It’s no secret that Android tablets have had a rocky history. From the earliest efforts to outperform the iPad to the budget era that brought some of its biggest successes, Google’s attempts at mastering larger screens hasn’t always worked out. Last year, we saw the arrival of the Pixel Tablet, seemingly kicking off a new age of Android tablet options and marking one of the first high-profile premium slates not made by Samsung in years. At the time, it seemed like Google’s cross between a tablet and smart display could kick off a tablet revolution.
Unfortunately, the conversation around tablets always circles back to the iPad, and with that comparison, the Pixel Tablet just couldn’t compete. The smart display concept was a bit too underbaked to really score points with the general public, but really, it was the price that did Google in. At $500, Apple offered two different tablets for less cash — the $329 9th-gen iPad and the $450 10th-gen model — making it difficult for the Android option to win general consumers over, as the Nexus 7 did a decade ago. And even as Google looks to cut its tablet’s price, it continues to be undercut in every direction by Apple.
Google’s new dockless Pixel Tablet just doesn’t cut it
Nearly a year after its launch, Google finally did what people have been begging it to do since I/O last year: release a cheaper Pixel Tablet variant without the bundled dock for $100 less, seemingly straddling the line between entry-level and midrange slate perfectly. And in a perfect world, this would be great news for anyone in the market for a new tablet. A cheaper option that does away with the need to include an expensive, unnecessary dock? Sounds great.
The only problem, though, is that Google made this announcement about an hour after Apple discontinued its aging 9th-gen iPad and replaced it with a permanent price drop for its successor. What was once a relatively expensive proposition at $450 is now $50 less than the dockless Pixel Tablet. Google simply cannot win.
I know what some of you are thinking: if I wanted an iPad, I would’ve bought an iPad. And, to a certain extent, I agree with you. There are lots of advantages to sticking to an ecosystem these days, and Google is doing a pretty solid job in building out its Pixel experience. Trust me, I’m with you on this. But I’m not sure that feeling extends outside enthusiast communities.
Even among Android users, iPads have long been the default tablet experience, largely due to those rocky early days when optimized apps just weren’t available on Google’s platform. The Play Store is better than ever for tablets in 2024, but I still think the vast majority of shoppers — regardless of their phone’s operating system — still look at the entry-level iPad as the obvious choice for a cheap, big screen computing device. I’d still personally give the edge to the App Store, especially when it comes to console-grade ports, but it’s inarguably better.
Apple’s tablet is simply the better deal
But the math just doesn’t work out. At Apple’s old price of $450, I can see the reasoning behind choosing the dockless Pixel Tablet over the 10th-gen iPad. At $50 less than Google’s slate, it’s a much harder argument to make for the vast majority of users. Hell, even as a cheap option for productivity, Apple offers an official keyboard folio and stylus for its low-cost tablet. Google has yet to offer either accessory, even as rumors floated around last month saying the company would finally make both available.
Personally, I think Google would’ve been better off using today’s announcement as a chance to really target Apple’s pricing. We’ve seen the Pixel Tablet with its dock marked down to $400 pretty routinely, which makes today’s announcement feel a whole lot less special than it would otherwise. And sure, it won’t take long for Google to mark down the dockless version to $350 — or even $300, likely around the holidays — but sales aren’t predictable. What the company needed to do was a complete overhaul of its pricing structure, especially considering this hardware is a year old.
Google Pixel Tablet 2: Rumors and what we’d like to see
What we know about, and want from, Google’s next tablet
We’d be having a whole different conversation today if Google had reduced the Pixel Tablet with dock down to $400 permanently, all while offering a dockless variant at, say, $329. The company could’ve undercut Apple’s surprise announcement at the end of today’s keynote, all while making the upsell to the smart display replacement pretty easy. Seventy more dollars and you get a fancy speaker accessory? Sign me up.
Instead, the first-gen Pixel Tablet will live the rest of its life — however long that is — bouncing between discount after discount, trying to convince would-be iPad owners to take a chance on Pixel hardware. Whenever the Pixel Tablet 2 does finally show up on store shelves, I hope Google learns its lesson on this front. Beating the iPad is no small feat, especially when Apple does offer a solid value for its entry-level slate. If the company wants to be successful in the tablet market, it’s going to need to be cheaper and more fully-featured than its first-gen offering.
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Apple iPad (2022)
The iPad (10th Gen) maintains the renowned legacy of Apple’s tablet series, delivering top-notch multimedia capabilities, reliable performance, and an expansive app universe. Seamlessly fitting into the broader Apple ecosystem, it remains a solid tablet for home users, even with constraints like the low 64GB storage and compatibility with only the outdated first-gen Apple Pencil.
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Google Pixel Tablet
Looking for a smart home hub that can double as a gaming tablet? Google’s Pixel Tablet fits the bill. It flaunts a 10.9-inch IPS LCD screen, backed by the power of the Google Tensor G2 chipset and 8GB RAM for a snappy experience. Its camera setup includes an 8 MP rear and front camera, perfect for capturing those spontaneous moments or crystal-clear video calls.
