Conclusion
Conclusion
I thoroughly enjoyed using the Google Nexus 7.
This is something that I couldn’t say about all the Android tablets I’ve previously used. With the exception of the Kindle Fire, which was hampered by poor software decisions on Amazon’s part, my primary complaint has been Android itself. It has constantly proven itself to be buggy, ugly and a bit slow.
That’s not the case here. The Nexus 7 with Android 4.1 is sleek, comfortable and intuitive. The interface looks great, is easy to understand and has even more functionality. I like the inclusion of native support of resizing widgets, I like the new share menu and I like Chrome for Android (though it won’t be mandatory on 4.1 devices). Most of all, I love the fact that animations no longer stutter, freeze or tear.
Google hasn't thrown us any curveballs with the hardware, but most of it works well. Tegra 3 offer great performance, as expected. Connectivity is poor, as expected. Battery life is good. The only real surprise is the display, which falls short of the expectations set by the acronym “IPS.”
And then there’s the price. For just $199 you can have the 8GB version and for $249 you can purchase the 16GB model (I suggest the second option). This makes the Nexus 7 the only 7-inch tablet relevant to the market today. The products from Samsung and Acer now look terribly over-priced. Amazon’s Kindle Fire, on the other hand, is a far inferior product.
Make no mistake – the iPad is certainly the better tablet. But the Nexus 7 is far less expensive and, despite that, still quite good. The only problem is one shared with Apple – availability at launch. Retailers with stock are taking customers to the cleaners, so be patient. This $200 tablet is a great value when you actually pay $200 for it.
Thanks for the
Thanks for the review.
Knowing how unforgiving you can be when it comes to Android tablets, your strongly positive conclusion carries even more weight. The minor quibbles you have with this device will probably be overlooked by the vast majority of users, and they will like it even more than you like it. Watch out crapple.
“Let’s if Google’s new tablet
“Let’s if Google’s new tablet can since a different tune.”
what? lol
“This is the sort of ugly-but-useful feature that Apple never refuses to place on its products.”
…but apple does refuse these types of ‘features’ because they’re asthetically displeasing.
Hay man, soomtoimes it hard
Hay man, soomtoimes it hard too tipe!
continuing…
“which is very
continuing…
“which is very thing along the sides”
you mean “thin” right?
While the device doesnt have a dedicated hdmi mini port out, it does have the ability to stream from usb to hdmi like many other newer Android devices using MHL. All that’s needed is an MHL USB-HDMI cable adaptor ($25-$30)
Adaptors
HTC’s MHL adaptor -> http://i.imgur.com/MFHJy.png
Samsung’s MHL Adaptor -> http://i.imgur.com/8d86S.jpg
Kanex (3rd Party) MHL Adaptor -> http://i.imgur.com/nRx4Q.jpg
There’s so many to choose from out in the market, listed simply 3 of many.
Other than that, good job on the short review.
Yeah I have that Samsung one,
Yeah I have that Samsung one, it came with my Infuse. It requires USB power though, which kind of sucks :(.
They have to be active
They have to be active adaptors… just imagine how fast it would drain your device if it wasnt.
😐
I have the oem HTC one. It’s a little more compact than the samsung one.
heh, I suppose but still, I’d
heh, I suppose but still, I'd rather have the adapter have it's own battery pack or something, just so it'd be a bit more portable. Running out of plug space on the ol' surge protector here 😛 hehe.
I wonder if one could use one
I wonder if one could use one of those usb battery packs (like the portapow) to power the adapter. I dont think it would be an issue as long as it puts out atleast 1 amp.
Hmm.. I’ll have to try that!
Hmm.. I'll have to try that!
Agreed. A great article.
For
Agreed. A great article.
For clarification, when I see IPS, i think “not bad”, not “great”.
Declaring a minimum minimum by using the “IPS” tech, is useful. It says, this may not be the bee’s knees, but you’ll definitely know it’s not the Bee’s butt.
‘Retina’ displays are IPS
‘Retina’ displays are IPS LCD’s… just an fyi.
“Back in the day of Android
“Back in the day of Android 3.3” Lol. Honeycomb +
Nice article, but holy typos
Nice article, but holy typos and grammatical errors, batman! Doesn’t anyone edit these things?
Seems there is a decent
Seems there is a decent amount of variance when it comes to the display quality and more specifically black level. My N7’s black level is very good and I have seen two reviews that used measuring equipment and both showed a solid black level that was better than the ipad 3 each had also measured though they were basically close enough to be a wash.
I have yet to see an ipad 3 screen but my n7 is far superior to my own ipad 1 and 3 ipad 2s that I have used on occasion.
Will be interesting to see if later batch N7s are more consistent in this area. Asus has been having some mega QC issues lately (the Zennbok Prime being an example) so I wouldn’t hold my breath.
The nexus 7 is awesome peeps.
The nexus 7 is awesome peeps. I was thinking of buying the iPad mini (1st gen) but I hated the tiny amount of ram (512mb) , slow processor (1ghz dual core) , low res screen (1024×768) and the lack of widgets. The nexus 7 fixes all of these probs and delivers a smooth os, a bright and crisp screen (1920×1200) , plenty of ram (2gb) and a fast processor (1.5ghz quad core). This makes the tablet good for anything you wanna use it 4. So I bought it.
google nexus