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Google hasn’t put out a tablet in quite some time. Really, not since the Pixel Slate many years ago, and we all know how bad of a tablet that was. Since then, Google has taken a step back and reimagined how users use a tablet. And what they have come up with is that users will carry it around the house doing stuff and then put it down. And put it down for many hours at a time. So that’s where the speaker dock comes in.
With the Pixel Tablet, Google wants to get you into the habit of putting the tablet down onto the dock. So that it’s always charged up and ready to go when you need it. And while it’s docked, it acts as a sort of Nest Hub Lite. It’s not really a Nest Hub, as it does not have Thread or Matter support, but it does show your pictures, and gives you access to Google Home at the lock screen. Making it easier to control things on the go.
The hardware
The hardware on the Pixel Tablet isn’t quite as high-end as I would have thought. But then again, it is $499, and that comes with the speaker dock as well. That speaker dock is actually really impressive, and sounds amazing. It also matches the color of the tablet.
The back is a rubberized finish, which is going to make it easier to hold. That’s pretty important when you’re talking about an 11-inch tablet here. And since you’ll mostly be using it in your hands. The case for the Pixel Tablet is also quite nice, because it has a built-in kick stand that is an oval metal piece. This is made this way so that it can still dock on the speaker. Without removing it. And you can also use the stand for watching movies and TV shows.
You can tell that with this software, a lot of thought went into this. And that would explain why it has taken Google so long to bring this to market. After all, they first teased the Pixel tablet at Google I/O 2022.
The software
Much like with the Pixel Fold, Google really had to work on the software for the Pixel Tablet, so that it would work better. Because Android did not play well on these larger displays. But now, that’s not an issue. Much of the same software features that you’ve seen on the Pixel Fold, are available on the Tablet. That includes two-paned apps like the Settings app. As well as optimizing other apps to take full advantage of the larger display here.
So far, in our short time using the Pixel Tablet, it does seem to be a really good software experience, though we’ll have to wait til we get a longer time with it to see if that stands up.
