Google’s Re-Released Pixel Tablet Is Still a Bad Deal
Google released the Pixel Tablet in 2023 as the company’s first Android tablet in years, but the high price and limited features made it a hard sell. Google is now re-launching the Pixel Tablet with some changes and a lower price tag.
Google revealed its new Pixel 8a budget phone today, but the company is also giving the Pixel Tablet another chance at success. The Pixel Tablet is now available without the speaker dock for $399 in the US and $549 in Canada. The tablet with the speaker dock is still priced at $499 in the US and $699 in Canada.
Even at the cheaper price, though, the Pixel Tablet doesn’t seem like a great value. Apple’s latest 10th gen iPad is priced at $449, but more recently has been on sale for $349. The iPad still has a stronger software ecosystem than Android tablets, with more apps and games optimized for the larger screen, and there are more hardware accessories available. Apple sells official keyboard cases for all its iPad models, and you can get an Apple Pencil if you want the option for stylus input—Google isn’t doing any of that. There’s still no official keyboard or stylus for the Pixel Tablet, but you can use a third-party USI 2.0 stylus.
Even if you prefer Android, the competition still has an edge over the Pixel Tablet. Samsung sells a few tablets in this price range, including the 2020 Galaxy Tab S6 Lite with a 10.4-inch LCD screen and built-in S Pen stylus. Samsung’s tablets also have the DeX desktop mode and video output from the USB-C port, neither of which are on the Pixel Tablet. Unless you strongly prefer Google’s flavor of Android over Samsung’s One UI or other software experiences, the Pixel Tablet still doesn’t make much sense.
Google is also bringing the Pixel Tablet to more countries. Until now, the tablet has only been officially sold in Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom, and United States (according to Google’s support site).
You can pre-order the
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