The Pixel Tablet, along with its docking station that transforms it into a smart display, has arrived after a long wait.
The tablet, which was announced with the Pixel 7a and Pixel Fold at Google I/O, is Google’s first own-brand product in many years (since 2015’s one-off Pixel C), and it is widely anticipated.
A tablet that transforms into a smart display has already been seen by Lenovo, but Google may have built the greatest combination of the two the market has seen to yet.
When is the Pixel Tablet release date?
The Pixel Tablet will go on sale on June 20th, according to the final details revealed at the Google I/O developer conference.
Those who are interested can pre-order it now in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, France, and Germany.
How much does the Pixel Tablet cost?
The Pixel Tablet starts at $499/£599, which includes the Charging Speaker Dock. Additional docks may be purchased for $129/£139 apiece, however the tablet is not presently available for purchase on its own.
That is more costly than Apple’s current’standard’ model, the $449/£499 10th-generation iPad.
The official Pixel Tablet Case, which is docking station compatible and features a polished metal ring stand (see below), will be available as an accessory. It is $79/£89.
The initial price of $499/£599 gets you a 128GB device, but if you need additional capacity, you can upgrade to a 256GB model for an extra $100/£100.
What are the Pixel Tablet specs and features?
Since Google teased it at I/O last year, we’ve known a few things about the Pixel Tablet, but now everything is out in the open, so we can fill you in on all the precise stats and how the gadget functions with its associated docking station.
Although it is not available separately, let’s start with the tablet itself, which has an 11in screen but is actually 10.95in due to its rounded edges. It’s an LCD screen with a 25601600 resolution, 16:10 aspect ratio, and an anti-smudge coating (no OLED).
The Pixel Tablet features a standard brightness of 500 nits and, like the Next Hubs, an ambient light sensor that allows it to be automatically changed, along with color, with Ambient EQ.
That’s a lot of screen space for watching stuff, and due to four speakers – two on each side when in landscape mode – you should be able to hear everything loud and clear.
Google’s Tensor G2 CPU is under the hood, together with the Titan M2 security chip featured in the Pixel 7 phones. There’s 8GB of RAM and storage options of 128GB or 256GB. There is no microSD card slot for additional storage.
The hood is available in two colors: porcelain or hazel. The spec sheet also includes Rose, so I’m guessing this will be accessible in specific areas. The front bezel is white for the Porcelain colorway and black for the Hazel colorway.
The primary body has a nano-ceramic coating and is constructed of more than 30% recycled materials (by weight), while the aluminum in the enclosure is 100% recyclable. It is 493g in weight and 8.1mm thick.
A fingerprint sensor is housed in the power button, and four metal contacts on the rear create a Pogo pin connector for use with the docking station, as previously teased. The Pixel Tablet also contains three far-field microphones, which is rare for a tablet but necessary for it to function as a smart display when docked.
Despite having an 8Mp front-facing camera (and the same at the back), the Pixel Tablet does not appear to have the Face Match capability present on Google’s bigger smart display, the Nest Hub Max.
This may recognize individual users to provide a more personalized experience (for example, your calendar events) as well as gestures like putting up your hand to pause music. The tablet also appears to lack a hardware switch for muting the microphones and turning off the cameras.
To return quickly to the cameras, Google claims that they are optimized for video and Meet with continuous framing, focus, auto lighting changes, and 360-degree virtual backdrops.
A 12-hour battery life (for video streaming), USB-C 3.2 Gen 1, Wi-Fi 6, and Bluetooth 5.2 round out the key specifications. It contains an Ultra-Wideband microprocessor, as rumored, although Google merely mentions it as being for “accurate ranging.”
It’s also worth mentioning that the gadget comes with Android 13 and a guarantee of at least five years of OS upgrades, so Android 14 is a given, along with a few more in the future. The Pixel Tablet is the first Android tablet to support Google Cast, allowing you to cast content from your phone or another tablet to it.
The restriction here is that it must be in Hub Mode, albeit casting is unnecessary when it is not docked. The Pixel Tablet runs full Android, but the Nest Hubs use a unique Fuchia OS, thus there will be changes in how they function.
This brings us to the Charging Speaker Dock, which performs exactly what it says on the tin. It’s a docking station that charges the Pixel Tablet and has a built-in speaker. When mounted (through magnets), the tablet is effectively transformed into a Nest Hub smart display.
Because extra ports can be purchased, the tablet can be moved throughout the house to serve as a bedroom clock, a recipe book in the kitchen, a jukebox in the living room, and a calendar in the office.
According to Google, “when the tablet is in Hub Mode, it transforms into a useful home device that can even be used hands-free.” Use it as a smart home controller, music player, voice-activated assistant, or digital photo frame.”
The Charging Speaker Dock can charge the tablet at up to 15W and contains a 43.5mm full-range speaker, which implies “four times the bass of the Pixel Tablet alone” and a smooth audio transition when the tablet is docked.
Pixel Tablet key specs
- Android 13
- 5 years of Pixel updates
- 10.95in LCD screen, 2560×1600, 16:10
- Tensor G2 chip
- 8GB RAM
- 128/256GB storage
- Quad speakers
- 3 mics far-field
- Fingerprint Unlock with power button
- Wi-Fi 6
- Bluetooth 5.2
- Ultra-Wideband chip for accurate ranging
- Google Cast
- Pogo pin connector for speaker dock
- USB-C
- Dual 8Mp cameras
- 12 hours video streaming
- 8.1mm
- 493g
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