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In 2013, I bought my first Mac, a MacBook Air. It was a great machine that accompanied me on the road for seven years, but as you can imagine, lately it has cost me a lot. I enjoy macOS and have gotten used to the platform over the years and decided to buy an iMac a year ago, but as someone who does little more than blog on a laptop, I was interested in a more significant change. Instead of opting for a new MacBook to work on the go, I decided to try a Chromebook. After a long period of adjustment, the experiment turned out surprisingly well, especially when I learned how to avoid machine restrictions. I still couldn’t use a Chromebook as my primary machine, but that’s not even what I want from a laptop these days.
For additional context, these are the devices I’m adding: I use a 27-inch iMac with 40GB of RAM and a 9th-generation 3.7GHz 6-core Intel Core i5 at home while my MacBook runs on 4GB of RAM and an old 4th generation Core i5 dual-core. My new laptop / convertible is a 14-inch HP Chromebook x360 with 8GB of RAM and an 8th-gen dual-core Intel Core i3 (Taylor reviewed a similarly-equipped variant here at Android Police).
Design and hardware
It’s not fair to compare the build quality of a computer over $ 1,000 with one I got for around $ 500, but given the price difference and resulting compromises in design and material, the Chromebook holds surprisingly well. This is mainly due to the excellent HP keyboard and the rugged exterior of the laptop: I have my issues with the weight, the dark screen with its 16: 9 form factor (3: 2 is the best, not me @) and the hinge, which you must open with both hands. The touchpad isn’t too good either. I tried to play around with the settings, but couldn’t find the perfect speed. I suppose there is a reason why MacBook trackpads are considered industry leaders. I also miss the four-finger mission control gesture a lot, but at least Chrome OS offers a keyboard replacement for it. On the other hand, the gesture of sliding three fingers of the Chromebook to switch between tabs is perfect, so it is give and take.
While I despise Google’s decision to replace the caps lock with a search icon instead of putting it in the place of Windows or the command key, I do like to have dedicated navigation buttons in the top row. After a while, I started to remember my keyboard shortcuts as Search + shift + left / right to go to the end or the beginning of a line. The screenshot combinations were also useful once I memorized them.
The HP Chromebook x360 in store mode.
I was hoping to be able to use this foldable Chromebook as a tablet replacement, but I’ve found myself gravitating towards portable mode most of the time, even when I’m consuming content. A 14-inch device is too big for a tablet, even with the latest Google enhancements for touchscreen-only use. At least the store mode is elegant and space-saving. It would be perfect for content consumption if it weren’t for the speakers at the top of the keyboard. They are looking back when the screen is flipped, which is far from ideal. The story will probably be different once we can all travel again as I would simply connect my earphones or headphones to the machine at that time.
If you’ve ever run Chrome on macOS, you already know how to tax Google software is battery life. On Chromebooks, that is not the case at all.
The touchscreen itself is more convenient than I thought it would be, coming from a MacBook. I love tapping icons on the taskbar to launch apps and websites, and sometimes just tapping and tapping a few buttons in quick succession feels faster than using the touchpad. When I went back to my MacBook several times, I even found myself trying to scroll and touch the screen.
If you’ve ever run Chrome on macOS (or Windows for that matter), you already know how to tax Google software is battery life. On Chromebooks, that is not the case at all. Despite dozens of tabs and a multitude of windows, the machine continues to operate. However, things got complicated once I started including Android and Linux apps: Chrome OS just isn’t optimized for this. I felt that the battery life worsened, although that is purely anecdotal, and others on the AP team don’t think it has been reduced. A performance hit would still not be too surprising as the operating system runs them on virtual machines, which translates to more work for the processor. This leads us directly to the next section: k
Learning to avoid Android and Linux applications
Apple allows developers to bring their iOS apps to macOS through Catalyst. While many Mac fans complain about the feel and look of these apps, they do run native code, recompiled for Apple’s desktop operating system thanks to a considerable amount of work by app developers. The same cannot be said about Android and Linux apps on Chrome OS. They are straight ports that require little or no adjustment from developers. That also means they both run on virtual machines, causing additional strain on the processor and battery, and it shows: both Linux and Android feel out of place on Chrome OS and can’t fully access the file system. In the end, I started avoiding as much as I could, which improved my Chrome OS experience.
Left: 100% scale. Right: 90% scale. Come closer and look at the text, you can tell the difference.
Android apps, in particular, feel like second-class citizens once it shows the size scale. At my Chromebook’s standard 100% 864 x 1536 scale, apps look as pristine as websites, but when you prefer to use a less dense scale like native 1920 x 1080 at 80%, apps look blurry and the text is more difficult to read.
While I’m thankful that I can download the Netflix and Amazon Prime shows to the Chromebook, both streaming services seem to limit video quality to SD in their Android apps, despite the HP x360 supporting DRM Widevine L1 protection. However, the ability to download some music to YouTube Music is absolutely great.
I was very excited to go back to GIMP and LibreOffice after working with Pixelmator Pro and Microsoft Office on my Mac, but I couldn’t get used to the limitations of Linux on my machine: programs were slow to start, files had to be imported to the Chromebook Linux partition, and interactions with the touchscreen were limited.
Instead, I started working with Office Online and OneDrive for my Office needs and was positively surprised by the Photopea web app after finding my way. Thanks to Excel Online, I also learned to love the Chromebook’s full-screen interface, accessible via the button instead of F4. Some features are still missing: I can’t print envelopes in Word, and links to files in Excel documents don’t work in the online version, which I trust regularly. I’d also love more keyboard shortcuts in Photopea.
I don’t like tablet mode for most things, but script reading is great.
The only exception to all of these rules is Foxit PDF. For my acting as a script reader, I couldn’t find a PDF annotation solution with OneDrive integration outside of Play Store, so I stuck with the excellent Android app despite scale and battery issues. Reading is also the only workflow where I fully embrace the tablet form factor the Chromebook offers – it’s amazing to see a script page on a 14-inch full-screen display.
My macOS apps and utilities are missing
After finding solutions for my table, text and image processing needs, I quickly noticed that I was missing some of my favorite Mac utilities. Third-party Spotlight replacement Alfred supercharges my productivity and file search game on the Mac, plus of having a clipboard manager and an onboard keyword expansion feature. I also use Clocker, which adds other time zones directly to the Mac status bar. I’ve also gotten used to some native Mac features: it’s too bad I can’t rename files on Chromebook, and even basics like cluttering my desktop with files and folders are impossible in Google’s operating system for some reason.
It’s always good to know what time it is across the pond when you work for a US website. USA
Over time, I found some alternatives to some of the tools. There’s TextBlaze for keyword expansion, and Artem fortunately added updated PST to our WordPress installation, mitigating my need to have it on the taskbar at all times. I also tried using Clipboard History Pro for clipboard management, but instead of getting used to the new shortcut, I stopped using a tool like this entirely.
However, there are things I prefer in Chrome OS, such as the task switching behavior in alt + tab which shuffles all windows instead of apps like macOS. In fact, I’m using Contexts on my Mac to make the app change feel more like Windows and Linux.
Before I started using OneDrive and Word in my browser, my biggest complaint with Chrome OS was actually the lack of third-party cloud service integration. I really wanted a solution that would allow me to integrate OneDrive just like Google Drive. However, over time, I got used to having access to my files only in my browser, and although I don’t love it, it works well enough; Maybe I’ll even go back to Google Drive once my subscription to Office 365 runs out, though that will cause some compatibility issues with another gig outside of Android Police.
Ecosystem integration
In addition to the instant connection and the usual data stored in your Google account, I have not obtained many advantages from the ecosystem of my change to Chrome OS. Sure, I can use Google Drive to sync files between the two, and I could see my text messages on the Messages web interface if I don’t use Telegram, but that’s also possible on other desktop operating systems.
Android and Chrome OS don’t work well together.
Compared to the excellent advantages of the Apple ecosystem when you use both macOS and iOS or even Microsoft’s Your Phone app for Windows and Android, the symbiosis keeps getting better and better, this is absolutely disappointing, but it’s actually not a novelty for me; After all, I’ve always been using the mostly incompatible Android and macOS together.
Verdict
You could break down the verdict in this sentence: Chrome OS is a great browser, but it’s not a great operating system. My experience reminds me of the one I had on the iPad (before iOS 13, I must take into account). Many things are great for a specific set of purposes, but once I get out of that comfort zone, I start to encounter problems that make me want to go back to a suitable desktop operating system. On my Chromebook, the situation improved once I stopped trying to run Android and Linux apps and stuck with capable web apps as much as possible. However, I still miss my well-known frictionless image editing software on the machine, and would love to see the proper third party cloud storage media.
Chrome OS is a great browser, but it’s not a great operating system
I still think my Chromebook may have a valid place in my workflow, just like my iPad used to be great for reading tons of text during college. However, I have to admit, it was a long time before the Chromebook grew on me; I can’t say that about the iPad, which has always been fun and enjoyable to interact with, despite its limitations. However, that is my personal situation. I recognize that there are a lot of people who need more than a browser or tablet to do their job, and I know that there is a large fraction that would be perfectly fine with a Chromebook, as they only need something to check emails, shop on Amazon, and browse the news on a known portable form factor.
For now, I’ll stick with the Chromebook for my mobile needs, but I could still pick a new MacBook for the long haul. The latest Air looks intriguing, and I’m looking forward to the rumored 13-inch MacBook Pro with a scissor-switch keyboard. Those ARM rumors are also intriguing.
2 weeks later
While I’ve been working more on my iMac for the past two weeks again, I found myself going back to the Chromebook many times. My opinion on the device has not changed too much, but I would like to expand on some points of the original editorial and report some changes in my workflow.
Also, touch support in Linux apps is limited, and some Android apps are prone to crashing and behaving strangely when resizing windows or using two windows side by side. That is the reason why I have switched from Foxit Reader to OneDrive for PDF annotation: Foxit did not save changes to my PDF files too often and rebooted when resizing the window. OneDrive is more stable, but unfortunately it doesn’t have as many annotation options as Foxit and still has some weird window issues like reloading PDF documents when you return to it. This only makes me beg for an Android PDF Expert application, which is my preferred solution on macOS and iOS.
I’ve also run into a startup issue after posting. When I start typing instantly after hitting the search key, Chrome OS won’t recognize the first few letters, which isn’t ideal. But there are also good things: I started playing some Stadia games on the machine, and I’m amazed at how much better it’s holding up than my MacBook. While the Apple laptop heats up to the point of choking during streaming sessions, the Chromebook stays much cooler. This just shows how much better Chrome is optimized for Chrome OS, even if that’s to be expected.
I also still appreciate other aspects of my Chromebook. I am still positively surprised by its build quality and enjoy reading scripts in tablet mode. Battery life remains another strong point. And despite the problems and disadvantages I ran into, I can only repeat my verdict from before: I’ll stick with the Chromebook for now.
