You shouldn’t buy the Pixel tablet

When rumors started building about Google’s return to the tablet market, I was beyond excited. I immediately thought back to the glory days of the Nexus 7 and hoped it would spark some innovation. It could be argued that Google delivered on its promises, as the Pixel tablet doubles as a smart home hub. However, Google just proved that it doesn’t really care, and neither should you.

Instead of waiting for I/O 2024, Google decided to announce the new Pixel 8a and a price reduction (of sorts) for the Pixel tablet. This doesn’t actually bring the price down, but you can finally just buy the tablet, save $100, and choose not to have the charging dock at your disposal. Innovative.

This sort of solves one of the biggest gripes I had with the Pixel tablet with its value proposition for the $499 price tag. Essentially, it’s just a Pixel 5 that’s been stretched to accommodate an 11-inch screen. Sure, it’s great to have a resolution of 2560 x 1600, but Google skimped out by going with an LCD panel.

The 16:10 aspect ratio is great for using split-view apps and multitasking, but Google still doesn’t sell a first-party keyboard case or even a stylus. Not to mention, the Pixel tablet isn’t ideal for gaming, as the LCD panel is locked to a 60Hz refresh rate.

Admittedly, I don’t often use the Pixel Tablet as a tablet. It stays docked 99% of the time, only to be removed when I need to update software or installed apps. I have to imagine that I’m not the only one who opts for this use case and I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the case for a lot of people.

However, I am only convinced that Google is not making much sense with this product. Re-releasing the Pixel tablet without the Dock or any other relevant first-party accessories about a year after the initial release makes me wonder what in the world is going on. On top of that, the $399 price tag is still too high for what you get.

Yes, this is a Pixel tablet running Google’s version of Android. But thanks to Google’s feature control, it runs into the same problem as the Pixel Fold. All those cool AI features? Yes, they only recently started becoming available on the Pixel tablet. Hell, Circle to Search was announced in early 2024 and still won’t arrive for Pixel tablet owners until “later this month.”

I’m not going to rehash all of my feelings about this here, as I have done many times before. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that Google is lost, because it’s pretty obvious that it’s expanding in too many directions.

It’s all about AI and how Google can launch Gemini while blaming the hardware for these features that aren’t available on a Google-marketed device. “Oh, it will happen…one day.” Well, at least when Samsung or Apple announce a new feature is coming, most of the time these companies follow through.

This revelation about the re-release of the Pixel tablet without the dock should have already happened. I’m by no means an analyst, but I have to assume that the dock-less Pixel tablet would have been a hot item during the 2023 holidays. But instead, Google chose to include it as an afterthought during of the announcement of a brand new product.

I probably wouldn’t feel the way I do if Google waited for this madness until the Pixel G3 (or G4) tablet was ready or reduced the price to around $299. To put that into perspective, take a look at what Amazon did with the Fire Max 11 tablet. For around $285, you can get the Fire Max 11, bundled with the Amazon Pen. And the keyboard case. Oh, and that’s by paying extra for the “No Ads on Lock Screen” version.

With the Pixel tablet, you’ll pay $399 and get a charging cable, as well as some regulatory paperwork. Not to mention that despite rumors since last year, there are no new proprietary accessories. It’s beyond frustrating to see these decisions being made, especially when it’s so obvious that they are wearing blinders and can’t see the forest through the trees.

I’ve almost given up hope in Google’s product strategy, and maybe I should just give it up. It’s obvious that Google has done this, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Pixel Tablet 2 never sees the light of day.