Review of the Nexus 7


Review of the Nexus 7

So I am a hardcore Google fan boy, however I am also very much about having the best experience from everything I buy. That is why for my phone I will always be Android and why I used to use an iPad as a tablet.

Because I am a Google fan boy I am all about the pure android experience. However when it came to tablets Android always fell short, nothing lived up to the iPad. That is from both a software and hardware point of view. It pains me to say it and it pained me to use the iPad because I do love Google and use loads of Google products even Google+. I would also be using my Galaxy Nexus if I hadn't dropped it and smashed the screen (now on the Galaxy S 3).

So what is so great about the Nexus program? Well its updates updates ON TIME updates. No manufacturer can deliver updates as fast as a Nexus phone. Just look at Ice Cream Sandwich only on less than 10% of phones which is crazy when ICS is such an awesome operating system, and now we have Jelly bean which is even better.

I remember when Froyo (2.2) came out and it took ages for it to appear on the Galaxy S, which is what I was using at the time. People were going crazy, I know because I was doing some work with Samsung at the time and their Facebook page was full of angry customers asking where their update was, proof that a hell of a lot of Android users know about what software they are on.

I am also a firm believer in the way Apple build their products, the hardware is built for the software and the software is built for the hardware, meaning that you get a better rounded device. This is what I feel a Nexus device is and what it delivers, great hardware with uncensored software from Google, “Pure Google” as the ad goes.

Anyway back to the Nexus 7...

Before the Nexus 7 I used my new iPad all the time when I didn't have my laptop on me or when I went out for the day and of course at home and in bed (fantastic for netflix while having a bath). However ever since I started using the Nexus 7 my iPad has been in my drawer at work unloved and untouched. Mainly due to the fact that I think I have fallen in love with the 7in tablet again. I say again because I was lucky enough to have the orignal Samsung Galaxy Tab given to me before launch for testing and reviewing. And I never really fell in love with it, it was a great device at the time but there was something about the fact that it was running Gingerbread a phone operating system on a tablet.

The difference here though is the Nexus 7 is lighter thinner and the software is killer, but I will talk about the software after the hardware.

Hardware

Features

  • 7” 1280x800 HD display (216 ppi)
  • Scratch-resistant Corning glass

  • 1.2MP front-facing camera
  • 8 or 16 GB internal storage
  • Quad-core Tegra 3 processor
  • Microphone
  • NFC (Android Beam)
  • Accelerometer
  • GPS
  • Magnetometer
  • Gyroscope
  • WiFi 802.11 b/g/n

That is a tonne of features for a tablet that cost £159!

As you can see from the above though there is one option missing which is  3G. This is a bit weird when this is a much more portable device than the iPad. Overall though I was surprised I didn't miss it all that much, considering my iPad was 3G and I never had to worry about needing a wifi conection to get connected. Not having 3G in one respect is fine because I can make a wifi hotspot out of my phone, but the reason I got a 3G iPad is so that I didn't go through my phone battery so quickly making a hotspot.

One of the best bits about this tablet though is the way it feels in the hand, the back has this lovely almost leather feel to it meant to represent the driving gloves of Steve McQueen.

The device even has a dock connector on the side meaning there could be some very interesting accessories on the way. Another cool fact I found out by accident when putting my iPad next to it was the fact that there is a magnetic sensor on the bezel with similar functionality as the iPad, see video below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nrTMtJzu7A


Software (the icing on the cake)

Ice Cream Sandwich was a pretty awesome upgrade for Android jumping from 2.3 on phones (3.0 on tablets) to 4.0. Along with it can fantastic design and direction from Matias Duarte came a really solid operating system that really could rival iOS. Google has taken this great foundation and built on it in Jelly Bean mainly with a program called ‘Project Butter’ which focuses on speed and performance when using the OS. This means the operating system really is a joy to navigate around especially between apps, the device keeping up a great frame rate.

Google have also added their new search product called Google Now. Which is kind of a different take on siri because its all about delivering information before you ask for it. For example at around 5pm when I open the app it lets me know how long it will take to get home and if there are any issues on the tube.

Also when you search for a place on your desktop it moves it to Google Now, see image below of what happened a couple of seconds after I searched for Maplins on my Mac.


On to the bad as nothing is perfect...

One area where the Nexus 7 doesn't keep up with the iPad is in the selection of tablet optimised apps, like Paper by fifty three, a beautiful app that I use for wireframing and jotting down ideas. Overall there does seem to be much lower number of tablet specific apps out there my favorite example being twitter.



Conclusion

Currently this is now my number one tablet the size, the feel, the software and the functionality are all just right.

I firmly believe that we are now at the stage where most devices are coming out with great hardware which are all capable of doing everything you need. This means that the most important 2 things are, does it look nice? And is the software any good? Everything else is beside the point for example how many megapixels a camera has or the ppi of the display. The reason for this is the fact that all top notch devices are all on the same level generally speaking with only design and software to differentiate them.

This is where the Nexus 7 makes a great change, when it comes to Android tablets,  the design is great and the software is even better. Overall this is a solid 9 out of 10 the only thing that would make it better would be a more apps made for the bigger screen and maybe even 3G.

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