Designed and designed for the home. The message is clear, the mission clear. Google’s tablet isn’t there to compete with the iPad (although) or to shake up the market. It is there to be above all useful and not just as a tablet. Its role will be simple: take over the home and be a mobile asset where Google Nest Hub smart displays used to show versatility and serve a key, albeit static, role in the home.
Faced with Amazon and its multiple Echos, Apple boosting its HomePod, you have to be smart not to lose the battle for the house, and in the longer term with Matter, the future unified protocol for connected objects for the home. Because to open the door of the house you will need a key called Google Assistant, Siri or Amazon Alexa.
Power and versatility
Here is the role assigned to this Pixel Tablet that has more than one trick up its sleeve. It is designed for all domestic uses. Its aluminum contour as well as its matt and textured nanoceramic coating to prevent slipping and even resist some bumps or scratches attest to this. It is based on an 11-inch screen with a fingerprint sensor in the power button. A fairly standard size that allows you to display multiple apps at the same time, obviously optimized for Android 13 and a tablet screen.
The edges of the rather thick Pixel Tablet carry an 8 Mpix selfie camera, which is located on the back for HD video calls. And to listen well, four stereo speakers are present.
Emphasis has also been placed on video calls. As in the Nest Hub, but without the base and the electric cable, we find the camera tracking to always remain in the center of the image, an ambient sensor for adjusted automatic lighting. Voice dictation is also on the agenda with transcription three times faster than a keystroke, Google promises.
On the power side, the product does not have to blush before the competition from Samsung or Apple with the presence of a Tensor G2 processor (with 8 GB of RAM) that we also find in the Pixel 7, the Pixel Fold as well. like the new Pixel 7a. And that necessarily brings the strength of internal artificial intelligence to the newcomer. There are Pixels-specific features like Magic Eraser to erase unwanted elements from photos taken, Anti-blur, and many others. The tablet offers 128 GB of storage.
A pier to become the heart of the house
Available in porcelain or sage green, the Pixel Tablet also comes with a stand for easy home use. The latter has a magnetic attachment to easily attach and detach the Pixel tablet while it recharges. The screen will then change to a simplified display.
The idea is clearly not to leave the tablet in a corner and go back to work, have fun, read, etc. Finally not alone. The dock will make it a hub for home automation in particular, like the Nest Hub displays whose edges the Pixel Tablet clearly encroaches on.
It then brings the same on-screen shortcuts to manage lights, plugs, thermostats and other connected things, see reminders and calendar at a glance, have music, streaming services (Google TV is built in) and use Google Assistant with ease.
The Dock incorporates a speaker to amplify listening to music, but also the audio from streaming applications and other videos. On the other hand, it does not support simple audio streaming from another device, such as a speaker connected via Bluetooth. The tablet will need to be paired. Similarly, if the latter has a Chromecast, you won’t be able to transfer the content to the dock without it.
At Google we ensure that the arrival of the Pixel Tablet sold with its dock does not mean the end of the Nest Hub range. “It’s another option, because Nest Hubs are still more affordable, but they’re also less powerful,” Google told Tech&Co.
A choice of practicality and versatility against the low price and ease of use that may be worth it, but Google will still have a hard time explaining why it spreads so much when a more affordable tablet arrives.
Price and availability of the Google Pixel tablet
The Pixel Tablet will be available in sage green or porcelain at 679 euros in the Google Store, in Fnac-Darty, Boulanger and Amazon. It comes with the spring.
The charging base can be purchased individually for 149 euros. The protective casing is announced at 99 euros.
Source: BFM TV
