Google’s new OS for notebook PCsGooglebook OS”. We are aiming for a PC experience different from previous Chromebooks, such as cooperation with Android apps and AI functions using Gemini.
One of the models equipped with it isLenovo（lenovo)of”Googlebook 15“is. This model has a 15.3-inch OLED display and is sold overseas starting at $1,150 (approximately 180,000 yen). just,Release in Japan has not been officially announced yet.So let’s wait for further news.
This laptop combines high-quality hardware with the new Googlebook OS. How is it actually usable? KYLE BARR from GIZMODO in the US reviews it.
No one wants to be a guinea pig in a large-scale experiment. Especially if you have to pay a high price for it. Buying a new Googlebook is like participating in some kind of expensive proof-of-concept experiment.
I hopeComfortable PC experience like a Mac with an emphasis on Android」Invest in new ecosystems to realizeIs it something like that? However, as of now, it is not yet complete.
The $1,150 Lenovo Googlebook 15 could have been a much better laptop if it had run a different OS. However, I do not intend to evaluate products based on assumptions such as “what if” or “what might happen in the future.” In fact, this laptop is somewhat difficult to use for anything beyond browsing or checking email.
The largest of the five Googlebooks released at launch, the beautiful 15.3-inch OLED display is perfect for enjoying videos and other content. Moreover, the casing is not thick and heavy.
However, what about other uses?
I think the same thing could be said about Chromebook, the predecessor of Googlebook. However, there are some parts of the new Googlebook that have evolved from the previous version.More Android apps now available nativelyThat is a big step forward.
If a huge number of Android apps can be used in a desktop environment, there is a good chance that Googlebook will increase its presence as a different option from Windows and Mac. On the other hand, there are some regressions, such as the handling of Linux apps that were available on traditional Chromebooks.
Above all, even though Android app support has progressed, there are still too many apps that are not optimized for large screens. Even apps provided by Google themselves.
Googlebook OS idea is interestingIt’s a thing. However, when you actually use it, you will find some functions that seem convenient but are not easy to use.Features that are not fully maturedYou can find many. A typical example of this is cooperation with Android smartphones, which is one of the featured features. It’s certainly convenient, but it comes with a condition that it can only be used at home.
Select the location for cooperation with Android smartphones
Google’sBetter Together“teeth,Use apps and files from your Android smartphone on the large screen of your laptopThis is a collaboration function that allows you to do this. However, there are some conditions to use it.
First of all, Android 17 is required on the smartphone side. According to a Google representative, similar functionality is also available on Samsung Galaxy equipped with Android 17 and One UI 9.0. Although we were not able to test this on all Android smartphones, basically devices running Android 17 are supported.
During the initial setup of Googlebook, you will also need to link it to your main Google account. Make sure both your phone and laptop are up to date, as well as Google Play services and cross-device services. Originally they should be installed automatically, but at the time of review, both had to be enabled manually.
Compared to iPhone mirroring installed in Apple’s Mac,Google’s integration function is a little complicatedis. For example, with iPhone mirroring, if you have an iPhone set up with the same Apple account nearby, you can control your smartphone screen from your Mac’s keyboard or trackpad.
Googlebook, on the other hand, requires both devices to be connected to the same Wi-Fi network, have Bluetooth enabled, and be paired as part of the same device family in settings. Google initially promised a seamless setup, but it turned out to be a pain.
According to Google, to use the integration feature, you need a Wi-Fi network that allows local communication using mDNS. mDNS is a mechanism for automatically discovering devices on the same local network.
This is a problem when you’re at home, but when you’re traveling.
I headed to San Francisco to attend Microsoft’s Surface Laptop Ultra launch event, but I had trouble pairing with the networks I used while traveling, such as airport and hotel Wi-Fi, and my smartphone’s hotspot connection. In the end, I returned to my home network, connected and updated all my devices, and was finally able to use the smartphone link.
Now, let’s take a look at the actual smartphone linkage functions.
What was especially convenient wasA function that allows you to directly reference and import files on your smartphone from Googlebook.is. If you’ve ever had trouble locating photos or PDFs on your phone (and I’m sure many of you have), you’ll understand how convenient it is to be able to locate files using your keyboard and mouse.
The Continue On function allows you toYou can open some apps you are working on on your smartphone from the Googlebook taskbar and take over your work.. For example, if you are writing an email in Gmail or editing a Google Doc and decide that it would be better to work on a PC, you can just migrate. This also worked fine in most cases. However, although I was able to easily open documents, it was a bit unstable with success and failure when opening emails and calendars.
You can also cast apps on your smartphone to Googlebook by selecting the app from the smartphone icon on the taskbar. Although this is convenient,Apps that are not designed for large screens may be difficult to use.there is.
And this problem is not limited to cooperation with smartphones. Android apps used directly on Googlebook also have the issue of optimizing them for the desktop environment.
Looking forward to future improvements in Android app usage
The Google Play Store categorizes apps by how well they run on the desktop.
Adobe Photoshop, Netflix, various Google Workspace apps, etc. are fully compatible with Googlebook. on the other hand,Even if it is made for desktop, the operation remains clumsy.or,Something designed only for smartphonesThere is also.
For example, Slack is currently quite difficult to use. It was essentially a horizontally stretched version of the mobile app, and I had to click through multiple tabs just to see the threads I normally go back and forth. Using a touchscreen doesn’t make it any faster.
There are other apps with similar issues. On Bandsintown, which tracks live event information, band icons were displayed abnormally large, and on Instagram there was too much screen space.
Many apps are designed with touch in mind, and can even feel more difficult to use on a laptop screen than on an Android tablet. There is a good chance that this will improve in the future if developers take action. However, it will likely be quite some time before the huge number of Android apps can be used naturally on a 16:10 display.
The 15.3-inch OLED display is beautiful
With the launch of Googlebook,Each manufacturer has different characteristicsI launched.
Acer emphasized its low price, but Lenovo’s strength was its 15.3-inch2.8K（2,880×1,800）OLED displayis.
In fact, this display is beautiful, bright, and doesn’t have too many reflections.Refresh rate up to 120HzIt is clearly superior to the displays that have been included in many Chromebooks. We’ll talk about games later.
Google aims to make the new Googlebook a premium product. Lenovo responded to this demand by using magnesium and aluminum for the top plate and keyboard side housing. It has a silky smooth finish and feels good in your hand.
However, most of the bottom is made of resin, and the overall texture feels inconsistent. However, the construction is very sturdy. Despite the wide housing, the keyboard surface hardly flexes.
Weight is 1.29kg. Although it’s a little heavier than other Googlebooks, it’s lightweight for a 15-inch class laptop, and it’s not difficult to carry in a bag.
There are also plenty of ports.
One Thunderbolt 4 compatible USB-C port on each sideIt supports high-speed data transfer and power supply. This is a feature that Dell and HP Googlebooks equipped with Snapdragon X Elite do not have. There’s also USB-A, HDMI 2.1, and a headphone jack.
But the biggest problem for me was, ironically, its beautiful display.
During the review period, I took this laptop on a business trip to San Francisco, and between taking it out of the box and setting it up at the hotel, the touchscreen started experiencing ghost input. Even though I hardly used any touch operations, a phenomenon occurred where operations were performed even when I was not touching the screen, and cleaning the screen did not solve the problem.
In the end, this problem continued throughout the trip. Of course, there is a possibility that this is a problem unique to the review machine. However, this is also one of the reasons why I prefer laptops without touch screens.
Keyboard and trackpad are okay
When you suddenly manage to work for a few minutes without windows opening by themselves.The typing experience itself isn’t bad.It was.
The fully backlit keyboard is bright and comfortable, even while writing this review on a plane. however,Key stroke is shallow at 1.3mmis. The keys lacked presence, and I wasn’t able to type as rhythmically as I expected.
Large haptic trackpadThere are also some concerns.
At 150mm wide, the control range is quite wide, but the haptic feedback is a bit too strong for my liking. It feels like it’s bouncing rather than clicking. With a trackpad this big, palm rejection is also important to prevent incorrect input when your palm touches it. However, in reality, sometimes the judgment fails,Unintentional clicks occurI did.
In addition to the special keys carried over from Chromebook Plus, Googlebook also has new dedicated keys.
「G」key(dedicated key with Google logo font) opens the Android-like app drawer by default,Customizable shortcutsYou can also call
The Caps Lock key is “quick insert”. If you call it up in the text input field, you can enter emojis, check the clipboard, translate, prompt Gemini, etc.
Furthermore, the F14 key has “Rambler」functionis assigned. We’ll talk more about this later, but some of these shortcuts are useful, and they don’t really interfere with normal laptop operation.
Another unique element is “Glowbar” is calledLED lightis. This is included in all Googlebook models and shows a rough idea of how much battery power is left while charging. However, it may glow green even at 60%, so it is not possible to accurately determine the remaining amount. When waking up or shutting down, it also lights up in a rainbow of Google colors.
There are many AI functions. But OS improvement is necessary
While I was having a hard time connecting to my Android smartphone and was resisting the urge to turn on my phone,I encountered various problems with Googlebook OS.I did.
Windows flicker, apps suddenly crash, Chrome pages don’t display properly, apps fail to load. It’s not an insurmountable problem, but it’s not a negligible problem either.
Although it has just been released, the OS is still not fully developed. On the other hand, some features work well from the start. One of them is Rambler.
Rambler isVoice input feature built into GooglebookWhen converting what you say into text, it automatically eliminates the hesitations such as “ah” and “umm”.
As far as I’ve tried, this isIt was very well done. Because of my job as a writer, I am very careful about how I compose my sentences, so I still need to edit the sentences I convert using Rambler. However, it wasn’t a pain to fix it.
The problem is with other AI functions.
for example,Ability to create your own desktop widgets using AIThere is. Google still offers it as a beta version, but from what I’ve triedQuestionable practicalityremains.
First, I tried to create a news feed that displays GIZMODO articles by category. However, the AI told me that it was not possible to create a function like RSS, and instead only displayed a link to GIZMODO. Next, I tried to create a widget to find nearby taco restaurants, but this also failed because it couldn’t connect to Google Maps.
Even something as simple as a weather widget has limited practicality. If you click on it, you will be redirected to the Google search page instead of the pre-installed weather app.
Apparently, this feature relies on Google search results. Even when I tried to display the latest NBA New York Knicks game, all I could see was the score and date, and I couldn’t see any highlights of the game. Many users will try a new feature a few times, find it useless, and then never use it again.
Gemini linked mouse cursoris “Magic Pointer” has a similar problem. This is Google’sSearch in parentheses」Features similar toyou can select text or images on the screen and ask Gemini questions about it or tell it what to do with it.
I selected the announcement for an upcoming concert and tried to add it to my calendar. Well, it’s a simple task. However, Gemini didn’t do it for me on the first try. Furthermore, even if I selected the “Add to Calendar” option that was displayed as a suggestion, the date was on the wrong day. In the end, I ended up correcting the date myself.As a result, it was just a waste of extra time…。
Of course, sometimes it works.
When I selected a product on the GIZMODO review page and asked Gemini for the price, it immediately identified the product and provided multiple links to where to purchase it. I see. They seem to be good at finding links to Amazon and Best Buy. Well, there are more than enough things out there that will encourage you to buy something.
When I tried it at another time, I was able to successfully add the email as a reminder the first time. However, the lack of consistency in functionality is quite frustrating. If you have to keep looking after an AI to complete simple tasks, you’ll eventually find it faster to operate it yourself.
GoogleWhile AI functions are packed into every nook and cranny of the new OS, things that can be done naturally on a normal PC seem to be left on the back burner.。
For example, Googlebook doesn’t even allow you to use multiple accounts in Chrome. Despite being a laptop that costs over $1,000,When it comes to usability of the Chrome browser, Windows and Mac are better.It is.
The performance is sufficient, but the current usage may be limited.
What do you do with a Googlebook? it isprobably workI think so. At least for now, you can’t natively install Steam to play heavy-duty PC games.
Available are:Basically an Android appis. Most of them are developed based on relatively low power consumption chips for smartphones, rather than Intel Panther Lake processors for PCs.
However, there was one thing that made me feel relieved. Made for ARM-based processorsThere were no problems when running an Android app on a Googlebook that uses x86 architecture.That’s it. At least as far as I’ve tried it. In general, ARM and x86 employ different instruction sets, but I was able to successfully run many Android apps on my Googlebook.
However, it is a little difficult to evaluate the processing performance of this notebook PC. You can do basic photo editing with the Photoshop app and create simple videos for social media with CapCut. However, full-fledged desktop apps like Blender and DaVinci Resolve are not available.
In other words, its main purpose is to run the browser and compatible Android apps comfortably. In the Geekbench 6 CPU benchmark,Powered by Intel Core Ultra 5 325The Lenovo Googlebook 15 showed about 17% higher performance than the Dell XPS 13, a lower-end Core 5 320-equipped Windows PC.
Both have the same amount of RAM, but even after the price increase, the Dell XPS 13 is still $150 cheaper. Also, compared to the $700 MacBook Neo (starting at 119,800 yen including tax in Japan), the Lenovo Googlebook 15’s CPU performance was about 13% higher.
On the other hand, Intel’s processors have better GPU performance than many laptops under $1,000. It’s much more powerful than the processors found in previous generation Chromebooks. Also, since the Lenovo Googlebook 15 is larger, there is room for it to operate with higher power consumption.
In fact, it scored about 14% higher than the Acer Googlebook 14 in 3DMark’s “Steel Nomad Lite” test, and about 19% higher in 3Dmark’s “Solar Bay” test, which measures ray tracing performance. Considering that the Acer Googlebook 14 is also equipped with the same Core Ultra 5 325, Lenovo’sLarger housing has performance advantages。
This GPU performance may be the reason you pay more than something like the XPS 13. However, the problem here again is the software.Despite the great GPU performance, I can hardly find any apps that can take advantage of it.It is. There is no Blender that supports both x86 and Android.
As for games, our focus at the moment is on native apps for mobile. Some games, like TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge, work fine with a keyboard and mouse. However, for games that do not support 2,880 x 1,800 resolution or 16:10 screen ratio, you may need to manually assign touch operations to the keyboard.
This is a feature carried over from the Chromebook Plus. It seems that Google also envisions that it will be used for streaming games and content, just like traditional Chromebooks.
NVIDIA isGooglebook native version cloud gaming service「GeForce Now」announced that it would developDetails will be revealed later this year. With GeForce Now, game processing is performed on the cloud side and the video can be streamed and played, so you can enjoy games without depending on the GPU performance of the laptop itself.
Certainly, the OLED touchscreen and haptic trackpad are factors that drive up the price. However, if you just want a notebook PC that can perform daily tasks comfortably, there are products that are cheaper, have similar performance, and are free from the difficulty of use peculiar to Googlebook OS.
I look forward to the future of Googlebook. But not now
One last thing I noticed about Lenovo Googlebook 15.battery run timeis. Usually, it can be used for almost a day, and the operating time is not extremely short.
However, sometimes even in battery save mode it would consume a lot of power, to the point where I felt anxious about going out without a power adapter. One day, I opened my laptop andAfter about 4 hours of just writing, the battery level was 40%.It has become. I think this can be used for almost a day, but I wish it could be used for a little longer.
Windows 11 consumes a lot of memory, and the processing load can shorten battery life. However, it is difficult to say that Googlebook’s battery consumption is stable.What I wanted was a power mode that could more precisely reduce power consumption.is. Unfortunately, the new Googlebook OS doesn’t offer such a setting.
Chromebooks once had a clear role. Less than $500 (approximately 80,000 yen)low price notebook pcAs a product, you can easily use Google Workspace, a web browser, video streaming, etc. But the $1,150 Lenovo Googlebook 15 is a product that’s a little confusing as to where it’s going.
While there is no power mode toggle available on a typical PC, the quick settings menu still has an “auto-rotate” toggle, which is hardly necessary on a notebook PC of this size.
In some cases, things that could be done with a traditional Chromebook cannot be done with a Googlebook.
On a Chromebook, I was able to install Linux apps from the “Linux Development Environment” settings and use them from the taskbar. However, Googlebook does not have this feature. Currently, Linux applications can be accessed via the Debian terminal running in a virtual machine environment, but operations are primarily done through the command line.
It’s clear that Google is focusing on Android apps first. However, the biggest challenge for Googlebook will be evolving the mobile app into a comfortable desktop app.
Now let me say something that might be a little controversial. Many people who purchase a laptop do not use most of the product’s advanced features.
Chromebooks gained a certain level of popularity because some users were satisfied with the ability to use Google Workspace, a browser, and stream content. You can also use Googlebook in a similar way. What’s more, the Lenovo Googlebook 15 has a sturdy case and a beautiful OLED display.
However, purchasing this product now meansRather than buying a complete Google native PC experience, it’s more like looking forward to its future potential.It is.
Google and Lenovo probably want users to use their products for a long time. That’s why it comes with a one-year membership to Google One and GeForce Now. However, even though it has so much memory and processing performance, it is still questionable that the apps and functions that can be used are limited.
The answer may lie in the promise of more apps and features in the future. Google has stated that it will continue developing Googlebook OS. That’s why I want to keep an eye on this platform.
So, is Lenovo Googlebook 15 a product you should buy now? If you really want the ability to transfer apps and tasks between your Pixel phone and laptop, there may be a reason to choose it. But for others, the decision to buy now is lacking.
Lenovo’s hardware is excellent, and I have high hopes for the direction Googlebook OS is heading.. However, it is still far from a complete experience. If you buy a Googlebook now, you’re not only getting the current features, but also the expectation that it will get better in the future.
If you can look forward to that future, it may not be a bad choice. However, if you want a comfortable notebook PC right away, it seems better to wait a little longer.
