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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justacousin - Tuesday, September 3, 2013 - link
Sorry, what I meant to ask was: So what is going to be Nexus' next steps to improving their device?harrydevlin - Monday, September 16, 2013 - link
One big difference that is often overlooked when comparing tablets is the presence or absence of a GPS. The Nexus tablets all have a GPS receiver, even in the Wi-Fi only versions. iPads do not have a GPS receiver in the Wi-Fi only versions.Some of the most compelling tablet apps require a GPS receiver. For example, using a tablet as a GPS mapping device, with stored maps, requires a GPS.
shermanx - Wednesday, October 2, 2013 - link
the battery doesn't seem right for mine. I guess either I got a defective unit or this review did it with a "tablet sheet battery". I get maybe half of what's claimed here and the battery seems to drain very fast even when I don't use the tablet (battery dies in 2-3 days if I leave it idle).sireangelus - Saturday, October 5, 2013 - link
Would you ming having an article on the nexus 7 2012 slow charging issue ??? it's frustrating. Maybe if you make a fuss something will be done about it- like warranty extension of something.SOORAJ - Wednesday, October 9, 2013 - link
when it will be launched in India? and what will be the price?lookit77 - Saturday, October 12, 2013 - link
How about a review of the LTE version of the Nexus 7 or an update to this review?Eugene88 - Saturday, October 26, 2013 - link
I'm very curious about battery change. i.e. frequent usage of tablet drained battery, so it doesn't hold even for an hour. Is it possible to change battery? Haven't found any openings on tablet.Very well written article.
WillyJ - Wednesday, November 6, 2013 - link
Sadly, my daughter has shattered her display. Does anyone know a reliable source for replacement display assemblies?ESC2000 - Thursday, January 2, 2014 - link
You know it's actually surprising to me how the nexus 7 blew the original iPad mini out of the water in every test except for one. Granted the original mini was a three months from the end of its life cycle. Apple is still selling it, though, for a super inflated price of $300, which makes it somewhat in the nexus 7's price range. The reins mini at $400 may surpass the nexus 7 but is not a good value with its low functionality:price ratio.I just remember the constant arguments with apple fans claiming the original mini was better than the nexus 7 2013, and I think the lopsided nature of these numbers shows that objectively it was not better (although in individual cases there may be some reason to purchase it over the nexus 7).
mittoo - Friday, January 10, 2014 - link
Nice review and a lot of insight on screen quality.I have on complaint though. Why is iPhone 5 included in the pixel per inch list? What, you don't like Google products on top? After praising the device so much you could let it have the top spot in that. Why randomly add a phone? And it is not like the iPhone 5 has the highest ppi either.