Google says there’s no Wi-Fi that would allow the $129 Pixel Tablet to be docked cheaper

The Pixel Tablet comes bundled with a Charging Speaker Dock, which is sold for $129 separately. during Question and answer session todaythe Pixel Tablet team had more to say on the matter, with some surprising responses.

Google has confirmed that the Pixel Tablet dock does not contain Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or Thread devices, as we assumed from the absence of any previous FCC filings. Even if the radios are deactivated at launch, they will appear in regulatory filings. The hope among many was that it would be enabled in a future software update.

Unfortunately no. The speaker does not have a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connection, and it needs to power up the tablet.

Moreover, the lack of a standalone wireless connection has allowed Google to make it cheaper. Of course, many believe that it is Really very expensive If it couldn’t replicate the functionality of the $49 Nest Mini, let alone the $99.99 Nest Audio.

Not making the Nest Mini a speaker dock allowed us to focus on the best tablet and dock experience together, and also offer the dock at a lower price to customers.

Google says it “went through 60 iterations of the magnet to reach a grip that was secure enough to hold tight, yet still allow for an easy twist of one or both hands to loosen.” From a design perspective, the Nest Hub base has been reused because it serves as “an obvious way of indicating that the device can be more ‘hub-like’ when you’re not using it.”

We’ve seen in our research that tablets often remain unused or neglected, and we thought, “What would it look like if a tablet could turn into a more useful ‘hub’ when you’re not using it?” We thought the Nest Hub would be an obvious way to signal that the device It can be more “hub-like” when you’re not using it.

The company also reaffirmed that the Charging Speaker Dock’s “sound is comparable to the Nest Hub (2nd generation)” and that “there’s a little bit of bass” for the Hub Max.

Google gave a good summary of the speaker’s rule when it said that the accessory is designed “to make the tablet more useful, so features are about augmenting the tablet: charging it up, expanding its sound, enabling Hub Mode so anyone can use the Assistant.”