Nexus 7 (2013) - Mini Review
by Brian Klug on July 27, 2013 12:54 AM EST- Posted in
- Tablets
- Snapdragon
- Qualcomm
- Android
- Mobile
- APQ8064
- Nexus 7
- Android 4.3
One of the biggest complaints I had about the original Nexus 7 was connectivity, as it only included 2.4 GHz 802.11b/g/n support. The hilarity of that situation was only compounded by the fact that Google could only demo the Nexus 7 at that Google I/O plugged in through USB-OTG Ethernet adapters because 2.4 GHz is effectively impossible to use at conferences. With the new Nexus 7, dual band (2.4 and 5 GHz) WLAN is now included with a WCN3660, Qualcomm’s companion WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n, BT 4.0, and FM Tx/Rx combo (though FM features aren’t enabled on the Nexus 7 2013).
Performance is correspondingly improved, and if you’re in an urban area where 2.4 GHz is congested beyond use, this makes the difference between an unusable brick and working tablet. Many have asked, why not WCN3680 (the 802.11ac enabled successor to 3660), the answer is of course, you’re talking about a ~$200 tablet, stuff like this understandably has to be n–1 without making the bill of materials untenable.
There’s also GNSS (GPS+GLONASS) on the WiFi only model which I tested, this goes through WCN3660 and into the baseband on APQ8064 in this configuration I believe. I’ve had nothing but great success with Qualcomm’s GNSS being the fastest out there to 3D cold fix, that holds true with the Nexus 7 (2013), even walking around the urban canyon scenario that San Francisco poses to GNSS.
Charging
The Nexus 7 (2013) is Qi (pronounced: “chee”) enabled, the de-facto wireless charging standard of the now. The Qi charger area is dead center in the middle, using a coil inside of the NFC one. That makes positioning easy.
I tossed the Nexus 7 on my Energizer Qi two-position mat when I got home, and it works perfectly, of course Qi can only charge at up to 5 watts. The in-box supplied charger is a 1.35 A variant, which isn’t anything special. Connected to my special linear power supply and battery charge downstream port controller which negotiates the proper standard, I saw the Nexus 7 (2013) draw a max of 1.32 A (6.6 watts), which makes sense given the supplied charger. I don’t have a 0–100 percent charge time number yet.
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wrkingclass_hero - Saturday, July 27, 2013 - link
^adfly linkstexasti89 - Saturday, July 27, 2013 - link
If they had included a SD slot (likely a dollar or so worth of parts), this tablet would have been the perfect tablet for me.CityBlue - Saturday, July 27, 2013 - link
"What’s a little awkward is how tall the bevel at top and bottom looks on the Nexus 7"I think you mean bezel, not bevel...
Brian Klug - Saturday, July 27, 2013 - link
Oops, fixed, thank you!-Brian
techtoll - Sunday, July 28, 2013 - link
Price is what is the most tempting. Surely going for this whenever available in India.flashbacck - Sunday, July 28, 2013 - link
people on the androidcentral forums are saying the headphone jack does function as a line-inImpulses - Sunday, July 28, 2013 - link
This mini war of small HDMI connectors is getting out of hand... Maybe I'm just the only oddball with this particular issue, but right now I have three different devices with three different HDMI output implementations, and the Nexus 7 will be a fourth...My pocket camera uses micro HDMI whereas my M43 mirrorless camera uses mini HDMI. Ok, I can understand that, I can even understated why we'd want a combined USB/HDMI port on phones and even tablets... Didn't MHL already solve that tho? AFAIK HTC & Samsung are still using MHL, now Google's pushing Slimport!
I can charge a phone, a small tablet, an MP3 player, a Bluetooth headset, a small portable speaker, a USB battery pack/back, and even a pocket camera with one micro USB charger/cable... Yet I need four different dongles for HDMI output. One step forward and two steps back I tell ya.
Impulses - Sunday, July 28, 2013 - link
Looked up Brian's old pipeline port on the Slimport adapter and answered my own question, I'd forgotten Slimport dispenses with MHL's need of powered adapters... I guess that's worth dealing with yet another port, why aren't other manufacturers transitioning to this? Not like MHL ever materialized on TVs (which promised power AND HDMI over a single cable if it came to pass). $30 is kinda steep tho, is no one else offering Slimport adapters still?JNo - Sunday, July 28, 2013 - link
wireless charging (Qi) ?!?!This will be such an awesome feature in the UK when they never bring out the charging orb, just like they haven't for the Nexus4 almost a year after release!
Well done google! Selling products based on imaginary features!
/angry sarcastic rant over
weiran - Sunday, July 28, 2013 - link
It's a bit disingenuous to say the Nexus 7 dominated it's form factor, the iPad mini probably sold 3-5x more than the OG Nexus 7.I say probably as we don't know for sure because Google refuses to release sales data, which also makes me believe sales either were under expectations or Google takes a big enough hit on each sale they don't want it public info.