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
I hesitate to do quick turnaround reviews of products, that’s why this is a short review and Anand is hopefully going to take a longer look at the Nexus 7 (2013). From the time that I’ve spent with the new Nexus 7 however, I think it’s safe at this point to deem it more than a worthy successor to the tablet that not only dominated its form factor for its entire run, but proved that 7-inches was probably the right size for Android tablets. The display is excellent, and at present the best in its 7–8 inch class, beating even the iPad mini in terms of GMB Delta-E 2000 and resolution. Performance is great, build quality is great, and the whole affair runs stock, unadulterated Android 4.3.
The new Nexus 7 is everything a generational refresh should be – performance goes up dramatically, issues were fixed (storage), features were added (5 GHz WiFi, rear facing camera, Qi charging, high DPI display), and it’s all in a thinner and lighter form factor. Everything about the OG Nexus 7 is better in the 2013 model, all while keeping basically the same price point, and we haven’t even looked at the 4G LTE enabled version yet which adds the right kind of operator-agnostic LTE bands for two regions that I’ve been begging for. It’s undeniable that Google is doing something right with the Nexus program, and along with it, hardware partner ASUS.
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lordlad - Monday, July 29, 2013 - link
you are definitely entitled to your opinion (being freedom of speech and all) and i will be the first to agree with you if it's android v1 till v3.0. But since 4.0 ICS and above, many of the UI quirks had been ironed out at a rapid pace and android is still the most featured (functional wise) mobile OS out there.Which mobile OS currently allows you to access your home NAS and copy/paste file from/to your mobile device? Such a no-brainer use-case but IOS can't do it. Windows Phone 8 can't do it. I have no idea about BB10 so i can't comment but Android can do this among others. Most of the Mobile platform out there to me are more like appliances OS platform whereby the function of the OS and devices are defined by the makers and app-creators. It's like a vacuum cleaner can only do vacuum cleaning. An appliances.
Android, at least from my perspective, it's a mobile computing platform. The OS performed a certain functions but there's no pre-defined role of what it can do or can't. You can probably put android in a nuclear missile launching silo and it will probably worked (with some re-tooling of course).
All I'm saying is android is more akin to having a full computer in a phone/tablet form factor.....while else the other platforms (IOS, Windows Phone) are more like phone and tablet appliance. I'm sure their user experience, being much more curated, resulted in a 'tighter' experience...but it also resulted in a much more 'restricted' experience..
I must have pulled out a few hairs when i am trying to attach certain files to an email i am typing on my ipad. Such is the result of a constrained, 'appliance' experience..
but alas, to each his own. ;-)
akdj - Saturday, August 3, 2013 - link
Interesting take. Especially Android tablets in launching silos. Word is most of those were built in the 60s 70s and 80s...the power in any of today's tablets far surpasses what computing power was available when those missiles were deployed. So you're right...they very well COULD work as a missile launch and targeting system....that said, they'd get the app AFTER iOS does;). Already over a half million iPads have been deployed by major airlines across the world. Including updated Jep charts and plates, real time weather and traffic conditions, etc. They decided to go with iOS. Not Android. While I'm brand agnostic (I've got iOS and Android devices) and prefer not to trumpet my opinions on a board read and provided by folks many times smarter than me...your take on Android is a bit 'over the top' at this time. iOS is a simple to use device that many 'power' users won't find able to fulfill their needs...but many moms n dads and grandmas and gramps...kids as well....checking email and Facebook, posting n manipulation of stills and video, watching Netflix or Hulu...messaging and browsing, the things they ONLY used their old desktop or laptop for, it's an absolute answer to their needs. Android is a bit more tricky to learn, a bit different to set up and use, and its lack of optimized tablet apps is a killer.While the case can be made that Android COULD in fact be a better all around computing device, I guess we'll just have to wait for the developers to take notice and advantage of such an excellent subsystem.
We'll see. Until then....you're definitely entitled to your opinion, as you say...according to the constitution (though not all readers of Anand are from the USA)...however, you're wrong. Sorry
J
kascollet - Sunday, August 4, 2013 - link
I connect my iDevices to my NAS on a daily basis. Works perfectly over SMB and AFP. The app is FileBrowser but there are others to perform this use case. With my former Nexus 4, I couldn't do it as flawlessly, whatever the app I tried.Smartphoneuser - Wednesday, July 31, 2013 - link
This is flame bait. You are in the minority. I always ignore trolls, but could not resist the temptationfor2015nexus7 - Sunday, July 28, 2013 - link
this got to be the best tablet review site. anyways, how is the.speaker comparing to kindle fire hd in terms of loudness and clarity. thax a lot!andypost - Monday, July 29, 2013 - link
Asus Memo Pad 7" @ $90 might be a better value buy for a lot of folks.harishlj - Monday, July 29, 2013 - link
Brian's mini review is more detailed than most full-reviews done by others. Love the detailed run-down of the hardware and the features.geniekid - Monday, July 29, 2013 - link
I believe the popular opinion regarding the use of Snapdragon vs Tegra 4 was that the LTE capable version of the Tegra (the Tegra 4i) wasn't ready fast enough to meet the release schedule of the new Nexus 7.Bob Todd - Monday, July 29, 2013 - link
I'd say Tegra 4 not fully supporting OpenGL ES 3.0 is a bit of a problem when that's one of the marquee features of Android 4.3 which is debuting on this device...aliasfox - Monday, July 29, 2013 - link
To be fair, my 2010 iPad (with its single core processor and a whopping 256 MB of RAM) is already dog slow on iOS5, which I feel was built with the A5 chip in mind (iPhone 4s, iPad 2/3). iOS7 will likely be built with the A6 chip in mind, so with 1/2 the cores, 2/3 the clock speed, and 1/4 the RAM, an original iPad would be left breathless right at startup.As for the Nexus 2013, I like it a lot. My gf has the original Nexus, and while it's a fine product, it doesn't feel particularly premium. The new one looks to be nearly as thin and nearly as light as an iPad mini, but $100 cheaper. Even if Apple were to thoroughly update the mini (A6, retina display), this would still be very, very tempting to grab for a weekend getaway tablet.