Google Pixel Tablet: Round Two

The Pixelization continues: Despite an initial January delivery date estimate, my porcelain Pixel Tablet arrived yesterday, so it’s time to begin round two with this intriguing device that doubles as a smart display.

A bit of history first: After teasing it a few times the previous year, Google announced the Pixel Tablet alongside the Pixel 7a and Pixel Fold at Google I/O 2023 this past May. I pre-ordered a hazel (olive green) unit the next day, and it arrived right on time on the promised June 20 ship date. Given the issues that have plagued Android tablets and other large screen Android devices, I wasn’t surprised to discover that there were still some lingering app problems despite Google’s years of work improving the platform and engaging with app developers. I liked it quite a bit, but in the end, the high cost (which is tied to the inclusion of an expensive speaker stand) and emphasis on its smart display/landscape functionality forced me to return it and continue using my iPad Air.

But things change.

And thanks to a temporary 40 percent off sale for U.S. customers with Google Play Points Gold, Platinum, or Diamond status that I was able to take advantage of, I was able to purchase this $500 tablet for just $300, a far more reasonable price that eliminated by biggest complaint. Can I deal with its less than optimal (in portrait mode) 16:10 aspect ratio? And had the Android app ecosystem improved at all since mid-year, with broader support for this type of device?

In some ways, it doesn’t matter. Worst case, I can always just return it again. But I’m also wondering about using it as a standalone smart display in the kitchen, where it can replace the aging and now unsupported Lenovo Smart Display we currently use there. So what the heck.

In any event, I ordered the base model Pixel Tablet with 128 GB of storage in porcelain last Wednesday and was initially told it would arrive in mid-January (though an in-person pickup at Google’s Chelsea store location could have happened that day were in the mood for five hours of driving). I figured this would give me time to pick up a case, and because Google gives me 10 percent Google Store credit for all purchase, I used a bit I had built up to help lower the cost of the otherwise quite overpriced Google Pixel Tablet Stand, also in porcelain. So it’s somewhat perfect that the Tablet arrived today but the case won’t arrive until later this week. That much, at least, hasn’t changed.

And, as it turns out, neither has the overall Pixel Tablet experience, for better and for worse.

Seeing the small box that FedEx had left on the stoop, I was reminded of my very first reaction the first time around: It’s smaller than I’d expected. Which doesn’t make a lot of sense, as it’s only a tad taller in portrait mode than the iPad Air I’ve been using for years. It is, however, noticeably less wide, thanks to its taller 16:10 aspect ratio.

Taking it out of the box, I was likewise reminded of the strange dichotomy of this device, which has an obviously premium build quality and is yet a virtual unknown to most people here in the U.S. and, I’d imagine, in other countries. It’s made of aluminum and the version I bought has glossy white bezels, while the back has a delightful matte finish with just enough grip. It’s a shame to have to cover it with a case, but I can’t imagine not doing so.

The landscape orientation is not ideal for my needs. The front-facing webcam is centered in the top bezel in this usage mode, which isn’t problematic as I’ll never use it, but the power and volume buttons are on the top right, which means they’re on the top left portrait mode. That’s awkward for a righty like me, especially since the power button has an integrated fingerprint reader. But I later enrolled by left index finger and have found it to be mostly reliable. I suspect I will get used to it, though I wish the power button was less recessed.

The 10.9-inch display is good. Probably not as technically advanced as that in my iPad, and I’m still seeing the same adaptive brightness issue that I complained about in my review, where it’s routinely darker than I’d like. But it gets quite bright and supports a Pixel-standard accessibility feature that lets you really dim the screen, which is great for reading at night and in other low-light conditions. It doesn’t offer a high refresh rate, which I’ve never (ahem) seen the advantage of anyway, or any kind of HDR. But it does support adaptive tone and colors.

My primary use case is reading, but the A/V experience is surprisingly solid with terrific, booming sound from the four built-in speakers. I know docking the tablet provides even better sound, but I’m thinking more of those times I might want to watch a movie on the go. Obviously, I would just wear my ANC earbuds on a plane, so whatever.

The big issue, as always, is the aspect ratio: In portrait mode, it just feels a bit too tall. When I was researching Android tablets recently, I considered going with a smaller 8- or 9-inch tablet, figuring that the 16:10 aspect ratio would be less noticeable at that size. But with the Pixel Tablet, I’m resigned to just trying to get used to it, despite the awkwardness. It’s not great, and apps like Settings neatly highlight the problem.

I took a minute or so to configure the Pixel Tablet’s Hub mode, which kicks in when you dock it, because I feel that will be its eventual home whether I use it as a tablet for now or not. This is really nice, and it offers a bigger display panel and cleaner interface than our current smart display. But it’s also lacking in some unexpected ways. When I used “Hey, Google!” to remove a photo from the album it uses for the screensaver slideshow, it told me that this functionality wasn’t available yet. I’ve been doing that for years on the smart display.

The Pixel Tablet originally shipped with Android 13, of course, but with Android 14 and a few Pixel Feature Drops having arrived since, I set out to update the system after I installed all the apps I need and upgraded the built-in apps. And because I didn’t really notice much in the way of changes, I decided to look it up and see whether there wasn’t anything I missed.

There were only a few minor updates. For example, there’s a Google Home icon on the lock screen (and optionally in Quick settings), but not the fun new lock screen customization features I see on the Pixel 8 Pro. The recent Android Feature Bundle didn’t have anything interesting or Tablet-specific. And the Fall Pixel Feature Drop added a few features I’ll never use—the ability to edit RAW images in Photos, a Kids Space app (that I disabled; you can’t uninstall it), and the ability to use “Hey, Google!” to play a podcast or read the news in Hub mode—plus a slow charging mention on the lock screen that I appreciate on Pixel phones.

But the December Feature Drop held some promise: In addition to an AI-based Clear Calling feature for video calls, this update added spatial audio for both the internal speakers and Pixel Buds Pro earbuds, the latter of which I reordered in the past week and should have soon. I had noticed the Spatial audio settings in the Settings app when I configured the tablet, and noted that it was enabled for the speakers and wired headphones (and could be enabled for Bluetooth devices), but didn’t remember this not being a feature previously. So the question became, how do I actually test this?

Google’s support website explains that some streaming services, like Disney+, Netflix, and YouTube support spatial sound, and of the three, Netflix would be my obvious choice. But this service only provides spatial sound on Pixel Tablet when connected with Pixel Buds Pro (and with its Head Tracking feature enabled). So I headed over to YouTube, where I found some spatial sound demos that just sounded like good stereo separation to me. And a single Billie Eilish music video that had pretty terrific audio placement. I suspect the experience with earbuds will be better.

For now, I guess I just need to get used to it. As noted elsewhere, I read every day, both in the morning when I first get up and at night before I go to bed, and that needs to work. And it does, mostly. But as with my initial experience several months ago, some of the apps I use for reading every day are clearly presenting the phone interface while Tablet is in portrait orientation, an issue I also experienced with the Pixel Fold. This isn’t horrible, but app makers still have some work to do.

Related to this, Google recently announced that Chrome for Android now uses desktop mode by default on so-called premium Android tablets, meaning that websites will display as they do on the desktop instead of using their mobile version. But what’s a premium tablet? Surely, the Pixel Tablet meets this bar. Well, according to Google, a premium tablet is one with at least a 10-inch display and 8 GB of RAM. And … checking … yes, the Pixel Tablet qualifies. And sure enough, it is working that way now. Of course, websites (including this one) adapt to the width of the device, and so portrait mode continues to deliver a mobile-like experience on the web. Google still has work to do.

More soon.