TechTabletsGoogle Pixel Tablet review: half tablet, half home hubGoogle’s Pixel Tablet doesn’t just want to be a tablet, it wants to be your home hub tooWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)T3 VerdictThe Pixel Tablet is a really interesting reimagining of what Google sees a tablet as being. But as the wannabe hub of your home, while still offering great battery life when used handheld for content consumption, it’s hard to see who this new slate is really aimed at – especially at this price point.Reasons to buy+Chromecast built-in for easy content sharing+Decent battery life when off the dock+Dock included for home hub-like useReasons to avoid-Dock inclusion makes it more home hub than straight-up tablet-Android OS on tablets still not the best-Screen only has 60Hz refresh rateWhy you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
TechTabletsGoogle Pixel Tablet review: half tablet, half home hubGoogle’s Pixel Tablet doesn’t just want to be a tablet, it wants to be your home hub tooWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)T3 VerdictThe Pixel Tablet is a really interesting reimagining of what Google sees a tablet as being. But as the wannabe hub of your home, while still offering great battery life when used handheld for content consumption, it’s hard to see who this new slate is really aimed at – especially at this price point.Reasons to buy+Chromecast built-in for easy content sharing+Decent battery life when off the dock+Dock included for home hub-like useReasons to avoid-Dock inclusion makes it more home hub than straight-up tablet-Android OS on tablets still not the best-Screen only has 60Hz refresh rateWhy you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
Google’s Pixel Tablet doesn’t just want to be a tablet, it wants to be your home hub too
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)T3 VerdictThe Pixel Tablet is a really interesting reimagining of what Google sees a tablet as being. But as the wannabe hub of your home, while still offering great battery life when used handheld for content consumption, it’s hard to see who this new slate is really aimed at – especially at this price point.Reasons to buy+Chromecast built-in for easy content sharing+Decent battery life when off the dock+Dock included for home hub-like useReasons to avoid-Dock inclusion makes it more home hub than straight-up tablet-Android OS on tablets still not the best-Screen only has 60Hz refresh rate
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
T3 VerdictThe Pixel Tablet is a really interesting reimagining of what Google sees a tablet as being. But as the wannabe hub of your home, while still offering great battery life when used handheld for content consumption, it’s hard to see who this new slate is really aimed at – especially at this price point.Reasons to buy+Chromecast built-in for easy content sharing+Decent battery life when off the dock+Dock included for home hub-like useReasons to avoid-Dock inclusion makes it more home hub than straight-up tablet-Android OS on tablets still not the best-Screen only has 60Hz refresh rate
T3 VerdictThe Pixel Tablet is a really interesting reimagining of what Google sees a tablet as being. But as the wannabe hub of your home, while still offering great battery life when used handheld for content consumption, it’s hard to see who this new slate is really aimed at – especially at this price point.
T3 Verdict
The Pixel Tablet is a really interesting reimagining of what Google sees a tablet as being. But as the wannabe hub of your home, while still offering great battery life when used handheld for content consumption, it’s hard to see who this new slate is really aimed at – especially at this price point.
Reasons to buy+Chromecast built-in for easy content sharing+Decent battery life when off the dock+Dock included for home hub-like useReasons to avoid-Dock inclusion makes it more home hub than straight-up tablet-Android OS on tablets still not the best-Screen only has 60Hz refresh rate
Reasons to buy+Chromecast built-in for easy content sharing+Decent battery life when off the dock+Dock included for home hub-like use
Chromecast built-in for easy content sharing
Decent battery life when off the dock
Dock included for home hub-like use
Reasons to avoid-Dock inclusion makes it more home hub than straight-up tablet-Android OS on tablets still not the best-Screen only has 60Hz refresh rate
Dock inclusion makes it more home hub than straight-up tablet
Android OS on tablets still not the best
Screen only has 60Hz refresh rate
Why you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
Why you can trust T3Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you.Find out more about how we test.
What are tablets all about these days? Most people I ask automatically default to talking about theiriPad, givenApple’s best slatesare so synonymous with the market. Which, anecdotally, isn’t good news if you’re an Android tablet maker, right?
It’s clearly been food for thought forGoogle, too, which had taken a five-year hiatus from tablets since launching itsPixel Slateback in 2018, before finally delivering this much-anticipated 2023 new product and the star of this review: the Google Pixel Tablet.
But the world has changed – as has Google’s stance. In the past five years the search giant’s hardware, such as the superbPixel 7 Pro flagship phone, has really elevated its position. Yet rather than make the Pixel Tablet akin to a ‘Pixel 7 Pro XXL’, Google has gone down a whole other avenue.
From my perspective, and having used the Pixel Tablet for the past fortnight, the inclusion of its magnetic speaker dock in the box positions it more as a mobile home hub, whichI posited as a kind-of ‘Nest Hub Luxe’, not as a straight-up tablet product.
So has Google cracked it? Is the Pixel Tabletthe best tabletyou’re ever likely to use? Or is it more a case of suffering from an identity crisis? That’s what I’ll be exploring in thisGoogle PixelTablet review…
Google Pixel Tablet: Price & Availability
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The Google Pixel Tablet is on sale right now, priced at £599 in the UK, $599 in the US, and AU$899 in Australia. In all instances it includes the speaker dock, although if you want an additional one that can be purchased separately so you have an extra in your home (maybe one in the kitchen, one in the bedroom, for example).
When I first heard the price at theGoogle I/O reveal event, I did think it was quite expensive. However, for context, theiPad Air (2022)costs more, whileSamsung’s Galaxy Tab S8products are even pricier again (especially the top-of-stack Ultra). Neither of those feature a dock.
Perhaps Google has been rather more savvy with pricing here than my initial read of it, although you may only agree if you’re looking for more of a home hub product type – and as aGoogle Nest Hubreplacement the Pixel Tablet is a far pricier alternative.
Google Pixel Tablet review: What’s new?
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
In a word:everything. The Google Pixel Tablet is a whole new product, with a whole new name, and doesn’t directly expand on an existing product range. That said, being anAndroidtablet, and embodying Google’s software, it is, well, a whole lot like other Android tablets.
The big change comes in Google’s hardware, though, as back in 2021 it began to develop and implement its own chipsets, called Tensor, and at the heart of the Pixel Tablet is the very same Tensor G2 as you’ll find in a Pixel 7 Pro. In a sense, then, this tablet is every bit as powerful as said phone – so you can use it across multiple apps confidently with no threat of poor performance.
But the biggest “what’s new?” aspect of the Pixel Tablet is really the dock. It’s the reason why the tablet’s body has four exposed discs on the rear, which are used for charging once magnetically connected to the dock. I like the thought that’s been put into ensuring the position is raised and angled, the magnetism is strong enough, and the material-clad unit even acts as a speaker enhancement for better audio.
Google Pixel Tablet review: Design & Display
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
Principal to making the Pixel Tablet, you guessed it, an actual tablet, is the associated form-factor and screen size. Here you get an 11-inch screen, with that diagonal measure sitting across a 16:10 aspect ratio all in.
Recent Google hardware launches have been rather bold with their bezel, such as thePixel 7amid-level phone, meaning rather a lot of the black stuff (not the drink, sadly) to the edges. That’s the case with the Pixel Tablet, too, with an 80 per cent screen-to-body ratio owed to the bezel – although that’s entirely necessary in a product you’re going to hold in your hands, so I find it no bother here.
The display is an IPS LCD, so no OLED panel as you’ll get in thebest flagship phoneshere, with a 1600 x 2560 resolution delivering a 276ppi pixel density. That’s not especially high, given the Pixel 7 Pro is 512ppi, not that I’ve really ‘suffered’ when using the Pixel Tablet – it looks perfectly fine, whilst not being a mind-blowing screen at the same time.
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
The display’s aspect ratio is more geared towards content consumption than an equivalent iPad (which have 4:3 aspect ratio screens), and without the option for official clip-on keyboards (yet, anyway), I get the feeling Google is more geared towards fun than work. There is stylus compatibility, though, not that one is included.
Design-wise, therefore, the Pixel Tablet feels like a major move away from the Pixel Slate, the older and more work-oriented tablet that you’ll always see in photographs with all the keyboard mod cons attached and looking very official. The Pixel Tablet, mounted on its dock, is an entirelty different proposition that wants you to go all-in with Google Home, Google Assistant, YouTube and the like. I certainly use it very differently than I do my Google Pixel phone.
Whether this design solution will suit you is an open-ended question, though, as if you already possess a phone and a Google orAmazonhub then, as I’ve found, the use-cases for the Pixel Tablet are a little limited. I’ve not associated it with my work or personal account sign-ins, for example, because for me it acts best as a family-accessible product with access to Home, heating controls, Ring video doorbell,Netflix, etcetera. But as I can access these things also via my phone and TV, I’ve often simply overlooked the Tablet route.
Which brings me back to the opening gambit of this review: is the Google Pixel Tablet having an identity crisis? It wants to be a tablet, but also a home hub in equal measure. And are people going to rush out to buy such a product right now, especially in current economic climate?
Google Pixel Tablet review: Performance & Battery
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
The streaming time I was particularly impressed with: using the Pixel Tablet to stream a video from YouTube in the background, brightness up three quarters, sound on, it kept chugging away no problems, serving up 16 hours overall. So for a Netflix binge, whether away from the main TV, whilst travelling (you can download content offline, which will be even better for the sake of no Wi-Fi power drain), there’s great potential.
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
There’s strong potential for gaming and apps, too, and I’ve dabbled in playing my go-to Android titles on the bigger screen, which can be a fun alternative way to play. The upgrade from 6.7-inch to 11-inch is significant, to say the least, and with Tensor G2 handling everything you’ll get decent capability.
But why only a 60Hz refresh rate, not 90Hz or 120Hz like its other Pixel products, I really can’t figure out. Even worth it just for smoother Twitter scrolling, surely? That seems like a step behind for a tablet that costs as much as this.
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
However, I will say that Android on tablets still doesn’t have its game quite right; it’s not the perfect operating system for tablets. Yes, you can split screen to get better left-right divide, and some apps will spread themselves across the larger format to better effect (from Settings, to GMail, and so forth). But the ‘massive phone’ sensation during use is hard to skip, and on a bigger screen that doesn’t feel as natural as, daresay,Apple’s iPadOS on its tablets.
There are some interesting handover features on the Pixel Tablet, too, including built-in Chromecast, making it super easy to push content from, say, your phone to the tablet’s larger screen. I’ve found when using myMotorola Razr 40 Ultrathat connectivity is super quick and easy, which is a great touch.
Google Pixel Tablet review: Verdict
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)
The Pixel Tablet is a really interesting reimagining of what Google sees a tablet as being. No longer is it work machine-focused like the older Pixel Slate. Nope, the Pixel Tablet is the wannabe hub of your home, while still offering great battery life when used handheld for content consumption.
That said, however, I don’t really know who the Pixel Tablet is aimed at. Its straddling of multiple camps and the inclusion of the dock in the box makes it half home hub, half tablet in effect – and is that even something you’re even in the market for, especially at this price point?
With Android still not being the perfect operating system for larger-screen systems, and the Pixel Tablet going a little light on the display – 60Hz refresh only, a resolution behind Google’s flagship phones, and not using an OLED panel for extra oomph – the question mark over where Android tablets belong hasn’t been answered insomuch as rephrased.
Yes, Google’s hardware is on point, its proposition is different, and it can still make a killer tablet. The Pixel Tablet is clearly demonstrative of that. I just don’t know who’s likely to go out and actually need to buy one.
Also consider
If you’re in the market for a home hub only then look to theGoogle Nest Hub Max– which will cost you a third of the price and, while slower and more restricted in use, is a solid option.
If it’s a tablet you seek then the non-Android clear competitor is theApple iPad Air (2022), which paired with accessories is a great workhorse and/or fun slate with a preferable operating system in my view.
Want something a bit cheaper in the Android market? TheOnePlus Padwill save you a chunk of change, ditch to the dock, and deliver a more traditional experience.
Today’s best Google Pixel Tablet, Google Nest Hub Max, Apple iPad Air (2022) and OnePlus Pad dealsGoogle Pixel Tablet$459$424ViewSee all pricesGoogle Nest Hub Max$235.99ViewSee all pricesApple iPad Air (2022)$599$549.99ViewSee all pricesOnePlus Pad$399ViewSee all pricesWe check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
Today’s best Google Pixel Tablet, Google Nest Hub Max, Apple iPad Air (2022) and OnePlus Pad dealsGoogle Pixel Tablet$459$424ViewSee all pricesGoogle Nest Hub Max$235.99ViewSee all pricesApple iPad Air (2022)$599$549.99ViewSee all pricesOnePlus Pad$399ViewSee all pricesWe check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
Today’s best Google Pixel Tablet, Google Nest Hub Max, Apple iPad Air (2022) and OnePlus Pad dealsGoogle Pixel Tablet$459$424ViewSee all pricesGoogle Nest Hub Max$235.99ViewSee all pricesApple iPad Air (2022)$599$549.99ViewSee all pricesOnePlus Pad$399ViewSee all pricesWe check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
Today’s best Google Pixel Tablet, Google Nest Hub Max, Apple iPad Air (2022) and OnePlus Pad deals
Google Pixel Tablet$459$424ViewSee all pricesGoogle Nest Hub Max$235.99ViewSee all pricesApple iPad Air (2022)$599$549.99ViewSee all pricesOnePlus Pad$399ViewSee all prices
Google Pixel Tablet$459$424ViewSee all prices
Google Pixel Tablet$459$424ViewSee all prices
Google Pixel Tablet
Google Pixel Tablet
$459$424View
$459$424
$424
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Google Nest Hub Max$235.99ViewSee all prices
Google Nest Hub Max$235.99ViewSee all prices
Google Nest Hub Max
Google Nest Hub Max
$235.99View
$235.99
$235.99
See all prices
Apple iPad Air (2022)$599$549.99ViewSee all prices
Apple iPad Air (2022)$599$549.99ViewSee all prices
Apple iPad Air (2022)
Apple iPad Air (2022)
$599$549.99View
$599$549.99
$549.99
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OnePlus Pad$399ViewSee all prices
OnePlus Pad$399ViewSee all prices
OnePlus Pad
OnePlus Pad
$399View
$399
$399
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We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices
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TOPICSGoogle PixelSamsungGooglesamsung galaxyAndroidapple
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