Google Nexus 7 review

Undoubtedly tired of watching OEMs make little headway in their uphill struggle against Apple's iPad, Google executives took the stage at this year's Google I/O developer conference to announce a branded seven-inch tablet of their own: the Google Nexus 7 by Asus.

Like other Nexus-branded devices, the Nexus 7 tablet isn't actually hardware manufactured by Google (as you may have noticed thanks to the suffix). As Mountain View has done with Samsung, HTC and Motorola in the past, the company paired with Asus to design and manufacture its slender tablet.

It's a smart move: among Android tablets, Asus makes some of the best around, but matching the rock-bottom $199 (£130) price of Amazon's Kindle Fire while exceeding its meager specs would be a challenge for any manufacturer.
And make no mistake: The Nexus 7 by Asus is more of an effort to stomp out Amazon's unwelcome (and forked) version of Android more than it's attempt to dethrone Apple's reigning champ.

The good news is that very little has been sacrificed along the way, unlike with Amazon's initial offering. According to Android boss Andy Rubin, Google's profit margin bears the brunt of any sacrifices made, both from selling hardware at cost but also from tossing in generous perks such as a $25 (or £15) Google Play credit for every Nexus 7 owner.
But enough about why and how Google and Asus have released the Nexus 7: Is it worth even $199 / £159 of your hard-earned cash?

hardware

 

On paper, the specs for the Nexus 7 are quite impressive. Powered by a quad-core Tegra 3 processor with 1GB RAM and either 8GB ($199 / £159) or 16GB ($249 / £199) of onboard storage, this tablet runs circles around the Kindle Fire, rivaling many competing Android tablets at twice the price (or more).

The seven-inch 1200 x 800 HD backlit IPS display packs a respectable 216 pixels per inch onto the screen. Sure, it's not quite as impressive as a third-generation Retina Display iPad at 264ppi, but given the price, users will have little to complain about from the display.
The front of the Google Nexus 7 by Asus is devoid of hardware-based buttons, but a 1.2MP front-facing camera rests at the top of the tablet front, which is covered entirely by Corning glass (we're assuming Gorilla Glass, but Google isn't confirming).

Curiously, Google seems to buck the landscape trend made popular with most Android tablets. While the Nexus 7 will indeed rotate for landscape use with apps, the home screen itself is fixed into portrait mode, as if Google wants to encourage users to hold it this way when not watching content designed for landscape, such as movies or TV shows. (Portrait mode even works when viewed with polarized sunglasses, while landscape mode goes black.)

Unlike the Kindle Fire with its one lone button, Google has wisely opted for three basic hardware controls. On the right side is a power/sleep button with a two-stage volume rocker just below; the rest is done using Android's on-screen software buttons for back, home and recent navigation, including rotation lock, which can be accessed via the notifications menu.

At the bottom of the unit is a micro-USB port and 3.5mm headphone jack, while a thin speaker port is the only feature of note on the otherwise rubberized back aside from Nexus and Asus branding. The top of the unit is devoid of ports entirely, although a small pinhole can be found here for the included microphone.

While the Nexus 7 is primarily plastic and glass, it certainly doesn't feel cheap. To the contrary, it feels almost as "premium" as one of Apple's tablets, with litte flex or other clues that Asus might have cut some corners in manufacturing - although we did notice some creakiness in our tablet sample between the bezel and the plastic cover.
Inside, the Nexus 7 packs the usual assortment of features, including an accelerometer, magnetometer and yes, even a gyroscope and GPS chip, nicely timed to take advantage of Google Maps' new offline mode for navigating when Wi-Fi isn't available.

It's almost hard to comprehend how small the Nexus 7 is until you hold its diminutive box in your hand. At a mere 198.5 x 120 x 10.45mm and weighing 340 grams, once out of the box, you can almost stack two Nexus 7 tablets side-by-side on one iPad, which is just one millimeter thinner.
Despite being so petite, Google and Asus managed to find space for a nice bezel around the screen itself (roughly 20mm top and bottom, 14mm on each side), making it plenty comfortable to hold without your fingers or thumbs getting in the way.

The pockmarked back recalls the same vibe as slipping on a pair of premium driving gloves, and this look and feel makes it quite nice to hold. While our review unit arrived with a white back (similar to the ones gifted to developers at I/O this year), Google is only offering the black model to consumers.
Speaking of which, the Nexus 7 is available direct from the Google Play store with preorders shipping in mid-July, but the company has ambitions to roll the tablet out at retail as well.

display and interface

 

While Google and Asus have checked all the right boxes on the Nexus 7′s HD IPS display and it is indeed bright and rich in color, we were disappointed to discover the overall contrast was somewhat muted on our review unit. (It's particularly noticeable on the home screens).

Maybe the iPad or even Asus' own Transformer has spoiled us, but the Nexus 7 seems to lack the kind of deep, rich black levels you might find on something like the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (which admittedly uses a more saturated, contrast-rich Super AMOLED display instead).

This quibble aside, viewing photos or other content on the Nexus 7 is quite enjoyable, with overall contrast faring much better while displaying such media. Without a second unit to compare it against, we're left to wonder if the brand-new Android 4.1 might be to blame for the lower contrast levels.
Which brings us to the other star of the show: Android 4.1 "Jelly Bean," Google's latest version of its mobile operating system, which makes its debut on the Nexus 7. We'll have a full review of Jelly Bean coming shortly, but suffice it to say that Google has finally sanded down the rough spots in all the right places this time around.
Despite the modest point version increase, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean introduces under-the-hood improvements like "Project Butter," the company's new initiative to streamline the lag and general unresponsiveness Android has been notorious for in the past.
While the Android 4.1 soft keyboard is one of the best around, we were also able to install our second favorite, SwiftKey 3 Tablet, which mostly worked aside from being able to type our Facebook username and password while setting up personalized predictions.
The main star of the Jelly Bean show is Google Now, a card-based information service that uses GPS in an effort to become one step ahead of the user. While the feature may be limited by Wi-Fi only connectivity on the Nexus 7, we'll be taking a deeper look at Now in our upcoming Android 4.1 review.
Coupled with the Tegra 3 processor and additional headroom afforded by 1GB of RAM, the Nexus 7 makes a great initial showcase for Jelly Bean. Swiping through screens is fast and responsive – even on apps which haven't yet been updated for 4.1 – while flipping through one of the visually rich magazines now available from Google Play doesn't miss a beat. Ridiculous name aside, Project Butter delivers the goods.