Andrew Orr
Google's Pixel Tablet debuted at its yearly I/O event, but you're going to have to wait a while to get it in your hands.
The company entered the tablet market with the Nexus 7 in 2012, which was widely praised. But since then, the company has had a tumultuous journey with tablet devices, culminating in the poorly-received Google Pixel Slate in 2018, which was soon discontinued and left Google to abandon the tablet market.
The new Pixel Tablet is Google's attempt to convince potential customers that it's capable of making a good tablet once again. It's an 11-inch tablet running Google's flavor of Android, made with aluminum and nano-ceramic coating.
Similar to the Pixel phone, the Pixel Tablet also features Material You, which enables you to fully customize the device with a bespoke color scheme and fresh color variations that correspond to the wallpaper and lock screens. In essence, the tablet, just like a Pixel 7 phone and Google Pixel Watch, can serve as an authentic reflection of users' unique preferences and tastes.
The Pixel Tablet incorporates the power of Tensor G2 into a brand-new design. With advanced image processing and machine learning capabilities, Tensor G2 enables all the popular features found on the Pixel phone, such as video calls, photo editing, and hands-free assistance with Google Assistant, to function smoothly and effortlessly on the Pixel Tablet.
The key selling point of Google Pixel Tablet is its ability to shift from tablet to home hub using a special speaker dock. It magnetically attaches and shows images, weather, and home information on a constantly moving display.
When docked, users can also call out to the Google Assistant to play music, get queries, and more. A scan of the user's fingerprint unlocks the device for full access to Android and all of the installed apps.
Users can even Chromecast music or video to the tablet, making it more than just a static speaker display. And, thanks to the speaker dock design, the Pixel Tablet can be lifted away at any time for traditional tablet use.
Google Pixel Tablet — Pricing & Availability
The Pixel Tablet is available for $499. Preorders begin on Wednesday, and the device ships in late June. The charging stand is included.
Google also announced a special-made Pixel Tablet Case that costs $79. It works with the speaker dock and has an adjustable rear stand.
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
13 Comments
It looks to be a poorly thought-out product intended to be a budget purchase instead of a solid one. It's certainly not anything I'd be interested in. Considering they've been playing around with this for a couple of years, it's unacceptable. The idea is good, but the implementation is not.
What makes this ball drop so surprising is how much thought and design went into the Pixel Fold. Now that's an impressive first-gen Google product, very much like something expected from Apple in features, design, and user convenience. In comparison the PixelTablet looks like it came from the JV team.
Apple doesn’t need to worry.
You just can’t mount it hahahahah
Honestly, I really like the idea of an included docking charging station that doubles as a speaker. The tablet itself is sorta underwhelming, but I’d for sure make use of a docking/charging speaker with an iPad.
It's an interesting Tablet, but will anyone want it? I don't know. It's not just about the hardware, but the software also. Is there any Android Software designed to take advantage of a tablet? Let alone real useful software. Professional software?
If it's just a blown-up Android with regular Android phone apps, what would be the draw? I just haven't heard anything changing in that area for Android Google Tablet to be released. Maybe they have something up their sleeve?
It also looks like my Amazon Echo Show 8. Which I use for my Bedside Alarm Clock and morning news and weather before I get out of bed. I can voice snooze it, pretty easily instead of having to reach way over to hit a button. The price was a whole lot lower. I have a Google Mini also to play around with. I haven't used it in months. Once in a while I'll ask each one the same question and see how they compare. Personally, I think Amazon Alexa comes in last. It's just so wordy if you want to control your home, whereas Google and Siri work similarly.
The price isn't too bad. I watched the video and didn't really see any standout features I care about. Mileage may vary. My 12.9" iPad Pro goes to work with me daily and is out and about when I go to other places. I have it in a pretty good case. If it had a magnetic stand, that would be a problem to use such a thing. I use my iPad for a lot of different things. Needs to be in its case. I think if you're going to use it on a stand a lot of the time. Why not get something cheaper that has the stand built in? Then get a Tablet to actually use for other things.
I'm not in the Google Ecosystem, so maybe this makes sense for Android users. I'm not going to tell anyone to NOT buy it. Buy what YOU like and to not worry about what anyone else thinks.
This is a tough one for me. I figured after multiple purchases (android & ios) that I have no use for tablets. But I do like the idea of a large screen Google Home. May be if Google releases the next iteration of this...