After eight years since Google released its last Android tablet, the Pixel C (in 2015), Google is returning to the tablet game with a new Pixel device. The Pixel Tablet, unveiled yesterday at the I/O conference, marks an important milestone even for Samsung Galaxy Tab fans. A new Google tablet hitting the market could affect the whole Android tablet landscape. In recent years, Samsung dominated this segment, and arguably, things have become stale. Can Google stir things up again?
Google does appear to have a different idea of what an Android tablet can be. Unlike any other Android tablet on the market, the Pixel Tablet can double as a smart home display, as it ships with a charging dock equipped with a speaker. Snap the tablet to the charging dock, and it becomes a sort of smart home speaker powered by Google Assistant.
It's an intriguing dual-purpose design, and it's nice that Google includes the charging dock in the tablet's relatively low price of $499. It makes one wonder how come Samsung can't offer a keyboard tablet attachment for a reasonable price. But I digress. Let's have a closer look at the Pixel Tablet's other specs.
Pixel Tablet specifications
As a Google device, it's no surprise that the Pixel Tablet is powered by the company's in-house Tensor G2 SoC. It's a chip focused on pushing Google's AI tools and services, so it won't top classical performance benchmarks, as it was never designed to do that. The Galaxy Tab S8 may offer better raw performance thanks to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC, but the Tensor G2 chip should do its job well enough.
The Pixel Tablet is also equipped with 8GB of RAM and 128 or 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage without the possibility of expansion. Other specs include Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, Bluetooth 5.2, and Ultra Wideband (UWB), but it doesn't have a fingerprint scanner. The tablet is said to be powered by a 7,020mAh battery, which should offer up to 12 hours of video streaming on a single charge, according to Google.
The Pixel's display is of the IPS LCD variety. It has an 11-inch diagonal and a resolution of 1600 x 2560. It doesn't seem to benefit from Gorilla Glass protection, and although it supports generic styluses, it doesn't ship with one, and there's also no official word on a keyboard attachment. The tablet has four speakers and no 3.5mm audio port.
Can the Pixel Tablet compete with the Galaxy Tab S8?
The Pixel Tablet appears to want to redefine what an Android tablet can be, and it is an interesting take on the concept. It's not a laptop replacement or just a tablet but a smart home hub with a charging dock (and speaker). The charging dock is included in the retail price, which means Google really wants to push this idea of a dual-purpose device to the forefront.
Google's new tablet may take a few shortcuts in terms of materials used and raw hardware capabilities, and it lacks Gorilla Glass, an S Pen, and a fingerprint scanner. But it seems to be a decent all-around tablet, and then again, it costs $499 rather than $699. At the very least, it might convince Samsung to finally offer a keyboard accessory for free for its high-end Galaxy Tab S series, or it may even persuade the company to develop its own dual-purpose design. And if the Pixel Tablet is not a competitor to the high-end Tab S series, it at least can be a threat to Samsung's Fan Edition tablets.
The Pixel Tablet is now available for pre-order and should hit the market next month, on June 20. Samsung is expected to unveil its new Galaxy Tab S9 tablet series later this summer.
