(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
The first crop of Googlebooks arrives just days from now, on Oct. 4. The new Android-powered laptop line, starting at $899 with systems from Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, and Lenovo, features several cool and useful unifying features, including a significant amount of Gemini AI. But should you buy one?
I spent time with the five Googlebook flagship models to help you answer that question. These are my early thoughts about the concept, details, software, and hardware ahead of launch day.
What Is a Googlebook? A New Spin on the Android Laptop
In the media briefing, Google explained that the typical laptop, as we know it, was designed before smartphones even existed. People work, entertain themselves, and shop from their Android handsets, yet no laptops truly integrate with the world's most popular mobile OS.
Apple currently delivers fantastic cross-compatibility between its Mac computers and its iPhones, but the Android and Windows ecosystems offer no such equivalent. Microsoft's PhoneLink Windows app does a serviceable job of connecting your phone to your PC, but it's fairly limited in terms of functionality—there's nothing truly integrated at the OS level.
Enter Googlebooks. The pitch: Deliver Apple's seamless iPhone-to-Mac integration for Android, plus a heavy dose of Gemini enhancements. In other words, this is Android for PCs, though running a version called Googlebook OS. These laptops deliver full continuity from your Android device to your computer, letting you pick up where you left off on your phone in a desktop environment.
Picture a traditional computer desktop with access to Android apps, the Play Store, its own thoughtfully designed file explorer, and colorful desktop widgets. You can flip through and open your phone's apps on the fly and access its documents, downloads, and photos from your computer as if they were on a local drive. If you want to get work done on a larger screen while having immediate sign-in to all your apps, this is the solution for you. The design doesn't look too far removed from the Chrome desktop experience, but the functionality is much more robust.
On the topic of the Play Store, you can curate apps built and optimized for the desktop—and they natively run offline. Google states that there will be 20,000 games available with seamless crossplay between Android devices.
If you're an Android user and also deep in the Google productivity ecosystem (G Suite, Gmail, and so on), a Googlebook makes a lot of sense as your next laptop, even if you don’t feel compelled to run out and buy one immediately. iPhone users will likely continue to prefer MacBooks for integration, but even without your phone, a Googlebook is a full-fledged computer—as long as you can do all you need to do within the Android and Google worlds.
Of course, since this is a Google initiative, the other half of the equation is heavy Gemini integration. I'll run through the Android and Gemini offerings in a bit.
Do Googlebooks Have Minimum Specs?
Yes; it's a bit like how Google mandated certain specs with the launch of the Chromebook Plus initiative, to guarantee a certain experience and minimum level of performance. Googlebooks share some minimum specs and design elements, at least across this initial launch group. Each Googlebook includes the following:
An aluminum-magnesium alloy chassis
A touch screen
An RGB Glow Bar on the lid
A "G" shortcut key that launches Gemini tools
At least 16GB of memory (with up to 32GB supported)
The first five Googlebooks are demonstrably more premium than most Chromebooks, and they run on the latest Intel Core Ultra 3 and Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processors. Google states that the thin-and-light systems have batteries that can handle up to 45 hours of video playback and 16 hours of web browsing.
Will Googlebooks Co-Exist With Chromebooks?
Yes, at least for now. For one, Googlebooks occupy a pricier position above those popular, long-running early-education and student laptops. They are also aimed at a more demanding class of professionals and consumers expecting to get work and entertainment done, continue their workflow across devices, and generally have a more premium experience.
With ChromeOS and Chromebook updates slowing in recent years, there's been plenty of speculation about the platform's possible end. The Googlebooks introduction certainly adds fuel to that fire, and it's well-founded. However, Google's antitrust case is a reminder that the company committed to 10 years of Chromebook updates, which end in 2034.
It's possible that Googlebooks may supplant Chromebooks full-time by then, and it's possible those Chromebook updates continue without the release of much, if any, new hardware. At the launch event, Google similarly committed to 10 years of Googlebook updates. The company wants consumers to buy into the new platform, confident that Google will back it long-term.
If cheaper Googlebooks are on the way, they're not part of the launch group. Google mentioned MediaTek chips down the line, and there was pre-launch speculation about Intel's low-power "Wildcat Lake" Core processors being in the picture. I didn't get a clear answer regarding future Googlebooks offering the more premium launch processors, whether a minimum of 16GB of memory would be part of the platform identity in perpetuity, or whether we'll see cheaper alternatives in the future.
Lower-spec Googlebooks would somewhat conflict with the concept and appeal, and possibly gate off some features if weaker hardware can't handle them. However, if Chromebooks do end up getting phased out, budget users and young students will need somewhere to turn, and Google would rather it be a platform that works with Android phones. Will some Chromebook Plus systems that meet the minimum Googlebook specs gain access to the new features or to the Googlebook OS? Time will tell.
How Does Gemini Factor Into Googlebooks?
So now you have the Googlebook concept, but what can the new laptops do? The phone integration is a major part of the appeal, as is the Gemini-centric user experience. (In fact, a full year of Google AI Pro is included with a Googlebook purchase.)
One feature, Magic Pointer, puts Gemini at your virtual fingertips. With a quick mouse wiggle (or keyboard shortcut), a text-field prompt appears next to your cursor. You can type in virtually anything, including a question Gemini answers by scouring the web, or a task for the system to execute locally. It opens a separate window to complete your request and, if needed, a conversation field. The idea is to have access to Gemini at all times within the OS.
There are several ways to deploy Google's AI. One use case can save you from the manual work of inputting events on a calendar, for example. You can select a picture of, say, a workout schedule and have Gemini turn it into a set of timed events on your calendar. In a demonstration I saw, this opened a chat window and essentially asked the AI on your behalf.
You can also have Gemini analyze an email for a recap or ask if a particular email is legitimate or a phishing attempt. As always, I would caution against fully trusting its analysis, but in reality, users are already using AI for this and more. Google also showed off the quick insert feature, a "supercharged paste key" with smarter contextual suggestions and multimedia capabilities.
Another neat feature is Rambler, a voice-based execution tool. It's more than a voice-to-text or voice command feature: Rambler intelligently analyzes your words to get to the bottom of your request, even if you speak in a long or stream-of-consciousness style.
A live demonstration I saw featured a speaker delivering a long-winded command to create a recap email. She detoured off into various thoughts, made intentional errors, corrected them, and summarized some meeting notes and a to-do list without pause. (To throw in a curveball, she even switched from English to Spanish mid-sentence toward the end.) When she finished, Rambler turned her, well, ramble into a bulleted email recap with action items, all in English.
Another standout feature: widgets. These are nothing new in the Android space, a beloved hallmark of the mobile OS, but they play a significant role within Googlebook OS and adapt to your notebook's screen size. In the demonstrations, they had a big visual impact on the desktop, putting your most desired information front and center.
Building on that, one of the most interesting related features is the ability to use Gemini to create your own widgets. For example, you can ask for a widget featuring the schedules of your favorite sports teams, and the AI will set about cooking it up. It was difficult to tell how quickly this would work outside a demo environment; my colleague requested this widget, and Gemini was slow (on the event Wi-Fi) to retrieve the required information from the internet.
These are some of the ways in which Gemini and Googlebook OS can, in theory, enhance your computing and Android experience, but it's hardly conclusive at this stage. I don't want to oversell these features from a few demos I saw without more testing, and I'm not generally a "full speed ahead" AI advocate. I'll have to spend much more time with these systems when they become available.
Acer Googlebook 14
Asus Googlebook 14 (Intel Core Ultra 5 325, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD)
Dell XPS Googlebook (Snapdragon X Elite, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD)
HP Googlebook 14 (Snapdragon X Elite, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD)
Lenovo Googlebook 15 (Intel Core Ultra 5 325, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD)
Which Brands Will Make Googlebooks?
Expect five initial models, from five makers. The launch systems are the Acer Googlebook 14, the Asus Googlebook 14, the Dell XPS Googlebook, the HP Googlebook 14, and the Lenovo Googlebook 15. Beyond the shared features I detailed, they have distinctive design elements that set them apart.
Acer's machine is the only convertible in the bunch, a 2-in-1 device for people who like the option for tablet mode. It offers Intel Core Ultra 5 and 7 processors, features a glossy 14-inch 2.8K OLED display, and weighs 2.51 pounds. It starts at $899 from Best Buy.
The Asus Googlebook is a superlight laptop reminiscent of the company's pricey, slick ExpertBook Ultra. It weighs just 2.1 pounds but includes the same processor options as the others (with more connectivity options). Its matte OLED display significantly reduces glare compared with glossy screens, too. You can purchase it for $1,299.
Dell's offering adopts the XPS branding, but it takes after the company's Windows-based entry-level XPS 13 rather than the pricey Dell XPS 14 and XPS 16. The laptop includes a mechanical touchpad (the other Googlebooks have large, glass-like haptic touchpads), a 13-inch LCD, and just two USB Type-C ports. It weighs 2.2 pounds and runs on a Snapdragon processor. All of these factors point to a more affordable Googlebook option that may appeal to a wide swath of shoppers: Models will start at $999.
The HP Googlebook 14 also runs on Snapdragon, but it includes a 14-inch 2.8K OLED and weighs 2.74 pounds. It comes in a nice dark blue color, and its keys are flush rather than latticed. You can pick it up starting at $1,299.
Finally, Lenovo's Googlebook 15 is the workhorse of the group. This is a larger system with a 15.3-inch 2.8K OLED screen and Core Ultra 5 and 7 chips. It feels premium to the touch, with a soft UV coating over its white paint job, and it weighs 2.84 pounds. This Googlebook has a $1,099 starting price.
For more about the five initial Googlebooks, check out my colleague James Peckham's coverage of the launch.
When Do Googlebooks Go on Sale, and When Do They Ship?
The five Googlebooks are now on sale, and will be in stores and shipping by October 4. Check back soon as we receive units for extensive testing.
About Our Expert
I’ve been a consumer PC expert at PCMag for 10 years, and I love PC gaming. I've played games on my computer for as long as I can remember, which eventually (as it does for many) led me to build and upgrade my own desktops to this day. Through my years at PCMag, I've tested and reviewed many, many dozens of laptops and desktops, and I am always happy to recommend a PC for your needs and budget.
