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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iampivot - Saturday, August 24, 2013 - link
Is the GSM modem on the 4G / LTE version locked down, so that you cannot make calls nor send SMS messages, like the original nexus 7?Shukla - Saturday, August 24, 2013 - link
Is it me or is this about 1 year behind iPad? So google puts out an iPad 4 competitor 1 year later??I'm no apple junkie but why is it that each year apple resets the bar and everyone spends the year catching up but not passing in everyway?
1. No individual app privacy controls
2. Longer battery life than iPad/iPhone (by wide margin).
I need a job with google marketing- they suck.
GTBandit22 - Saturday, August 24, 2013 - link
Well considering this is a 7 inch tablet, and half the cost of the entry level iPad, I would say you're making a bad comparison.I would say that Apple is behind in the small form factor race. 6 months behind.
akdj - Sunday, August 25, 2013 - link
Possibly because the released (Apple) their tablet nine months ago? It'll never end. They're working six months apart. With each company's current release, it'll 'best' the six month old competitors. Technology, especially low power SOC and GPU designs are developing at a rapid pace. Give it a couple months and we'll see the same thing happen with Apple's new lineup. In fact, the iPad 4 is still holding up...as is the iPhone 5 to the current crop of Android releases (other than extreme screen sizes). I like what Google is now doing with their Nexus series. Like Apple, they're designing (or helping design) the hardware and optimizing their software to work efficiently together. Super smart decision without the carrier and OEM skins we've had to live with until these new Nexus tablets have released. Smart. Idea.lightsout565 - Sunday, August 25, 2013 - link
Can someone provide me a link with a more detailed outline of how the WiFi web browsing test is conducted? Thanks!mikeyfouc - Monday, August 26, 2013 - link
Can this plug into a VGA overhead projector to mirror the screen? I'd really like to get a tablet that allows me to show Powerpoint presentations on a VGA projector. I've seen AT's review of SlimPort, but it only has a video of the mirroring on a widescreen HD TV via HDMI. Also, I've searched all over the web: can Android show powerpoint presentations in slideshow mode (as you'd see on a PC)?Shopov - Tuesday, August 27, 2013 - link
Excelent review! My question-Nexus 7 (2012) does not support WiFi Ad Hoc (ibss). This is boring since its only WiFi version (no LTE) cannot receive WiFi from tethered smartphone (mine is Nokia C-7). What about the WiFi of the new Nexus 2013? If the answer is positive this would be a big advantage. I should mention that several Android 4 tablets receive WiFi Ad Hoc (ibss).Nexus 7 2013 - Thursday, August 29, 2013 - link
For anyone considering this device, please check out the forum on Google :https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/mob...
Majority are as reviewed, but a small, yet growing number are effected by software/hardware issues that, after a month's time, are yet to be concretely dealt with.
Buy only from a vendor having a good solid return/exchange /refund policy.
Hrel - Thursday, August 29, 2013 - link
No 802.11ac?! Lame."The beauty of not having to double the original Nexus 7's resolution but instead settling on an in-between option like 1920 x 1200 is that Google could get away with a performance mainstream SoC instead of something ridiculously high-end."' ... what? That's a ridiculously high resolution, Apple is stupid for thinking a resolution that high is useful.
I'd like to see them go 16:9, make the device 8" and give it a 1920x1080 display resolution. Perhaps next year, with 802.11ac.
With that said, I can't see myself even entertaining the idea of actually buying a tablet unless it's gaming focused like the Nvidia... thingy...I forget the name.
This is how I see it, tablets are secondary for web browsing in the first place, anyone in their right mind prefers using a laptop. Which, let's face it, anyone who can afford a tablet already has. So, WHY would someone buy a device where the primary focus is web browsing? Give me a tablet that's focused on mobile gaming (PSP/gameboy style) that also has all the functionality of one of these tablets, web browsing. I think Nvidia is on the right track, streaming desktop games so you can lie in bed and play without having a laptop on your chest and your wrists angled awkwardly. Play mobile games when away from home/on a plane/cab. Also allows you to read ebooks and listen to audio books AND check facebook/reddit/anandtech/twitter whatever, newegg and amazon and such.
I think if Nvidia just keeps doing what they're doing they're next gen "tablet" could be the perfect device. The only recommendation I'd make is to choose to focus on making it as good a mobile reader as an IPS display can be, it won't ever be as good as a kindle with that Eink display, but if it's close enough, and they can produce numbers to show no meaningful eye strain then I'm sold. They've gotta compete with Razer Edge, or whatever, too.
justacousin - Tuesday, September 3, 2013 - link
So what is going to be Nexus devices in improving their device?