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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KDOG - Saturday, August 3, 2013 - link
Aaaahh ... SlimPort. Nevermind....KDOG - Saturday, August 3, 2013 - link
Still don't like the fact that they don't have mSD slots....piroroadkill - Tuesday, September 3, 2013 - link
milliSD? I didn't know there was such a thing.The only correct abbreviation is surely µSD.
d14b0ll0s - Saturday, August 3, 2013 - link
the specs chart is wrong for the old N7 -- I am a happy owner of a 32GB version, as it was '16 or 32' with the 2012 model as welljcsweeney - Sunday, August 4, 2013 - link
Brain, great review as usual, just wondering about the GPS performance.I just received my new nexus 7, and the GPS is not functional. If >1 app tried to use the GPS it looses lock, and won't regain lock until after a reboot. After searching a bit, this seems to be a common issue.
Did this show up during the time you were doing your mini review, or is it a new issue, potentially introduced with new software updates.
In any case, please cover the GPS performance in the full review.
darwinosx - Tuesday, August 6, 2013 - link
GPS is a known issue that Google is working on.jcsweeney - Wednesday, August 7, 2013 - link
I agree this is a known widespread issue. It's just that the review process missed it, and declared that the GPS worked great.Anandtech does the best reviews, benchmarks in the industry (IMO), and they seem open to updating the benchmarking process, hence the suggestion.
PointTruth1 - Thursday, August 15, 2013 - link
Great Article Brian, thanks for writing it. Wow there are so many different opinions on this forum! This is helpful. But I also feel overwhelmed when I try to identify just the main strengths and weaknesses. I just googled around, and found this page:http://productsummaries.com/Asus-Google-Nexus-7-Ta...
It claims that it parsed through hundreds of Asus Google Nexus 7 Tablet reviews and distilled a short list of dominant pros and cons. It helped me choose 7, hope it helps you as well.
lookit77 - Wednesday, August 21, 2013 - link
I believe that the USA version supports lte band 3.lookit77 - Wednesday, August 21, 2013 - link
From: https://support.google.com/nexus/7/answer/3248332?...North America:
GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
HSPA+: 850/900/1900/2100/AWS (1700/2100) MHz (Bands: 1/2/4/5/8)
LTE: 700/850/1700/1800/1900/2100 MHZ (Bands: 1/2/3/4/5/13/17)