I have a tabledit7/29/2023 ![]() ![]() Scrolling was satisfyingly smooth, though I didn't realize during my hands-on that it wasn't actually 120Hz.ĥ00 nits of brightness may not sound like much, but it's fairly standard for a mid-range LCD tablet, and it's higher than the 300–400 nits' max on most of the best Chromebooks. I can't properly judge the Pixel Tablet's performance in so short a time, but apps loaded quickly and I could swap between two split-screen apps with no lag. So what does the Pixel Tablet give you? The same Tensor G2 chip and 8GB of RAM as the Pixel 7, a 2560 x 1600 resolution, a side fingerprint sensor, and a better front camera thanks to Google's AI tricks. That had a last-gen chipset, a 60Hz refresh rate, no fingerprint sensor, and a poor selfie camera, and it made you pay extra for more than 4GB of memory. Mid-range tablets have to make compromises, but some of the tablets I've tested like the Galaxy Tab S7 FE made the wrong compromises. And that makes what Google managed to achieve with the Pixel Tablet even more impressive. If you consider that Google charges $130 for the Charging Speaker Dock, that essentially means that the $500 Pixel Tablet's components cost even less than you might think. Google found the right compromises for the Pixel Tablet ![]() And at least the Hazel and Coral color options stand out more than the boring Pro tablet colors you normally get. It lacks a signature feature like the Pixel phones' camera bar to make it stand out, but its rounded-edge look grows on you. Overall, I'd say the Pixel Tablet is comfortable to use, which matters more than its looks. And I could see it accidentally scratching a surface if your tablet gets shoved. But its narrowness will probably make it less sturdy if you prop it on a soft mattress or another uneven surface. It stays rigid at almost any angle, which is a good sign for its stability on hard surfaces. The only problem with it is that it adds an extra 9.3oz to the 17.3oz tablet, making it pretty darn dense for its size.Īs for the metal ring stand.I'm going to reserve judgment. Speaking of the silicone/polycarbonate case, it looks sturdy enough to handle falls, and it has tiny slots built-in to ensure the Tablet still charges when you mount it on the Dock. Including the Dock in the box was the right call even if it raised the Tablet's price by $100, since it makes an otherwise pedestrian tablet more noteworthy. Even though, in theory, moving your smart home hub from the living room to the bedroom at night is a cool use case. I don't think many people will buy multiple Docks for different rooms in the house, as Google clearly hopes you will. In other words, I'd say Google really designed the Charging Speaker Dock well. Generally speaking, the Pixel Tablet's usefulness will depend on whether or not you have Google Home-compatible cameras, thermostats, smart lights, smart locks, and other tech.īut I do like how easily you can access all of these controls, and that the Charging Speaker Dock ensures that your tablet isn't always dead or at low battery whenever you need it - a problem I typically have with my Galaxy Tab S8+ despite its excellent battery life. Google didn't have smart home tech set up to test the new Google Home app. (Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central) Only you can take this alt-Hub display with you and start streaming movies on the couch, too. ![]() Audio is enhanced, you can quickly access Google Home controls, Google Assistant is always listening - it's the typical smart display experience you'd get on the Nest Hub Max. You magnetically attach the Pixel Tablet, and it goes into Hub mode. Instead, the whole Pixel Tablet experience is about the bundled Charging Speaker Dock, which (thankfully) I liked a lot. The Google engineer I spoke to said it was more for "casual productivity." In other words, Google isn't even trying to target the productivity crowd that might buy a Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra or Lenovo Chromebook Duet 3. The last time Google made a tablet, it was a ChromeOS device that our Pixel Slate review called a "pro tablet" but a "mediocre laptop." This time around, the Pixel Tablet uses Tensor instead of Intel, has no official keyboard accessory, makes you buy your own third-party USI stylus if you want one, and no equivalent to Samsung's DeX Mode. ![]()
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