Every few years, the tech industry reinvents the wheel and convinces everyone they need it. This time around, it’s the Googlebook—a new category of laptops that’s built around Gemini integration and is perfectly in sync with your Android phone. It sounds great until you realize these are just better-designed Chromebooks selling something you likely already own.
I installed Linux on my Pixel to turn it into a workstation, but I didn’t really have to. All you need to do is plug your phone into an external display, pair a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, and you’ve got the majority of what Google’s latest take on laptops has to offer.
The biggest reason to buy a Googlebook is already coming to Chrome on your old laptop
You almost had me, Google
Android has been a desktop this whole time
You just haven’t been using it that way
Samsung introduced DeX back in 2017—a feature that lets Galaxy phones connect to any external monitor and boot into a full desktop environment complete with resizable windows, a taskbar, drag-and-drop support between apps, and full keyboard and mouse support. All you need is an HDMI to USB-C cable and a few Bluetooth peripherals to get up and running.
Samsung isn’t alone in this race either. Motorola built its own version called Ready For (now called Smart Connect), which works on Razr and Edge devices and supports both wired and wireless connections to compatible displays. Microsoft’s Link to Windows takes a different approach by letting any Android phone mirror apps, take calls, manage photos, and send messages from a Windows laptop. There are tons of other alternatives like KDE Connect on the market as well for Linux-based systems as well.
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Google itself has shipped Android Desktop Mode to Pixel 8 and newer devices as part of the Android 16 QPR3 March Pixel Drop. It works the same way as DeX: plug your phone into an external monitor, add a keyboard and mouse, and you’ve got a full desktop environment with a persistent taskbar, proper app drawer, freeform resizable windows, up to four virtual desktops, and persistent window sessions that remember where you left off between connections. Pixel desktop mode works great with a few tweaks, and while it works similarly to DeX, it offers an entirely different experience.
The software is already there
Tools and features that make it surprisingly capable
Another major appeal of the Googlebook is the software on offer. Sure, you might be able to get a desktop environment on your Android phone, but it’s no good when the software doesn’t match up. But if you’re running the newest version of Android Google has to offer, especially on a Pixel device, you already have access to the Googlebook’s features—in one form or another.
Magic Pointer is a desktop-grade Circle to Search
Take the Magic Pointer, for example. Wiggle your cursor, and Gemini will magically appear to offer contextual suggestions for whatever is on your screen. It’ll offer to create calendar events when you point to a date, composite two images you’re hovering over, and so on. If you ask Google, this is a transformative leap in how we interact with computers.
But Android’s Circle to Search has been doing something similar since 2024. Hold down the home button, draw a circle around what you want on your screen, and Gemini does more or less the same. The Magic Cursor is a better implementation of the same idea, especially on a computer, but that’s all. It’s a beautiful laptop-native refinement, but calling it a new invention is a bit of a stretch.
AI-generated widgets aren’t exclusive to Googlebooks
Another example would be the ability to create your own widgets that Google is offering. You could describe a widget you want in natural language and have Gemini make it for you in no time. Sounds great until you realize that this feature will come first to Pixel and Samsung Galaxy phones with a rollout to other Android devices, Wear OS, and Googlebooks later in 2026. What the Googlebook will get is essentially a desktop-scale version of a feature your Android will get first.
All you really need is a bigger screen
Smartphones may have the power and features, but they don’t have the size yet
That’s not to say Googlebooks won’t make sense entirely. No matter how feature-laden and powerful your Android smartphone gets, it’s still limited in size. The screen isn’t big enough to do desktop-class work, even if you can run a desktop environment on your phone.
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This means you need, at the very least, an external monitor, a keyboard, and a mouse. The limiting factor isn’t the phone; it’s all the extra hardware you need to use it like a desktop, and that’s exactly what the GoogleBook provides. This is fine if you’re looking to integrate this into a home or office setup, but if you were hoping to work like this on the go, carrying all those peripherals with you doesn’t make nearly as much sense as one well-made laptop.
So yes, your Android phone already does what the Googlebook is promising. The only difference is that the Googlebook does it in a way that makes sense for desktop usage and doesn’t rely on you having to bring your own peripherals. As far as the software is concerned, you can get pretty close with just your phone.