There's no doubt Apple has the market cornered on tablets, especially in the U.S. But even if "iPad" is synonymous with these devices in your mind, it's worth remembering there are other excellent alternatives on the market. If you already have a few Google smart home products, like a Nest Mini, something like the Pixel Tablet might make a lot of sense.
If you've been thinking about taking leap from iPad to Pixel Tablet (or even if you haven't), Google has a pretty enticing offer on the table. The company recently started offering the Pixel Tablet without the Charging Speaker Dock. While the dock turns the tablet into a smart home display, opting for the tablet alone saves you $100. And while $399 is a better price than $499, that's not the intriguing deal I'm talking about. Google is also offering a trade-in program for your old Samsung or Apple tablet, and depending on the model you're giving up, trading in your tablet gets you a Pixel Tablet for free: You just pay the tax.
What trade-ins can net you a new Pixel tablet for free
You don't even need to have a newer iPad to take advantage of this deal. Google will accept an iPad as old as the iPad 6, which launched in 2018. If it's in good shape, your credit will be $399, which happens to be the price of a base-model Pixel Tablet. Even if the iPad is beat up, if it turns on, you'll still get $200 for it. Seeing as a renewed iPad 6 goes for $164 on Amazon right now, that's a great deal. What's interesting is $399 appears to be the maximum Google will offer you for any iPad: Whether you have a good condition iPad 6 or the latest 12.9-inch iPad Pro, you get $399 for it.
Google will also accept your Samsung tablets, but it won't offer as much. You'll get up to $350 depending on the model, or as little as $100. (I guess iPads really do hold their value.)
Whether you think it's worth giving up even a six-year-old iPad will depend on how you feel about getting a 128GB Pixel Tablet without the dock. If you want to upgrade to 256GB of storage, can pay only the $99 difference after your trade-in (again, plus tax). If you upgrade to the 128GB tablet with the dock, same thing. If you go all out and upgrade the dock tablet with 256GB of storage, you'll pay $199, rather than the MSRP of $599.
The only catch is you need to pay for the Pixel Tablet in full at the time of purchase. Google will send you a mail-in kit for your old tablet, and following an inspection, will rebate you the agreed-upon trade-in value. At the end, you can net a new Pixel Tablet for only the tax, as long as you're fine with parting with your old iPad.
