Google Chromebook Pixel Review
Due to dealing with an operating system that doesn't allow us to load our standard BatteryEater Pro, we weren't able to do an apples-to-apples comparison between the Chromebook Pixel and other machines in its price range. That said, we were able to compare it to the $449 Series 5 Chromebook.
With Wi-Fi active (which is going to be the case if you plan on making good use of a cloud-based operating system), we managed to get 4 hours and 12 minutes of use before the battery could no longer take any more abuse. That was with the screen brightness at roughly half, and off/on typing use through an average workday. With Wi-Fi off (using this solely as a document editor), the machine lasted 4 hours and 48 minutes with the screen at half-brightness. If using LTE instead of Wi-Fi, you can expect around 20-30 minutes less than these scores. (These scores are roughly half of what the Atom-based Series 5 notched.)
This is one area that really drags the value proposition down. A premium-priced Chromebook may have been easier to justify if it performed in an all-day fashion. But, contrary to that, the Pixel lasts around half as long as the latest MacBook Air -- a machine that's both less expensive and more capable given OS X behind under the hood. There's really no excuse for such paltry battery life. Chrome OS is a lightweight system that doesn't take a major toll on the battery, so it's unclear why the Pixel is exhausted after such a short time period. Either way, the battery life reality is apt to be a major drawback for those who were still considering one up until this point.