All of a surprisbuiltintegrated, pretty tons every computer maker wishes a surface-like convertible built-in their personal. Apple’s were given the iPad pro, of course, but Lenovo, Dell and HP built-in built-in at the action too. And now there’s the Pixel C from Google, a top class hybrid tablet built built-in–residence(similar to the Chromebook Pixel), with a keyboard accessory that attaches thru frickintegrated‘ magnets.just like the iPad seasoned, the Pixel C looks like an test to see just how a ways you may take a cell OSbuilt-into productivity territory commonly handled with the aid of desktop systems. but at the same time as it virtually looks like an obsessively designed tool, it is a bit too clunky to recommend, built-inintegrated built-in to the floor three or other Android capsules.
Gallery: Google Pixel C assessment | 14 photos
+10
Engadget ScorePOOR UNINSPIRING appropriate excellent
Key
Google
Pixel C
77
execs
top class construct first-rate
Keyboard feels first rate
built-inintegrated rapid for a tablet
Cons
Keyboard is any other $149
Android nevertheless is not built for built-ing deviceintegrated-like multitaskintegratedg
still now not a wide sort of built-ing Android tablet apps
summary
The Pixel C, whilst an exciting first attempt at creating a convertible, is built-in reality hard torecommend. it is nicely constructed, but Google has made some integrated usability mistakes with the Pixel C, and Android simply isn’t always cut out for productivity as much as Chrome OS or home wbuiltintegrated but.
hardware
the first response I had upon protecting the Pixel C built-inintegrated basically, “Boy, this feels highly-priced.” Its polished steel case is unrivaled among Android slates — it is the nearest aspect the platform has, build–clever, to the iPad. nonetheless, it is a tad hefty for a premium pill today, clockbuilt-ingintegrated at 1.13 pounds. In comparison, Samsung’s high–cease Tab S2 tablet is just zero.86 pounds(and considerably thbuilt-inner too), and the iPad Air 2 is available in slightly beneath a pound. thosemight not sound like massive variations, however they are important when you‘re retaining a pill with one hand for an extended time period.
The Pixel C is more directly akbuiltintegrated the floor 3, which starts at the equal price and weighsbarely extra (1.37 kilos). however those differences seems a tad greater excusable with that tool, given that it is a complete-fledged home wbuiltintegrated laptop, with assist for all built-ing built-indowsintegrated software and an built-interface higher desirable to multitaskintegratedg. it’s prettyclean that Google sacrificed a bit of portability with the Pixel C built-in trade for better productivity. it is the first pill to apply NVIDIA’s Tegra X1 processor, and that probably affected how skinny it could be.
Even more surprisbuiltintegrated than the weight of the Pixel C is that of its keyboard accessory, whichadditionally features an all-metal case and clocks built-in at 0.87 pound (built-int heavier than the Galaxy Tab S2!). certabuiltintegrated, it’s properly constructed, however it just appears like overkill. built-inimum the keys without a doubt experience accurate, with 1.four millimeters of journey and notableresponsiveness. The Pixel C keyboard built-inly takes a few being used to — it’s miles extra cramped thanbuilt-in keyboards, and you may additionally have to deal with some slight repositionbuilt-ing, just like the skinny, vertical built-in key. It also would not have a touchpad, you may ought to stay with yourpalms to govern the screen (or get a Bluetooth mouse, if you‘re built-inely built-in for a conventionalpointegratedter).
The Pixel C snaps collectively with its keyboard through embedded magnets: simply lay the pill down flaton the built-in of the keyboard, and lift it up to lift the magnetic stand. at the same time as it’s built-inintegrated precise and enormously sturdy (you can elevate the Pixel C up proper from the keyboard), italso integratedtroduces a few usability issues. you could only tilt the Pixel C forward a lot before it jumps off of the stand, for builtintegrated. this is built-ing i ended up dointegratedg built-inuouslyintegrated at the same time as testing it.
The display additionally has a tendency to wobble as you are typintegratedg, built-in particular built-in case youintegrated‘re balancbuilt-ing the Pixel C built-in lap. And to properly dispose of the tablet from the keyboard, you need to lay it down flat and slide it off, which appears counter-integratedtuitive. Aftersome time, I started out to miss the surface‘s 7fd5144c552f19a3546408d3b9cfb251 kickstand. the onesdarn magnets are even an problem when the Pixel C is closed over its keyboard. You cannot simply tilt it open like a pc; you builtintegrated need to slide the Pixel C across the keyboard after which left it up. it’ssort of like built-inintegrated a giant pistachio. once moreintegrated, it’s now not that obvious, even though it is some thbuiltintegrated I were given used to fast.
past its keyboard accent (which prices an extra $149), the Pixel C is a built-inintegrated nondescript Android tablet. further to the smooth metal case, it has polished chamfered steel edges (which get scratched up quicker than you’d expect), stereo audio system and a USB-C port for chargbuilt-ing.anticipate to peer more capsules undertake USB-C chargbuilt-ing over the followbuiltintegrated 12 months, as we move far from the ever-present micro-USB port.
built-in spite ofintegrated my issues with it, i am nonetheless built-inintegrated builtintegrated with what Google performedintegrated with the Pixel C’s hardware. It needs to be refbuiltintegrated, for built-inintegrated, but it’s nowhere near the abject failure that became the primary floor RT. (A device that, atbuiltintegrated, made me want to throw it out the wbuilt-indow integrated frustration.) it’s a wintegrated, Ibet.
show
even as the Pixel C’s 10.2-built-inch liquid crystal display display is masses sharp and colorful, it lacks the wow built-in of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S and S2 builtintegrated AMOLED presentations. it’sstrollbuiltintegrated a 2,560 by usbuiltintegrated 1,800 decision (a bit better than quad HD), so that you‘ll honestly have a difficult time makbuilt-ing out built-inperson pixels. The Pixel C’s precise built-inratio makes it greater like a piece of A4 paper, which is a chunk taller and wider than widespread letterlength paper. possibly i am just spoiled with screens builtintegrated, however I supposeintegrated it isa great element when an built-in unremarkable display looks pretty darn accurate.
I failed to observe any issues once I loaded up films and video games on the Pixel C’s screen. The built-interface felt a bit extra cramped than the floor 3 though, which has a barely large 10.eight–integratedchscreen (even though it is a slightly decrease 1080p decision), but it wasn’t built-inintegrated majorbuilt-ing that i exploit Android tablets very builtintegrated than built-indows machbuilt-ines. Google claims the Pixel C’s screen additionally covers a wide range of the sRGB colour gamut. i’m no displayexpert, bur built-in basic seemed accurate.
software
The Pixel C became constructed built-in with Android 6.zero Marshmallow, but built-inintegrated, itdoesn’t feel plenty distbuiltintegrated as compared to the precedbuiltintegrated era of Android Lollipop slates. possibly this is because Marshmallow is extra of an optimization replace than a whole hogupgrade. As we noted built-in our evaluation, the modern model of Android is all approximately refbuilt-inbuilt-ing the general experienceintegrated, with some layout tweaks (hooray for stepped forwardreproduction and paste!), more granular app permissions and numerous features that help to built-inbattery existence.
builtintegrated‘ve used any Android tool earlier than, you built-in may not word much new. however fornewbies, it is a much greater welcombuilt-ing platform than ever before. as an builtintegrated, Marshmallow’s most exclusive new function, Now on tap, uses the built-iness enterpriseintegrated‘sdigital assistant to unearth details aboutintegrated built-in you show up to be built-ingintegrated at. that would be built-inintegrated more built-information about an artist you’re built-ing to on Spotify, orsimply diggbuilt-ing up builtintegrated about a movie based on a overview you’re built-inintegrated. Iwould not name it a groundbreakbuilt-ing characteristic yet, however it portends an built-inintegratedbuilt-iny for Google Now.
whilst there still are not as many tablet–centered Android apps as i would like, the few that are built-inable feel pretty built-inary. usbuiltintegrated Gmail and Evernote with the Pixel C felt approximately on-par with commonintegrated desktop apps, with multiple panes of builtintegrated and all-around speedyoverall performance. Google desires to push developers to take Android pill apps more seriously though.i’ve been reviewbuilt-ing Android slates for years, and it is a shame there nevertheless aren’t enoughamazbuiltintegrated big display apps.
regrettably, Google still hasn’t builtintegrated any type of cut up–screen functionality built-in Android 6.0, so you’ll be caught built-in one app at a time as usually. this is built-in Samsung’s supplied for years with its capsules (albeit, with most effective a small selection of apps), and Apple has awesome lifted theidea integrated iOS 9. And allow‘s no longer forget built-inintegrated 10 slates, that may juggle app multitaskintegratedg effectively. Google will probable be built-in the feature soon even though —integratedtrepid builders have already found split display functionality hidbuilt-ing built-in configurationdocuments.
overall performance
PIXEL C SAMSUNG GALAXY TAB S2 IPAD AIR 2 **
Vellamo 2.zero 6,294 4,522 N/A
SunSpider 1.0.2 (ms) 670 1,096 303
3DMark IS limitless forty,980 11,892 21,659
GFXBench 3.0 long island Offscreen (fps) N/A 13 32.4/24.6
CF-Bench 34,948 41,341 N/A
*SunSpider: decrease ratbuiltintegrated are better.
**not all of our Android benchmarks are pass–compatible with iOS.
Given all of my frustrations with Android battery life through the years, Android 6.zero‘s strength refbuilt-inement built-intointegrated the improve I noticed most at the same time as usbuiltintegrated the Pixel C. After chargintegratedg it up absolutely, I used it on and stale for numerous days with most effectivemintegratedor drops integrated power. it is now restintegratedg at around 10 percent after beintegratedg on, and used to kbuiltintegrated this evaluate, for the beyond 3 days. In our preferredbattery test, which built-inintegrated built-ingintegrated an HD video on a loop, the Pixel C rested aroundeight hours and 15 mbuiltintegrated. Google, built-in, claims it have to get round 10 hours of batterylifestyles.
BATTERY lifestyles
Google Pixel C 8:15
Apple iPad pro 10:47
iPad mbuilt-ini four 13:04
iPad Air 2 eleven:15
Microsoft floor three nine:11
the other large wonder about the Pixel C? it’s a freakintegratedg scorcher. As you can see from the benchmarks above, it is around 4 built-in as rapid because the Galaxy Tab S2 built-in the 3DMark gambuilt-ing benchmark, and round twice as fast because the iPad Air 2. it is also notably quicker thandifferent Android drugs we have built-inedintegrated when it comes the Vellamo and SunSpider browserexams. you can thank NVIDIA’s beefy Tegra X1 processor for all that.
Even before I ran those benchmarks, the Pixel C tackled just about each built-ing I threw at it, from built-in 3-d games like speedy and furious: Legacy to launchbuilt-ing and jugglbuilt-ing a couple of apps at once. At builtintegrated, it felt like i was usbuiltintegrated a built-in with a beefy processor, and notsimply an Android pill. That pace form ofintegrated made up for the truth that Android still isn’tremarkable at multitaskbuilt-ing, however i’d be built-in if I stated I wasn’t built-inuouslyintegrated privy to the Pixel C’s obstacles. the usage ofintegrated one app at a time is best if i’m specializing in lengthywritintegratedg projects, however it is no way to get through an afternoon‘s well worth of computintegratedg.
distbuiltintegrated, I never felt restrabuiltintegrated with the aid of the Pixel C’s keyboard. once I were given used to its quirks, I didn’t have an difficulty contact typbuilt-ing at my normal speeds — built-infact, I used it to jot downintegrated maximum of this overview. It feels approximately as right because the floor seasoned four‘s type cowl, that is an outstandbuiltintegrated feat, thbuiltintegrated it took Microsoft numerous swbuilt-ings before it completely nailed a respectable keyboard (although the floorpro 3‘s changed builtintegrated close).
Configuration alternatives and the competition
The Pixel C built-in at $499 for the 32GB model, and you could additionally bump up to 64GB for $599.but built-in case youintegrated want that keyboard — and truelyintegrated, why wouldn’t you? — you may should shell out any other $149 ($20 extra than Microsoft’s floor built-indintegrated cowl). just likei’ve said about the surface, even though, it is a actual shame that Google is makintegratedg you paygreater for an vital accent. If computer built-in really want to promote us on convertibles, they will need to be greater obvious approximately what built-ings built-in reality price. (And seriously, do built-ingintegrated it takes to bundle the freakbuilt-ing keyboards.)
So built-inintegrated that, i am sure you’re built-inintegrated if the Pixel C can built-inintegrated take onMicrosoft’s floor three. built-inintegrated, the answer to that relies upon on how a lot you want Android. The Pixel C is constructed expressly to prove that Android may be a serviceable platform forproductiveness. however to built-inintegrated love it, you may should stay with the shortage of multitaskbuilt-ing and a limited quantity of tablet apps, neither of which can be an problem with the floorthree. given that I cut my computbuilt-ing teeth on built-in, i am a ways efficient built-inintegratedintegrated that built-in. but the Pixel C may just be ideal for an Android fanatic.
some other choice, builtintegrated really want Android: simply snag built-in allintegrated Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S slates and a respectable keyboard (Logitech’s tablet keyboard is a superb start). built-inintegrated, i’d suggest built-inintegrated built-in allintegrated built-inintegrated yr‘s fashions, which is masses rapid and sports a dazzlbuiltintegrated display, but ironically it also has higher batterylifestyles than the Tab S2.
Wrap-up
The Pixel C, at the same time as an exciting first effort at creating a convertible, is absolutely difficult toendorse. it’s especially real whilst there are plenty of built-inexpensive and higher preparedalternatives out there. however it’s also an intriguing first effort by way of Google. it’s a sign that the quest massive is severe approximately takbuiltintegrated Microsoft on the subject ofintegratedhardware, and that it is built-inintegrated to push a longtime platform like Android built-into new territory. With a thintegratedner design, a remodeled magnetic latch and (if rumors are built-in) an OS that unites Android and Chrome OS, Google might be builtintegrated to turn built-in Pixel C into a convertible reallyreally worth built-ing.