The Pixel Slate: A Device with Great Potential, But Room for Improvement

As I sat down to review the Pixel Slate, I couldn't help but feel excited about the device's potential. This was going to be my first time using a tablet as a companion device to my smartphone, and I was eager to see how it would perform. The Slate comes with a 12.3-inch touchscreen display, weighing in at just 1.8 pounds, making it easy to take with me on the go.

One of the things that struck me first about the Pixel Slate is its compact design. It's small enough to fit easily into my bag or backpack, and yet still offers a large and vibrant display that's perfect for watching videos, browsing the web, or playing games. The device itself feels solid in the hand, with a smooth and premium feel that's reminiscent of Apple's iPhones.

But there is one feature that really gets my blood boiling - the lack of a headphone jack. I know it's becoming more common to see smartphones and tablets without this feature, but for me, it's just not acceptable. And yet, here we are with a $999 tablet that doesn't even have a headphone jack. The only consolation is that it comes with an adapter, which is okay by smartphone standards, but really should be included as standard equipment on any device that's going to cost this much.

Now, let's talk about performance. I chose the top-of-the-line configuration, which came with Intel's eighth-generation Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 120GB of storage. For my use case, the performance was generally good, but not consistently excellent. Web browsing was fine, opening up a few apps was okay, watching videos didn't give me any problems...but when I started to get into some more intensive tasks, like playing games or running multiple apps at once, the Slate struggled to keep up.

For example, I use Sonic Forces as my benchmark game - it's a pretty demanding title that requires a lot of processing power and RAM. But on the Pixel Slate, even with its i5 processor and 8GB of RAM, I found myself experiencing lag, glitches, and other performance issues. It was like the device was running at half-speed, unable to keep up with the demands of the game.

I also experienced some glitches out, where the Slate would just freak out on me - moving tabs around, doing weird stuff that I couldn't even explain. But I'm hoping that this is just a software issue and that a future update will fix it.

From what I've seen so far, I think the Pixel Slate is best suited for casual use cases like web browsing, email checking, and streaming videos. It's not going to be able to handle more intensive tasks like gaming or video editing, unless you're using some of the lower-end configurations, which I would advise against.

But if you're a Pixel fan who wants to have access to Android apps on their tablet, and get a full web browsing experience, then this might be the device for you. The Slate comes with support for Android apps from the Google Play Store, which is nice, but keep in mind that not all of these apps are optimized for Chrome OS. And if you're already an owner of one of these devices, there are some special features that are included - like Smart Unlock, which allows you to unlock the Slate with your phone.

Overall, I think Google has made a good start with the Pixel Slate, but it's clear that they still have a lot to learn when it comes to creating a device that can compete with the likes of Apple and Microsoft. The hardware is solid, but the software needs more work - and that's an area where I think Google will need to focus in future updates.

One thing that I do like about the Pixel Slate is its physical design. The device feels premium and solid in the hand, and the display is bright and vibrant. But there are a few areas where it falls short - particularly with regards to the keyboard folio, which could be improved upon.

In terms of pricing, I think the Pixel Slate is definitely on the higher end of the spectrum. At $999, it's going to take some convincing for anyone who needs a tablet that can handle more intensive tasks. But if you're looking for a device that will give you great performance and features, then this might be worth considering.

But for now, I think there are better options out there - devices like the Microsoft Surface Go or the Lenovo Yoga C630 - that offer similar features at a lower price point. So unless you're absolutely dead-set on getting a Pixel Slate, I would say wait and see what Google has to offer in future updates.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enremember the pixels late Google announced a while back well I've been testing it for about a week and I know some people are probably wondering what Google's trying to accomplish with the slate and I think I have the answer this is Google's answer to the iPad pro but for Android well we've got right here is first and foremost a tablet running Google's Chrome OS and the actual hardware feels really good in the hands thanks to the rounded edges around the body as well as the overall solid build quality it's also got this nice high-res twelve point three inch display and it's a pretty nice nice to have when it comes to media consumption watching movies playing games and of course like web browsing now I really like to watch my favorite shows on large tablets so for me the experience here is a good one especially with those nice Slav front-facing speakers I've been using that twelve point nine inch iPad pro for eight a long time now so this size feels right at home for me but if you think that is too large you got to remember once you attach a keyboard to this guy it goes into the laptop mode and that's when you appreciate the size a bit more now let's talk about that laptop experience a bit I think Chrome OS does a pretty good job at blending the world between a laptop and a regular Android tablet it does a really good job at incorporating both since you can use all the Android apps that you get from the Google Play Store with this but when it comes to the actual laptop experience you still have your file explorer you also get a full google chrome web browsing experience with all the plugins and everything that you would expect from google chrome on a regular desktop you're gonna be getting that here as well so from a software side I do think Chrome OS is evolving into something that is a viable option for laptop users who also want all access to Android apps but when it kind of falls apart from me is the actual hardware that's available for the slate and I'm pointing fingers at the pixel slate keyboard now this is the Google made keyboard that's supposed to go alongside the pixel slate as one of the options if you're looking for a keyboard but to me this keyboard is just I don't think it's a good buy first off it cost 200 bucks and it doesn't provide the best user experience now while I do think it's made out of good materials it has a backlit keyboard the keyboard even has circular keys that you either love or hate I personally had no problem with it I type pretty fun but the overall feel of it just feels very flimsy it definitely doesn't provide a good laptop situation especially when using it on your lap the flap that kind of keeps it all together and helps it to be a folio case feels very very flimsy it moves around quite a bit for me I think Microsoft solution to this was including a magnet where the keyboard can actually rest on the tablet you can't really do that with this so you have to put it on a flat surface and when using that on your lap it just it feels all kinds of wobbly and what's weird about it is when you're using it on a wobbly surface like your legs you get this weird click whenever you rest your forearm on the side of the keyboard the trackpad actually clicks which is a huge problem because if you're moving the mouse around it's gonna lead to a lot of unintentional clicks I don't know how many times I've dragged things around by mistake by simply leaning on the keyboard and it's honestly something I've never experienced before so right here we have the surface pro keyboard no matter the Flex you don't hear any clicks the trackpad is not being clicked in by mistake I even have the eve laptop's keyboard same deal here with the pixel slave keyboard we're just a little bit of flex you can hear that click and I don't know if mine is defective but if it isn't that's definitely a design flaw and my other issue with this flap being so flimsy is that when you go to hold it in your hands maybe you're just carrying it around like this you've noticed the cover moves a lot this is just not ideal I'm not a fan of this by any means doesn't happen with the surface type cover or the e laptop's cover and not even the iPad pro although this does wiggle just a smidge it's nothing like this guy right here this thing just moves all over the place not a good look so for me the sleek keyboard isn't really a good option but I do like the fact that you can prop it up in almost any angle that you want there's a lot of flexibility there but I honestly have a hard time recommending to slake keyboard at its price with all the flaws that it currently has but it isn't all just doom and gloom if you want to use the slate as a laptop there are some other options out there like the bridge keyboard which is actually a Bluetooth keyboard that matches perfectly with the slate it has the same finish it allows it to feel a lot more sturdy and honestly this looks as good as a first-party keyboard and it even cost $50 less now the hinge design is a little bit funky with this one it uses these rubber grips to kind of hold the slate in place and it does a pretty good job it allows it to move around pretty easily when attached but something I've noticed from my experience is that those rubber pads can be moved which will expose the metal part which could potentially scratch your slate if you just shove it in there without paying close attention but I honestly do think that this is the better option between the two although it doesn't have a backlit keyboard but there are some other cool features and accessories like the pixel pen which allows you to do all the artsy stuff that you'd come to expect as well as use it for google assistant to highlight certain things on the screen and that will automatically make google assistant pop it up and thus they can even transcribe your handwriting to text so if you're not feeling like typing and you just want to use your pen you can do that as well speaking of Google assistant you have dedicated keys on the keyboard or you can even shout out hey Google and that'll get it working and I also really like the fact that Google implemented a fingerprint scanner right into the power button I think that is the place that all fingerprint scanners should go and it's nice to see it here on a tablet and the pistol slate also has a front-facing camera as well as a rear-facing camera by the end of the day their cameras on a tablet which probably won't get that much used but it is nice to have the cameras if you ever need them they do include portrait mode but I just wouldn't expect the same quality that you get from the pixel 3 I will say though I am happy you opted for 2 USB type-c ports so when you're using this thing like a laptop you don't have to worry about what side you got to charge it on you can charge it from either side you can even use the other side for accessories which is a nice bonus and beyond being able to plug in extra accessories with that of the USB C port you can also use an external display so that you can project whatever you have on your screen onto a bigger display which you can even enhance the experience of by adding a Bluetooth keyboard and bluetooth mouse and we've seen this kind of feature with Samsung X kind of nice to have it here so that if you're working on a project you can actually use this little tablet to do a lot more on a bigger monitor but one thing that I am not happy about is the fact that this thing has no headphone jack that to me is just mind-boggling it does come with an adapter which is OK by smartphone standards I guess these days but for a full-blown tablet I really have a hard time understanding why they couldn't just fit a headphone jack in here now let's talk a little bit about the performance and this really can vary depending on the configuration that you go for my configurations got Intel's eighth generation Core i5 processor as well as eight gigs of ram and 120 gigs of storage but for my experience the performance was a bit hit or miss doing things like web browsing was just fine opening up a few apps was just fine watching content not gonna be an issue but when I started to see some problems was with just trying to play some games if you guys are familiar with the channel you know I like to play sonic forces that's my little benchmark as a game that I've been addicted to for a long time but it is my benchmark to see if the device can hold up to playing a pretty intensive game that's online lots of things going on really quickly and honestly the slate couldn't really keep up with it I experienced a lot more leg than I've ever experienced with a smartphone and not only in the races would that I have that issue but just browsing the regular menu it just felt like the slate couldn't keep up and it was honestly the same experience with some of my favorite mobile games and not being able to play game smoothly has me a bit fearful for more intensive apps that require just a bit more horsepower I've also had a glitch out on me a few times you guys can see but a piece of b-roll here but this thing was kind of just freaking out on its own moving tabs around doing all kinds of weird stuff but I'm hoping that that may be because I have an early review unit and that a software update may be able to fix that in the future and that's been my experience coming from the second highest configuration option available so anything below that has me a little bit worried I almost feel like I couldn't even recommend anything under the i5 so from a performance perspective I feel like you gotta go I 5 or i7 the lower ones you can use for just regular web browsing but I honestly wouldn't expect to do anything too crazy on them and while this thing can run an android app from the Google Play Store which aren't all optimised for Chrome OS and they can all work with any device that you may already own it is clear that bools targeting pics will owners by even including some special features if you already hate pixel owner some of those features being smart unlocked where you can unlock the slate with your phone also there's instant tethering which is pretty cool because you don't need Wi-Fi in order to get on the internet with a slate if you have your pixel and it has service it can get the data from there and function like it's running on Wi-Fi with the data that you're getting from your pixel you also get access to your messages so you can respond to texts right from the slate which is kind of nice kind of reminds me of iMessage a bit so as a companion device to a pixel phone or maybe another Android phone I think it works just fine if you want to just do everyday things but if you're a student or maybe professional this might not be the best option for you yes you'll be able to do all the typical things like use a full web browser access Microsoft Word you can do those kind of things but if you need specialized programs that's kind of where you run into limitations I just find those basic things don't weren't the pricetag that you're gonna have to pay for this there are better options out there that cost a lot less and pretty much do the same thing like I said if you're really big on Android you want to have access to Android apps on your tablet and get a full web browsing experience this will definitely do that but you won't be able to do some of the crazier things unless you maybe go for the i7 model I feel like Google still trying to get its footing when it comes to the pixel book pixel slate those kind of things Google still trying to figure it out but based on the operating system alone I do think that from that perspective it's moving in the right direction the physical Hardware of the slate itself I think is really good specs could use some work and that folio keyboard definitely needs some redoing but that about wraps it up for this video guys hopefully you enjoyed it I know this was a bit of a long one but let me know what you think of the pixel slate down below until the next video guys it's your average consumer paceremember the pixels late Google announced a while back well I've been testing it for about a week and I know some people are probably wondering what Google's trying to accomplish with the slate and I think I have the answer this is Google's answer to the iPad pro but for Android well we've got right here is first and foremost a tablet running Google's Chrome OS and the actual hardware feels really good in the hands thanks to the rounded edges around the body as well as the overall solid build quality it's also got this nice high-res twelve point three inch display and it's a pretty nice nice to have when it comes to media consumption watching movies playing games and of course like web browsing now I really like to watch my favorite shows on large tablets so for me the experience here is a good one especially with those nice Slav front-facing speakers I've been using that twelve point nine inch iPad pro for eight a long time now so this size feels right at home for me but if you think that is too large you got to remember once you attach a keyboard to this guy it goes into the laptop mode and that's when you appreciate the size a bit more now let's talk about that laptop experience a bit I think Chrome OS does a pretty good job at blending the world between a laptop and a regular Android tablet it does a really good job at incorporating both since you can use all the Android apps that you get from the Google Play Store with this but when it comes to the actual laptop experience you still have your file explorer you also get a full google chrome web browsing experience with all the plugins and everything that you would expect from google chrome on a regular desktop you're gonna be getting that here as well so from a software side I do think Chrome OS is evolving into something that is a viable option for laptop users who also want all access to Android apps but when it kind of falls apart from me is the actual hardware that's available for the slate and I'm pointing fingers at the pixel slate keyboard now this is the Google made keyboard that's supposed to go alongside the pixel slate as one of the options if you're looking for a keyboard but to me this keyboard is just I don't think it's a good buy first off it cost 200 bucks and it doesn't provide the best user experience now while I do think it's made out of good materials it has a backlit keyboard the keyboard even has circular keys that you either love or hate I personally had no problem with it I type pretty fun but the overall feel of it just feels very flimsy it definitely doesn't provide a good laptop situation especially when using it on your lap the flap that kind of keeps it all together and helps it to be a folio case feels very very flimsy it moves around quite a bit for me I think Microsoft solution to this was including a magnet where the keyboard can actually rest on the tablet you can't really do that with this so you have to put it on a flat surface and when using that on your lap it just it feels all kinds of wobbly and what's weird about it is when you're using it on a wobbly surface like your legs you get this weird click whenever you rest your forearm on the side of the keyboard the trackpad actually clicks which is a huge problem because if you're moving the mouse around it's gonna lead to a lot of unintentional clicks I don't know how many times I've dragged things around by mistake by simply leaning on the keyboard and it's honestly something I've never experienced before so right here we have the surface pro keyboard no matter the Flex you don't hear any clicks the trackpad is not being clicked in by mistake I even have the eve laptop's keyboard same deal here with the pixel slave keyboard we're just a little bit of flex you can hear that click and I don't know if mine is defective but if it isn't that's definitely a design flaw and my other issue with this flap being so flimsy is that when you go to hold it in your hands maybe you're just carrying it around like this you've noticed the cover moves a lot this is just not ideal I'm not a fan of this by any means doesn't happen with the surface type cover or the e laptop's cover and not even the iPad pro although this does wiggle just a smidge it's nothing like this guy right here this thing just moves all over the place not a good look so for me the sleek keyboard isn't really a good option but I do like the fact that you can prop it up in almost any angle that you want there's a lot of flexibility there but I honestly have a hard time recommending to slake keyboard at its price with all the flaws that it currently has but it isn't all just doom and gloom if you want to use the slate as a laptop there are some other options out there like the bridge keyboard which is actually a Bluetooth keyboard that matches perfectly with the slate it has the same finish it allows it to feel a lot more sturdy and honestly this looks as good as a first-party keyboard and it even cost $50 less now the hinge design is a little bit funky with this one it uses these rubber grips to kind of hold the slate in place and it does a pretty good job it allows it to move around pretty easily when attached but something I've noticed from my experience is that those rubber pads can be moved which will expose the metal part which could potentially scratch your slate if you just shove it in there without paying close attention but I honestly do think that this is the better option between the two although it doesn't have a backlit keyboard but there are some other cool features and accessories like the pixel pen which allows you to do all the artsy stuff that you'd come to expect as well as use it for google assistant to highlight certain things on the screen and that will automatically make google assistant pop it up and thus they can even transcribe your handwriting to text so if you're not feeling like typing and you just want to use your pen you can do that as well speaking of Google assistant you have dedicated keys on the keyboard or you can even shout out hey Google and that'll get it working and I also really like the fact that Google implemented a fingerprint scanner right into the power button I think that is the place that all fingerprint scanners should go and it's nice to see it here on a tablet and the pistol slate also has a front-facing camera as well as a rear-facing camera by the end of the day their cameras on a tablet which probably won't get that much used but it is nice to have the cameras if you ever need them they do include portrait mode but I just wouldn't expect the same quality that you get from the pixel 3 I will say though I am happy you opted for 2 USB type-c ports so when you're using this thing like a laptop you don't have to worry about what side you got to charge it on you can charge it from either side you can even use the other side for accessories which is a nice bonus and beyond being able to plug in extra accessories with that of the USB C port you can also use an external display so that you can project whatever you have on your screen onto a bigger display which you can even enhance the experience of by adding a Bluetooth keyboard and bluetooth mouse and we've seen this kind of feature with Samsung X kind of nice to have it here so that if you're working on a project you can actually use this little tablet to do a lot more on a bigger monitor but one thing that I am not happy about is the fact that this thing has no headphone jack that to me is just mind-boggling it does come with an adapter which is OK by smartphone standards I guess these days but for a full-blown tablet I really have a hard time understanding why they couldn't just fit a headphone jack in here now let's talk a little bit about the performance and this really can vary depending on the configuration that you go for my configurations got Intel's eighth generation Core i5 processor as well as eight gigs of ram and 120 gigs of storage but for my experience the performance was a bit hit or miss doing things like web browsing was just fine opening up a few apps was just fine watching content not gonna be an issue but when I started to see some problems was with just trying to play some games if you guys are familiar with the channel you know I like to play sonic forces that's my little benchmark as a game that I've been addicted to for a long time but it is my benchmark to see if the device can hold up to playing a pretty intensive game that's online lots of things going on really quickly and honestly the slate couldn't really keep up with it I experienced a lot more leg than I've ever experienced with a smartphone and not only in the races would that I have that issue but just browsing the regular menu it just felt like the slate couldn't keep up and it was honestly the same experience with some of my favorite mobile games and not being able to play game smoothly has me a bit fearful for more intensive apps that require just a bit more horsepower I've also had a glitch out on me a few times you guys can see but a piece of b-roll here but this thing was kind of just freaking out on its own moving tabs around doing all kinds of weird stuff but I'm hoping that that may be because I have an early review unit and that a software update may be able to fix that in the future and that's been my experience coming from the second highest configuration option available so anything below that has me a little bit worried I almost feel like I couldn't even recommend anything under the i5 so from a performance perspective I feel like you gotta go I 5 or i7 the lower ones you can use for just regular web browsing but I honestly wouldn't expect to do anything too crazy on them and while this thing can run an android app from the Google Play Store which aren't all optimised for Chrome OS and they can all work with any device that you may already own it is clear that bools targeting pics will owners by even including some special features if you already hate pixel owner some of those features being smart unlocked where you can unlock the slate with your phone also there's instant tethering which is pretty cool because you don't need Wi-Fi in order to get on the internet with a slate if you have your pixel and it has service it can get the data from there and function like it's running on Wi-Fi with the data that you're getting from your pixel you also get access to your messages so you can respond to texts right from the slate which is kind of nice kind of reminds me of iMessage a bit so as a companion device to a pixel phone or maybe another Android phone I think it works just fine if you want to just do everyday things but if you're a student or maybe professional this might not be the best option for you yes you'll be able to do all the typical things like use a full web browser access Microsoft Word you can do those kind of things but if you need specialized programs that's kind of where you run into limitations I just find those basic things don't weren't the pricetag that you're gonna have to pay for this there are better options out there that cost a lot less and pretty much do the same thing like I said if you're really big on Android you want to have access to Android apps on your tablet and get a full web browsing experience this will definitely do that but you won't be able to do some of the crazier things unless you maybe go for the i7 model I feel like Google still trying to get its footing when it comes to the pixel book pixel slate those kind of things Google still trying to figure it out but based on the operating system alone I do think that from that perspective it's moving in the right direction the physical Hardware of the slate itself I think is really good specs could use some work and that folio keyboard definitely needs some redoing but that about wraps it up for this video guys hopefully you enjoyed it I know this was a bit of a long one but let me know what you think of the pixel slate down below until the next video guys it's your average consumer pace\n"