Google showed us a new Pixel phone line this year, without releasing a tablet device. If all goes according to plan, the company should unveil its next tablet during next year. The device should sport Pixel branding, and pack solid specs.
Evan Blass aka evleaks was the first one to shed some light on the upcoming Pixel 7 (Nexus 7), telling that Huawei-made Google tablet will sport 4 GB of RAM with the release coming before the end of 2016. This didn’t happen, but other rumors point out that the upcoming tablet device should sport Pixel branding, and will be called Pixel 7.
Further, the tablet should be powered by Snapdragon 820, in addition to 4 GB RAM and 64 GB of internal storage. Know Your Mobile reports about the upcoming Pixel tablet running the new Android/Chrome OS hybrid operating system called Andromeda. Since there are reports that Google is planning a Pixel 3 laptop running Andromeda, which should come during Q3, 2017, Andromeda might actually be the engine for the upcoming tablet.
As for the updates, since the tablet will sport Google branding, users may rest assured it will be the first to receive new OS updates, as well as latest security patches.
There are talks around the web that Google planned for Huawei to manufacture Pixel phones, but the Chinese manufacturer declined the offer since Google wanted the phones to be branded exclusively by Google. As we mentioned, Evan Blass hinted that the upcoming tablet will be made by Huawei, but in the wake of recent events regarding Pixel phones, it is highly possible that the manufacturing of the upcoming tablet is handled to HTC. The Taiwanese company manufactures Pixel phones, and it already cooperated with Google on the Nexus 9 tablet.
The Pixel 7 (Nexus 7) is expected to arrive during 2017, probably during summer, since both Nexus 7 (2012) and Nexus 7 (2013) were revealed during the summer.