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Google Pixel c
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Google Pixel C review
Pixel C long-term review


When the Pixel C was released it was one of the only Android tablets worth buying. In 2017, for better or worse this remains the case. Despite being over a year old there haven’t been any other decent premium Android tablets to hit the market.

Luckily the Pixel C has aged fairly well thanks to the arrival of Android Nougat. Nougat’s new features massively improve Android’s user experience on a tablet. The split-window mode and improved notifications are particular highlights.

Multi-window support isn’t anything new – Samsung added the feature to its TouchWiz skin many moons ago – but its appearance on Nougat is great nonetheless. This lets you open two applications at once on the Pixel by holding down the right-hand, on-screen square button.

The feature is a little hit and miss on third-party applications, which need to have code added to work in the new screen setting, but it’s still very useful, as nearly all of Google’s own apps have been optimised for it.

Since this addition I’ve found myself grabbing and using the Pixel C instead of a laptop when travelling. The improved battery life and the fact that I can have two apps opens is particularly useful for work. On regular occasions I’ve found myself writing articles at press events in Google Docs, while chatting with the Trusted team in Hangouts using the split-screen mode.

The expanded notifications system further streamlines the user experience. In Nougat the notifications are expandable. This means you can do things like replying to incoming messages and social media alerts from the notifications bar, without having to fully open the application. A drop-down menu also lets you expand notifications to get a list view of things like all your recent emails.

The additions again make the Pixel C feel a lot more like a hybrid device and a more valid option for students, or office workers looking for a truly portable backup laptop.

All this is great, but the behind-the-scenes upgrades are a little less useful on the Pixel C. The main changes in Android are a streamlined version of Doze, Vulkan support and the readdition of a JIT compiler.

Doze is a battery-saving feature introduced in Android Marshmallow that works to reduce power consumption by turning off anything but critical processes when the phone or tablet isn’t being used. The new version in Nougat is, in theory, able to save power when the device is on the move by making it only access data in intervals. Given the fact that the Pixel C doesn’t have a SIM slot, the feature doesn’t make a blind bit of difference.

Vulkan support is awesome on paper, but again isn’t directly relevant to the end user. Vulkan is a graphics API designed to replace OpenGL ES, which was used on older Android versions. It aims to make it easier for developers to make prettier-looking games that are less power intensive, by giving devs more granular controls over devices’ hardware. This, in theory, means games should be able to access, or take better advantage of, the Pixel C’s tech, but it doesn’t have any direct impact on the tablet’s overall performance.

The addition of a JIT compiler is more interesting, but again not really relevant to the Pixel C. The compiler changes how the OS installs, loads and runs apps. Specifically it makes it so Android compiles application data as and when it’s needed, rather than doing so beforehand like an AOT compiler does. This sounds great, but on the Pixel I didn’t notice any marked performance improvements. This is likely because the Pixel is already fairly powerful, featuring an Nvidia CPU and 3GB of RAM. The only time you’ll notice a marked change in performance thanks to the shift is when using lower-powered devices, with less memory.

Long-term verdic
The Pixel C has aged very well and remains th