When I watched the trailer for Pokemon Detective Pikachu, the titular character’s fur was slightly sharper on the Pixel Slate than the Pixelbook, and the color in Pikachu’s red cheeks was bold on both laptops. Right out of the gate, the Pixel Slate ramps up its resolution to 3000 x 2000 and sticks it to the Pixelbook's 2400 x 1600. You might want to keep that 3.5mm to USB-C handy if you plan on getting a Pixel Slate. The Pixel Slate and Pixelbook both skimp on ports (two USB Type-C connections), but the Pixel Slate commits the ultimate sin and ditches the headphone jack. The Pixelbook is technically lighter and thinner, at 2.5 pounds and 11.4 x 8.7 x 0.4 inches, when comparing the two devices as clamshells. The Pixel Slate weighs in at 1.6 pounds (2.9 pounds with Pixel Slate Keyboard) and measures 11.5 x 8 x 0.3 (0.6 with Pixel Slate Keyboard) inches. The Pixel Slate and Pixelbook both have sturdy aluminum chassis and are similar in size. The Pixel Slate sports slimmer bezels, and the Pixel Slate Keyboard features a simple, dark-blue shade with keys that form a cute, circular shape. It's hard to miss the bezels on the display, and the silicon palm rests look a little awkward. I struggle to see a world in which a more affordable Pixel Slate wouldn’t kill it - and this leads me to one conclusion: by totally discontinuing the tablet, Google has punched itself in the face.We thought that the Pixelbook was quite stylish in our review, but I'm not a fan of the multiple shades of white in the interior, especially because it makes the keyboard look out of place. Maybe it’s putting all its focus on the Pixelbook Go? Maybe sales were bad? But it was early days for the Pixel Slate, it had only just started racing against its competitors. Honestly, there’s probably a good reason why Google has discontinued the Pixel Slate. Mmm, I’m getting fuzzy just thinking about it. All your work and details seamlessly synced across your Google accounts. Something that could be combined with the Pixelbook Pen making for easy note taking. Imagine it: an affordable machine that can be used for work and leisure. Although it was a gorgeous machine, it was overpriced compared to its competitors and it wasn’t entirely clear who it was aimed at.īut these are easy issues to solve in today’s world.Ĭonsidering the past year has seen tablet sales soar and Google shift millions of Chromebooks, now should be the ideal time for the company to release a new and cheaper Pixel Slate. The original tablet wasn’t perfect - far from it, in fact. This is the approach I would’ve loved Google to take with the Pixel Slate. In fact, the company seems to have taken this onboard, as with the Pixel 5 it actually removed some features the previous model had, as well as dropping the price.Īnd you know what? It was one of the best phones of 2020. These thrive by eschewing the idea of competing as a premium brand - instead making affordable devices that use the cleanest version of Android and perform seamlessly as part of the overall Google ecosystem. Let’s take its Pixel phones as an example. I’ve written before that the company found its sweet spot with the budget-focused “a” series of handsets. Yes, the Samsung Galaxy Tab and Amazon Fire HD are popular and solid devices, but they can’t really match Apple when it comes to quality, usability, and interoperability The iPad has long been the dominant tablet across the world and there’s little that’s truly challenging it. And, alongside that, I recognize the importance of competition. Long story short, I now get what tablets are for. Over the past year, I got bang into tablets again - something I attribute to my time with iPad Pro. Simply put, it’s because Google had the potential to make a fantastic, competitive, and affordable machine. But why are you a sadboy about the Pixel Slate? In other words, Google’s tablet aspirations are dead. Not only has it half-announced this, the decision is also backed by logic: why would Google remove all traces of the hardware from its site if it was planning to launch something else? We’ve reached out to Google for a comment and more clarification, but we’re working under the assumption that the company has shifted completely out of selling tablets, rather than readying for a next model. Rest well, sweet Pixel Slate - we hardly knew thee. But the Pixel Slate is a big loss, both to Google and the public at large.
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