
By the time I’ve done this, the screen will have locked itself, and there’s no face unlock feature. This means finding something to prop it up because the official case costs a ridiculous $79. I’m not going to say it’s uncomfortable, but it’s there, and I want to put it down. If I accept all this and watch for at least 30 minutes, the tablet starts to get quite warm on the back, mostly on the right-hand side. Then if I dare to hold the tablet in an entirely normal way, my palms cover the speakers, and the audio experience becomes noticeably worse. Not using my voice to adjust the volume and pressing the buttons instead only reveals how cheap and clicky they feel. I’m fine watching videos on the screen when it’s attached to the dock while I’m doing other things, but the screen’s lack of brightness does become more noticeable when I’m watching more intently. Instead, I do things like watch videos, read books, browse Reddit, shop on Amazon, and use apps like Autotrader. For example, I don’t browse social media like Instagram or Twitter, which is for the best because the apps for both aren’t very good on an Android tablet. I have a fairly specific way of using tablets, which isn’t simply a repeat of what I do on my phone. Over the short time I’ve had with the Pixel Tablet, the reasons to do so are few and far between. Taking the Pixel Tablet off the dock is where the problems start. The other half of the Pixel Tablet isn’t so good Andy Boxall/Digital Trends A lot of this is different from the experience we had on our review model, once again suggesting Google’s quality control isn’t working at its best. The magnets holding the screen onto the dock seem to be strong enough to keep it in place even when I adjust the volume manually, but still come free easily when I take the tablet off. It genuinely feels like an upgrade to what I had, and the better screen has prompted me to watch more videos on it rather than reach for a different device like I did when the Lenovo Smart Display was on duty. The dock’s built-in speakers have more presence than the Lenovo display’s system, and while there’s not much more bass, the sound is projected out further into the room due to the speaker’s placement on the side of the chassis.

It understood Shmee150’s channel name and that I wanted to hear music from the K-pop group Le Serrafim, despite saying onscreen that it was looking for an artist called Liser FM.

The Google Assistant has even managed to play music and other videos on YouTube when the artists have awkward names.
