Google's original Pixel Tablet stands out among the rest for one feature: its charging speaker dock. And according to @MysteryLupin on X (via Digital Trends), Google may be relaunching the Pixel Tablet without its dock — a very strange decision.
Instead, the tweet suggests that the new Pixel Tablet will launch "together with a Pen and Bluetooth Keyboard," which will reportedly retail for €100 (or roughly $100) each. If this is true, Google may be chasing the more traditional tablet market with this update, positioning the Pixel Tablet as a laptop or Chromebook replacement rather than as a smart display replacement, but that would mean it'd probably need upgraded specs.
What kind of Pixel Tablet is Google working on?
It's possible that Google could simply be separating the existing Pixel Tablet as-is from the speaker dock to sell it as a standalone tablet at a lower price, but that doesn't seem like an announcement worthy of Google I/O 2024.
To me, what seems more likely is that Google would use its I/O event to announce an upgraded tablet — possibly the next-gen Pixel Tablet 2 or an upgraded Pixel Tablet Pro — along with the choice of buying the speaker dock, pen, and keyboard separately.
It's been almost a year since the Pixel Tablet launched at Google I/O 2023, and it'd be strange for the tablet to "relaunch" separately from the speaker dock with no upgrades. This rumored tablet "relaunch" could bring more RAM or storage, an upgraded display, or better performance and efficiency via the Tensor G3 chip.
The tweet did say that the Pixel Tablet would be relaunching "together" with the Bluetooth keyboard and pen, but it would be odd for Google to force customers to buy a package deal with the tablet, pen, and keyboard, especially when much of the Pixel Tablet's current appeal is the included speaker dock.
By selling the tablet, speaker dock, and pen/keyboard combo separately, customers would be able to mix and match for their preferred tablet setup. Business isn't always about what's best for the customer, but in this case, what's best for the customer seems like it'd also be the best for Google.
Of course, this is all speculation right now, but we expect concrete details in just a few weeks at Google I/O 2024 alongside updates on Android 15 and more.
