Customer Ratings & Reviews

I had been wanting this for a while, so when it went on sale, I finally went ahead and ordered it. At first, I was pleasantly surprised at how well it was working. I didn't seem to have any of the issues that other reviewers were having with theirs. There was a dent in one of the speaker grills which didn't seem to effect any functionality, but I was disappointed to see it. The sound quality was still pretty amazing! The I realized that you cannot install 3rd party android apps without enabling developer mode in Chrome OS which voids the warranty. This was a deal breaker for me as I had apps that I purchased on the amazon app store that I wanted on this device, but chrome OS wouldn't let me install them. It also left me wondering if I would be able to debug my android apps natively on this tablet (another reason I got this) which is another thing I was really looking forward to doing, but I never got around to trying it due to the other issues I started having with it. The tablet got quite warm while playing android apps, even ones that should not have been cpu intensive (like Words with Friends for example) and I'm guessing this is because android apps are generally not designed to work with an x86 architecture, so there was probably some ARM simulation going on in the background. After trying the tablet in "Night Light" mode which turns on a blue light filter so that the display is not as hard on your eyes, I started noticing that the screen was not nearly as responsive to touch input as it should be. It was nearly to the point that the tablet was unusable. This problem when away when I turned Night Light mode off. I have no idea why this would be, but it was really frustrating because I like having the blue light filter on. I thought maybe these issues might be ironed out with future updates, but then I found out that Google has an End of Life policy in place for all chromebooks. It's called their auto update policy which can be found here https://support.google.com/chrome/a/answer/6220366?hl=en along with a list of all chromebooks and their end of life date. Being that I have a couple of computers that are 7-8 years old and are still running great and getting updates, I can't imagine having a computer that is obsolete after just 5 years, especially when all the bugs have not even been dealt with yet. That being said, I am probably never going to get a chromebook again, not because I don't thing the hardware is good and I like the simplicity to the OS, but I need something that is going to keep getting updates as long as it is working. I am really happy with the support I got from Best Buy on these issues. I ultimately ended up returning the tablet, and there were literally no questions asked. Excellent customer service!

I wanted this to be my One Device, the screen to rule all others. It’s mostly a hot mess.

I was one of the early adopters for the Google Pixel C. While I did use it for a short duration it did suffer from some of the shortfalls that I was hoping the Slate would rectify. Unfortunately not so much. This is my first experience with a ChromeOS device. I really wanted to like this device but to me it came up short in several categories in spite of the great specs and to be fair I’ve owned a Mac or two and didn’t care for them either. What I liked: + Screen resolution is fantastic. Crisp and clear. + Speedy performance - while using applications the system bounded from app to app easily. + Size, the 12.3” screen is perfect for working on spreadsheets++ + Solid! It is built like a tank. No flex. + Looks/styling! Love the satin black finish What I hate and I do mean hate!!!!: - Google, please tell me why you won’t put a micro SD slot in your products!!!!! 128GB for a PRO device… I suspect that means that you are targeting professionals to use this as a work computer replacement. Unlike some of your Android competitors you chose to force users to go to the cloud. Unfortunately that might not always be possible so you are hamstringing your customers with only 128GB. Many of the forums I checked said the solution is to use the USB C male to USB A female dongle and use a flash drive or a flash drive with USB C male connector. Ummmm…. That’s not a solution, that’s a terrible work around. - Yes, I know it’s ChromeOS but you opened up the Google Play library to load Android apps yet there are a lot of apps that are not compatible with the Slate… namely I would have loved to use my Slate to take advantage of watching movies on my last United flight, which requires you to use their United App or use a browser but the plugin won’t load. Yes, realize that it’s really the app publisher at fault but doing a psuedo Android device is not the best of both worlds. - No headphone jack. Again forced to use a dongle or go bluetooth. - Connectivity - the biggest issue I have with the Slate, by far! Seriously, I have never had so many connectivity issues with a device. I tried to log into our company wifi but while it showed as connected I could never get to the authorization or login page. Same with my current hotel stay. I connected but couldn’t get to the authorization screen. My Note 9 connected immediately as did my company laptop and my true Android tablet. Frustrated beyond belief. - Price… seriously, this is not a $1000 device. I just picked up a Dell XPS13 (2018 version for less that this one retails, granted it was on sale). The value for the dollar… not even close. - The keyboard, well it’s okay but just barely. A separate review forthcoming on that and the pen. All in all I can not recommend the Slate running ChromeOS at the current price point and especially the 256GB version that hovers close to $1500 without keyboard and pen. You would be much better off purchasing from Brand M or Brand S. I just don’t have that warm fuzzy of trying to use this as a laptop replacement for work. There is a beta of Linux that you can switch to but is currently in Beta and lacks support for any peripherals. Lack of a micro SD slot is a big downer for me as well.

The Pixel Slate continues Google’s tradition of releasing hardware that looks great on paper, but practically speaking, leaves a lot to be desired. Pros: Very nice screen resolution, including warm, accurate colors. The Slate itself also turns on and off almost instantly, and Google must’ve worked out a lot of the initial software bugs, as I found my Slate to work without any noticeable issues, on the software side of things. Cons: Although it’s running Chrome OS, and it’s pricy, one of the most expensive “Chromebooks” you can find, it’s not the best “Chromebook”, not by a long shot. Google caused such an odd overlap between this and the Google Pixelbook. I guess the Slate is more portable, but for its intended use, no one is buying a Slate and not getting a keyboard, and whether you buy the Google version or the Brydge one, either keyboard for the Slate makes it as bulky, or more so, than the Pixelbook. And considering the book comes with its keyboard, making it noticeably cheaper than the Slate, and you start to notice a problem. Simply put, the Slate has no purpose as long as the book still exists. On paper, the Slate has a higher screen resolution, but in a 12” form factor (Slate and book have nearly identical sizes of screens), you’ll never notice the difference between 3000x2000 (Slate) and 2400x1600 (Book), and, there is a “dirty secret” Google doesn’t mention about either products: On your standard home screen, both products default to a 720p-ish resolution, the higher resolution is only used if you display a picture/video of that resolution, so most times you’ll be working in the exact same resolution environment, Slate or Book. The book’s keyboard is way better than the ones you can buy for the Slate, too. Better travel, better trackpad, more effective keyboard backlight. Another con, the failure of this product to sell like wildfire during the ‘18 holiday season means Google has already given up on the Slate. Sure, it’ll get software updates, but Google’s announcement that they massively scaled back their product division after the Slate was released should send warning signals to all Slate owners: this isn’t Google’s baby anymore, which means you’ll see zero future products released to support this one. The screen, while a high resolution (theoretically), is also disappointingly dull, not nearly as capable of brightness levels the iPad Pro can reach. If you do crank up the brightness, your battery life suffers for it, giving way less on time than an iPad Pro using similar (or higher) brightness. I’d have probably kept the Slate, if it was a few hundred bucks, but considering it is over 1k with it and keyboard, and you realize that Google seemingly had no idea what it was doing with the Slate, especially considering that Google sells another product that accomplishes the same end-goal as the Slate, its just cheaper and better in almost every way (the book).

Google has abandoned this device. Ive had since 2019 and it is still operational but really wish i had held on to this money and just gone for a samsung tablet.

Big fan of Google products but i was disappointed with this tablet specifically. Android tablets are much better or Chromebooks.