The Pixel Tablet’s future is murky, but I hope sequels don’t lose the charm

Ben Schoon | Nov 24 2024 - 9:00 am PT

Google’s Pixel Tablet is a product that’s a bit outside of the norm, probably to its detriment, but in crafting upcoming sequels, I hope Google doesn’t lose the charm of the first generation.

The Pixel Tablet launched in mid-2023 to middling reception. While it’s fundamentally a good Android tablet, that’s not exactly a high bar to clear, and there are some clear issues. Google’s hardware isn’t as competitive with other high-end tablets like the iPad and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab lineup, with a lesser display and the Tensor G2 chip that’s well behind the competition. Plus, the lack of a real accessory ecosystem holds back the tablet from a huge collection of users.

That said, the past several months of using the Pixel Tablet more often have kept reminding me of the charm of this device.

I think with the first Pixel Tablet, Google really found a good way to build a tablet for the home, rather than one for the go. I’ve really enjoyed throwing on a movie on the tablet at my desk, only to pick the tablet up and walk into another room to cook, all while keeping that media going. Of course, you can do this with any tablet, but what gives that experience something special, at least for me, is how Google designed the Pixel Tablet.

Of course, there’s the dock, which boosts the speaker output dramatically and makes the tablet a genuinely nice place to consume media. But, then, there are little rubber feet along the bottom of the tablet that make it easy to prop it up against really any surface without much thought. Instead of having stands all over the place like I did on my iPad, I can just put the Pixel Tablet wherever it’s conveinent.

However, the future of the Pixel Tablet currently seems in flux.

A report this week revealed that Google’s existing plans for a Pixel Tablet sequel might have been shelved, with a future version potentially still in the works. A recent leak around Google’s Tensor chips hinted that another model could be coming in 2027, though there’s certainly still plenty of potential for another one to come sooner.

What does this mean for a future Pixel Tablet? It’s really hard to say right now, as the outlook is pretty murky.

Personally, though, I fear it would just lead to Google doing away with the things that set the Pixel Tablet apart, the charm of the device.

The precedent here has already been set. With 2023’s Pixel Fold, Google tried something new in the space, putting out a foldable with a very different form factor that was pretty polarizing. It had a lot of good things, a lot of charm, but also a lot of downsides. In fixing those glaring downsides, many of which had nothing to do with the form factor, Google ended up completely reinventing the Pixel Fold to deliver the much-improved, but also more run-of-the-mill Pixel 9 Pro Fold.

I don’t want the same to happen to the Pixel Tablet but, sadly, I think it probably will.

If the rumor mill is correct and Google is making this move for the sake of profits, that pretty much says everything. With that being the case, Google is probably aiming to make the Pixel Tablet a bit more “standard,” something closer to what Samsung’s Galaxy tablets and Apple’s iPad bring to the table, especially given the rumors that Google is folding ChromeOS into Android.

What do you think?

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