After a week of testing Googlebooks computers from Asus and HP, the idea appears clearer than the execution: both devices rely on Android to offer a laptop experience connected to the phone, but this integration is not yet stable enough. Writer Dominic Preston believes Android is the reason Googlebooks is appealing, and may also be the main reason for its failure if its problems are not addressed.
Quick setup and unstable connectivity
The setup allows users to transfer all phone apps or select some of them, along with signing in to a Google account, setting up biometric sign-ins, and linking the phone to the computer. But the connection between the two devices becomes more complicated after setup is complete, as the test required enabling connected-device settings on both sides, restarting several times, using the same Wi-Fi network, and keeping Bluetooth enabled.
Moving to a new Wi-Fi network also broke the connection, while the two devices differed in their ability to recognize phones. The Asus device connected to an Oppo phone more reliably but ignored other phones, whereas the HP device switched between the Oppo and Vivo X Fold 6 and recognized the Pixel 11 Pro Fold only once during the week-long test.
Native apps: clear benefits and incomplete compatibility
Native apps provide some important advantages, such as downloading episodes from HBO Max and Netflix for offline viewing, which could make a Googlebook an alternative to an Android tablet for some uses. But a large number of apps do not offer genuine desktop interfaces. The mobile version of Slack appears impractical on a computer screen, while Adobe apps running on Android lack the capabilities of their desktop counterparts.
Even apps classified as desktop-optimized may simply stretch the interface and add limited mouse and keyboard support. The test indicates that the Made for desktop label is more informative, but it appears on only a small number of apps. Chrome also lacks features available on other platforms, including profile switching, opening tabs in split view, and creating shortcuts for search engines.
Despite claims that the full Play Store library would be available, Bluesky and the Okta tool for authorizing sign-ins could not be installed on either the Asus or HP devices, including the HP model powered by an Arm processor.
Accessing phone apps and sharing files
The app-streaming system allows users to run and control phone apps from the computer instead of mirroring the phone's entire interface. This function appears useful for short tasks, such as sending a message through WhatsApp or updating a transaction in Splitwise, particularly when the user does not want to install the app on the computer.
But it does not support copying and pasting between native and streamed apps, nor does it allow access to the Googlebook file system during streaming. Some secure apps, such as banking apps and authorization tools, also fail to work, while problems appeared when displaying Bluesky, and some streaming sessions caused errors when returning to use the app on the phone.
File transfers through the file manager were, according to the test, almost unusable: loading the phone's storage took minutes, and opening or transferring a 5-megabyte image took a long time. By contrast, Quick Share transferred the same files within seconds.
Why does this assessment matter?
The experience shows that Googlebooks' success does not depend simply on having Android inside the computer, but on Google's and developers' ability to make apps and phone-to-computer integration work consistently. Notifications become mixed between the phone and computer, and the Continue On feature works with a limited number of apps and intermittently, adding friction to daily use.
This is the writer's conclusion and the result of his testing, not a comprehensive judgment of every model or version. But it identifies clear practical limitations: software support is incomplete, connections between devices are fragile, and phone apps do not automatically make up for the absence of genuine desktop apps. The writer therefore does not consider Googlebooks ready to buy at present, while leaving open the possibility that Android computers could succeed in the future if execution improves and developer support expands.