Google Pixel C, an Android tablet that Google started selling two years ago. At its launch, it was a confounding device with clever hardware saddled with software that didn’t work well on a tablet.
Now its run has ended, as you can no longer buy it from Google’s online store.
Here’s Google’s statement on the “retirement” of the Pixel C:
As is common when a device has been out for a few years, we’re now retiring Pixel C and it is no longer available for sale. However, we are committed to updating and supporting it, including the recent update to Android 8.0, so customers can continue to get the best out of their device. Our newly launched Google Pixelbook combines the best parts of a laptop and a tablet for those looking for a versatile device.
The Pixel C comes from a previous age of Google hardware, when the company took a more experimental approach. It was a device meant to show that Android could run well on that processor and that the Android tablet ecosystem could be revived. And while it was okay at the former, it utterly failed at the latter.
Android tablets still exist, sure, but they’re nowhere near as popular or as useful as the iPad.
The Pixel C did eventually pick up one of the very basic features expected from a modern tablet – split-screen multitasking. But it was far too little, far too late and Android apps are still not very good on tablet-sized screens.
The tablet spent the last few months of its life as the target of cheap shots about how odd it was that Google was selling a two-year-old tablet for full price in a world that has given up on professional Android tablets.
Suitably, the passing of the Pixel C from Google’s retail store happened quietly. Even more fittingly, as Android Police notes, the URL that used to point to the Pixel C, now points to the Pixelbook.
