Is the Android Tablet Officially Dead?

Remember once upon a time when we thought that four-inch smartphones were gigantic? How naive we were, now that we peer down at our phablets where a six-inch screen is almost becoming the norm. This has definitely encroached on the territory of the tablet and some new updates coming down the line could very well spell doom for the Android tablet as a whole.

More specifically, The Verge is reporting on some new Chrome OS updates that could see Chrome OS tablets effectively taking over the role that is currently occupied by Android tablets.

Up until now, Chrome Os has largely been focused on the Chromebook form factor, but the newest update (version 64) is adding a number of tablet-focused features like split-screen multitasking and Android-style screenshots. With a number of 2-in-1 Chromebooks in the works, we could end up with the best of both worlds… which would also mean that the Android tablet, as we know it, would be effectively dead.

Remember that you can run Android apps on Chromebooks in the background as of last month, so it’s not like you’d be losing out on the huge app ecosystem either. These days, it’s so much harder to justify spending $600 on the Samsung Galaxy Tab S3, because you’d either using your smartphone or move up to a Windows convertible for true productivity.

Realistically, I think there’s still a spot in the marketplace for people to spend under $100 on the Amazon Fire HD 8 with not-really-Android, but they’re not going to upgrade it on a regular basis like how they might with their Android smartphone. It’s not just the imminent rise of the Chrome OS tablet that’s marking the swan song of the Android tablet either. Check out this video from PhoneArena.

[youtube=https://youtu.be/6L-N3IolXEU]

Both Stephen and I really, really liked the Asus Eee Pad Transformer when we reviewed it seven years ago. Seven. Years. Ago. And while the form factors have gotten slimmer and lighter and more elegant, the Android tablet experience hasn’t moved along at the same pace as the Android smartphone experience.

Maybe it is time to move on. What do you think? Do you still use an Android tablet as part of your regular day-to-day? Are you planning on buying another one this year?