Google throws a surprise glove in Microsoft's direction

Sep 29, 2015 18:45 GMT  ·  By

During today’s Google event, the American tech giant announced what is probably one of the most interesting and powerful 2-in-1 devices on the market. Called the Pixel C, the new tablet aims at defeating Microsoft’s Surface while fighting with its own weapons in style.

Chromey and shiny, the new 2-in-1 is basically a tablet with an adjacent keyboard. Aiming to bring the productivity of laptops in tablet form factor, the Pixel C packs the newest Android Marshmallow OS in a 10.2-inch device that was completely built in-house and promises the best performance available to tablets.

The screen of the new Pixel C is a 10.2-inch display with a resolution of 2560x1800 pixels (308PPI) with 500 nits brightness and an sRGB color gamut.

Inside the device, we find an NVIDIA Tegra X1 SoC running a Maxwell GPU that is found in full die size also on desktop graphic adapters, so you can expect unprecedented graphical fidelity. To complement this small powerhouse, the tablet also comes with 3GB DRAM memory allowing great application flow.

Powerful, glossy and conveniently priced

However, the main attraction of the device remains the magnetically connected keyboard that can be used in all possible positions as long as it stays near the tablet itself. Google wanted to shift away from the idea of an accessory keyboard that is not essentially part of the tablet, and to make it an essential component of the device without feeling too cumbersome or alien to it.

This way, the keyboard can be removed if desired, or attached back to the tablet anywhere on the back or front of the Pixel C thanks to a metallic latch. Although the keyboard has an integrated battery as well, it will recharge automatically while latched to the tablet, and if cast aside, the battery will keep the keyboard alive for many months.

Another key feature the new Google tablet comes with is the USB Type-C recharging port that allows blazing fast recharging and data transfer speeds. In theory, such a cable would allow the tablet to power two 4K screens if it has the processing power, but unfortunately, the hardware would probably allow it to power just one.

Not a radical new design but a smart improvement on existing ones

All in all, this is a great new way of challenging Surface, and given that the Pixel C comes with the fabled Android app support and Google Marketplace, it’s only the price per unit that may convince customers to choose Pixel G instead of Microsoft's tablet.

Since the lower-end models come with a price comparable to that of Surface, it is the high-end models that may end up cheaper than what Microsoft is offering in the same spec category. But that’s only if you don’t consider buying the Pixel C keyboard, which comes separately and is sold for $149 (€132) per piece.

The new tablet will apparently arrive in time for the holiday season at $499 (€444) for a version with 32GB of storage, and $599 (€532) for a 64GB version.

Google Pixel C (8 Images)

Google's Pixel C 2-in-1 tablet is more or less a surprise
Google Pixel CGoogle Pixel C's USB Type-C connector
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