The Nexus 7 (2013) Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi on August 22, 2013 6:00 PM ESTWiFi, GPS
I won't spend too much time on either of these points as Brian already did so in his initial review. WiFi duties are handled by Qualcomm's WCN3660 WiFi combo chip. The new Nexus 7 sees an update to include 5GHz 802.11n support, which is a very welcome addition. There's no 802.11ac, understandably for cost reasons. 802.11ac is probably the only thing missing from this otherwise awesome platform.
When it comes to GPS, there's good news and bad news. The good news is that Qualcomm's GNSS implementation remains the fastest we've tested as far as time to lock is concerned. The bad news is there seems to be an issue with the Nexus 7's impementation, likely in software, that results in the tablet randomly losing GPS lock. Update: It looks like this has been fixed!
Note that neither my Nexus 7 nor Brian's have exhibited the instability or consistent reboots that I've seen reports of. I had a single unexpected reboot during my GPS testing but that was it. Brian's sample has been running with over 22 days of constant uptime at this point. I also haven't seen any multitouch issues on my Nexus 7, although touch controllers are sometimes sourced from multiple vendors which could explain some of the issues others are seeing. Update: Looks like this one is fixed too!
Camera
The new Nexus 7 adds a 5MP rear facing camera, something its predecessor didn't have at all. While I rarely use my tablet for taking photos, I will admit the absence of a rear facing camera on the old Nexus 7 caught me off guard. Image quality out of the rear camera is decent. I threw together a gallery comparing the Nexus 7's rear camera to the iPad mini, MeMO Pad HD7 and Galaxy Tab 3 8.0:
In well lit situations and if you're sharing photos at lower resolutions, the Nexus 7's camera isn't bad at all. It's not the best thing in the world but in a pinch it's fine. I also threw in iPhone 5 samples as a reference in the gallery above.
Video on the Nexus 7 (2013) is 1080p30 at 12 Mbps, H.264 Baseline with 1 reference frame, and 96 kbps 48 KHz single channel AAC audio.
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eio - Friday, August 23, 2013 - link
After playing with the new Nexus 7, I seriously think that equip the same 7" screen with a ultra-thin border (like Optimus G2) would be the ultimate form factor of smartphones. It won't be as comfortable to carry as a 5" but the enlarged screen size are much more beneficial for a portable computing device, which what smartphones are nowadays (imo they are not "phone" anymore, everyone is looking instead of talking to them). I can carry a 7" device in my back pocket without much problem, daily.meloz - Friday, August 23, 2013 - link
I so wish this tablet had a 9-inch screen. Then it would be perfect for me. 7-inch tablets do not work for me because of text size; you cannot hold them down (at lap level when sitting in chair) with the the wrists resting on legs. You always have to raise them up like a smartphone to chest height, and that gets tiring if you are sat and reading a long document/file.I wish Asus and Google would make a 9 inch variant of this device. :(
cjs150 - Friday, August 23, 2013 - link
Do what I did. Get a Nook HD+ and root it back to standard android. Although I would also strongly recommend getting a matt screen cover because of the reflections.Works really well as an e-book reader
ShieTar - Friday, August 23, 2013 - link
I just imported myself a Cube U30GT. Its a 10", but surprisingly enough they managed to keep it to 320g, so its as comfortable to hold as most 7" tablets. I can definitely hold it comfortably with one hand while operating the screen with the other one.aniym - Friday, August 23, 2013 - link
Since when did 659g become 320g? Seriously, this spamming of Chinese tablets is getting tiresome? Do you really think that readers of Anandtech, of all sites, are going to fall for your BS?meloz - Friday, August 23, 2013 - link
ShieTar, does your "Cube U30GT" (never head of it before, strange) posses identical specs and performance as the Nexus 7?Somehow I doubt it. I am not interested in disposable Chinese junk.
ShieTar - Monday, August 26, 2013 - link
Nope, it does most certainly not have identical specs and performances. The CPU is admittedly on the slow side, and the hardware is the kind of plastic you expect from a 200$ tablet. I did not try to tell you that it is better in every aspect then the Nexus 7, I merely expected that your reason for wanting a 9" when there is already a ton of 10" devices would be weight, and I offered a comment on that topic.ASEdouardD - Saturday, August 24, 2013 - link
Yeah, it'S 670 g. Way more than 320. Also, I'd stay for away from cheap Chinese tablets for now. Tablets are computers. So many things can go wrong, I have to really trust the company I'm buying this from. I'm sure China (and hey, I don't consider Taiwan part of China) will get there soon and produce high quality tablets, but we're not there yet. Anyway all Android tablets are crap except the Nexus line anyway.ASEdouardD - Saturday, August 24, 2013 - link
To each his own. I feel 7 inch is the best size for me. I find even the iPad Mini too big to carry around a lot. The iPad 4 and the Nexus 10 are just way too big for that. They're more couch tablets then follow you everywhere tablets. I don't even realize I'm carrying around my new Nexus 7 in my man purse (it's European!) because it's so light and small.ASEdouardD - Saturday, August 24, 2013 - link
''than''. Sorry.