Pixel Tablet vs iPad 10th Generation: What’s Best?

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I can’t say with full authority that the iPad is the best tablet out there, because I haven’t tested all of its competitors.

But it is, arguably, very hard to beat.

The combination of beautifully designed hardware, silky smooth iPadOS, and the brilliant Apple ecosystem is very hard to beat. And that’s before we get to how long those bloody devices last. Which is literally forever.

So, imagine my surprise when Google entered the fray with their first Pixel-branded tablet, called, understandably, the Pixel Tablet. Can it steal the iPad’s crown? More importantly, can the Pixel Tablet’s desire to be not only a tablet but also a digital assistant draw my attention away from the iPad at home?

To make this comparison fair, I’ve decided to pitch the Pixel Tablet against the 10th-generation iPad which feels like the closest competitor in terms of pricing, specs, and the intended audience.

Pricing

Pricing for the Pixel Tablet and the 10th generation iPad (to which I will refer as the ‘iPad’ from here on) is tied to the storage option you choose. This is the first significant differentiator; the base storage for a Pixel Tablet is 128GB, whereas the iPad starts with a paltry 64GB. They’re priced at £599 and £499, respectively.

Google and Apple have seen it fit to only offer two storage options, therefore if the base models don’t quite cut it, you can bump either device up to 256GB – that’s it. You’ll pay £699 and £679, respectively, if you do so.

So, on the face of it, the iPad is better value if you go all-out, but the Pixel has a slightly more generous baseline.

It’s also important to note at this juncture that the Pixel Tablet comes with the £139 Charging Speaker Dock at no extra cost. How long that offer will last is anyone’s guess, but it does mean you’re buying a significantly different device to the iPad, which I’ll get onto later.

Specs

Both of these tablets are powered by in-house silicon. At the heart of the Pixel Tablet sits a Google Tensor G2 chip, while the iPad is powered by Apple’s A14 Bionic. They also share the same approach to biometric security with a fingerprint reader placed on each device’s power button.

Google beats Apple in the RAM stakes with 8GB versus 4GB and grabs a couple more hours of battery life (12 versus 10), but the iPad takes the lead with its camera system.

The 1080P 8MP cameras (front and back) on the Pixel Tablet aren’t going to set the world alight and pale in comparison to what the iPad has to offer. Apple’s tablet benefits from a 4K-capable 12MP rear camera and a 12MP ultra-wide FaceTime camera that’s compatible with the brilliant Centre Stage automatic framing feature. Mercifully, both devices have their front-facing cameras located in the correct position centrally on the horizontal edge.

There’s little to separate these two in terms of specs, and I’ll forgive Google the camera deficit; I’m one of those people who never take photos with a tablet. Providing the front camera does a decent job of video calls, I’m happy. Both devices nail that requirement, but the iPad just pips it, thanks to the higher-quality FaceTime camera and Centre Stage.

Display and build quality

One thing you can’t get away with on a tablet is a lacklustre display. Google and Apple are acutely aware of this, which is why there’s little to separate the Pixel Tablet and iPad when it comes to display quality.

They use different technology; Google has opted for an LCD panel, whereas Apple has stuck rigidly by the ‘Liquid Retina’ LED for the iPad. The Pixel Tablet has a slightly higher pixel density (276 PPI versus 264 PPI) but the resolution is virtually identical, given the differing aspect ratios (2360×1640 versus 2560 x 1600). They’re both 60Hz panels, so there’s no super-smooth 120Hz adaptive refresh rate on either side of the fence, I’m afraid.

They both have a maximum peak brightness of 500 nits and are almost identically sized, diagonally (it’s fair to refer to them as 11-inch tablets). The big difference is the aforementioned aspect ratio. While Apple has opted for their tried-and-tested 4:3 ratio that has long been applied to iPads, Google has chosen 16:10 for the Pixel Tablet.

This makes the Pixel Tablet feel far narrower in portrait orientation, but better suited to consuming video content when held in landscape. Apple’s continuation of the 4:3 aspect ratio for the iPad isn’t a bad thing, but it does make it a slightly more cumbersome device to hold one-handed, and you’re far more likely to come across large black bars sandwiching video content.

On the subject of black bars, the Pixel Tablet has significant bezels around the display. This doesn’t bother me – I like having something to grab onto when it comes to big-screened devices like this – but those who have joined the War Against Bezels might prefer Apple’s approach.

Performance, OS, ecosystem

In general everyday use, there is absolutely nothing separating these two tablets. Thanks to the speed of in-house silicon and the perfect marriage of those chips and the operating systems they’re powering, both the Pixel Tablet and the iPad are seriously smooth operators.

Google’s ability to compete with the iPad in this regard is thanks to the completely untouched, pure version of Android 13 we get on the Pixel Tablet. It hasn’t been customised to death by a third-party manufacturer, and nor does it come pre-installed with a boatload of apps you’ll spend most of the setup process removing.

I’m having a hard time choosing my favourite between Android 13 and iPadOS 16. The former has more personality and customisability, but Apple’s OS still benefits from far better developer support. For some reason, we still live in an age where many third-party apps work better within Apple’s walled garden than elsewhere. Despite this, I’m yet to find an app on the Pixel Tablet that delivers a significantly poor user experience versus the iPad. So, perhaps things are improving after all.

The challenge Google has with the Pixel Tablet when you pitch it against the iPad is the ecosystem. Like every Apple device, the iPad plays wonderfully with everything else, thanks to the utterly brilliant underpinnings of Continuity. I rely on this effortless connectivity daily, whether I’m sharing the clipboard, transferring files, or extending my MacBook display to that of the iPad. Apple is lightyears ahead in this regard, and while it isn’t an important factor for everyone, I simply cannot look past it during this comparison.

However, the Pixel Tablet has one significant trick up its sleeve which I can’t ignore, either.

The biggest differentiator

The Pixel Tablet is only fifty-percent tablet. When paired with the Charging Speaker Dock, it becomes an utterly brilliant digital home assistant.

The premise is simple. When you’re not using your Pixel Tablet as a tablet, you attach it magnetically to the speaker dock and – providing you’ve turned on ‘hub mode’ – rely on the built-in Google Assistant to see you through the day.

This has two huge benefits. Firstly, it means that your Pixel Tablet is always charged, thanks to the 15W of power the Charging Speaker Dock injects via the magnetic connection. Secondly, it results in a digital home assistant with a huge 11-inch display, which is something I hadn’t experienced until now.

Like many people, my experience with digital home assistants ran as far as Alexa and Siri devices that could only deliver audio responses. When you add a display into the mix, everything changes. Ask for the weather, and, along with Google Assistant informing you of what’s incoming, you’ll also be treated to a seven-day forecast on the right-hand side of the display. Request driving directions, and you’ll suddenly have access to a Google Map. Need to check the eighteen timers you’ve set for Sunday lunch preparations? You can see them and interact with them with touch. It is brilliant.

The iPad can’t do this, and, to make matters worse, Siri is so far behind Google Assistant.

This leads me to an inevitable conclusion.

Inevitable conclusion

The 10th-generation iPad is a weird product – I’ve always said that. Despite it being the most sensible point of comparison for the Pixel Tablet, if you decide to opt for Apple’s tablet over Google’s latest effort, I’d suggest you instead spend a little more and go for the iPad Air.

The iPad vies for our attention thanks to Apple’s ecosystem and the availability of superb accessories like the Apple Pencil and Magic Keyboard Folio, but I can’t stop thinking about the play Google is making with the Pixel Tablet.

The real battle here is for the home. Both Google and Apple want their tablets to be used consistently in that setting, and I think Google has nailed the use case, thanks to the inclusion of that Charging Speaker Dock. The dual role played by the Pixel Tablet and the ready-to-go nature of the setup offers so much more value than the iPad at home.

There have been rumours about Apple introducing some form of Siri device with a display. For that to compete against the Pixel Tablet, it needs to be iPad-based, but Siri still needs fixing.

As it stands, the battle for the home when it comes to tablets is now being led by Google.

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