Image Credits:<\/strong> Brian Heater<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

And why not? I\u2019m convinced that the original Nest Hub remains the best looking smart screen to date. The Pixel Tablet effectively breaks it in two. There\u2019s the Android slate bit and the dock bit, which attaches magnetically and features its own built-in speakers. It\u2019s a nice bit of interoperability. Hold the tablet against the dock and it attaches magnetically, charging the device through a set of pins. A subtle animation flashes on the screen and the music you\u2019re playing automatically transforms to the far superior set of speakers.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a clever design, if not entirely novel. Amazon did something similar with its Fire tablets a while back, but this is a much better looking system, and Google is smartly bundling the two together at a $499 price point. It\u2019s significantly pricier than the Nest Hub Max\u2019s $230, but it\u2019s actually pretty good if you think of it as two devices. Will there be people hoping to buy the tablet on its own? I dunno. Probably, I guess. But those people would be missing out what\u2019s easily the best part of the whole thing.<\/p>\n

Effectively the system does double duty. It\u2019s like two for the price of one. It begs the question of the Nest Hub Max\u2019s fate, especially given that there wasn\u2019t much in the way of Nest news for the duration of 2023 (nor does there appear to be any tied to this event). Clicked in place, the standard Android desktop flips into Hub Mode, which prioritizes things like smart home control, including live feeds from connected smart cameras.<\/p>\n