Google Pixel C Tablet is Now Available

Google’s controversial Surface knock-off, the Pixel C tablet, is now available for purchase for $500 and up, depending on the storage you choose.

Google announced the Pixel C back in September alongside the Nexus 5X and 6P, and new Chromecasts. “If that sounds familiar to Surface Pro (from 2012) or Apple’s recently announced iPad Pro, well, it is,” I wrote at the time. “This is Google’s take on the PC hybrid. What’s curious about this, of course, is that it’s Android, and not Chrome OS.”

According to Google, the Pixel C is the perfect crossover, something you can use to both “hammer out a lengthy document” and “sit back and watch your favorite video.”

The small size of the screen—10.2-inches—suggests that Google is a bit behind in the crossover race, as that size is much more amenable for content consumption that creation. There’s a reason Surface Pro devices have larger screens, as does Apple’s me-too iPad Pro.

Google also claims that the Pixel C’s full-size, magnetically-attached keyboard also makes the device unique, though Surface has had such a thing for three years now. That said, the Pixel C keyboard is Bluetooth-based, a feature Surface lacks.

As a Google device, the Pixel C will be kept up to date with software upgrades directly from the online search giant, and it arrives with the latest Android version, 6.0.

Pricing is $500 for the 32 GB version and $600 for the 64 GB version. Even discounting my terrible experiences with the Nexus 9 tablet, I can’t think of a single reason to buy such a device.