Editor’s note: Lenovo has since confirmed the official starting price for the Lenovo Googlebook 15 at $1,099.99, down from the previously announced/listed $1,299 figure. The article has been updated to reflect Lenovo’s latest pricing. We covered the significant price change in a separate article.

The first batch of Googlebook laptops is officially taking shape, and Google’s new laptop platform is starting with a surprisingly broad lineup. Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, and Lenovo are bringing five different machines to the table, all built around Google’s new Googlebook software and Gemini-powered features.

Google announced the lineup on September 21, with preorders opening immediately. The laptops are scheduled to hit stores on October 4, giving buyers a few weeks to decide which version of Google’s new laptop experiment they want to live with.

And yes, these are very much premium laptops. Prices start at $899 and stretch to $1,299 depending on the model and configuration. That puts Googlebook directly into the territory occupied by plenty of Windows laptops and Apple’s MacBook Air, rather than the inexpensive Chromebook market Google has spent years building.

Five laptops, five very different personalities

The Acer Googlebook 14 is the entry point, starting at $899. It is also the only convertible 2-in-1 in the initial lineup, pairing a 14-inch OLED touchscreen with Intel Core Ultra Series 3 processors, 16GB of RAM, and up to 512GB of storage. Acer says it can deliver up to 16 hours of battery life, while the machine weighs about 2.5 pounds.

The 14-inch display runs at 2.8K resolution, and the laptop includes Thunderbolt 4 alongside two USB-C ports, a headphone jack, and a fingerprint sensor. Best Buy currently lists the 16GB/512GB configuration at $899, with an October 4 release date.

Then there is the ASUS Googlebook 14, which takes the lightweight approach. It weighs just 2.2 pounds and starts at $1,299. ASUS offers Intel Core Ultra 5 or Core Ultra 7 Series 3 processors, up to 32GB of RAM, and up to 512GB of storage. Its 14-inch 3K OLED touchscreen is joined by two USB-C ports, two USB-A ports, HDMI, and a headphone jack.

That port selection is actually pretty refreshing for a modern thin laptop. The Best Buy configuration currently listed at $1,299 comes with the Core Ultra 5 325, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage.

Dell’s entry is the XPS Googlebook, and it is probably the most immediately recognizable machine of the bunch. It borrows heavily from the XPS 13 design, but swaps in Google’s software and its distinctive Glowbar. The laptop has a 13.4-inch 2.5K touchscreen, Snapdragon X Elite silicon, 16GB or 32GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage.

At 2.2 pounds and just 12.7mm thick, it is also the thinnest of the five. The downside is familiar XPS territory: there are only two USB-C ports. Best Buy currently lists the 16GB/512GB model at $999, down from the $1,299 launch positioning Google initially highlighted for the lineup.

HP’s Googlebook 14 goes for a more traditional premium-laptop look, with a dark blue chassis and a 14-inch 2.8K OLED touchscreen. It uses Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite, offers 16GB or 32GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage, and is the only initial model with both face authentication and a fingerprint reader.

It starts at $1,299, while the currently listed Best Buy configuration has 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.

Finally, Lenovo is going big with the Googlebook 15. It has the largest display of the first generation: a 15.3-inch 2.8K OLED touchscreen with a 120Hz refresh rate. The initial configuration uses an Intel Core Ultra 5 Series 3 processor, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage.

Interestingly, Lenovo’s Googlebook 15 is currently listed at $1,099 at Best Buy, despite Google’s broader launch materials putting the model in the $1,299 starting-price class. It also claims up to 15 hours of battery life.

So the actual retail lineup currently looks like this:

The prices above reflect the configurations currently listed by Best Buy where available, rather than necessarily representing every configuration or Google’s broader starting-price claims.

This isn’t just ChromeOS with a new sticker

Google is positioning Googlebook as something considerably more ambitious than another Chromebook generation.

The company says Googlebook is built on the Android technology stack with desktop foundations from ChromeOS. That means Android phones are supposed to become a major part of the experience rather than simply being devices that happen to coexist with your laptop.

You can continue tasks from your phone, access phone files through the laptop’s Files app, and even cast Android apps into desktop windows. Google is also promising that saved passwords, Wi-Fi networks, settings, and messages can move over during setup.

And then, naturally, there is Gemini.

Googlebook’s headline AI feature is Magic Pointer. Wiggle the cursor and Gemini appears around whatever you’re currently working on. Google says you can use it to understand text, analyze images, schedule things, or work with multiple visual elements without constantly jumping between applications.

There is also Rambler, Google’s voice-to-text system for Googlebook. Rather than simply transcribing every “um,” “uh,” and half-finished thought, it is designed to turn a stream of consciousness into organized notes, action items, headings, and formatted text.

And if you really want to let the AI loose, Google is including Antigravity, its AI development platform, along with a Linux terminal environment. Google says developers can use tools such as Claude Code and Antigravity CLI directly on the laptop.

That’s a pretty substantial departure from the old Chromebook pitch.

Google is also throwing in a pile of extras

Every Googlebook includes 12 months of Google AI Pro, which brings 5TB of cloud storage and access to Google’s Gemini features. Buyers also get three-month trials for services including YouTube Premium and Adobe Photoshop, while Google says the package includes additional software perks.

The company is also promising up to 10 years of updates for Googlebook OS. That’s a notable commitment for a brand-new laptop platform, particularly when Google is asking buyers to spend up to $1,299 on the hardware.

Hardware is similarly ambitious. Google says the machines use materials including aluminum, magnesium alloy, and carbon fiber, with OLED touchscreens reaching resolutions up to 2.8K. There are haptic glass trackpads, backlit keyboards, and audio systems with as many as six speakers and Dolby Atmos support.

Then there’s the Glowbar.

Yes, the glowing laptop bar is real.

Google brought the Glowbar back as an interactive element on Googlebook. It lights up during startup, can indicate battery status, and can display animations when interacting with Gemini. Google is even opening the Glowbar to developers so they can create their own animations.

Because apparently the laptop needed a little personality.

The real test starts when people actually use them

On paper, Googlebook is an intriguing combination: premium laptop hardware, Android integration, desktop Chrome, Google Play apps, local AI capabilities, and Google’s Gemini ecosystem all wrapped into a new operating system.

But the first generation has a much bigger question to answer than whether the hardware looks good.

People are going to want to know whether Googlebook can actually replace the Windows or macOS machine they already use.

That matters particularly because Google isn’t pricing these as disposable secondary laptops. At $899 and above, buyers are being asked to treat Googlebook as a serious primary computer. Google itself is positioning the machines for developers, creators, productivity, entertainment, and everyday work rather than limiting them to the lightweight tasks traditionally associated with Chromebooks.

The first five Googlebooks arrive October 4, and that’s when the interesting part begins. Until then, Google has given us the pitch, the hardware, and a very enthusiastic collection of Gemini features.

Now it has to convince people to actually live in Googlebook.