Don't buy a Pixel tablet; buy this cheaper android | tablet digital trends (2023)

Android-tabletmarktseems to sinkbut he lovesTablet-pixelmay play a role in saving him. The Pixel tablet, launched last week - exactly one year after its initial presentation - marks Google's return to the tablet segment after nearly a decade.

While this development could help bring more manufacturers to market, Google itself is embarrassed to make big claims about performance and productivity. Instead, the Pixel tablet is presented as a regular hybrid upgrade to the Nest Hub and Nest Hub Max.

Meanwhile, brands like OnePlus seem to be taking a more energetic approach to tablets, for startersCushion OnePlusa, a $479 tablet that reportedly improves both functionsIplay. More importantly, the OnePlus Pad borrows key features from the Apple ecosystem, making it a more attractive option than the $499 Pixel tablet.

Here are the main reasons why I think the OnePlus Pad is a better buy than the Pixel tablet.

OnePlus Pad: refreshing view

The OnePlus Pad has an 11.6-inch display with a resolution of 2800 x 2000. The display has a refresh rate of 144 Hz, which means that the content of the display is updated 144 times per second, allowing the OnePlus Pad to perform smooth animations. display at startup or switch between apps, scroll web pages, and play games.

Meanwhile, the Pixel Tablet is still with it60Hz display. In the past, Google has shown exceptional lethargy when updating displays to support higher refresh rates. While evencheap android smartphonesnow comes with a refresh rate of 120Hz or higher, Google has been very picky about which devices support a screen that refreshes faster. In its current flagship lineup,pixels 7it's still limited to a 90Hz refresh rate and the same goesPixel 8.

From Google's point of view, it makes sense for a device that will spend most of its life as a speaker-connected screen, but that's the problem. Numerous Android apps, especially games, now support higher refresh rates for a better viewing experience. And while the Pixel tablet has powerful internal hardware to run these apps or games, the screen limits output to a maximum of 60 frames per second (fps) thanks to the 60Hz refresh rate.

This brings us to our next point about how Google limits the Pixel Tablet's usability to just one aspect: entertainment.

Pixel Tablet: alles over entertainment

Last weekGoogle I/O 2023Google talked about several updates coming to its services, mainly improvements powered by artificial intelligence. The tech giant gave a brief overview of its upcoming devices, including the Pixel tablet, and talked about specific features like entertainment, video calling, and photo editing with Google Photos.

In doing so, Google completely overlooked the potential of the Tensor G2 as a powerful chipset powering the Pixel tablet. It also missed an opportunity to promote the Pixel tablet as a device for productivity tasks, work, or demanding use outside of watching movies and TV shows.

This is an area where Android tablets, with the exception of somedure Samsung-tabletstraditionally lag behind. While Apple designs the iPad as a computer replacement - and recently added itsupport for demanding software such as Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro Xconfirms this opinion - Google seems to evade.

On the other hand, OnePlus touts the OnePlus Pad as an all-in-one that goes beyond entertainment. The Dimensity 9000 chip is said to provide powerful yet efficient performance. In real use, the OnePlus Pad hardly stutters or crashes, whatever task you put on it.

Outside the US, OnePlus also sells a variant of the OnePlus Pad with 12GB of RAM. While this may sound ridiculous for an Android tablet, it gives the OnePlus Pad plenty of power for extended tasks like gaming.

Where are all the official Pixel accessories?

Official accessories further increase the usability of the OnePlus Pad. Priced at $149, the official OnePlus Keyboard Folio is designed to speed up your on-the-fly multitasking. While the folio and One Plus Pad may not be as effective at replacing your laptop ascombination of iPad Pro and Apple Magic Keyboard, it is better than dealing with third-party accessories.

The keyboard folio has direct function buttons to increase or decrease brightness or volume, or to take screenshots. At the same time, the trackpad adds two- or three-finger navigation gestures to quickly navigate the interface when a folio is attached.

The OnePlus Pad also targets digital illustrators with the Stylo Pencil. While the OnePlus Stylo looks like a duplicate of the Apple Pencil, it offers near-lag-free responsiveness for sketching and note-taking. As with the Apple Pencil, you can also double-tap near the tip to switch tools while drawing in the native OnePlus Notes app, giving this $99 accessory a productivity boost.

The Pixel tablet, on the other hand, supports the Universal Stylus Initiative standard (or USI 2.0) for commonly used active styluses. While the move promotes interoperability, if you want to illustrate on a Pixel tablet, you'll also need to research and find the most appropriate stylus for your tablet.

OnePlus: robust productivity features

When it comes to productivity tasks, the void left by the lack of an official keyboard and stylus is compoundedProductivity features for weak Pixel tablets. Both the OnePlus Pad and Pixel tablet support multi-window apps, allowing two apps (or two instances of the same app) to run side-by-side. OnePlus adds the ability to display floating windows, so you can interact with up to three apps at once without having to take your eyes off the screen.

The OnePlus Pad uses an iPadOS-like dock that allows icons for up to six apps (or folders) to be placed along with the three most recent apps. Compared to the OnePlus Pad dock, the Pixel Tablet comes with "temporarytaskbar built on Android 12L's static taskbar. Available for all Android 13 devices with larger screens, the updated taskbar can display four permanent apps and two suggested apps that change dynamically based on usage.

The main feature of the Pixel Tablet's taskbar is its ability to appear above any app (or multi-window configuration). The OnePlus Pad dock is not visible in apps and only on the home screen. But the OnePlus Pad has a sidebar that can be accessed from any screen to launch any installed app or open the app drawer. While the dock and sidebar may seem thin compared to the Pixel Tablet's taskbar individually, they easily overwhelm them when combined.

OnePlus also opts for an unconventional 7:5 aspect ratio for the display, compared to the Pixel Tablet's 16:10 display. The OnePlus Pad display offers more vertical space when used in landscape mode, making it more suitable for reading in a tabletop or laptop-style orientation.

Taking care of the ecosystem

In addition to productivity features, OnePlus also borrows another page from Apple's book to improve the user experience. While the Pixel tablet relies on open standards and third-party accessories, OnePlus aims to bolster an Apple-like ecosystem by enabling seamless interaction between the Pad and other OnePlus devices.

These features include seamless and automatic data sharing between your OnePlus Pad and any OnePlus phone running OxygenOS 13.1 or later (eg.Oneplus 11). When the OnePlus Pad is in range, it automatically connects to the Wi-Fi hotspot on your OnePlus phone without actively turning it on. The clipboard syncs instantly between devices, so you can copy a piece of text or media on one device and paste it directly onto the other.

Similarly, you can also view notifications and other alerts related to calls or messages from your OnePlus phone directly on your OnePlus Pad. And finally, any photos or videos taken with the phone can be automatically synced to the Pad if you use OnePlus' cloud storage.

Battery and charging

Because of their flagship chipsets, you'd expect the Pixel tablet and OnePlus Pad to offer similar (mostly lag-free) performance. But the OnePlus Pad has a small advantage in the form of a larger 9510 mAh battery. Google, meanwhile, uses different units and claims a 27W battery for the Pixel tablet. Watt-hours and mAh (milliamp hours) are not directly interchangeable units of power, butAndroid officeconfirms that the battery of the Pixel tablet has a capacity of 7,020 mAh.

Another advantage of the OnePlus Pad is the support for fast charging with a power of 67 W, which can charge a large battery in less than two hours. Meanwhile, the Pixel Tablet still uses the archaic USB-C charging speed of 18W.

Pixel Tablet: The docked design can be problematic

Google's supposed solution to power issues is to keep your Pixel tablet connected to the speaker dock when not in use. But continuous charging has its own problems. When a lithium-ion battery, such as the one in the Pixel tablet, is continuously charged to near 100% for a long period of time, it leads to a phenomenon calledtrickle charge.

During trickle charging, the battery is continuously charged by the charger to compensate for the current supplied by the battery to the device. This leads to frequent charge-discharge cycles that cause physical deformation in the battery.

Google offers a workaround for Pixel devices, including the Pixel tablet, in the form of "Adaptive Charging," which delivers power at a slower rate than usual to prevent the battery from heating up, but doesn't prevent the battery from charging to 100%.

Pixel devices also have the option to stop charging when they reach 80% capacity. But it requirescertain conditions: During continuous charging with high power consumption (for example, while watching movies or playing games) or when the device is connected continuously for four days. Therefore, in order to enjoy these battery improvements, you may need to leave your Pixel tablet plugged in non-stop for four days, effectively limiting it to the smart display and not the tablet.

Strange decisions that don't make sense

OnePlus has made every effort to promote its tablet and ensure that it appeals to consumers with different expectations. Meanwhile, Google lowers requirements and reserves the Pixel Tablet for tasks such as entertainment. This lack of enthusiasm from Google for tablets may be troubling to fans who have been waiting all year for Google to release its first tabletAndroid tabletin almost a decade.

Google probably wants to prevent Android tablets from surpassing the Chromebook category, so it left out important use cases like productivity. But when Apple finally realizes it can't delaycombination of tablets and laptopsmuch longer, Google's approach seems old-fashioned and regressive. This could lead to the opposite effect and a drop in sales of the Pixel tablet.

Beyond the launch, which took a year from its initial unveiling, Google is still asking potential buyers to wait until June 20 to buy the Pixel Tablet. Meanwhile, OnePlus Pad is now on sale.

If you need an all-in-one tablet that can help you with both work and play, the OnePlus Pad might be the smarter choice. And at $20 cheaper than the Pixel tablet, it's a pretty good deal too.

Editor's Recommendations

• Your iPhone can steal this Pixel Tablet feature when installing iOS 17
• When will my phone get Android 14? Here's everything we know
• The Pixel tablet might just be the iPad killer I've been waiting for years
• The 15 most important smartphones that changed the world forever
• I've been using Android phones for 10 years and these are the ones I hate the most