The Google Nexus 7 Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi & Brian Klug on July 26, 2012 11:35 AM ESTBattery Life
The Nexus 7 has an integrated 16Wh battery, which despite its size delivers extremely good battery life. Our WiFi browsing test saw the Nexus 7 deliver 9 hours of battery life on a single charge, that's roughly half an hour less than the new iPad.
The Kindle Fire comparison is even more impressive - the Nexus 7 outlasts the Fire in this test by nearly 70%.
Battery life while playing back locally stored video is just as impressive. Here the Nexus 7 clocked in at over 10.5 hours on a single charge, 82% longer than the Kindle Fire. Of course with only 8GB of local storage you're going to be forced to stream a lot of content to the Nexus 7, where it will get worse battery life.
Our 3D gaming battery life test shows how bad things can get on the Nexus 7 if you really stress the SoC and display: 4.08 hours. This is actually the only test where the Kindle Fire does better on battery. Do keep in mind that the Nexus 7 is technically doing more work (higher resolution and frame rate), which contributes to the delta in battery life here.
With 4 hours on the low end and 10.5 hours on the high end there's a pretty wide dynamic range for battery life on the Nexus 7. Keep that in mind because depending on your usage model you may end up closer to the lower end of that spectrum than you'd otherwise think. The big problem is without tons of local storage, you're going to end up relying on WiFi for content streaming needs a lot more than you would otherwise - which does have a tangible impact on battery life.
The Nexus 7 does take a good amount of time to charge its relatively small battery using the supplied 10W (5V, 2A) charger:
You can expect a full charge to take 3.35 hours, and about 3 hours to hit 90%.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
118 Comments
View All Comments
ericore - Friday, July 27, 2012 - link
Assuming the price is 299 for the entry 16 GB version of Nexus 10, I will only buy it under the following conditions:-storage option
-2GB Ram
-Preloaded with Ubuntu (duel boot)
-Option to load other distros in its place
Linux complements Android very well and fills a lot of the gaps.
It would be a smart move on Google's part.
It would be my move.
richough3 - Friday, July 27, 2012 - link
I would be tempted to buy this but the lack of decent speakers on a tablet like this is one of the deal killers for me. The other one is the lack of an SD card slot. Sure, it's up to preference, but the way I see it is more and more ISPs are moving to tiered services, so to do everything across the cloud will cost more.Chesher - Friday, July 27, 2012 - link
Nexus 7 has bluetooth - Kindle Fire does not.So, I can use Google Play with my bluetooth speakers with my Nexus 7.
Just wanted to mention this - because this is a big deal.
tssynergy - Saturday, July 28, 2012 - link
Moore's law is in full effect in the tablet world. Given the recent technological progress in components and the slew of new hardware about to hit the streets, I think the differences in the actual devices will become narrow to the point of being insignificant (excluding Windows RT/8, primary computing tablets for now). The key differentiation, in my opinion, lays in the various ecosystems. iTunes vs. Amazon vs. Google Play is where the battle will be won or lost. Sustainable competitive advantage on hardware will be short lived to non existent.ssddaydream - Sunday, July 29, 2012 - link
While I agree for the larger portion of the market, I think the enthusiast market cannot be ignored. There will always be those who want the absolute best hardware and will just load up AOSP/AOKP. I think the enthusiast market will find a way to bring multi-platform support to their device.Diogenes5 - Sunday, July 29, 2012 - link
Anyone that thinks Windows 8 Tablets will be competitive at all are fooling themselves. People use Windows devices because they have to, not because they want to. i5/i7-based designs don't offer the kind of battery life and form factor needed for what people have come to expect in the storage space and Tegra 3/ARM based windows 8 tablets offer nothing more hardware wise than current tablets.That leaves only the GUI and OS as the differentiating factor between Windows Tablets and Current Tablets. Do people really think that Windows 8 will offer anything near the experience of current android and iOS tablets? Everyone using the RC (including me) is underwhelmed. This is the same Microsoft that produced tablet laptop's for years that nobody bought. Thanks but no thanks, Windows 8 will be a laughingstock just like windows phone.
maximumGPU - Monday, July 30, 2012 - link
Another troll..all you provide are your opinions and you think they're a reflection of the majority.
"People use Windows devices because they have to.." plenty of other OS out there if you don't like windows. And guess what? a lot of people do like it.
"Do people really think that Windows 8 will offer anything near the experience of current android and iOS tablets?" Euh yeah it will, how about proper compatibility and seamless transition between your pc and your tablet for a start?
I'm a New Ipad owner, and i find the OS very limiting. Awaiting a windows tablet.
"Everyone using the RC (including me) is underwhelmed.." have you used it in a tablet environment? thought so.
"Thanks but no thanks, Windows 8 will be a laughingstock just like windows phone". Of course, you'd know that already.
shaolin95 - Sunday, July 29, 2012 - link
I was very happy when I saw this tablet first until I read about not SD card options...totally killed it for me...very lame.bertiebond - Monday, July 30, 2012 - link
but the samsung tab 7.0 (p1000) i use has 3G, has micro SD slot.7inch is perfect size for on the go, emergency phone in a pinch, read comics, books, films.
Nexus, much better hardware specs all round, but critically crippled for what you actually want to use it for.
Shame really. Samsung sucks with OS upgrades, you have to root it just to get ICS, nevermind jellybean!
seanleeforever - Tuesday, July 31, 2012 - link
" In every sense outside of portability, a 10-inch display is much nicer to look at than a 7-inch one in my opinion. There's less zooming in you need to do on web pages or magazines. Text in general is just easier to read and perhaps I'm getting too old, but there's something nice about everything being comfortably bigger.Read more at http://www.anandtech.com/show/6073/the-google-nexu...
"
really, anand, really?
would you say the 17 inch notebook is much nicer to look at than 12 inch one?
my company laptop is a pain in the ass 17 inch dream color elitebook, but i find myself using 12 inch thinpad x unless i absolutely have to do use the company laptop. it is not always the bigger the better.
with that said, i have both ipad 3 and nexus 7, and my experience has been entirely different from yours. the ipad3 is way to heavy as a tablet, and if i have to use a dedicate carrying device, i find myself using 12 inch laptop most of time. the nexus 7, however, is so light (which you should really focus more in the review IMHO) and allow you to use to use it like a tablet. it also magically fit in all my pants and as someone who travels 70% of time, this is a god send.
apple is making a big mistake not to release the mini ipad, and now the market is taken.