Pixel Tablet

The Pixel Tablet is an Android tablet designed, developed, and marketed by Google as part of the Google Pixel product line. It was previewed at the Google I/O keynote in May 2022 and announced in May 2023. It was released in June 2023. At launch, a charging speaker dock was sold with each device. However, a standalone version without the dock was released on May 14, 2024.

History
In June 2019, Google told Business Insider and Computerworld that its hardware division would no longer develop tablets, following the lackluster reception to the ChromeOS-powered Pixel Slate tablet introduced the previous year. Production was halted on a successor to the Pixel Slate as well as two unannounced tablets, with the company refocusing its attention on the Pixelbook laptop series. In March 2022, 9to5Google reported that the company was developing a Google Assistant–powered smart display similar to the Nest Hub with a detachable tablet-style screen. On May 11, during the 2022 Google I/O keynote, Google unveiled a preview at an upcoming Pixel-branded Android tablet powered by the Google Tensor system-on-chip (SoC), to be released the following year. The tablet was certified by the Universal Stylus Initiative later that month, indicating support for stylus pens. Google officially announced the Pixel Tablet at the 2022 Made by Google event on October 6. In April 2023, the Pixel Tablet was approved by the Federal Communications Commission. Google revealed additional details about the device during the annual Google I/O keynote on May 10, 2023.

Design
Google shared a very brief look of the Pixel tablet at the Google I/O 2022 event. The video presents the device's soft, rounded design, including what appears to be a backing made of a matte, soft touch material. In addition, the Pixel Tablet has two cameras – one at the front, and one at the back of the device. It also features two speakers on its right edge and a power button just above the back camera, in the top right corner of the body. Google also mentioned that the Pixel Tablet has a body made out of 100 % recycled aluminum and features a nano-ceramic coating.

Hardware
The Pixel Tablet ships with a 10.95 in (278 mm) WQXGA LCD display at 276 ppi with a pixel resolution and a 16:10 aspect ratio. It contains an 8 megapixel rear camera, and an 8 megapixel front camera. Both cameras can film 1080p video at 30 frames per second.

The Pixel Tablet contains a 27 Wh battery, and can charge at 15 watts using its optional charging dock. It is available with either 128 or 256 GB of storage, and 8 GB of LPDDR5 RAM. The Pixel Tablet contains a Google Tensor G2 processor, and a Titan M2 security module. The Pixel Tablet is also notable for being the first consumer tablet to feature UWB functionality.

Software
The Pixel Tablet was shipped with Android 13 at launch, and supports 3 years of Android updates and 5 years of security updates.

Reception
After Google announced it had abandoned plans on developing further tablets, Dieter Bohn of The Verge criticized Google's "institutional neglect of Android and ChromeOS on tablets", noting that Google's many tablet efforts had failed simply because they had not been a priority for the company and opining that it would be difficult for Google to "catch up" with Apple's iPad Pro. Following the announcement of the Pixel tablet and Pixel Watch at the 2022 Google I/O, The Verge Jon Porter opined that Google was taking a subtle approach at Apple's "walled garden" ecosystem strategy, while his colleague Dan Seifert found the tablet's design unattractive and cheap-looking. J. R. Raphael conceded that the tablet did not radiate a "premium" appearance, but speculated that the tablet was more akin to a smart display and concluded that Google may not be seeking to compete with the iPad.