Google Nexus 7 Tablet Review

Introduction

Video Review

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Front

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Back

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Sides

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In the Box

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Inside the packaging is your tablet, a USB cable, a wall charger, and assorted documentation. Despite many YouTube videos to the contrary, this is just not that hard to open if you let gravity do some of the work for you, and work smart.

Handling

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Due to the smaller form factor and the lightness of the tablet, the {{product.name}} is very easy to hold, and does not cause fatigue over time. While the home screen does not allow you to tilt into landscape view (like almost every app), you can shift your grip based on the app you're running. It seems to be more comfortable to hold in a portrait orientation with one hand, though your mileage may vary.

Screen

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The {{product.name}} is built around a 6" x 3.75" backlit IPS LCD display with a capacitive touch screen that is not only responsive, but quite beautiful. Because its pixel density is quite high for its size, it creates a fantastic image that makes individual pixels extremely difficult to see. Strangely enough, it does have some contrast errors that lead to some bizarre artifacting in gradients.

Indoor & Outdoor Use

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Due to the somewhat lower peak brightness and the high reflectivity of the tablet, we don't recommend using it in brightly-lit areas, as the {{product.name}} is very annoying to use outdoors. With those two issues combined, you'll find that the picture will be difficult to see in direct sunlight.

NOTE: The images above are shot with a variety of lighting sources, which may cause some color shift.

Legibility

The Google Nexus⁷ ‘s impressively high DPI allows for an extremely legible, crisp image in just about everything you look at. While it’s not quite as good as the iPad, it’s far more attractive than, say, a Kindle Fire.

Reflectance

Like most tablets with an LCD screen, the Google Nexus⁷ is highly reflective. Sending back 11.65% of all light back at the user, the Google Nexus7 doesn’t reflect as much light as other tablets, but the ill effects of bright light are worsened by a sharp reflection pattern, and the tablet’s average peak brightness.

Screen Size & DPI

Google gave its Nexus⁷ a 6″ × 3.75″ display with a resolution of 1280 × 800, netting it a pixel density (per inch) of 213 PPI, which is very dense for a tablet that will most commonly be used at a fair distance away from your eyeballs. Not only that, but due to its size, if held at the correct distance, the Google Nexus⁷ ’s pixels cannot be seen to the naked eye (unless you have “better than perfect” vision). Absolutely fantastic, Google and Asus!

Blacks and Whites

Even though the peak brightness isn’t all that fantastic, it should be bright enough for most home use. Coupled with the fact that it has a decently low black level, the Google Nexus⁷ has a fairly good contrast ratio in comparison to most tablets.

Color Gamut

The Google Nexus⁷ has the best color gamut of all Android devices tested to date by a huge margin. While it does have the usual shifting of blues and reds, the color error is much, much lower than it is on 99% of all other Android tablets. If you’re looking for an Android tablet with the best screen, here it is.

Battery Life

We apologize for taking so long with the battery tests, but it happened that way because it takes a really long time for the battery to discharge even at full brightness. In our tests, the Google Nexus⁷ was able to last 11 hours and 8 minutes playing a video on repeat, and it was able to read an War and Peace for 8 hours, 15 minutes before dying. As usual, we tested the tablet with all wireless turned off and the backlight cranked, so your mileage will probably vary if you keep WiFi on, tether a device, or lower your backlight.

As it sits right now, this is the best battery life of any tablet on the market so far, including the iPad with that behemoth inside. It seems that the 4325mAh battery is very big for a 7" tablet, and consequently, it allows you to take this tablet anywhere. You could even take this on an intercontinental flight to Europe from North America, and chances are good that it would last most of the way, if not the whole time. Asus and Google really loaded this thing for bear.

Controls

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Because of the number of physical buttons is limited to the volume rocker and power button, most of your interaction with the tablet will be governed through the capacitive touch screen, which is not only responsive, but is supported by an operating system that makes the most of it. When unveiling the newest iteration of Android (Jelly Bean), Google revealed that they had been working on a way to make their interface work better, and all the hype is true: throughout the day there was not one single hiccup in performance, not one stutter. "Project Butter" seems to deliver.

Connectivity

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Perhaps one of the best things about the {{product.name}} is the fact that Google crammed so much into the tiny body of the {{product.model}}. Not only does the {{product.name}} have bluetooth connectivity for peripherals, but it also has an 802.11n wireless card, and Near-Field Communication (NFC) to enable the use of NFC tags. While there is no microSD card or HDMI out, this tablet seems to have the hardware for some more interesting wireless capabilities.

Battery Life

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We apologize for taking so long with the battery tests, but it happened that way because it takes a really long time for the battery to discharge even at full brightness. In our tests, the {{product.name}} was able to last 11 hours and 8 minutes playing a video on repeat, and it was able to read an War and Peace for 8 hours, 15 minutes before dying. As usual, we tested the tablet with all wireless turned off and the backlight cranked, so your mileage will probably vary if you keep WiFi on, tether a device, or lower your backlight.

As it sits right now, this is the best battery life of any tablet on the market so far, including the iPad with that behemoth inside. It seems that the 4325mAh battery is very big for a 7" tablet, and consequently, it allows you to take this tablet anywhere. You could even take this on an intercontinental flight to Europe from North America, and chances are good that it would last most of the way, if not the whole time. Asus and Google really loaded this thing for bear.

Reading Books

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Reading books on the {{product.name}} is a rewarding experience, whether you use the Play Books service, or any one of the other eReader applications on the Play Store. Because you have the freedom to choose what you want in an eReader app, and a device that is not only easy to hold, but has a great resolution, the {{product.name}} is one of the few tablets that actually function well as an eReader.

Buying Books

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Because Android allows you access to all sorts of different stores, you can choose which market you want to use primarily. However, with the recent bolstering of the Google Play Store to supplement the launch of the {{product.name}}, it's worth the time to check out their selection of eBooks.

Once you've linked your tablet with your Google account and added your billing info, you can explore the Play Store for the title you'd like. After you've found that, you can simply tap the "Buy" icon and have your card automatically billed. If you've done all this, your download will start and finish very quickly, assuming you have a stable wireless connection.

eBook Formats

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One of the great things about owning an Android device is the fact that it gives you such a huge range of options. If you have a big library built up from another device or computer, you can always find another eReader app to handle the other file formats, or you can simply change their filetypes using a converter program like Calibre.

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Newspapers & Magazines

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With the latest version of Android, you can subscribe to your favorite periodicals through the Play Magazines app, or keep up with online news with Google's Currents app or the ever-popular Flipboard app.

Music & Audio Controls

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For those of you who are familiar with Android 4 (Ice Cream Sandwich), you'll notice that the Play Music app for the {{product.name}} is extremely similar to what it looks like on older tablets. The standard controls are all still there: the play/pause icon is still in a relatively central location, the track forward/backward icons are still there, as well as the scrub bar. Advanced controls are also present, allowing users to make playlists, tag their songs, and rate them.

Music & Audio Management

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Music can be stored on Google's cloud storage servers by installing the Play Music application on your computer, then uploading your library. If you do this, you will have 20GB of cloud storage that you can access on your tablet from anywhere that has a stable wireless connection. You can browse your library wither via cover flow, or list format on your tablet.

Email

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While there's nothing very new or notable about the email applications on the {{product.name}}, that's not a bad thing by any stretch of the imagination. If you'd like, you can still link your POP/IMAP/Exchange or Gmail accounts to the tablet, and access your inboxes. You can also compose, send, edit, and attach files to your email much like you would on a regular computer.

Web Browsing

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For the first time ever, a tablet was shipped with Google's Chrome browser as the default web-surfing application, allowing users to sync tabs across multiple machines, use several tabs and windows, and perform all of the same basic functions on the tablet. While it forsakes some of the more radical features of Ice Cream Sandwich's browser, Chrome is polished and ready to shine on the {{product.name}}.

Internet Apps

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In addition to all the normal apps you can find in the Play Store, Google packaged a bunch of new services like Google Now and Google Beam to enhance your Android experience by making the tablet and its search functions much smarter about how it helps you. As of yet, no word on gross privacy violations, so no need to worry about that or SkyNet in the near future.

Apps can be purchased and downloaded in the Play Store if you have linked your billing info your Google account. Just find the app you'd like to purchase, tap the buy/download icon, and your card will automatically be billed as your download starts.

Other Internet Features

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Google's searching by voice commands also got a major upgrade in Jelly Bean, as it can understand a wide range of accents and a few languages, most often comping back with relevant information (unlike Siri). With the NFC feature, you can create tags that will make your tablet perform certain functions (like handing out a WiFi password) by tapping the {{product.name}} to a programmed NFC tag.

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Device & Specs

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Device & Specs

With a far better processor, far better interface, and an astoundingly superior screen, and just about nothing inferior to the Kindle Fire, the {{product.name}} is the far better tablet for the same price.

Screen

The {{product.name}}'s screen is hands-down the best screen on an Android tablet so far, so we find it hard to make a fair comparison here.

Battery

The {{product.name}} has hands-down the best battery we've ever seen.

eReader

Here is an area in which the {{product.name}} falls a little bit short, as all Kindle devices can borrow from the Amazon Lending Library, as well as local libraries. In terms of content libraries, the {{product.name}} can't compete just yet.

Internet

With an impressive array of wireless capabilities and internet features, the {{product.name}} leaves the Kindle Fire in the dust.

Device & Specs

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Device & Specs

While the Apple's processor is much more powerful than an NVidia Tegra 3 processor, much of its resources are tied up in its huge resolution. That being said, the newest iPad is still the premium tablet on the market, despite some of its shortcomings and rigid interface. Still, the {{product.name}} is nothing to sneeze at either: it just has a smaller form factor, making it more portable and easier to hold for long periods of time.

Screen

Both have fantastic screens as far as tablets go, though that of the iPad is technically better.

Battery

Again, the {{product.name}} has the best battery we've ever seen, even though the iPad's battery is nothing to dismiss so lightly.

eReader

As an eReader, it's hard to compete with a smaller, lighter tablet, so the {{product.name}} takes this one.

Internet

Both tablets have impressive internet features, but Google's new features in Jelly Bean are something special. If you want your tablet to learn how to be your sidekick, the {{product.model}} is the way to go here.

Device & Specs

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Device & Specs

While a 10.1" tablet is much different than a 7" tablet, the {{product.name}} brings quite a bit to the table. With a better screen, more wireless features (though no IR blaster), and even better innards, the {{product.name}} would be a better device even if it was the same price.

Screen

Hands-down the {{product.name}} has the best screen of an Android device tested to date.

Battery

The {{product.name}} has the current best battery of any tablet reviewed on TabletreaderInfo.com, and therefore takes this one handily.

eReader

Due to its smaller size and weight, the {{product.name}} is a better eReader, as it is much easier to hold for longer periods of time.

Internet

Because the {{product.model}} follows convention for all Nexus devices, it will remain updated to the latest Android OS and features for a long time to come. The Xyboard, however, will be left a bit behind as its hardware can't support it as long as the {{product.name}}'s will. While the Xyboard offers an IR blaster with fantastic support, and a bunch of productivity software, in short order it will become outdated, whereas the {{product.name}} will not.

Conclusion

At the $200 price point, the {{product.name}} has a lot to offer that isn't even met by many $500+ tablets. With impressive hardware and fantastic software, the budget option from Google does not seem like bargain-bin at all, as it outperforms most tablets in many areas regardless of price.

By outperforming every other Android tablet in color performance, having a very high PPI, and no major issues, this tablet is currently the best of the best in the realm of Android at the moment; if you're looking for a media consumption device. If you're looking for a bunch of hardware options like HDMI out, or additional storage, however, you're out of luck.

As far as the battery goes, it's the best we've seen in the labs so far: if you want to watch videos on an airplane, you can reasonably expect to enjoy your {{product.name}} for almost 11 hours assuming you have your movies pre-loaded and the WiFi off. While the battery itself isn't large relative to the iPad, it's very appropriately sized, and should keep you entertained longer than any other tablet on the market as of the publish of this article.

All in all, this is a tablet that makes the most of its limitations. While it isn't the top performer in every category, it certainly packs a performance punch for an extremely low price. If you passed on the Kindle Fire because of its limitations, you should know that the {{product.name}} costs the same, but is top of the line: the {{product.name}} is easily the best bang for your buck in the tablet arena right now.