The Nexus 7 (2013) Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi on August 22, 2013 6:00 PM ESTFinal Words
I really like the Nexus 7. It’s easily the best small Android tablet I’ve ever used. The build quality is great, the display is amazing and the hardware is fast. The new Nexus 7 also happens to be the most color accurate Android device we've ever tested - easily competitive with the iPad's Retina Display, and delivers the longest battery life we've ever seen from an Android tablet. You also get the benefits of owning a Nexus device: timely updates and unadulterated Android. My only real complaint about the Nexus 7 is that its screen feels cramped. If you’ve got a large smartphone, the jump between it and the 7-inch display may not be big enough. On the flip side, the 7-inch form factor does make the Nexus 7 quite portable. If you’re ok with the tradeoff, then I have no qualms recommending the Nexus 7 over other 8-inch tablets.
I typically find myself at odds with what a manufacturer wants to charge for a product, but in the case of the Nexus 7 that’s not true at all. At $229 the base 16GB model is extremely well priced. The adder for the 32GB model is a somewhat reasonable $40. If your Nexus 7 is going to be more of a mobile workhorse, you’ll eventually be able to get a LTE model for $349.
The original Nexus 7 gave us a decent Android experience at a very low cost. This year ASUS and Google raised the bar for sure. The new Nexus 7 is no longer just a decent tablet at a good price, it's an incredible tablet. With this Nexus, it's clear that Google no longer wants to rely on value alone. The 2013 Nexus 7 redefines what you should expect to pay for a truly great tablet. If you're in the market for an ultra portable tablet, and definitely if you're shopping for an Android tablet in particular, the new Nexus 7 should be at the top of your list. It's so good that I'm giving it our Silver Award.
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Arbie - Thursday, August 22, 2013 - link
No micro/SD card = no sale.
One of the main reasons I would buy something like this is "media consumption". Nothing - including large internal memory - can compare to SD for swapping media sets in and out. Like.. 16GB in 5 sec. Plus you can carry any number of extra sets with you.
The continued refusal of Google and Amazon to include SD is sad, at least for me. Fortunately, Samsung does do SD.
sweenish - Thursday, August 22, 2013 - link
If it really came down to that for me, I'd go USB OTG with my wife's 1 TB WD Passport. Not as elegant as a microSD card, but I'm plunked down to watch something anyway.Otherwise, I'm streaming.
sherlockwing - Thursday, August 22, 2013 - link
For me the 32GB is plenty for media consumption on a plane, I can get 47 hours of 720p down to 20G with handbrake and that last me a few days. When I run out of videos I just move in new ones from my laptop.bji - Friday, August 23, 2013 - link
You watch alot of TV. 47 hours would last me about ... a year.just4U - Saturday, August 24, 2013 - link
Bji, Some flights can be extremely long and by the sounds of it Sherlock might be one of those types of long haul commuters.. Hah New York To Japan a few times a month might do the trick in having your device stacked full of video.Impulses - Friday, August 23, 2013 - link
USB OTG plus my 32GB SanDisk USB 3.0 flash drive ($37 during a Newegg deal)... It's wayyy quicker to transfer movies to that drive anyway (at close to 200MB/s, which no micro SD can touch).USB OTG works without root even, and I've been seeing small micro-sized flash drives with micro USB connectors if you really need something smaller than a regular flash drive + OTG cable dongle. The former are small enough to always leave plugged in, someone waseven running a kickstarter to sell one such drive.
Diorarat - Wednesday, October 2, 2013 - link
Does it work with the N7? Didn't the 2012 N7 lack usb otg support?darwinosx - Thursday, August 22, 2013 - link
That made me laugh out loud. Get used to it. Even Samsung will be giving up on sd cards. Because they suck.Impulses - Friday, August 23, 2013 - link
I think there's still a case to be made for them, even though USB OTG works great for me I can see situations where it's not too suitable as an alternative, like when giving a tablet to a child.ESC2000 - Thursday, August 29, 2013 - link
Do you just reflexively say anything sucks that apple products don't have?