The Pixel Tablet’s Demise Could Be Tied To The Hazy Future Of Gemini On Nest Products

In June 2026, the Pixel Tablet will receive its last Android OS update. In June 2028, it will receive its last security update. With one year left on the clock before the Pixel Tablet starts to show its software age, Google’s silence regarding its latest tablet is deafening.

For all of Google’s other mobile hardware, there’s a significant overlap between subsequent devices and their software support. For example, while the Pixel 9 has been out in the wild for months and rumors are heating up about the Pixel 10, the Pixel 6a will still receive Android OS updates until July 2025. By this precedent, we should already have the Pixel Tablet’s successor, but as we found out at the end of 2024, the Pixel Tablet 2 is dead. So what happened?

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Has Google given up on its tablet experiment again?

The Pixel Tablet was a confusing product

The Pixel Tablet launched in 2023 alongside the Pixel 7. Both devices sported the Tensor G2 chipset, 8GB RAM, and the same storage options. The Pixel Tablet sported a bigger battery, but beyond this exception, the two devices sported similar internal hardware.

So why will the Pixel 7 receive an extra year of software support? Hardware limitations aren’t the answer; if the Pixel 7 can handle another Android update, so can the Pixel Tablet. Even stranger, Google has been steadily updating Android with tablet-friendly features for years. If we didn’t know that the Pixel Tablet 2 was dead, we would be more excited for that than the next Pixel phone.

Yet, despite releasing a slew of tablet-friendly Android updates, Google appears to have stopped its experiment into Android tablets. But why? Despite its flaws, the Pixel Tablet was a fantastic concept of a hybrid tablet-smart display. Improvements like a stronger speaker, better Hub Mode software, and native cast support would have established the Pixel Tablet firmly in its niche.

The Pixel Tablet made more sense as a Google Nest product

Google Nest products are also primed for an overhaul

The leaked Pixel Tablet 2 specs revealed a device without a clear identity. Rather than leaning into its strengths as a smart home hub you could also use as a tablet, it appeared to try and compete with the best Android tablets without identifying the features that made them great. But it’s when we look at the Pixel Tablet as the spiritual successor to the Nest Hub Max that things make more sense. Building on the news that the Pixel Tablet 3 is still in the works, we can understand that what happened to the Pixel Tablet was a terrible launch time.

The Pixel Tablet’s strength was as a smart home device, but since its launch, Google has laser-focused on AI. This has significant implications for the smart home, as Google confirmed that it will phase out Google Assistant in favour of Gemini on mobile devices. However, for smart home devices, Google has promised ” a new experience, powered by Gemini, to home devices like speakers, displays and TVs”

There’s no news yet on what this “new experience” will look like, but it’s clear the Pixel Tablet didn’t fit into the plan. The Pixel Tablet, had it not been canceled, would likely have launched toward the end of 2025 or early 2026, right around when this “new experience” would launch. Considering the rapid pace of AI development, it seems likely that the Pixel Tablet 2 wasn’t planned with this in mind.

Google claimed that the cancellation of the Pixel Tablet 2 was due to poor projected sales, but this feels a little too simple.

Gemini is the future, and Google’s hardware must toe the line

Google Nest products won’t look the same for long

Source: Lucas Gouveia/Android Police

If the Pixel Tablet 3 is still in development, I would expect a refresh rather than a simple upgrade. It’s hard to see past the gluttonous presence of AI in all aspects of our digital lives, and Google, as one of its driving forces, is cramming AI into as many of its products as possible.

Google’s Home products are solid devices, but they’re showing their age. The Google Nest Mini and Max turn six years old this year, and Google Assistant features prominently in their marketing materials.

Could the Pixel Tablet 3 mark a new era of Gemini-powered hardware? While flawed, the Pixel Tablet was a great attempt at producing a versatile smart home hub, and Google would be wise to lean into this aspect rather than trying to compete with existing flagship Android tablets.

What happened to the Pixel Tablet? Poor timing

The Pixel Tablet launched in one of the biggest shifts in Google’s business focus. Gemini launched just three months before the tablet hit shelves, and since then, its tendrils have worked their way into nearly all of Google’s products. The only exception is the Google Home lineup, and those days are numbered.

If you loved the Pixel Tablets hybrid tablet-smart home hub design, don’t lose hope yet. But you may need to reconcile yourself with the fact that it will likely involve Gemini somewhat.

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