applies to the entry-level model. Unfortunately, that means the upgraded Core i5 model with twice the storage still costs $1,199, and the top configuration with an Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB RAM, and a 512GB solid-state drive saw no change to its $1,649 price. On Amazon, the optional Pixelbook Pen is down to $82 from its $99 retail price.
We found a lot of positives when we reviewed the Pixelbook. From the laptop’s premium design and gorgeous display, there is a lot to love. The best feature for productivity is the long battery life, which could easily last a full workday.
Although Chrome OS may be more limiting compared to Microsoft’s Windows 10 and Apple’s MacOS, Google has been investing a lot of effort in turning its Chromebook platform into a suitable PC replacement. Like most modern laptops, the Pixelbook ships with just two USB Type-C ports and a headphone jack, so you may need adapters and dongles to connect legacy accessories, like flash drives. The Pixelbook’s high-end components are more typically found on premium Windows Ultrabooks, and Google’s work on supporting Android apps on the Chrome operating system makes it feel more like a desktop PC. If you’re buying the Pixelbook just for Android app support, be warned that we found that Android apps running on Chrome OS can still be buggy at this time.
Google’s Pixelbook promotional pricing is good through June 17. If you have ever had your eyes on the best Chromebook money can buy, the latest Pixelbook discounts may be tempting. There are also rumors that Google may be refreshing its Pixelbook design, potentially with a 4K screen upgrade, in the future, so the sale may be a tactic to clear out existing inventory ahead of a new product announcement. Before you splurge, you may want to check out our guides on buying the best laptops, the best Mac notebooks, and the best Chromebook devices.