De-Googled Pixel Tablet with GrapheneOS: A Review

As someone who values privacy and free software, I try to avoid closed software and walled garden ecosystems as much as possible. Late last year I got rid of my Apple MacBook, which, ever since I moved back to Linux on the desktop over three years ago, served me solely as a photo (Capture One) and video (DaVinci Resolve) editing station.

However, after unsuccessfully trying to implement a new workflow for specifically the photo editing part, using free alternatives like Darktable, I realized that the workflow I’m striving for will require at least some non-free software and that running that on my laptop is not going to work. However, instead of having to lug around a dedicated media editing machine, like I did in the past with the MacBook, I decided to go for a lightweight alternative which would ideally allow me to run a free and privacy-respecting software stack as the basis for the non-free applications that I would use for photo and video editing: The Google Pixel Tablet, running GrapheneOS.

First impressions

As many of you might know, I’ve been running GrapheneOS on my smartphone for some time now. After leaving the iOS ecosystem for /e/OS/ on a Samsung Galaxy S10 a few years ago, I moved to GrapheneOS on the Google Pixel 6a shortly after and have never looked back. However, with Android still being technically inferior to iOS in many aspects, I was skeptical of the overall performance and usability of an Android-based tablet device, especially when compared to Apple’s latest generation iPads.

The Google Pixel Tablet is Google’s first proper tablet offering since the Pixel Slate. It was designed to merge tablet functionality with smart home features, serving as both a multimedia device and a smart display when docked. The version I chose comes with 128GB of storage and in the Hazel colorway – a subtle blend of earthy tones that adds a sophisticated yet modern touch. Weirdly enough, my Google Pixel 8 smartphone also comes in the Hazel colorway, yet its color looks different. Maybe that’s due to the glossy exterior of the smartphone, as opposed to the matte finish of the tablet. Whatever it is, I prefer the darker Hazel color of the phone over the lighter color of the tablet. Although the Hazel color on the Pixel Tablet differs from the one on the phone, it nevertheless stands out in a market flooded with silver, black, and white devices.

The build quality of the Pixel Tablet is solid. The aluminum frame feels both durable and lightweight, and the matte finish resists fingerprints. The screen is very pleasant to look at and sufficiently bright. With the charging dock that doubles as a speaker stand, it is easy to convert the tablet into a part of a home setup, blending seamlessly into most decors.

The tablet has two rubberized feet on the bottom side, which allow it to stand on surfaces while leaning against another object. Most other tablets would simply slide away and fall flat in those cases. In addition, the rubber feet give some cushioning when holding the tablet landscape in one hand, with the pinky finger below the bottom edge.

The speakers of the device are sufficiently loud and clear, with a good amount of lows and mids for a device this thin. The cameras are, well, tablet cameras. The front-facing one is sufficient for video calls, the back camera is decent enough for scanning documents and occasional snapshots.

GrapheneOS

By default, the Pixel Tablet runs Google’s version of Android, offering deep integration with Google services like Google AI/Gemini, YouTube, and the Play Store, etc, and obviously collects a ton of personal data along the way. Luckily, GrapheneOS, the open-source, security-hardened version of Android, supports the Google Pixel Tablet, making it possible to switch from Google’s own operating system to one that removes Google’s proprietary code and services, and gives users control over app permissions, network access, and ultimately their privacy. While GrapheneOS doesn’t include Google Play Services by default, it allows users to install them in a sandboxed environment if needed.

Installing GrapheneOS on the Pixel Tablet is straightforward and doesn’t require in-depth technical know-how thanks to the Web installer. It contains a step-by-step tutorial on how to flash GrapheneOS onto your Google Pixel device. In addition, there are plenty of resources online describing in detail how to install GrapehenOS. Hence, I’m not going to go into the specifics of installing GrapheneOS. If you are curious to learn the basics of GrapheneOS, check my initial post, the follow-up with the Pixel 8, as well as Practical GrapheneOS for the Paranoid by Patrick Drotleff.

Performance, apps, and daily usage

Once set up, GrapheneOS on the Pixel Tablet feels reasonably fast – even with memory protections and other security measures put in place by GrapheneOS. However, only after installing a handful of my most important apps via F-Droid into the main profile, I noticed that the device feels slightly underpowered. The more apps are being installed and given permission to run in the background, the clunkier the tablet feels. However, this is something that all Android devices share and that won’t change for as long as Android won’t significantly change its architecture and technology stack, away from the Java/ART/etc. jank towards a more lightweight, native one.

Performance really took a hit, though, as soon as I configured a secondary user profile and installed Graphene’s sandboxed Google Play Services into it. The main reason why I needed Google Play Services, to begin with, is Lightroom Mobile, the raw converter and photo editor that I was looking forward to testing. While the app itself can be installed via the Aurora Store, it refused to properly function for me without Google Play Services. I won’t go into further detail on the experience trying to implement a photography workflow based on the Google Pixel Tablet and Adobe Lightroom Mobile, as this is something that I’m going to dedicate an individual post to, but from a performance perspective I can say this much:

If you are planning to run Lightroom Mobile or similarly heavyweight applications on the Google Pixel Tablet, you’re in for disappointment. The Pixel Tablet doesn’t appear to have nearly enough power to run such applications in a way that makes it fun. Just to make sure that it’s not solely an issue with Adobe’s bs software, I tested a few other media-heavy applications, with similar results: The Pixel Tablet is not great for media editing and feels inferior to even lower-tier Apple iPads.

Another issue with the Pixel Tablet is that if you’re choosing to depend on non-free apps, compatibility might become a roadblock. Many applications that I found on the Google Play Store are incompatible with the tablet. Others, like for example VSCO, work, but with footnotes:

Can I edit RAW or ProRAW files on Android or VSCO Studio on Web?

RAW and ProRAW support is not available on any Android device or on the web at this time.

While these examples are specific to my use case, they nevertheless underline the fact that Android tablets are still second-class citizens and only offer relatively limited use and that especially for media production, Android cannot compete with the iOS ecosystem.

On a more positive note, though, most apps from F-Droid that I’m using support the Pixel tablet. Some apps, however, weren’t purposefully designed for the tablet’s large screen, resulting in a somewhat awkward UI. Given that those apps are open source, these issues are easily resolved, especially with great developers who care.

Battery life

Just like its performance, the Pixel Tablet’s battery life is relatively disappointing, especially when running heavyweight apps like Lightroom. I managed to burn through a full charge while editing raw photos (~20MB per file) within less than three hours. To be fair though, during that time the screen was set to max brightness, which probably contributed a lot to the battery drain. Even with the screen at around 50% brightness – which is too dim for most brightly lit indoor environments – I couldn’t get the Pixel Tablet to live up to Google’s marketing claim of up to 12 hours of video playback (YouTube streaming).

Removing the background activity permission from individual apps helps improve the battery life, yet I feel like one big part of the issue boils down to – here we go again – bad software. Apps on iOS feel less janky, and snappier and appear to have less of an impact on battery life overall. According to multiple threads that I stumbled upon on the Capture One support forums, as well as Reddit, users report between 3 to 6 hours of battery life – depending on the exact model – when editing raw photos in Capture One on the iPad.

As with the performance, these complaints are rather specific to my use case.

Bonus: USI 2.0 pen

One of the Google Pixel Tablet’s most attractive features is its compatibility with Universal Stylus Initiative (USI) 2.0 pens. The Universal Stylus Initiative (USI) is a cross-device standard for styluses, ensuring that any USI-compatible stylus can work with a wide range of devices – whether it’s a tablet, laptop, or other touchscreen device.

For users who rely on precise touch input for e.g. creative work, note-taking, or even just casual browsing, pairing the Pixel Tablet with a USI 2.0 pen opens up new ways to interact with the device.

The Pixel Tablet’s compatibility with USI 2.0 means that you can pick up almost any USI-certified stylus and expect it to work right out of the box, eliminating the need for proprietary solutions. I picked up the Renaisser USI 2.0 pen, as it was better rated and cheaper than the Penoval USI 2.0 Lite pen that the whole internet appears to be recommending.

The good news is that the pen got recognized by GrapheneOS right away and I didn’t need to configure anything for it to work. I fired up Saber and was able to jot away without any issues. Palm rejection works as well as the eraser on the other end of the pen. Precision is decent enough for most tasks, whether it’s using the UI, writing, or sketching.

I don’t think the pen is precise enough for actual artwork, though. I haven’t used an iPad with Pencil in a long time, but I remember being able to draw connected shapes more precisely using Apple’s devices than I am able now with the USI 2.0 pen.

One annoying issue with Saber is punctuation: Unless you’re writing Japanese-style punctuation (。) periods, titles, and umlauts won’t register. When using an application like Sketchbook, however, punctuation works flawlessly.

Similarly, the pressure sensitivity of the USI 2.0 pen didn’t appear to do a lot in Saber, yet in Sketchbook it has a noticeable impact. Light strokes produce thin lines while applying more pressure results in thicker, bolder lines, offering a natural, pen-like feel. The latency is generally very low, and the tablet tracks the stylus movement in real time with virtually no lag, which makes sketching and writing feel relatively natural.

Beyond writing and sketching, I found the stylus useful for general navigation, especially within apps like Lightroom. Tapping, swiping, and selecting with the stylus feels more precise than using fingers, particularly when dealing with smaller UI elements.

As for the battery life of the pen, I’ve been able to go several weeks between charges, even with regular use. As for the Pixel Tablet, it doesn’t seem to drain any more battery when using the stylus, and there’s no noticeable impact on system performance or responsiveness.

Paper-like writing

In addition to the USI 2.0 pen, I also got the Penoval Paperfeel Screen Protector, which is supposed to add a rougher, paper-like texture to the screen, to make the writing experience more realistic. A positive side effect that Penoval is advertising is the anti-glare feature of the screen protector.

Despite its good customer reviews, however, I found the $20 screen protector to be pretty bad, frankly speaking. It’s true that the writing experience is improved, as the textured plastic feels similar to paper. However, the thickness of the protector not only reduces screen brightness significantly but also alters its colors and results in smaller text becoming relatively blurry – possibly due to how it deflects the light. Additionally, the rounded, soft plastic tip of the USI 2.0 pen leaves noticeable scratch marks on the screen protector, regardless of the wiring pressure. While in most cases these marks can be removed using a wet cloth, it’s nevertheless annoying to the eyes to have to look through a scratched surface when sketching or editing photos.

Another issue with the screen protector is its Removable and Reusable Nano Attachment Tech, which in plain English means that the screen protector only consists of adhesives on its border, but not on the area covering the screen. This leads to the protector basically being a loose piece of plastic lying on top of the screen, wobbling along with every touch and movement of the finger/pen.

Long story short, I do not recommend the Penoval Paperfeel Screen Protector – especially not for the price of $20 – unless you’re willing to sacrifice display brightness, sharpness, and colors, as well as the overall tablet experience, just for having a more paper-like writing experience. If you care that much about the writing experience, you’re probably better off with a Ratta Supernote or a reMarkable digital notebook.

Verdict

If you’re looking for an Android-based tablet device that respects your privacy, primarily for the purpose of media consumption, as well as lightweight to medium workloads, and supports USI 2.0 pens for casual note-taking and sketching, then the Google Pixel Tablet with GrapheneOS is not a bad choice. Its screen is bright enough for most environments (at 100%), the sharpness and colors are decent and even though its 60 Hz refresh rate won’t blow most modern smartphones and TVs out of the water, for under $400 the Pixel Tablet isn’t too bad.

If, however, you’re looking into media creation or heavier workloads, then the Pixel Tablet will likely disappoint. Not only is the Android ecosystem not there yet in terms of availability of even non-free media creation apps – photo and video editing, DAWs, etc. – but the apps that are available appear to perform significantly better on iOS devices. While it is possible to perform heavy-duty tasks like photo and even video editing to some extent on the Pixel Tablet, it is painfully slow and can get tiring real quickly.

As for myself, I will continue to stick to the workflow that I’ve established using the Pixel Tablet and see how things evolve over time. While I don’t believe in the performance radically increasing in the future – on the contrary – for me the GrapheneOS device is still a more justifiable option than going back to Apple’s walled garden. With Google apparently scrapping the next iteration of the Pixel Tablet for a possibly more powerful Pro device at a later date, I’m holding my breath for a future version of the Pixel Tablet that might fix the performance issues with heavier workloads.