But development for premium Android tablets waned. Even if they had sold relatively well, they would have represented a small fraction of the number of Android smartphones. Developers had a far greater vested interest in ensuring that their development time was devoted to covering a wide base of the latter. And while Apple relentlessly exhorted developers to optimize their apps for the iPad, Google long saw the best approach as a scalable interface that developers largely ignored, even after Google thought to tout tablet optimization in Google Play. Meanwhile, after cleaning off the blood from its nose resulting from Windows RT, Microsoft redoubled its efforts to offer 2-in-1s that provided a full Windows experience. Even today, that experience is not strongly optimized for touch. But it’s fine for reading a PDF, watching a movie, or many other tasks for which a laptop wouldn’t be just as good if not better. Windows has also benefited at the expense of Android by pushing the definition of a tablet toward something that is more of a subset of 2-in-1 functionality as opposed to a standalone device. And at least at the high end, market leader Apple has been willing to come along for the 2-in-1 ride even though both the iPad Pro and Surface offer keyboards as a separate accessory. Back at Google, Chrome OS had found more success in a niche of cheap education laptops than Android had in larger form factors. Google made Chrome OS even stronger competition to Android by enabling the former to run Android apps; its last stab at a tablet was the Chrome OS-based Pixel Slate. Given its existing selection, it was a bit surprising to see the retailer finally launch its own branded Android tablets under the brand “Onn.” They arrive with Android Pie and support 5 GHz Wi-Fi networks, a rarity in the lowest tier of tablets and laptops. On the other hand, Onn tablets tap out at less than six hours of battery life and feature a small Walmart logo icon in the navigation bar that mars the interface. Clicking it brings up a screen with a handful of Walmart-related apps. These include a Walmart eBooks app to answer the e-reading focus of the Fire. Much like Android Wear, Android tablets have failed to gain much ground even as the obvious alternative to Apple. Both device classes have suffered from a lack of Google focus that can be chalked up in part to the company’s business model. After all, if you already know virtually everything about a person from their smartphone or their use of your web or iOS apps, there’s incrementally little to be gained from having them acquire second or third Android devices. Android tablets in particular suffered from the same squeeze between laptops and smartphones that attacked the iPad, which offers a far more polished experience. But some Android tablets still offer millions of apps and the flexibility of 2-in-1s for less than $100. That may no longer be interesting for Google, but has been appealing enough a value-seeking segment to keep a selection of them going. PREVIOUS AND RELATED COVERAGE Google Pixel Slate review: Google’s pricey vision of a tablet-meets-Chromebook doesn’t quite gel Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 almost makes tablets interesting againBuilding on last year’s premium Tab S4, the 10.5-inch tablet adds some innovative features for work and play. Walmart-brand Android tablets launch for just $64The 10-inch tablet comes in at just $79, but has only 5.5 hours of battery life.
