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Dell XPS Googlebook Review: Beautiful Hardware For A Useless Platform
Engadget's review finds Dell's XPS Googlebook has beautiful hardware but a half-baked Googlebook OS.
Key points
- Engadget's reviewer rated the Dell XPS Googlebook 6.5 out of 10.
- The laptop has the same Snapdragon X Elite chip and 16GB of RAM as the $1,000 Windows 11 XPS 13.
- The review says the laptop has only two USB-C ports and no headphone jack.
Why it matters. Buyers weighing a Googlebook may face a platform with few compatible Android apps, according to the review, even though the hardware itself is well built.
Engadget's Devindra Hardawar rated Dell's $1,000 XPS Googlebook 6.5 out of 10 after a week of testing. It uses the same Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chip and 16GB of RAM as the Windows 11 XPS 13, and weighs 2.2 pounds. Hardawar called Googlebook OS half-baked, citing few compatible Android apps and a phone sync feature he found useless.
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Dell XPS Googlebook Review: Beautiful Hardware For A Useless Platform
Googlebook OS still needs a ton of work. Devindra Hardawar for Engadget RATING : 6.5 / 10 Pros Beautiful XPS design Lightweight Solid screen Great keyboard Excellent Rambler AI dictation Cons Googlebook OS is half-baked Not many compatible Android apps Using mobile Android apps stinks Phone sync is useless Only for Gemini AI enthusiasts I can think of a few reasons to buy a Googlebook , but they're all pretty dystopian. Maybe every other computing platform has succumbed to a super AI-powered virus, leaving a Googlebook as your only option. Or perhaps Google has taken over the world and has started hunting down people who use Windows, Linux or macOS. In a world where a Googlebook is your only option, then the $1,000 Dell XPS Googlebook is probably the one to get. But in the real world, where you can get the exact same XPS hardware running on more flexible platforms with better developer support, the XPS Googlebook seems practically pointless. But let's back up a bit and talk about Googlebook OS, Google's new laptop platform that's a combination of both Android and ChromeOS. It supports Android apps natively, it can synchronize and mirror apps from your Android phone, and it has Google's Gemini AI integrated throughout its interface. Technically, Googlebook OS should be an upgrade from ChromeOS, a platform built entirely around Google's web browser. But, after testing this laptop.