The last Google tablet?

[Phil Schroeder]

As many of you were probably were, I was paying close attention to the announcements today. Some fun stuff, not a lot of surprises. But one of the things I was mainly watching for is whether there would be an update to their tablet line. I have a Nexus 9 and I love it. But I would love to have a tablet that uses USB-C and has some of the newest hardware. The Pixelbook is really an answer to Microsoft Surface's tablet/laptop. It's cool but I wanted a solid iPad Retina competitor like the Nexus 9. Is this a section of the business that's just dying? I know tablets have more or less reached their saturation point in the market but I still find it a useful around the house kind of thing instead of using my phone for everything. I have the Pixel currently and I think I might get the Pixel 2 XL just for all of its sweet glory. Curious on peoples thoughts, thanks!

 

[steve]

As many of you were probably were, I was paying close attention to the announcements today. Some fun stuff, not a lot of surprises. But one of the things I was mainly watching for is whether there would be an update to their tablet line. I have a Nexus 9 and I love it. But I would love to have a tablet that uses USB-C and has some of the newest hardware. The Pixelbook is really an answer to Microsoft Surface's tablet/laptop. It's cool but I wanted a solid iPad Retina competitor like the Nexus 9. Is this a section of the business that's just dying? I know tablets have more or less reached their saturation point in the market but I still find it a useful around the house kind of thing instead of using my phone for everything. I have the Pixel currently and I think I might get the Pixel 2 XL just for all of its sweet glory. Curious on peoples thoughts, thanks!

Very very few mobile users are on tablets. With Google Home being a big part of a device with multi-user capabilities that control house devices and appliances... I see part of that small percentage being replaced.

For me, I never use a tablet because I am always on my phone or computer. I never a need for a in between device. That is totally just a personal preference but I am sure many others concur.

 

[Phil Schroeder]

Yeah, that's fair. I basically use my Nexus 9 as a glorified Kindle. I use it for ebooks, watching Netflix or other media on a larger screen, etc. It seems like Pixel C was more their iPad Pro so I was hoping there would be a replacement for the Nexus 9 that was under the Pixel branding with USB-C and so forth.

 

[Brian706]

Well, what's wrong with the Pixel C? Just not new enough for you? Mine works well. I don't use it a ton, but it's been a nice device.

It's got USB C and Android Oreo.

 

[Phil Schroeder]

I guess nothing. It's just a bit pricey for a device that is a couple years old now. Although the specs remain impressive. I've always liked the slightly smaller devices as well. I would probably get a Pixel C if you could find them cheaper but for some reason it appears not many were made so even on places like eBay they're still somewhat scarce and by extension retain their high pricing.

 

[Hadron]

I'm probably a bit unusual in that I use my tablet entirely for work. I dislike printing off and carrying around a lot of paper, so when I have a document to review I often copy the PDF to my tablet (a Galaxy Note 10.1, so one with active stylus support) and read/annotate on that. I also sometimes give presentations from it, using the stylus to annotate. So for me it's a tool with some specific purposes. A laptop with stylus support would suit some of these, though the lesser bulk of the tablet is handy as a notepad. But it does mean that I have a very specific requirement, and in the Android space Samsung (with their S-pen) seem to be the only ones who are providing that.