The best small tablet gets even better
The good: The Nexus 7’s razor-sharp full-HD screen, silky smooth performance, long battery life, meager weight, and affordable price make it the best tablet value on the market. The bad: The back is missing the soft grippy texture of the original, screen colors lack accuracy, and there's no microSD support. Android 4.3 has few useful interface improvements. The bottom line: Thanks to its stellar performance and affordable price, the Nexus 7 is the Android tablet to get. Pound for pound, the Nexus 7 is the best small tablet you can buy. It houses a ridiculously sharp, bright screen, its gaming performance is second only to the fourth-generation iPad, and as a Google-branded tablet it will always see the latest version of Android before any other tablet brand. Also, at $230 (for 16GB), it's still an affordable tablet with one of the highest values in the market, despite a $30 price hike over the previous generation. The $270 32GB Wi-Fi model and $350 4G LTE version are even better values, especially compared with similar configurations of the iPad Mini. Yes, it's not as cheap as some of the top small tablets from 2012, its screen isn't as big as the iPad Mini's, and Android 4.3 lacks a few useful UI features Samsung plugged into its Galaxy Tab 3. However, those are only nitpicks considering the Nexus 7's sharp-as-nails screen and blazingly fast performance. Despite its imperfections, it's the first small tablet I'd recommend and is the current best tablet value around. Design At 0.64 pound, the Nexus 7 is the lightest tablet yet, and with a 4.5-inch width when held in portrait orientation, it's probably the easiest to fit in one hand. It's an extremely simple design, black in color, and it honestly lacks much in the way of panache. It's a harsher tablet compared with the original, and I miss the 2012 Nexus 7's soft, much more inviting feel. The smooth matte finish of the tablet's back isn't as comfortable or as grippy as the soft leathery back of the 2012 Nexus 7. Also, the new tablet's corners aren't as pleasantly rounded and the Micro-USB port on the bottom edge sticks out just enough to be distracting when held in landscape mode. The top and bottom bezels span about an inch in length each, and the side bezels are even more compressed than the original's; however, despite their more slender turn, errant screen taps don't appear to be a problem.Tested spec | Google Nexus 7 | Google Nexus 7 (2012) | Apple iPad Mini | Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 (8-inch) | Samsung Galaxy Note 8 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Weight in pounds | 0.66 | 0.74 | 0.68 | 0.7 | 0.76 |
Width in inches (landscape) | 7.8 | 7.8 | 7.9 | 8.2 | 8.2 |
Height in inches | 4.5 | 4.7 | 5.3 | 4.8 | 5.3 |
Depth in inches | 0.34 | 0.41 | 0.28 | 0.27 | 0.31 |
Side bezel width in inches (landscape) | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.81 | 0.75 | 0.7 |
Tested spec | Google Nexus 7 | Google Nexus 7 (2012) | Apple iPad Mini | Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 | Samsung Galaxy Note 8 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Maximum brightness | 570 cd/m2 | 288 cd/m2 | 399 cd/m2 | 395 cd/m2 | 458 cd/m2 |
Maximum black level | 0.44 cd/m2 | 0.28 cd/m2 | 0.49 cd/m2 | 0.39 cd/m2 | 0.47 cd/m2 |
Maximum contrast ratio | 1,295:1 | 1,028:1 | 814:1 | 1,012:1 | 974:1 |
Tablet | Video battery life (in hours) |
---|---|
Google Nexus 7 (2013) | 11.5 |
Apple iPad Mini | 12.1 |
Google Nexus 7 (2012) | 10.1 |
N.O.V.A. 3 Level 1 load time (in seconds)(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
Device | CPU | GPU | RAM | OS tested |
---|---|---|---|---|
Google Nexus 7 (Summer 2013) | 1.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro | Adreno 320 (single-core) | 2GB | Android 4.3 |
Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 (8-inch) | 1.5GHz quad-core Exynos 4 Dual (4212) | Mali T400MP4 (quad-core) | 1.5GB | Android 4.2.2 |
Google Nexus 7 | 1.2GHz quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 | ULP GeFOrce (12-core) | 1GB | Android 4.2.2 |
Apple iPad Mini | 1GHz dual-core Apple A5 | PowerVR SGX543MP2 (dual-core) | 512MB | iOS 6.1.3 |
Sony Xperia Tablet Z | 1.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro | Andreno 320 (single-core) | 2GB | Android 4.1.2 |
Google Nexus 10 | 1.7GHz Dual-core Samsung Exynos 5 Dual (5250) | Mali-T604 (quad-core) | 2GB | Android 4.2.2 |
Apple iPad 4 | 1.4GHz dual-core Apple A6X | PowerVR SGX554MP4 (quad-core) | 1GB | iOS 6.1.3 |
3DMark (Normal)(Longer bars indicate better performance)
Graphics Test 1, 720p (GPU)(Longer bars indicate better performance)
Graphics Test 2, 720p (GPU)(Longer bars indicate better performance)
Physics Test, 720p (CPU)(Longer bars indicate better performance)
GFXBench tests(Longer bars indicate better performance)
GFXBench (1080p, T-Rex HD, C24Z16) | GFXBench (native resolution, T-Rex HD, C24Z16) |
The 2012 version of the Nexus 7 is still a great tablet supported by the latest version of Android and starts now at $150 (at Walmart). The Nook HD is $130 (though it's being phased out), and the 2012 Kindle Fire HD, which features better speakers despite Google touting the Nexus 7's surround sound setup, is the best choice for Amazon Prime users and still starts at $30 less.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 has a more comfortable design, it's screen handles colors more accurately and vibrantly, it includes storage expansion, and some of its UI interface conveniences surpass even what Google's been able to implement so far. However, the Tab 3 will cost you $70 more at starting prices. The new Nexus 7 trumps the iPad Mini's screen in every way aside from size and has faster gaming performance, but the Mini still has access to many more apps and most major game releases debut on iOS first, although simultaneous releases are becoming more common.
Conclusion
The Nexus 7 (2013) easily supplants the original model as the small tablet of choice. It may not be quite as comfortable to hold, but its heavily increased performance, razor-sharp screen, additional features, and all that Android 4.3 brings in tow more than make up for a harder, less grippy back.
At $230, it's more expensive than the top 7-inch tablets from 2012, but it's also much better-performing. In addition, it's cheaper than both the 8-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 and the iPad Mini and yes, performs better than either, despite the former's better handling of onscreen colors.
While it doesn't obliterate the competition, the Nexus 7 has enough improvements to earn the small-tablet crown and is the next best choice to the full-size iPad.