Google announces Pixel Tablet and Pixel 7a coming to Australia from today

At the keynote address of their developer conference Google I/O overnight, Rick Osterloh has announced the latest Google hardware including the Pixel Fold, the Pixel 7a and the previously announced Pixel Tablet.

The Pixel 7a will be launching in Australia today for $749 as a budget offering in the Pixel 7 line, while the long teased Pixel Tablet will launch here next month for $899. For those of you lusting after the Pixel Fold, it will not be launching in Australia…..yet, though Google promised to be in contact if that changes.

Pixel 7a

The Pixel 7a is a more compact, budget friendly option for those wanting a Pixel 7 series phone.  For this year’s Pixel 7a, Google has added some more premium touches like all metal buttons and a mid-frame architecture to protect the display while retaining the familiar design which includes the camera bar spanning the rear. 

There’s three colour choices this year, Sea (blue), Snow (white) and Charcoal (black).

The battery can last all day, says Google, with an Extreme Battery Saver mode that can last up to 72 hours. Google has also added wireless charging to the Pixel 7a, which is compatible with a Pixel Stand or any Qi-certified device.

Of course the Pixel 7a camera is a topic of discussion and the Pixel 7a includes the most powerful sensor ever put into an A-Series phone. The dual camera array on the back includes a 64MP Main sensor and 13MP ultra-wide, with a 13MP Selfie camera in a punch hole notch in the display on the front.

Google is also including all the camera features from the Pixel 7/Pixel 7 Pro series like Photo Unblur which launched on the Pixel 7 series, as well as Real Tone, Magic Erase and the low-light Night Sight feature which is now twice as fast as the Pixel 6a.

Of course you also get all the great Google features including Google Assistant baked in everywhere. For those who use it as a phone, Clear Calling brings smoother phone calls with less background noise and their At a Glance widget which offers useful contextual information like weather, calendar events, Air Quality information and more. A personal favourite feature, the Pixel Recorder is also installed and now includes transcriptions with individual labels.

Google will deliver Three Years of OS updates and Five Years of security updates – though this includes Android 14, due to launch in mere months. As part of the monthly security updates you’ll also receive Pixel Drops which bring new features for your Pixel. 

Now, we’ve been using the Pixel 7a for a week and here’s how it went. 

Pixel Tablet

The long awaited Pixel Tablet will arrive in Australia on June 20th with Pre-orders live for the tablet starting at $899 for 128GB of storage open today. The Pixel Tablet is the first tablet with the Tensor G2 processor and Google is aiming the tablet to be useful in your hand and around the home. 

The Pixel Tablet includes a charging dock which can sit conveniently waiting to charge anywhere and additional docks will be available to purchase. The dock charges the tablet via POGO pins and attaches with magnets that are weak enough to pull off easily, but strong enough to connect easily with a good connection. You can of course always charge with USB-C cables

The tablet has four speakers built-in, but the dock also includes built-in speakers and the Pixel Tablet is the first Android tablet with Chromecast built-in. This means you can cast to it, taking advantage of the improved sound from the dock, or even add it to speaker groups in your home.

Hardware wise, the Pixel Tablet includes an 11-inch 2560×1600 resolution display with 500 nits brightness and is covered in Gorilla Glass. The Tensor G2 is paired with 8GB RAM and there’s 128GB ($899) and 256GB ($999) storage options. 

There’s 8MP front and rear facing cameras, with the front-facing camera mounted on the long edge, with a fingerprint enabled power button and volume rocker on the right hand side of that edge. There’s also three microphones built-in so your next Google Meet meeting will sound great. 

Of course this is a Google tablet, so there’s a focus on features. Like their Nest Hubs, the Pixel Tablet will launch Hub Mode while docked, showing off your digital photos as well as offering the Home Panel to control your compatible lights, view cameras and more. You can also just ask Google Assistant to help whenever you like to get answers, control smart home devices or play music and videos. 

The elephant in the room is of course tablet apps. Google has had a number of tablets over the years and the tablet app eco-system has been lacking. Google says they’re keen to fix this, improving their own in-house apps with improved tablet modes, as well as courting developers. For the launch of the Pixel Tablet they’ve worked with their developer partners behind apps including Spotify, Minecraft, Disney+ and many more to improve the tablet experience, so it’s a matter of fingers crossed. 

The Pixel Tablet will have an optional accessory, the Pixel Tablet Case which is designed to allow you to dock the tablet without removing it. The case includes a polished metal ring stand that you can set to almost any angle. Third party cases including a hard case and folio case will be available from Speck. 

Availability

While Google is holding the Pixel Fold back to ‘Select Markets’ the Pixel 7a and Pixel tablet are coming to Australia. 

For those looking for a budget Pixel, the Pixel 7a is available to buy from today in Snow, Sea or Charcoal for $749 from Telstra, JB Hifi, Optus, Officeworks and Harvey Norman and Google Store. 

The Pixel Tablet is up for pre-order today for $899 through the Google Store, JB Hifi and Telstra with sales starting from June 20. The Pixel Tablet will be available in two colours: Porcelain and Hazel. You’ll find accessories for the Pixel Tablet available with additional docks priced at $189, while the Pixel Tablet Case will set you back $139.