The Google ecosystem is pretty solid, you don’t need Apple – MobileSyrup

Since about 2020, I’ve been absorbed in the Apple ecosystem. I’ve had several iPhones, iPads, an iMac, Apple Watches, and a M1 MacBook Pro. As much as I love using all of these devices, and it’s part of my job, I’m the guy who reviews most of the Android flagships we get at MobileSyrup, so I can’t spend my time only on Apple devices for personal use. However, moving away from an ecosystem that works flawlessly has been difficult, so I challenged myself to use an Android ecosystem solely.

I didn’t touch any of my Apple devices for the past month. Instead, I used the Pixel 9 Pro XL, Pixel Watch 3, Pixel Buds Pro 2, and an Asus ExpertBook CX54 Chromebook Plus. While I hated not being allowed to touch any Apple products, I could see myself using this Chromebook and the Google ecosystem exclusively. Many of the features work well with one another, similar to how Apple’s devices synergize. It’s not exactly the same, and there are some things I wish could be implemented, but it’s a good experience. 

Pixel works with Pixel

The Pixel Watch 3, Pixel Buds 2 and the Pixel 9 Pro XL all work together seamlessly. There are not any issues with using the three of these devices together. Notifications on your smartphone will also appear on your smartwatch, and you’ll hear the chime on your Pixel Buds 2. If you can’t find your Pixel Watch 3, you can ring it on your smartphone and vice versa. Google’s Find My network will also be able to locate your Pixel Buds 2 if you’ve misplaced them. Even though the CX54 isn’t made by Google, many features work together without any hitch. You can easily see your text messages on your Chromebook and even get a look at your apps like Instagram, Spotify, and pretty much anything on your device. Some apps don’t work perfectly, as they only have mobile versions, like Instagram, but it’s good enough to respond to messages, scroll through posts and even look at stories.

The Pixel 9 Pro XL and CX54 combination was pretty solid, and I could expect a similar experience from these two devices as my iPhone and MacBook. I could share files and pictures easily between the two, and pairing my CX54 with my Pixel Buds 2 was also incredibly easy.

The most used feature of my MacBook and iPhone is Universal Clipboard, which lets you copy text or an image on one Apple device and paste it on another. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get Google’s version of this feature to work with my Pixel and CX54, which was frustrating. However, this was the only thing that stuck out to me. Other Apple ecosystem features include Sidecar, which allows you to turn your iPhone or iPad into a secondary monitor, and Universal Control, which lets you use your mouse and keyboard to control your iPad and Macbook seamlessly. However, it’s worth noting that I’ve never used any of these features on my Macbook/iPhone, so I didn’t mind not having them in the Google ecosystem. However, heavy users of those features will definitely miss them.

Chromebooks aren’t for everyone, but work for me

When I work, I mostly spend time typing articles and editing pictures, and that’s pretty much it. I rarely open my laptop in my free time, but if I do, it’s because I’m working on a book idea, writing up said novel idea (and then failing afterward), or watching videos on YouTube. Editing photos on a Chromebook was tricky at first, but Adobe Express works similarly to Photoshop, and it’s browser-based, so it has no issue working on Chromebooks. I’m not a video editor, so editing video wasn’t an issue I encountered. However, if you love to edit videos, you can use the app version of Capcut or paid options like LumaFusion. I didn’t try out either of these, though. In-depth video editors might miss apps like Adobe Premiere or Final Cut, which aren’t available on Chromebooks. 

Some people have many issues with Chromebooks, but I was surprised by how well the Asus ExpertBook worked for me. I’ve heard people complain about how Chromebooks didn’t have enough power or were for children, but using Asus’ ExpertBook CX54 Chromebook Plus, I didn’t have these issues. It’s worth noting that many Chromebooks are aimed at kids, students and people who just want to browse the web, so this complaint has some merit. The CX54 has Windows-like power, but some of this power is unnecessary without pro apps. But because of this, it could quickly handle any task I threw at it. 

The CX54 was great for all my work and video editing, and I even tried streaming games on Xbox Game Pass and Steam Link. The Steam Link app streams games from my Asus ROG Ally X to the CX54, which worked fine. I didn’t play many games this way, but I used it to play a bit of The Spirit of the Samurai, and it worked fine. Streaming games through Game Pass on Chrome worked perfectly well, even better than Steam Link, and I used this to play Nine Sols and Have a Nice Death Day. I didn’t try playing any games locally on the Chromebook, and if you want to play intense PC games, you might want a Windows laptop. I did find that I preferred using a mouse with this laptop than using its trackpad, but that’s not a big deal. And after using a Macbook for about four years, it was nice to use a notebook with a touch screen. 

Apple isn’t the only way

It’s worth noting that the Pixel ecosystem isn’t the only one competing against the Apple ecosystem. Samsung has a reasonably extensive ecosystem for its Galaxy devices and Galaxy Windows laptops suite. I plan on taking a look at this next. It also has partnerships with Microsoft and offers features like Windows Phone Link. Intel also has software called Unison that connects phones to PCs.

Switching over and using a Chromebook alongside Pixel devices was a great experience. I thought I was locked into the Apple ecosystem, but it’s good to know that other options exist. If you want a good experience and you’re not using an iPhone, then you’ll be perfectly fine using a Google ecosystem. My Chromebook knowledge isn’t extensive, but I like the Asus ExpertBook CX54 Chromebook Plus. 

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