Google Nexus 7 by Asus Review

We knew it was coming—and soon. We just didn't know exactly when, and which tablet manufacturer would make the first move. But the advent of the under-$250 quad-core, Tegra 3-based tablet was inevitable, and now, with the debut of Asus' Google Nexus 7$224.69 at Amazon, it's here. After only about six months since the powerful and power-efficient Nvidia Tegra 3 made its first appearance, in the $499.99 Transformer Prime TF201$317.49 at TechForLess, that slate's maker, Asus, teamed up with Google to once again break new ground. Not only is the Nexus 7 a groundbreaking quad-core slate on price, but it's also the first to run the latest version of Android (4.1, a.k.a. “Jelly Bean”).

Now wait a minute, you're probably saying: Aren't there already a few $200 or close-to-$200 tablets—notably, Amazon's $199.99 Kindle Fire and Samsung's $249.99 Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0)$189.88 at PCNation—available already? Well, yes, but the Kindle Fire is basically an e-reader with somewhat limited capabilities, and both of these models, as well as several other low-cost slates, run on somewhat outdated dual-core processors. Dual-core slates are not as fast as or as capable as tablets built around quad-core processors, nor do they provide anywhere near the same battery longevity. Overall, tablets running on quad-core CPUs are all-around better devices today, and they’ll remain viable for a longer time, too.

We should stop here a second time and note that Asus also offers a $199.99 version of the Nexus 7, too, making it, technically, the first under-$200 quad-core slate—never mind $250. However, the $199 version comes with only 8GB of onboard storage and, unfortunately, it doesn't have a memory-card slot for expanding the storage capacity. With so little storage, after you subtract the bits taken up by the operating system and preinstalled apps, you wind up with just over 5GB of storage space—far too little for most users. The 16GB version we review here makes much more sense.

And that brings us back to the $249 Google Nexus 7. As you'd expect, manufacturing so inexpensive a slate entails making compromises, and, even though this model is light, attractive, well-built, and comfortable to use, it does demand its share of trade-offs. First, like the 8GB model, the 16GB Google Nexus 7 lacks storage expansion, which we cover in more detail on the next page. In addition, this slate has no HDMI-out port, making it more cumbersome to connect to HDTVs and other monitors. (We discuss this limitation, too, in the Design section.)

These shortcomings aside, the Google Nexus 7 is an impressive little tablet. Its 1,200x800-resolution screen—high for a 7-inch slate—displays text, images, and videos superbly. It turned in exceptional scores on our suite of benchmark tests, besting every other 7-inch tablet we've tested to date, as well as several full-size 10.1-inch models. The Google Nexus 7, like other impressive Asus models we saw earlier this year (such as the $399.99 10.1-inch Transformer Pad TF300$350.09 at Amazon and the higher-end $499.99 Transformer Prime TF201), is a superb performer and an overall exceptional value.

Design

Even though it's made of plastic, the Google Nexus 7 doesn't look or feel like a budget slate. It's sturdy and well-built, and it feels well-balanced in hand. We especially liked the plush, textured rubber on the back, which provided a sure, comfortable grip. In fact, this slate's back panel felt so luxurious that we thought it was covered with leather, until we asked Asus, that is…

At just 0.41 inch thick and weighing only three-quarters of a pound, the Nexus 7 is a hair’s-breadth leaner than the equally-priced 7-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab 2. The Galaxy Tab 2 has only 8GB of onboard storage, though, and, as mentioned earlier, it runs on a slower and less-efficient dual-core CPU. However, Samsung's 7-inch slate does allow you, via a MicroSD card slot, to expand the storage capacity by up to 32GB.

That's our biggest complaint about the Google Nexus 7. After subtracting the space consumed by the OS and preinstalled apps, just over 12GB of storage remains, which, by today's standards, doesn't leave much room for your pictures, music, videos, and additional apps. We fear that many users will find themselves juggling content on and off the device via the combination mini-USB/charging port.

That port, and a 3.5mm audio jack, are located at the bottom of this slate, when you hold it in portrait (upright) orientation…

Meanwhile, you'll find the power on/off/lock button and a volume-control rocker on the upper-right edge…

Granted, the Google Nexus 7 is not the only slate lacking a means for expanding the storage space. After all, Apple's iconic iPad—all versions of it—has no memory expansion slot, either. And, judging by the iPad's overwhelming market share, this hasn't proven a significant deterrent to iPad buyers. Still, the ability to expand storage on Android-based slates is one of their strongest selling points, and we question Asus' decision to leave it out here.

We’re hardly tech-conspiracy theorists, but perhaps, like Apple, Asus (and Google, Asus' partner on this slate) restricted the on-tablet storage to drive traffic to Google's photo, document, and other cloud sites. However, since the Google Nexus 7 has no 3G or 4G cellular-network connectivity—you can connect to the Internet only through Wi-Fi—this approach is less practical. After all, many places where you may want to use your tablet won't have Wi-Fi. And as handy as the cloud may be, accessing content from it is not nearly as convenient as having your files with you on your slate.

Another feature you won't find is an HDMI-out port for connecting to HDTVs. Samsung's Galaxy Tabs are the other major slates we can think of lacking HDMI onboard, but you’re not wholly locked out of connecting these tablets to a monitor or TV; you can connect the Galaxy Tabs to HDMI-powered displays if you buy Samsung’s proprietary adapters. Likewise, you can connect a Mobile High-Definition Link (MHL) adapter via the Nexus 7's USB/charging port to get HDMI connectivity. The drawback here (apart from the extra cost, of course) is that you can't charge the tablet while using the adapter.

In addition, unlike the Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0), the Nexus 7 has no rear camera, nor does it come with a camera app. We won't complain too loudly about this—it's questionable just how many users actually shoot photos and videos with smaller tablets like these. To test the 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera, we downloaded third-party videoconferencing and camera apps. What we discovered: The camera held up reasonably well during our Skype sessions, but it shot only mediocre, at best, images and videos. We saw far too much noise to make them usable for most applications.

We did, however, like the Nexus 7's speakers. They played loud enough, and the overall sound quality was acceptable—for a tablet, that is. We've heard better, and worse, but for a device this small and inexpensive, we have no real complaints.