Dell’s XPS Googlebook pairs the company’s recent XPS 13 design with Googlebook OS, a new platform that combines elements of Android and ChromeOS. The laptop offers attractive hardware, but a review after a week of testing found that the operating system’s limitations overshadow its strengths.
The XPS Googlebook costs $1,000 and uses the same core hardware as the $1,000 Windows 11 XPS 13: a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processor and 16GB of RAM. Its 2.2-pound metal chassis and 13.4-inch InfinityEdge display make it light and portable, while the keyboard and touchpad were also praised. The device has two USB-C ports on each side but lacks a headphone jack.
Dell has added a multicolored rear “Glowbar” that can indicate charging status and battery level. However, the feature was described as largely unnecessary rather than a meaningful advantage. The review’s broader assessment was that most of the laptop’s positive qualities come from Dell’s established hardware design, not from Googlebook OS.
Googlebook OS supports Android applications, can synchronize and mirror apps from an Android phone, and integrates Google’s Gemini AI throughout the interface. In practice, however, the review found its Android app support inconsistent. Slack was limited to a mobile-style interface, Evernote was unavailable through the Googlebook Play Store, and Audacity was not supported. Several other applications offered more laptop-oriented interfaces, but only for users whose workflows already included them.
Everyday tasks could also require workarounds. Resizing an image involved trying several applications before the reviewer found a suitable option, while audio editing had to be handled through a basic alternative or a web service. The Slack and Evernote websites ultimately proved more useful than their available or missing Android options.
The platform’s phone features were similarly considered less compelling than they initially appeared. Synchronizing an Android phone could create duplicate notifications when the same apps were installed on both devices, while app mirroring offered limited justification for choosing an entirely new laptop platform. The review also noted that Windows and Linux already support some comparable phone synchronization features.
Gemini is deeply integrated into Googlebook OS, allowing users to ask questions and work with media from the Gemini app or invoke the assistant while browsing or using other applications. The review found that Gemini answered some product-related questions adequately, but concluded that its presence alone was not a sufficient reason to purchase the laptop.
Googlebook OS also includes Rambler, an AI dictation tool that removes filler words and formats spoken text effectively. Its interface displays a moving purple waveform instead of transcribed text while the user speaks, which made it harder to follow or organize thoughts during dictation.
Battery performance further highlighted the platform’s lack of refinement. The laptop lasted 15 hours and 15 minutes in the PCMark Android app benchmark, but some applications consumed unusually large amounts of power during normal use. CapCut Pad reportedly used half the battery in one hour while running in the background, making it difficult to trust the laptop for a full day of work.
The review recommends choosing the $999 XPS 13 with Windows 11 instead. Dell’s hardware remains one of the strongest aspects of the product, but Googlebook OS was judged too limited and immature to justify its price. Although future app compatibility and AI updates could improve the platform, the assessment was that buyers should not pay today on the expectation that it will eventually become better.
Sources: Engadget.