Last week, the Pixel Tablet product team opened a Q&A in the Google Support Forum where users could submit feedback, express concerns, and ask general questions about Google’s new Android tablet that doubles as a smart display. As expected, the submissions were broad and while there was a bit of grumbling about this and that, the majority of the feedback was well-intended and squarely based.
As promised, the team behind the Pixel Tablet addressed many of these submissions on Friday in the same Q&A thread. Led by Chris, a product manager for Google, the team took the time to share well thought-out answers to the queries. Some of the responses were the typical answers you’d expect when it comes to future product updates with Chris simply stating “Unfortunately I don’t have anything to share around future plans, but we appreciate the feedback!“
Other concerns and questions were met with detailed and helpful responses. One, in particular, I highlighted in my post last week. A user had noted that the barometric pressure display was only using whole integers which isn’t very useful as small changes in pressure have significant effects on weather and environment. That’s why barometric pressure is traditionally measured in 1/100th of an inch. The following is the response from Google.
Thanks for the feedback and glad to hear you’re enjoying the weather app on the tablet! This issue will be fixed in a future release.
Max, Product Manager, Weather Search
Of course, there are always questions about pricing. Chromebooks, smart home and electronics in general always seem to have inflated pricing in counties around the United Kingdom. One user expressed his dismay with the Pixel Tablet pricing which has a starting price of £599 in the UK. That’s roughly $763 USD which is quite a bit more than the base price of $499 here in the states. Google responded with this:
Happy to add some context: Our prices in European countries are inclusive of sales tax, while our prices in the US aren’t. We believe we’re competitively priced in Europe relative to comparable tablets in this category, but we’re always looking for ways to improve and appreciate the feedback!
Nitin, Global Business Lead, Google Pixel Tablet
Fair point to a degree but it still begs a premium over the price at the US Google Store. That said, another user shared a very interesting and valid point. In the US, the Pixel Tablet comes with a limited 1-year warranty while in the UK and other markets, it gets a 2-year warranty. While that may not soothe the savage beast for those not wanting fork over this amount of money, it does narrow the price gap between the US and other models to a degree that seems a bit more understandable, in my opinion.
No Casting
The other significant and seemingly odd issue presented by users in the forum is that the speaker base for the Pixel Tablet can only be used when docked to the tablet itself. The base contains no Wi-Fi or Bluetooth which means that you aren’t going to use it like a Nest Audio or any other type of speaker unless the Pixel Tablet is docked to it. I, too,find this to be an odd omission. You would think that Google, that built an entire ecosystem around the Chromecast protocol would have at least made this speaker with the ability to cast audio to it. But, what do I know? Here’s Google’s official response:
The speaker has no Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connectivity, and needs the tablet to function.
Chris, Product Manager, Google Pixel Tablet
Support
That last one is disappointing to say the least but the forum Q&A wasn’t all bad news. One person asked about live support like that which used to come with Pixel Phones. In a very reassuring move, Google will be offering live support for the Pixel Tablet in supported countries. You can go to the official support page and select from support options via chat, phone and even via Facebook.
Yes, the tablet will be supported by live phone agents. If you can’t find what you’re looking for in the Help Center, you can reach out to us via phone at support.google.com/googlepixeltablet.
Soji, Product Specialist, Google Pixel Tablet
Other questions and answers covered a wide array of features like using the tablet as a security camera (You can’t, by the way), expanded case options, UWB and more. You can read through the entire Q&A over on the Pixel Tablet Support forum here. The thread is now closed but as always, there are community specialists in the forum to offer support or answer questions if you need it.
