The underlying concept of theGoogle Pixel Tabletis quite intriguing — you can use it as a regular Android tablet for just about anything, and when you put it back on its dock, it magically turns into a smart home hub. While this approach gets you better value out of a single purchase, it also establishes the tablet’s identity crisis. As a result, the Pixel Tablet doesn’t fully justify either of those categories, making it a difficult recommendation when you haveplenty of better Android tabletsto choose from. But there are a few things that the Pixel Tablet can improve to become a real smart home champ that Google originally envisioned it to be.
5 things I learned from using this ‘deGoogled’ Pixel Tablet
Say goodbye to Google
6Continued Conversation
Google Assistanthas for a long time been excellent at follow-up questions. To save you from uttering the wake word before every question, Google introduced something called Continued Conversation. With this feature enabled, Google Assistant continues to listen for your next command after it has finished answering your previous question. It works across the board, from your phone to your Nest speakers, but, unfortunately, not on the Pixel Tablet.
It’s a shame for a device that touts itself as a smart home hub that can replace a Nest Hub. Without Continued Conversation on the Pixel Tablet, you will often be left frustrated enough by how many times you have to scream “OK Google” that you may want to use Google Assistant less frequently, doing a disservice to its very purpose.
5Multi-user voice recognition
Voice Match on Google Assistant devices is a core feature on Nest speakers, which are typically shared by all your family members. The speaker can recognize you by your voice to serve you personalized results, while also ensuring it doesn’t mistakenly share your details with someone else. It’s a very basic requirement in multi-user homes (you know, like nearlyeveryhome) and has been around for years, but sadly not on the Pixel Tablet.
Google designed the Pixel Tablet to be used by multiple users but perhaps forgot to add the very feature people would actually need in a typical household setting.
4Switching users with the fingerprint scanner
Google beat Apple to the punch by including multi-user profile support on Android tablets and thus also the Pixel Tablet, which the iPads doesn’t support. In many cases, the entire family uses the same house tablet for different purposes, like controlling smart home devices, watching recipes in the kitchen or Netflix in bed, or by your kids to play a game or two.
The Pixel Tablet separates each user’s profile with their own lock screens, accessible via an account switcher, so that everyone gets their own private space. However, Google could go one step further and make switching between profiles even more seamless using the fingerprint reader. As soon as you tap on the side-mounted fingerprint reader, the tablet could take you straight to your profile without much fuss. A lot of laptops with biometrics scanners can do that, so why not the Pixel Tablet?
3Confusing interface
Since the Pixel Tablet is both a tablet and a smart home screen, it has two versions of nearly everything, which my colleague Manuel Vonauwasn’t quite pleased with. When you dock the tablet, it enters the Hub Mode to mimic aNest Hub, but this mode is nothing but an “app” built into the tablet’s OS — that doesn’t play nice with some Android apps installed on the tablet.
Casting YouTube Music to the tablet and playing something using the YouTube Music app on the tablet are two distinct operations that the tablet treats differently. If you use the app to play something, it will start a new queue instead of letting you tinker with the existing queue from the casting mode. And when the tablet is unlocked but docked, a voice command will override the Hub Mode and instead use the YTM app. It’s a confusing mess, to say the least.
There are two different YouTube Music players in the notification shade, one from casted content and one from the YTM app
It is a disaster of a user experience, considering you’re left guessing all the time how the Pixel Tablet will react if you ask it something using your voice or when you switch between the two modes. All this can quickly get frustrating, and Google must find a way to make the software feel more seamless across both interfaces.
2Casting audio to the dock
What turns the Pixel Tablet into a smart home hub is that little dock you get in the box.But that charging dock is useless by itself. It does charge the tablet using its pogo pins and also has a speaker built-in to enhance your audio experience on the docked tablet. However, the dock is of no use when the tablet isn’t connected to it.
Had Google allowed the tablet to be used as a cast target independently, it would’ve found another purpose than being no better than a paperweight. It is a missed opportunity on Google’s part and considering it’s only selling the tablet as a bundle with the dock included, it could’ve delivered more value to the buyers.
Additionally, Google wants you to place these docks around your house so that you’re able to place your tablet in whichever room you’re in. But this $129 accessory comes with a speaker that is as good as the cheapNest Miniand doesn’t even work on its own. For that kind of price, you can easily find the largerNest Audioor any of the othertop smart speakersthat would offer a better audio experience, say in an open kitchen, than this Pixel Tablet dock.
1A better-designed dock next time, please?
While we’re at it, can we please get a better-designed dock next time? The magnetic power of the dock is required to hold this large tablet in place,but we found thatit isn’t easy to pluck the tablet off without picking up the dock as well. On the other hand, pressing the side buttons on the Pixel Tablet will make the tablet fall off the dock unless you support it with your other hand from the opposite end. The only fix to this would be a second-gen model with better ergonomics and well-thought-out implementation — maybe even usingmagnetic Qi2 wireless charging, if the specifcation is expanded to include tablets in the future.
A missed opportunity?
The Pixel Tablet is trying to do two things; while not completely miserable at both tasks, it doesn’t excel in either. The missing features make it feel like Google released a half-baked product in haste instead of thinking everything through before putting out its first tablet in years. But not everything is lost yet. It’s been six months since the tablet’s release and most of the complaints we have can be easily fixed with a software update, which is quite important for people who have already invested in one. As for the hardware issues, the Pixel Tablet will perhaps need another generation to come of age and become an easy recommendation for anyone looking for a mid-range tablet.
Google Pixel Tablet
The Google Pixel Tablet may not be perfect, but if none or only a few of the issues we described here apply to you, it might still be a great buy. The combined form factor itself is innovative, and it just needs a bit of software work to become much better than it already is.
