Review: Google Inbox Will Not Be The New Gmail

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Google is pushing the envelope with a major rethink of the way we use email. Last month Google -- the world's top email provider, with more than 900 million active monthly Gmail users -- introduced a new email service called simply Inbox.

Inbox is not a Gmail replacement, but rather a trial balloon from Google that offers a refreshingly unique, novel way to navigate one of the oldest digital tools -- the inbox. Last month Google moved its Inbox email service from private beta to open beta, meaning anyone who wants to try out the service is welcome to give it a try.

I've been using Google Inbox for several weeks now. Here are my first impressions.

At first glance, Google Inbox looks like a stripped-down version of Gmail, with just the bare essentials. Missing are traditional Folder navigation, email dates and times, and a contact list with status alerts. This de-cluttering of the inbox is intentional and doesn't mean fewer email tools. Rather, things such as links to folders and email settings are tucked underneath drop-down menus for easy access and to stay out of view of mobile users.

Inbox, according to Google, is the company's rethink of email in the mobile era. It's available via a desktop browser and also Android and iOS devices.

Inbox dedicates the top of both its Android app and the desktop browser-based version of its email service to a Today section made up of what it calls Inbox Bundles. These Bundles are essentially the same content tabs (Promos, Updates, Forums and Social) that Google introduced to Gmail more than a year ago. As with Gmail Tabs, bundles consolidate like-themed email, allowing personal email to more easily stand out.

Unique to Inbox are several Bundles that go beyond Gmail Tabs and include Purchases, Travel and Finance.

If you've ever sent an email and regretted sending it two seconds after you hit the "send" button, you'll appreciate Google's Undo Send feature.

Undo Send works as advertised. After you compose an email and click "send," a small icon appears in the lower left-hand side of the Inbox app labeled "Undo." You'll have about seven seconds to hit "Undo" to keep it from being sent.

When you swipe a message left, by default, the Inbox app's Snooze feature pops up. Snooze is designed to allow you to temporarily shelve email that requires your attention or action for a later date. This gives you a fighting chance to focus on more important things without completely ignoring everything else. When a Snoozed message -- which can be paused for hours, days or weeks -- wakes up, it reappears at the top of your inbox.

Google also makes tagging important emails for later retrieval a core part of Inbox. A prominent feature called Pin allows you to save emails in what is essentially a prominently located "Pin" folder. You can either Pin an email or create rules based on pinned messages, such as set reminders to call and email or set up a meeting.

To help you get more out of To-Do list items, Google partnered with HotelTonight and Eat24 to make reservations and food orders accessible directly within Inbox. Here is how it works: Google scans your inbox and identifies your Travel Bundles or To-Do list items. If Google identifies that you're scheduled to meet a friend for dinner at a restaurant, for example, it will proactively search the Web for hours of operation and provide a phone number so you can reserve a table.

Inbox isn't for everyone and I doubt many will jump ship from Gmail to Inbox. It’s just a bit too radical for most people. With Inbox, Google is introducing a lot of new compelling ideas for how to manage email, from Sweep to Snooze, from Bundles to To-Dos With Assists. Today's email users just aren't there yet.

Slowly, over time, I suspect Inbox's most popular features that have proven their worth among its users will be introduced to Gmail.

I like Google's attempt to break email out of its old list paradigm, where the most recent email that appears at the top of your inbox is seldom the most important. With Inbox, Google takes the constant deluge of email and leverages a big data-like approach to mine, organize and surface just the most useful information inside your inbox.

PUBLISHED JUNE 9, 2015