2023 felt just like the yr that Google Pixel units actually hit their stride. Pixel telephones are higher than ever. We lastly have a Pixel smartwatch that’s value shopping for. The Pixel Buds earbuds proceed to enhance with age. Total, there wasn’t a lot to complain about.
However one Pixel this yr stands proud like a sore thumb: the Google Pixel Pill. Google determined 2023 was the yr to get again into the tablet-making enterprise, however as everyone knows by now, that didn’t precisely work out. The Pixel Pill obtained blended critiques when it launched in June, with my 2 out of 5-star evaluate being one of many extra detrimental ones.
I ended utilizing the Pixel Pill shortly after my evaluate was revealed on June 20, however I made a decision to set it up once more a few month in the past to see the way it’s holding up in late 2023 — and to see if my opinion had modified.
What the Pixel Pill nonetheless does properly
Earlier than I lay too arduous into the Pixel Pill (which I’ll), I need to give Google credit score for issues it acquired proper.
Though the Pixel Pill’s design didn’t do a lot for me after I first used it this summer season, it has grown on me a bit. It’s nonetheless extraordinarily easy, however I’ve discovered to understand the sheer practicality of what Google achieved right here. The nano-ceramic coating makes the Pixel Pill extraordinarily comfy to carry, even for lengthy stretches of time. I don’t choose up the Pixel Pill as typically because it sits in its charging dock, however every time I do, I really like the best way it feels.
The Google Pixel Pill additionally has a design characteristic I nonetheless haven’t seen on another pill in 2023: small rubber ft on its backside body. In the event you prop the Pixel Pill in opposition to a wall, water bottle, and many others., the ft assist maintain it securely in place so it doesn’t slide round. It’s good for whenever you need to watch no matter’s on the display screen when you’re doing one thing else, and I can’t consider different firms haven’t performed this earlier than. These ft are additionally nice for protecting the Pixel Pill secure when it falls off its charging dock … which nonetheless occurs.
Talking of the charging dock, I proceed to assume it sounds nice for what it’s. I incessantly use the Pixel Pill with the charging dock to look at YouTube TV whereas cooking dinner, and I’ve by no means been disenchanted with the dock’s audio high quality. It’s nothing mind-blowing, but it surely’s infinitely higher than regular pill audio system.
The place issues go downhill
Sadly, that’s the place my niceties for the Google Pixel Pill come to an finish. Quite a bit concerning the pill nonetheless doesn’t work, and it begins with the {hardware}.
The Google Pixel Pill is greatest used as a content material consumption system. Nonetheless, I don’t assume it’s notably good at it. The 11-inch LCD show is nice, but it surely’s removed from the primary display screen I select after I need to sit down and actually watch a present or play a recreation. The max brightness leaves lots to be desired, and the shortage of a 90 or 120Hz refresh charge means scrolling and different animations typically look uneven (at the least to my eyes). I didn’t just like the 60Hz refresh charge after I first reviewed the Pixel Pill, and I nonetheless don’t prefer it all these months later.
The Tensor G2 processor has additionally been considerably lackluster. It hasn’t been as buggy because the Google Pixel 7, however I’ve nonetheless had points with the Fast Settings freezing, apps crashing, and the pill heating up shortly whereas watching a video or taking part in a recreation like Marvel Snap. It’s particularly disappointing, contemplating the newer Tensor G3 chip has confirmed to be considerably higher than its predecessor. An upgraded chipset wouldn’t have solved the entire Pixel Pill’s issues, but when Google had waited only a few extra months, it may have outfitted the Pixel Pill with significantly better silicon.
The Google Assistant drawback
All of these issues are annoying, however they aren’t the primary motive I wrestle to make use of the Google Pixel Pill a lot. No, that award goes to the Google Assistant.
Google Assistant is — in a phrase — unreliable. No single occasion has been the tipping level, however fairly a listing of small issues that make me need to bash my head in opposition to a wall. Someday, the Pixel Pill did a random Google Search regardless of neither my companion nor myself saying something. Once I requested the Pixel Pill for the rating for a Lions’ recreation one Sunday, it saved giving me a generic Google Search outcome. After I locked the display screen and turned it again on, I acquired a correct response with the present rating. Asking the Pixel Pill to manage sensible lights works nice generally. Different days, it simply … doesn’t.
These complaints may very well be attributed to my explicit Pixel Pill being a fluke, however a fast Google Search reveals no scarcity of different individuals complaining concerning the Google Assistant — whether or not it’s about how the Assistant works on Nest Hubs or different Pixel units. The Google Assistant has been quietly degrading for months, and Google doesn’t seem intent on making any drastic fixes any time quickly.
A flaky voice assistant sometimes isn’t the end-all-be-all for an Android pill, but it surely’s a way more critical concern when your pill can also be alleged to double as a wise show. I simply can’t belief the Pixel Pill all the time to do what I would like after I ask the Assistant one thing. As you’d think about, that makes residing with the Pixel Pill an aggravating expertise.
Grasp of none
There’s additionally the continuing concern of the Google Pixel Pill residing a double life. As I acknowledged in my evaluate, I really like the idea of a pill and sensible show combo system. In observe, nevertheless, it’s a messy expertise.
Even all these months later, the Pixel Pill nonetheless has a tough time juggling each of those identities. Relying on a slight variation in the way you concern a command to the Assistant, you may get drastically totally different outcomes.
The video playback criticism from my evaluate nonetheless holds true in the present day. If I say, “Play ESPN on YouTube TV,” I’m taken on to the ESPN channel with an interface just like what you get on a Nest Hub. If I say, “Open YouTube TV,” I’ve to unlock the Pixel Pill with my fingerprint or PIN, after which it opens the YouTube TV Android app. You’ll be able to see these two separate interfaces within the pictures above.
And that’s not all. Generally, after I ask the Pixel Pill to set a timer, I get a giant, easy-to-see timer like I’d anticipate from a wise show. Different instances, it units a timer from the Android app and provides no useful visuals that keep on the display screen. It’s a wildly inconsistent expertise and hasn’t improved for the reason that Pixel Pill launched.
I nonetheless consider there’s a world the place a pill/sensible show hybrid is smart. However in late 2023, the Pixel Pill nonetheless isn’t filling these roles efficiently.
What’s the way forward for the Pixel Pill?
Utilizing the Google Pixel Pill once more has left a giant query on my thoughts: The place does Google go from right here?
If Google needs to make a Pixel Pill 2, whether or not that’s in 2024 or additional down the street, the corporate has its work reduce out for it. Google doesn’t simply want to present a next-gen Pixel Pill a nicer display screen and a sooner processor; it additionally has to do critical work on the Google Assistant.
The issue with that’s Google’s present relationship with the Assistant. Complaints across the Google Assistant aren’t new, and if Google hasn’t addressed them by now, I actually don’t assume a second Pixel Pill is the magical factor it wants to vary that. A Pixel Pill with higher specs can be good, certain. But when it nonetheless has the identical points with Google Assistant and buggy pill/sensible show software program, what’s the purpose?
Google has the potential to make 2024 an unimaginable yr for Pixel units, but when it needs to maintain that momentum going, I’m unsure the Pixel Pill needs to be part of it.
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