Google Pixel Tablet

Google’s Pixel Tablet is basic for entertainment and productivity while coming at a steep price for a smart home interface – not a great formula.

The Pixel Tablet is a desirable standalone Android tablet but its selling point revolves around the bundled docking station turning it into a smart display and that’s where things get a bit messy.

The Google Pixel Tablet delivers great value for a home tablet that doubles as a smart display, but it could have been so much more (and it could still be). It’s not the most premium slate for the price, and it’s smaller than you’d expect, but it delivers in some impactful ways, including great performance and great sound, on or off the speaker dock. The software still feels like a phone trying to be a tablet, especially when you run third party apps but hopefully the Pixel Tablet marks the start of a serious commitment by Google to improve Android on tablets, because this slate is ready for Android to catch up.

Maybe Android tablets aren’t dead after all. Maybe all they needed was a dock to call home and kickstand/hanger that made them more functional. But, despite its name, the Pixel Tablet is far less exciting as a tablet than a smart display. With its charging speaker dock and $80 case, Google presents a far more compelling proposition for its latest product. And despite some quirks, I’ve found life with the Pixel Tablet to be enjoyable, and most of its problems seem solvable.

At $500, the Pixel Tablet does feel a tad expensive, especially when a base model iPad does effectively all the same tablet stuff and a Nest Hub Max does the same smart display stuff, both for much less money. A lot of the value you get out of the Pixel Tablet will be dependent on how much you actually take it off its dock. Based on my conversations with others, a competent tablet that can also be a smart display is exactly what they want. If you already have an Android phone or are invested in Google’s ecosystem by way of the Google Home app, it might make more sense in your life than an iPad.

The Google Pixel Tablet bridges the gap between tablet and smart display surprisingly well, but it costs more than the entry-level iPad.

Before the Pixel Tablet came my way, I was miffed that Google didn't provide a stylus so people could doodle on it. I was also peeved that there wasn't a keyboard cover to easily turn it into a workstation. At least bundle in the kickstand case! I still think those would be nice additions, but this slate already feels like it's doing quite a lot in the home, and sitting on a dock or in your hands is where it feels most comfortable.

The Google Pixel Tablet is a perfectly serviceable slab with one standout feature that turns it into a communal hub device. There’s plenty to like here, but odd pricing and some strange decisions stop it from being truly great.