Google Pixel Slate review

Google’s Pixel Slate definitely is a mixed bag. On one hand, the higher processor models are great for mobile productivity — with some caveats and issues. Chrome OS is definitely has a nicer feeling on a tablet of this size over Android. While you can do most productivity work using Chrome OS or Android Apps, there’s still some “full-blown” software like Photoshop or Lightroom that you’ll be missing.

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It’s a Chromebook that can double as a tablet, but the tablet experience, with both Android and web apps, isn’t as polished as it could be. Maybe that’ll change with a future software update, who knows? If you want a Chromebook with a 2-in-1 design, then this still feels like a good option, but you should know that there are much cheaper Chromebook alternatives also out there.

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The Pixel Slate is a good attempt at a Chrome OS tablet by Google. But with issues with not being able to run some Android apps on it and cost of the device and accessories makes products like the iPad, Microsoft Surface Pro or Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 much more appealing.

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The Pixel Slate only really makes sense as an evolution of Google’s own-brand high-end Chromebook line. In that context, it’s a fine successor to the convertible Pixelbook, although that too nestles in a confusing niche given that virtually every other Chrome OS device is both lower power and lower cost. The dream of a joint Android tablet and serious laptop is worthy, but not fully realised here.

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There are a lot of good ideas in the Pixel Slate, but this pricey Google tablet doesn't do enough to distinguish itself from the plenty of other great Chromebook options out there.

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There’s no question that Google has made a decent tablet with the Slate and it even has some features you won’t find on an iPad. However, the dated design, high price and overall usability simply can’t match the might of the new iPad Pro.

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The Google Pixel Slate is a nice enough tablet in its own right, but adding the keyboard and pen elevates it way above just another high-end tablet. While this is true of the iPad Pro too, the fact that the Pixel Slate is designed around Chrome OS, ostensibly a ChromeBook operating system, it really does feel like an incomplete experience without them.

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The Pixel Slate is a frustrating device to use and a hard product to score. If you dive fully into Chrome OS with the keyboard cover then it can - for most basic tasks - be used as though a Windows or Mac might be, with Android apps filling in the software blanks. But the weak processing power of the low end models, expense of the keyboard, lacklustre tablet mode and buggy Play Store integration mean this is a messy user experience. It’s too expensive and has too many issues to fully recommend.

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Not only did Google ship a product with an OS that clearly just isn’t quite ready for a tablet form factor, it did so in a way that feels unfinished and, at times, broken. Unlike the Pixelbook, which was at least a very pleasant laptop despite some rough edges that have since largely been smoothed, the Pixel Slate doesn’t have strong core competencies to fall back on. It’s not a very good laptop that is also a much worse tablet (at least for anything but Netflix binging).

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Unfortunately, the Pixel Slate is ruined by bad software, through and through. The shining spot, its Chrome browser, is the only aspect that works as expected. Everything else feels unpolished, and the attempt to graft Android’s most useful bits onto Chrome OS falls flat here.

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