At the same event where Google launched its 2018 smartphone flagships, Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL, the search engine giant also unveiled the Pixel Slate — a first of its kind 2-in-1 tablet PC which will be powered by Google’s Chrome OS.
At a time when tablets sales and relevance seem to be dwindling, Google releases the 2-in-1 Pixel Slate as an upgrade to the Pixel C and to give other premium tablets (like the Apple iPad Pro and Microsoft Surface Pro) a run for their money.
It also comes as a total refresh to what Android tablets used to be; the Pixel Slate can be safely said to be an Android tablet and a Pixelbook laptop combined into one device.
Interestingly, the Google Pixel Slate is well priced, beautifully designed and comes with internal configurations that places it in a position where it can comfortably top the charts of best-performing Android tablets and ultimately, best tablet that gives you value for your money.
Take a look at some offerings of the Google Pixel Slate 2-in-1 tablet.
Google Pixel Slate Key Specifications
- Display — 12.3” 3000 x 2000 LTPS LCD with Pixelbook Pen support
- Dimensions — 7.0mm x 290.85mm x 202.04mm
- Weight — 1.6 lbs
- Processor — 8th Gen Intel Core m3, i5, or Celeron
- RAM — 4GB, 8GB, or 16GB
- SSD storage options — 32GB, 64GB, 128GB, or 256GB
- Ports — two USB-C, keyboard connector
- Wireless — WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.2, no LTE option
- Audio — Dual front-facing speakers, two mics
- Front camera — 8MP
- Rear camera — 8MP
- Battery — 48 WHr, up to 10 hours
Design and Display
The Google Pixel Slate is pretty much designed like any Android tablet out there, but with bits of modifications. First, the tablet feels really great to hold, carry, and operate in the hands, thanks to it slim body (7mm), rounded edges, smooth anodized aluminum body, and evenly balanced center of gravity.
Looking at the tablet also gives some sort of visual orgasm — a glossy Midnight Blue coating, curved 2.5D Gorilla Glass covering on the front, and a Pixel Imprint fingerprint reader which is neatly embedded at the top left-hand side of the tablet easily positions the Google Pixel Slate as one of the best-designed tablets.
On the front, there is a 12.3-inch low-temperature poly-silicon (LTPS) LCD 3,000 x 2,000 display in 3:2 aspect ratio.
The tablet comes with a pixel density that measures 293ppi which Google says makes the Pixel Slate a tablet with the highest-ever display density.
Apart from the improved image and colour quality, the Pixel Slate’s display also helps conserve battery.
The Google Pixel Slate has a single 8-megapixel camera on the front and on the rear, one USB-C port on each side, two microphones, and the keyboard connector.
Sadly, there’s no 3.5mm headphone jack but you should be able to use a USB-C headphone or earbud. The camera will be powered by the same software app used on Google Pixel phones i.e support for Portrait mode and other modes.
In a nutshell, the Pixel Slate’s design is ergonomic; built with usability and comfort in mind.
Accessories: Pixel Slate Keyboard and Pixelbook Pen
As earlier mentioned, the Pixel Slate comes with a keyboard connector on the side. At launch, Google announced the Pixel Slate Keyboard which is peculiarly designed for the tablet.
The keyboard is backlit, comes with a trackpad and sports circular and comfy keys with perfect keypress.
The Pixel Slate automatically switches to laptop mode when the keyboard is magnetically attached and back to tablet mode when detached.
Like the keyboard, the Pixelbook Pen is also expensive and doesn’t come with the tablet out-of-the-box.
Processor and Performance
The Google Pixel Slate makes use of Intel’s CPU on the inside: 8th-Gen on high-end models and Celeron on low-tier models. There are about five different CPU configurations to choose from, likewise storage.
The base model of the Pixel Slate comes with 32GB while the top-tier model reaches 256GB. The in-between models can be customized have either 64GB or 128GB of SSD while RAM ranges from 4GB to 16GB.
The available Google Slate Pixel models based on CPU, RAM, and internal storage are listed below.
- Model 1 — Intel Celeron processor, 4GB RAM, 32GB SSD – $599
- Model 2 — Intel Celeron processor, 8GB RAM, 64GB SSD – $699
- Model 3 — Intel Core m3 processor, 8GB RAM, 64GB SSD – $799
- Model 4 — Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD – $999
- Model 5 — Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD – $1599
Although the use of dual-core fanless Intel processors on the Pixel Slate will bring on ultra-smooth computing experience to the tablet, it can not be compared to the recently launched Surface Pro 6 with quad-core Intel CPU.
The Google Pixel Slate comes with fast charge capability that gives 2 hours of use from only 15-minutes of charge. On a full charge, Google says users should expect nothing less than 10 hours of continuous use.
Pricing
Model 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 as listed above costs $599, $699, $799, $999, and $1599 respectively while the Pixel Slate keyboard and Pixelbook Pen stylus will set you back by extra $199 and $99 respectively.
