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.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
202 Comments
View All Comments
ESC2000 - Wednesday, August 28, 2013 - link
Actually I have. Go look at the picture on the first page of Anand's review. .. the nexus 7 shows a few more lines of the anandtech website than the mini. I'll admit that it should be more if what I said was absolutely true (ie, every the nexus shows 2x more pixels) but even if the nexus doesn't take full advantage of its pixel density, it still beats the ipad mini in how much it shows on the screen in most situations.ESC2000 - Monday, September 9, 2013 - link
You do realize that selling more each iteration does not mean apple isn't losing market share since the tablet market has been growing exponentially... It's the same as how each iPhone sells more than the last but still iOS loses market share each year. If apple sells 5 million iPads in one quarter out of 10 million total tablets sold and then sells 6 million iPads the next out of 20 million sold, apple sold more in the second quarter but lost market share.WarpGuN - Friday, August 23, 2013 - link
in your dreamskascollet - Saturday, August 24, 2013 - link
Please stop spoiling this excellent tech-site. You don't belong here man.jl0329 - Wednesday, October 9, 2013 - link
You clueless dumb shit.KPOM - Thursday, August 22, 2013 - link
The iPad mini is at the end of its product cycle.The Nexus 7 is at the beginning. Let's hold off for a month or so to see what Apple has in store before complaining that Anand didn't compare (no pun intended) apples to apples. True, if you are in the market today, what's on tap for next month is irrelevant, but even the mainstream sites latch on to rumors today, so most people realize that the WSJ/AllthingsD essentially leaked that the iPad is due for a refresh.sherlockwing - Friday, August 23, 2013 - link
A month? I guess you haven't read the recent reports that the Retina Mini is pushed back to early 2014? iOS7 tablet apps is also lagging significantly behind iOS7 phone apps.abazigal - Sunday, August 25, 2013 - link
Those remain unsubstantiated rumours. Besides, the next ipad isn't even announced yet. Expect apps to be rapidly updated once it is announced.EnzoFX - Friday, August 23, 2013 - link
The comparison's to the ipad 4's screen is incredibly welcomed. I wanted the comparison quantified. Color accuracy I care about, the iPad 4 set the bar. There may be no cross-shopping, but for those that want a great calibrated screen, now we have 2 real options.danderson10k - Thursday, August 22, 2013 - link
Another series of Android tablets to launch this month from tablet-maker Pipo Electronics, stand out for excellent build quality and price-performance -- the Pipo M7 Pro ($255) which for roughly the same price as the new Nexus 7, features an 8.9 inch display with 1900X1200 screen resolution that uses advanced Samsung PLS technology, along with a Quad core processor, and built-in GPS navigation -- and is packed with features that compare to the new Nexus... offering premium speakers, WiFi with both 2.4 and 5.0 GHz frequencies for greater connection, as well as the choice of using standard Android O/S or a Windows style User Interface that makes the Android experience much more intuitive and easier to use --The Pipo M9 Pro ($285) model offers a 10 inch version that compares closely to the new Nexus 10 and 3G HSPA+ is available with either model for $25 more and work with any GSM Carrier, including T-Mobile and AT&T, and an Android phone SIM card maybe used interchangeably with both phone and tablet.
One of the first sources to carry the new Pipo tablet series is -- T a b l e t S p r i n t –- which also features a new Miracast TV adapter($39) that launched this week, which is similar to Google Chromecast -- but with a lot more features and performs much more like Apple's Airplay technology...