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Googlebooks were originally introduced back in May during I/O, set to be the new age of Chromebooks more or less. These premium laptops run a fusion of both Android (for apps on the Play Store) and Chrome OS (web browsing), but with Gemini Intelligence. However, Google isn’t building any this time around, as the company enlisted Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, and Lenovo for hardware options.
Delving into more of its software, you get the power of Gemini Intelligence, which brings forth Rambler, the AI-assisted voice typing and Magic Cue, proactive suggestions, from the Pixel phones; the ability to create your own widget; and Magic Pointer, which is a mouse/trackpad-enabled Circle to Search. The Googlebooks also offers the ability to handoff files, apps, and more from your Android smartphone and vice versa, and access to the Google Play Store.
Regarding hardware, all five Googlebooks shared the same baseline specs, such as an Intel Core Ultra or Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chip, 16 GB of RAM, and 256 GB of SSD storage, including a touchscreen display, backlit keyboards, a fingerprint sensor, and the return of the RGB Glowbar from the time of the Chromebook Pixel, which glows at startup, animates when conversing with Gemini, and displays battery life. Speaking of which, Google quotes up to 14 hours of battery life. This will come in handy as Google claims the Googlebooks can handle gaming.
Now onto the five models, with each OEM offering a different selling point. There’s a lot to love about each Googlebook model. Starting with the most affordable model: the $900 Acer Googlebook 14. Its standout feature is that it can fold from a laptop to a tablet with its 2-in-1 convertible design. Acer offers a 14-inch 2.8K OLED touchscreen display with brightness up to 500 nits, crafted with an aluminum and magnesium build that weighs 2.7 lbs, and powered by an Intel Core Ultra 5 or 7 chip.
Next, the $1,200 Dell XPS Googlebook is the smallest of the bunch, with a 13.4-inch 2.5K touchscreen with up to 500 nits of brightness. This gives it an overall compact footprint for a low profile to take up less space when travelling. The Dell’s machined aluminum build weighs 2.2 lbs and includes face authentication with a fingerprint sensor and is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chip.
Then there’s the $1,300 Asus Googlebook 14, which is the most lightweight of the bunch, as it weighs in at a mere 2.2 lbs. Seriously, it almost feels like a dummy unit as light as it feels. It has a brilliant 14-inch 3K OLED touchscreen with up to 500 nits of brightness, a haptic touchpad, an aluminum and magnesium build, and is powered by an Intel Core Ultra 5 or 7 chip.
The $1,300 HP Googlebook 14 offers a little bit of everything, as it covers nearly all bases for portability and build. Its all-aluminum build weighs 2.7 lbs, has a 14-inch 2.8K OLED touchscreen with up to 500 nits of brightness, a haptic touchpad, and is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chip.
And lastly, the $1,300 Lenovo Googlebook 15 offers the biggest screen with a 15.3-inch 2.8K OLED touchscreen. It might be my favorite out of the five with its larger screen, overall build, and the rigid bottom rear reminiscent of the Pixelbook Go. The Lenovo laptop offers a magnesium-alloy and carbon fiber build, Dolby Atmos audio, a haptic touchpad, face authentication with a fingerprint sensor, and is powered by an Intel Core Ultra 5 chip
Every Googlebook purchase comes with 1 year of NVIDIA GeForce Now and 1 year of Google AI Premium, which includes higher Gemini usage, 5 TB of cloud storage, and access to Google Health Premium and Google Home Premium. Google claims its new laptops will get up to 10 years of automatic updates. Pre-orders kick off today, and goes on sale on October 4th.
