Haven't touched ChromeOS since the Pixelbook Go, but with the release of this device I figured it's time to give it another shot. Keep in mind that I currently own a Macbook Air M4 + Asus G14 5070ti and may make comparisons.

In Summary:

• I easily give this an 8/10. Excellent device that keeps up with the much more expensive competition. Highly recommend.
• Will I keep it? No. These reasons are very specific to me though and may not influence you....
  • Don't like the way ChromeOS handles work and personal profiles. I want both work and personal chrome windows on one screen.. I can't do that unless I'm on windows/MacOS.
  • The lack of apps like Respondus Lockdown Browser or a proper (local) Excel spreadsheet app make this a no-go for class and work. *The Excel app is "no longer supported".
  • The webcam is really bad and that's something I'd use daily for work.
• I did not try the Linux side of this, nor do I really feel the urge to, so take that with a grain of salt.

Pros

• Great keyboard experience. Buttery-smooth with excellent travel distance.
• OLED Screen is bright and vibrant -- and it offers touch! Its quality rivals the Asus G14's and even though it's capped at 60hz, it feels just as smooth.
• Speakers are some of the best I've heard on a chromebook, though nowhere close to the Macbook.
• The track-pad feel incredibly responsive and ChromeOS makes it delightful to use. The gestures are similar to Mac and Windows, but this might be my favorite flavor of the three.
• Battery life is excellent, though about 75% of what the Macbook m4 delivers.
• Easily the lightest device out of all.
• The processor feels powerful and light.
• ChromeOS deserves its own paragraph...
  • I really enjoy this as a research device. It's so easy to pop open and start googling whatever you want.
  • OS is buttery smooth and feels modern.
  • The G + spacebar google lens shortcut is incredibly useful for analyzing whatever you see on screen. I like that ChromeOS extends its use outside of the browser window (unlike Mac/Windows).
  • I love how the ARM chip behaves with Play Store apps. Back in the day, most apps would crash or be incredibly buggy due to intel processors. I believe ARM is the only way to go for chromeOS. I use InShot video/photo editor and it's so nice to have it on a laptop. Plus the touch screen allows you to emulate the app experience as if it were on a phone.
  • The Insert key is a curious choice by Google. I can see how it could be helpful for writing and other tasks. In fact, I used it to refine this review.

Cons

• The keyboard back-lighting is not great. Tons of bleed around the keys, kinda looks cheap.
• The chassis feels cheaper than both the Asus and Macbook. It looks and feels like a high quality plastic to me.
• The webcam! It's straight up offensive and washed out. Easily the worst part of the device.
• Battery life could be better (spoiled by the M4 Macbook). This likely won't be a con for most.
• Chrome OS.....
  • The phone hub is really laggy, I don't enjoy streaming apps or checking anything on my Pixel 10 because of this. Kinda expected better considering both are Googley.
  • I don't like how it handles work + personal profiles. On my Mac + Windows devices I can quickly choose which Chrome profile I want to use while logged into the same session. On ChromeOS, it's way more complicated and I have to log-out/in with many features disabled. This is arguably due to my system admin imposing these limitations, but again, I don't feel it nearly as much on Windows/Mac.
  • Can't install apps like Respondus Lockdown Browser for class or a local Excel app for work (I expected this but still...). The office 365/google sheets implementation isn't going to cut it for me.
  • Gemini is.... worse?
    • Features like "Gemini in Chrome" are missing. On Mac/Windows I can hit a keyboard shortcut to ask about my open tabs. It's really handy and I use it all the time to learn new software.
    • "Hey Google" is gone..? I remember being able to summon the assistant on my Pixelbook Go. Weird.
    • The only Gemini I have access to is the pinned web app which is the same as what I can do on Windows/Mac. Even clicking the Gemini logo in the finder just redirects to that. I guess I was expecting a "real" integration.
• External monitor support is "OK". You'll see worse performance using the left USBC port which is a small inconvenience. Otherwise, it's fine 60hz/4k.