Google Pixel Tablet

The Pixel Tablet is usually a tough sell, but it’s a steal at $275

Ben Schoon | Oct 23 2024 - 7:45 am PT

Google’s first Pixel Tablet is unique in a lot of ways, but it’s ultimately not a product that fits everyone’s needs. But, with an ongoing sale, the Pixel Tablet is an absolute steal.

The Pixel Tablet launched in 2023 with a focus on the smart home. With the help of a speaker dock, the tablet could effectively act as a much better version of the Nest Hub. When not docked, the Pixel Tablet could then be used as a traditional Android tablet with Google’s best features, as well as 3 years of major Android updates and 5 years of security updates.

Google later started selling the Pixel Tablet without a dock, dropping the price to $399. But that still hasn’t been a particularly compelling offer.

When someone asks me about what Android tablet they should buy – admittedly it’s a rare ask – my mind rarely goes to the Pixel Tablet. Google’s accessory ecosystem for this tablet isn’t very good for the things you usually want a tablet for (and the third-party options are still hit or miss), and there are better options for the usual $399 price point too. I’d easily recommend a OnePlus Pad, a Galaxy Tab S9 FE, or even an iPad well before telling someone to pick up a Pixel Tablet.

But a current deal at Amazon changes the equation.

Likely for a limited time, the Pixel Tablet is currently over 30% off at Amazon as first highlighted over at 9to5Toys, the best place to keep track of deals.

That takes the price down to $275, which is a steal for this device. You don’t get the speaker dock for that price, but what you do get is a solid Android tablet for a reasonable price. The Pixel Tablet has an 11-inch 2560×1600 60Hz display, Tensor G2 under the hood, 8GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and is currently eligible to install Android 15.

Google Pixel Tablet at Amazon

At $275, you won’t find a tablet with quite this same overall package. You can easily get something like the Galaxy Tab A9+ which has the same size display (but with a faster refresh rate), but you’d be giving up Google’s clean and simple Android build, getting a much lower resolution display, and giving up the latest Android updates, as Samsung is typically pretty slow to update anything but its highest-end tablets (and the company’s Android 15 update is delayed to 2025).

Google’s Pixel Tablet still won’t be a perfect fit for everyone – the mentioned lack of any meaningful accessory ecosystem continues to hang over the Tablet’s head – but this current pricing makes it much more compelling.

This deal probably won’t last long, and it notably only applies to the “Porcelain” color variant.