Pixel Slate was announced in October 2018 as the first Chrome OS tablet and flagship device, made by Google. After two years, Pixel Slate is out of stock and discontinued in the three countries in which it was launched.
Update 1/20/21: At the beginning of last month, we reported how the Pixel Slate was out of stock in the USA, Canada and the United Kingdom. Inventory did not return in the following weeks, and the Google Store today has removed the product list entirely. It is also no longer shown on the main “Pixelbook” tab. The Pixelbook Pen has also been withdrawn, although replacement tips remain available.
Original 1/12/20: The Pixel Slate is defined by a 12.3-inch 3000 × 2000 (293PPI) LCD that supports the Pixelbook Pen’s pen input. This – as it is marked – “Molecular Display” is flanked by front speakers on the left and right, while an ƒ / 1.9 “Duo Cam” of 8 megapixels is above. The brand’s inspiration for the wide-angle front-facer is clear, while there is another 8MP ƒ / 1.8 on the rear that also supports 1080p 30FPS video recording.
The upper right corner houses a Pixel Imprint fingerprint sensor that functions as the power button, while there are USB-C ports on both sides of the device that charge the rated 48Wh battery for up to 12 hours of use.
With Intel processors, there were originally five variations. The base model at $ 599 at launch was equipped with an Intel Celeron with 4 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage. For $ 100 more, you have the same chip with twice as much memory and eMMC. While Google was looking for accessibility, these two offerings were hampered in terms of performance. During the last year or more of the Pixel Slate’s life, three models have been offered at adjusted prices:
- $ 499: 8th generation Intel Core m3, 8 GB of RAM, 64 GB SSD
- $ 599: 8th generation Intel Core i5, 8 GB of RAM, 128 GB SSD
- $ 899: 8th generation Intel Core i7, 16 GB of RAM, 256 GB SSD
Google promoted entertainment and productivity use cases for your tablet. The latter was aided by an official keyboard box that was connected via pins and had round chiclet keys. USB-C ports support 4K video output for a docked configuration. In terms of design, all units were available in Midnight Blue and the device weighed 1.6 pounds for a slender thickness of 7 mm.
Overall, standalone Chromebook tablets – versus 2 in 1 convertibles – haven’t yet taken off as a form factor. Android apps were the main appeal, but experience was lacking, and more optimized experiences were found on the web. Chrome OS tablets are likely to have better luck in the lower segment.
About eight months after the Pixel Slate was announced, Google confirmed that it was moving away from the original tablets and focusing on laptops like the Pixelbook Go. The Pixel Slate is no longer available for sale because the original Pixelbook has achieved a similar status in September.
Pixel Slate is currently “sold out” in the US and Canada, while it is listed as “No longer available” in the UK. We have contacted Google to confirm that Pixel Slate will be discontinued.
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