I tested the Lenovo Googlebook 15 — here’s why it’s my favorite

As a lab tester at Tom’s Guide, I get to benchmark the best laptops. From best Chromebooks and Windows laptops to the best MacBooks and best Android tablets, I’ve tested it all. But I don’t get a new operating system and platform to try very often. That’s why I was very excited to get my hands on the new Googlebooks, especially the Lenovo Googlebook 15.

After spending several days with the Lenovo Googlebook 15, I think Google is really onto something. This 15.3-inch OLED laptop combines a gorgeous display, great performance for Android apps, a fresher take on phone integrations, and genuinely useful AI features.

It's not perfect, though. Battery life is a little underwhelming, and the underlying Googlebook OS still has some early bugs and compatibility issues to work out. But as the largest Googlebook, the Lenovo Googlebook 15 is an excellent showcase for this new laptop platform.

Lenovo Googlebook 15 review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? The Lenovo Googlebook 15 is Lenovo’s newest laptop powered by Googlebook OS. Naming aside, it is effectively an Android laptop with cool UI layers and fancy AI features on top of the OS—all optimized for keyboard and mouse.
• Who is it for? Those in the Android ecosystem, or who prefer a Google-powered laptop over Windows or macOS. Also ChromeOS users who want a more premium device.
• What does it cost? It starts at $1,150 from Lenovo, or $1,099 from Best Buy.
• What do we like? The Lenovo Googlebook 15 has a sleek design, beautiful OLED screen, great everyday performance, tons of useful AI features, and great synergy with Android phones.
• What don’t we like? The Lenovo Googlebook 15 doesn’t have the best battery life, has minor bugs in Googlebook OS, and needs an Android 17 phone for the best experience.

Lenovo Googlebook 15 review: Specs

Lenovo Googlebook 15 review: The ups

The Lenovo Googlebook 15 has a lot going for it, including a large 15.3-inch OLED display, a sleek design, strong performance, and useful AI features

Sleek design

Some laptops can be boring, but the Lenovo Googlebook 15 sure isn’t. Lenovo calls this Googlebook color “Cloud Grey,” and it is striking. The colorway isn’t new to Lenovo (it appears on their Legion gaming laptops), but I love it. In a sea of black and gray laptops, it sure stands out.

The laptop is made from a magnesium-aluminum alloy and a carbon fiber blend. Sliding my hands over the lid, I find it has a soft yet marble-like feel (which Lenovo calls a silk-touch coating). Opening and closing the lid every day is a pleasure.

The keyboard deck is flanked by four Dolby Atmos speakers, similar to the MacBook Pro. The underside features a toned-down version of the Google Pixelbook Go’s textured, ribbed, and wavy finish. I am used to the flat aluminum of a MacBook Pro, so this really makes the laptop feel different when it is resting on my lap or when I’m holding it while it’s closed.

Portability is also a plus. While 2.8 pounds might seem heavy for a laptop, I didn’t find this system too much of a burden to carry to and from work. The profile is sleek, measuring about 0.63 inches thick.

A design note unique to Googlebooks systems is the small “Glow Bar” at the top of the device. This is a little bit reminiscent of the glowing white Apple logo on older MacBooks. It’s partially for brand identity, but it isn’t just for show, as it has several purposes.

Power on the Googlebook, and you’ll see a nice RGB glow on the Glowbar. Plug your Googlebook in and out of power, and the Glowbar will display your battery percentage. Finally, use Gemini, and the colors will move with the responses. You can turn it off, but I haven't found much reason to. It’s a nice way to show those around me that I’m using a new and cool Googlebook.

The final aspect I love is the keyboard and trackpad. The keyboard includes special Googlebook OS icons (like Home, Overview, and Back) and shares the same silk texture as the lid. This makes it easy to type. The trackpad has haptic feedback, which makes this MacBook user feel right at home.

Glorious OLED touchscreen

Lenovo packed a 15.3-inch OLED screen into this Googlebook, and it's glorious. OLED isn't unique to the Lenovo Googlebook 15, but its 15.3-inch panel is the largest in the Googlebook lineup (so far), and that extra screen real estate makes a difference in productivity and overall immersion.

I tested this OLED panel while watching several nighttime tours of New York City. The panel delivers deep, inky blacks across the darkened buildings, while the city lights pop with vibrant color and shimmer. An overhead shot of the Freedom Tower and Hudson River was particularly impressive, with reflections of the city lights in the river looking remarkably realistic.

My spreadsheets looked great on the Lenovo Googlebook 15 display. Normally, my eyes hurt after looking at spreadsheets all day on my MacBook Pro’s MiniLED display, but on the Googlebook, the text is crisp and easy to read, with strong contrast between dark and light elements. The extra screen space also lets me stack apps side by side and multitask without plugging into a monitor.

Our lab numbers and comparisons with similarly priced laptops back my experience. This system’s 451.8-nit SDR brightness is nearly identical to the MacBook Air M5 (454.8 nits) and the Galaxy Book 6 Pro (457 nits), while its 1,009-nit HDR peak trails only the Galaxy Book 6 Pro (1,053 nits), showing how well this laptop handles streaming movies and TV shows.

Its 112.8% sRGB and 79.9% DCI-P3 results fall slightly behind those of other laptops, but its 0.21 Delta-E indicates excellent color accuracy. The Lenovo Googlebook 15 is definitely competitive with other premium 15-inch laptops, at least for the display.

Decent performance

Under the hood, the Lenovo Googlebook 15 runs on the Intel Core Ultra 5 325 processor and has 16GB of RAM. As part of Intel’s “Panther Lake” line, this chip is the same one found in many mid-range Windows laptops. My Tom's Guide colleague, Tony Polanco, has a full benchmark roundup if you’re curious how these Googlebooks stack up.

I mainly used the Lenovo Googlebook 15 to browse shared copies of work spreadsheets, check my social media feeds in Chrome, and use the Android versions of Firefox, Telegram, and Instagram. For those tasks, this Googlebook is great. I even did something I never could on my MacBook with an iPhone app— I pulled up the Verizon Fios Mobile TV Android app and watched Live TV right from my laptop.

The Lenovo Googlebook 15 makes a great everyday companion to your phone for productivity. Since many apps on Googlebook OS run on Android, it might even replace your phone when it’s not nearby.

While writing this review with about eight Chrome tabs open and those Android apps running, I experienced no lag. Playing a light Android game like Block Blast posed no issues, and the touchscreen made gaming snappier. When I stepped things up with Asphalt Legends, the game performed well in intense races, and I never experienced a lockup, even with Chrome and other apps open in the background.

Based on our lab's benchmarks, you can see why the Lenovo Googlebook 15 is geared toward everyday productivity. It trails the more powerful MacBook Air and Galaxy Book 6 Pro in raw processing and graphics. In Geekbench 6, the 2,463 single-core and 9,956 multi-core scores beat those of Lenovo’s older flagship Chromebook Plus 14 with a MediaTek chip.

Its 4,421 Wild Life Extreme score and 26.52 fps beat the Chromebook Plus 14 but came in well behind the MacBook Air and Galaxy Book 6 Pro. It has enough power for everyday office work and Android apps, but it won't replace a gaming laptop.

Useful AI features

I was never a fan of AI in laptops, but the Lenovo Googlebook 15’s features show how a tech company can do AI right. The AI features I want, including “Magic Pointer” and “Rambler,” are there, but only when I need them.

Magic Pointer is my favorite experience. For instance, when I looked up laptops for this review, I clicked the status bar to enable the feature, then clicked the laptop name, and a small box popped up with my query, which eventually directed me to the Google Gemini app to find more information quickly.

The feature can also be enabled with a cursor shake, but I turned it off to avoid accidental triggers (which happened more than once). It also supports object detection and can detect and look up photos of objects with Gemini for feedback with a quick click.

Rambler, on the other hand, turns into a natural voice to clean up text. To test it out, I opened a message draft to a friend and triggered the feature using my keyboard’s dictation button. To really push its limits, I intentionally messed up what I wanted to dictate: I misstated my friend's home state before correcting myself mid-sentence, accidentally said the wrong month for a planned visit, and rambled through an awkward explanation about canceling a trip to Seattle because of budget constraints and flight issues. Despite the messy input, Rambler instantly filtered out what was wrong and made a clean, well-crafted message.

The Files app and Gemini Notebook also integrate seamlessly. You can add files and choose “Add to Notebook,” making it easier to use the assistant to build complex projects. Files AI also includes a switch that lets you see auto-generated descriptions of Files in the Description column, making them easier to find.

Much to my delight, some of these features are optional and can be turned off. Magic Pointer has an off switch in the settings app, and you can turn off Rambler by switching back to classic voice typing in settings. The Files AI feature in the Files app is optional and can be turned off, too. You can choose not to connect Gemini with Personal Intelligence right out of the box when setting up Googlebook.

Android synergy

Using the Lenovo Googlebook 15 made me want to switch back to Android. That’s largely because of many cool new “Better Together” Android integrations built into Googlebook OS.

While getting the most out of Android phone features on this laptop requires an Android 17 phone, the experience is now more upfront than it was on ChromeOS. It is a little more like what you get when you own a macOS laptop and iPhone. Google has even added desktop widgets and the ability to create folders on the desktop — two things you could never do on a Chromebook.

Setting up this Lenovo Googlebook was easy. I simply scanned a QR code, signed in with my Google account, and the laptop instantly started copying and syncing the content from my Pixel 9 Pro XL Android phone.

Once the two devices were linked, I had all the Android apps I needed right in the launcher. I could continue reading the webpages I started on my phone on the Lenovo Googlebook, cast full-sized, resizable Android apps from my phone to the Googlebook, and transfer files back and forth directly from the Files app using the dedicated section for my Pixel.

This all feels seamless. Unlike on a Chromebook, apps streaming from my Android phone were fully resizable and draggable. Previously, apps streaming through Phone Hub were fixed to a hub at the bottom of the screen.

It’s not entirely new compared with what you’d get on a Chromebook, but this revamped Android phone integration in Googlebook OS is the kind of thing Apple offers with iPhones and macOS. It makes the Lenovo Googlebook 15 a great buy for Android users or Google Pixel fans.

Lenovo Googlebook 15: The downs

While the Lenovo Googlebook 15 has many strengths, it also has notable flaws.

Dependent on Android

As much as I love Android synergy, if you’re planning to use the Lenovo Googlebook 15 with your Android phone, you should ideally run Android 17. Without it, you’ll miss out on “Better Together” features such as “Continue On,” App Streaming, Instant Hotspot, Notification Sync, and Cross-Device File Syncing.

While Google offered to provide us with test phones to ensure the best experience, I had my personal Pixel 9 Pro XL, so that wasn’t an issue. Google also said it’s working with Samsung to roll out compatibility to more phones soon.

Curious about cross-platform features, I also paired the Lenovo Googlebook 15 with my iPhone 17. When I connected the Googlebook via cable and used the out-of-the-box Googlebook OS experience, I was offered the option to copy content from my iPhone, such as my contacts, to the Googlebook. The Googlebook also recognized the apps on my Apple phone, but I had to download them from the Play Store after setup.

I also downloaded the “Link to Googlebook” app on my iPhone. With it, I could see the iMessages from my iPhone on the Lenovo Googlebook 15 — though only the most recent conversations I started on the Googlebook itself appeared in the list. However, messages were sometimes out of sync.

Naturally, all the other “Better Together” features are missing when using Googlebook on the iPhone. This functionality is similar to the Link to Windows app on Windows 11, so it’s nice to see Google thinking about folks outside its own garden.

Disappointing battery life

Huge 15-inch OLED panels, like the one in this laptop, are power-hungry, which is why the Lenovo Googlebook 15 managed only 10 hours and 25 minutes in our Chromebook battery test. Google claims these devices can last up to 16 hours of web browsing, but we didn’t come close because our testing methods differ.

Our battery test is much more demanding than Google’s because it involves browsing at 150 nits across 30 webpages until the device powers down. In my personal tests, I came close to our lab's results.

When running the Lenovo Googlebook 15 through a typical workday starting at 9:30 AM with a full charge, the battery dropped to 43% by 2:30 PM with the screen set to a comfortable 79% brightness. That mixed usage included heavy web browsing, cycling the laptop in and out of sleep, playing Android games, running Android apps, replying to iMessages via Link to Googlebook, and streaming apps from my Pixel.

While I still had about 25% juice left by the time I got home, it's nowhere close to the all-day endurance I get from a MacBook Pro.

Googlebook OS bugs

Overall, the hardware powering the Googlebook experience is great, but the underlying operating system has early bugs that need ironing out. Several software issues make this laptop slightly frustrating to use.

While streaming apps from my Pixel 9 Pro XL to my Googlebook is neat, they sometimes don’t scale properly or crash. Other apps also struggle with the keyboard and mouse, lagging despite a solid Wi-Fi connection and close Bluetooth range. I experienced this most when streaming the Instagram app from my Pixel, but I am hopeful Google can fix this over time.

Downloading apps and games from the Google Play Store needs a close eye. A fresh new badging system will let you know if the app is “optimized for desktop,” “made for desktop,” “compatible with desktop,” “better on the website,” or “built for mobile.” Some top Android games, Call of Duty: Mobile, PUBG Mobile, and Fortnite, weren't available on my Lenovo Googlebook 15, probably due to their anti-cheat features.

Microsoft Edge, one of my must-have Android apps, has a desktop compatibility badge on the Google Play Store. Although the app downloaded, it refused to work. This is likely because the developer has not yet optimized it for this Intel-powered Lenovo Googlebook. My colleague from Tom’s Hardware was able to open the Microsoft Edge app just fine on his Qualcomm-powered HP Googlebook.

Finally, I couldn't log in to my company's corporate Google account and services on the Lenovo Googlebook 15. Instead, I shared the spreadsheets and documents I usually edit to my personal Google account to gain experience with the Googlebook. That’s likely an IT policy issue, not a hardware problem. Definitely keep this in mind if buying this for work.

Lenovo Googlebook 15 review: Verdict

The Lenovo Googlebook 15 is one of the most interesting laptops I’ve tested in a while. The gorgeous 15.3-inch OLED display, sleek design, and solid everyday performance make it a great laptop. It’s a strong showcase for the potential of Googlebooks.

However, the real standout is the software. Google’s Android integration makes this laptop feel like the MacBook and iPhone experience Android fans — and ex-ones like me — have been waiting for. Useful AI features like Magic Pointer and Rambler feel practical, not gimmicky.

Unfortunately, battery life is a weakness, and some early Googlebook OS bugs and compatibility issues remain. If you’re a Chromebook, Android, or Pixel user looking for a premium laptop, the Lenovo Googlebook 15 is an easy recommendation.

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