Google says its new line of Googlebooks are supposed to be the perfect laptop for the Android faithful. But having used one for two week, I'm struggling to see who should actually buy these -- at least, right now, at launch, with the software as it currently is.
The hardware I'm using, in the form of the Lenovo Googlebook 15, is fantastic. But the software experience has a real "first-gen" feel to it. Google has been working on the whole *laptop* thing for more than a decade and a half already. Yet some of the most fundamental issues with Googlebooks are remarkably similar to the ones faced by the first Chromebooks back in 2011. On top of that, the extra ecosystem, cross-device and AI tricks hyped by Google in recent months... need a bit more time in the oven.
That's potentially a big problem when these machines are selling for the same price as really decent competitors running MacOS or Windows.
So let's get stuck into my thoughts after a couple of weeks with this machine and this OS.
0:00 Intro
0:48 Setup & Googlebook OS basics
4:48 App gap?
7:55 Google ecosystem & AI
10:20 Cross-device connectivity
13:20 Bugs
13:43 Lenovo Googlebook 15 hardware
16:47 The verdict
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When you make a purchase using links in the description or comments, we may earn an affiliate commission. See more: https://www.xda-developers.com/page/terms-of-use/
The hardware I'm using, in the form of the Lenovo Googlebook 15, is fantastic. But the software experience has a real "first-gen" feel to it. Google has been working on the whole *laptop* thing for more than a decade and a half already. Yet some of the most fundamental issues with Googlebooks are remarkably similar to the ones faced by the first Chromebooks back in 2011. On top of that, the extra ecosystem, cross-device and AI tricks hyped by Google in recent months... need a bit more time in the oven.
That's potentially a big problem when these machines are selling for the same price as really decent competitors running MacOS or Windows.
So let's get stuck into my thoughts after a couple of weeks with this machine and this OS.
0:00 Intro
0:48 Setup & Googlebook OS basics
4:48 App gap?
7:55 Google ecosystem & AI
10:20 Cross-device connectivity
13:20 Bugs
13:43 Lenovo Googlebook 15 hardware
16:47 The verdict
Check out XDA on https://twitter.com/xdadevelopers https://www.facebook.com/xda.developers and https://www.instagram.com/xdasocial/
When you make a purchase using links in the description or comments, we may earn an affiliate commission. See more: https://www.xda-developers.com/page/terms-of-use/