What you need to know
- The Pixel Tablet debuted on June 20, 2023, and was originally supposed to receive updates for three years after the release date.
- Google has officially extended this time period to June 2028, meaning Pixel Tablet owners will see new Pixel features for longer than expected.
- Google has yet to announce a follow-up to the Pixel Tablet, making it a one-of-a-kind product so far.
I got the pixel tablet about a year after it came out because I was looking to replace the aging Nest Hub in my kitchen. The premise sounded and at times felt like the perfect replacement for the nest hub, including away to pick the tablet up and bring it anywhere throughout the house if I needed to do something more than just smart home controller setting timers. While I enjoyed the first year of use I feel like things have gone downhill a bit since then.
Up until today, it looked like I may never get the full use out of the Pixel Tablet since Google’s original software update promise ran out in June 2026. Turns out, the company seems to have a renewed vision for the Tablet as it has now extended that software update agreement and additional two years, meaning the company now has a total of 3 years to roll out some new software features and make the tablet interesting again.
9to5 Google spotted the update in support documentation for the Pixel series. This same exact thing has happened in the past with older Pixel phones, like the Pixel 6 and Pixel 7, which received additional life support long after it was expected to end. Now, Pixel Tablet owners can expect to see software updates through June 2028, which means we may actually see some really interesting Gemini integration going forward.
Android Central’s Take
Since Google has yet to announce a new Pixel Tablet or even a proper follow-up to the Nest Hub Max, many have been hoping Google would extend the Pixel Tablet’s life a bit longer. Looks like we got our wish, but the tablet still isn’t quite the Nest Hub replacement I had been hoping for.
My initial impressions of it were high, as it featured the same great Google Photos screensaver functionality I loved about the Nest Hub, plus an amazing custom smart home control “lock screen,” higher quality audio, and many of my favorite voice-activated features. But it was also less capable than the Nest Hub for several tasks, as I’ve found over the years that you often have to unlock the tablet for some voice commands to work, even if you don’t have lock screen security enabled.
Now that Google has extended the tablet’s life, I’m hoping it fixes some of these stupid little problems and turns this thing into the Nest Hub Max 2 I’ve been wanting. If nothing, I just want Gemini to work on the lock screen, and it’s going to take a major software update for that to happen — something that’s now actually possible now that Google will be updating it for another 30 months.
