New Google Nexus 7 Hands On (2013 edition)
Yesterday while stopping into Best Buy I was surprised to see a new Nexus 7 in the tablet section. After playing with the device for a while I came away unimpressed. It is a solid device 🙂 but the screen was not as overwhelmingly good as I expected 🙁
Perhaps the biggest problem for me was that my Samsung Galaxy Note 2’s display actually seemed brighter and it was also not that much smaller than the Nexus7:
| Google Nexus 7 (2013) | 2013 | 7″ | 20.94 square inches (6.1″x3.4″) | 1920×1080 | 16:9 | 314.70 ppi |
| Samsung Galaxy Note II | 2012 | 5.55″ | 13.16 square inches (4.8″x2.7″) | 1280×720 | 16:9 | 264.61 ppi |
| Apple iPad Mini | 2012 | 7.85″ | 29.58 square inches (6.3″x4.7″) | 1024×768 | 4:3 | 163.06 ppi |
If you look at the preceding rows of data, from Pixensity.com, you will see that the iPad Mini has a comparatively large 4:3 aspect ratio display but offers a very low pixel density (ppi) which can result in text and images looking pixelated, the Nexus 7 offers a middle-ground on display size display with very high pixel density, and the Note II has a display that offers 63% of the Nexus 7’s screen area but does so in a much more compact page (i.e. with no huge bezels).
If Google eventually cuts the starting price to $199 for the entry level model and the 32GB to around $229 then I would consider it a killer buy, for now though it is probably a pass for me. There are too many other tablets out there (like the Nook HD+) that either offer more screen real estate, a lower price, or both.
PS The biggest surprise? the 5MP camera on the back of the Nexus 7 actually took nice quality photos! 🙂