Google Nexus 7 Android 4.1 Tablet PC – 8GB/16GB

Google Nexus 7 Android 4.1 Tablet PC Features

Yet another entrant into the low-cost tablet arena, the number of Android tablets on the market is growing rapidly. At the premium end big names like Samsung and ASUS are battling to chip away at Apple’s dominance with the iPad; but at the budget end the market is being flooded with devices from several companies. The latest is the Google Nexus 7 co-developed by Google and Asus. The device has been manufactured to bring you the best of Google in a slim, portable package that fits perfectly in your hand. The range consists of 8GB and 16GB versions, with tons of free cloud storage and features. It sports a 7-inch display, and comes in at just under $300, primarily competing with similar devices such as the Kindle Fire.

The Nexus 7 is one of the best screens you have seen on a tablet. 7 inches, 1280×800 pixel resolution and a pixel density of 216ppi, bringing your entertainment to life in stunning clarity on a brilliant display. On top of that, the glass is Corning Gorilla Glass, which means that it should withstand a decent level of day-to-day wear and tear. Text is crisp and clear with no pixelation. It is comfortable to your eyes, HD movies are more vibrant and gameplay is smooth and dynamic. The viewing angles are great. The Nexus 7 is light and comfortable in the hand, meaning you can hold it in one hand for a long period of reading. However, the screen is glossy, so trying to do anything on the device under the direct sun is not right. Honestly, the glare factor looks a bit less harsh than the new iPad, but it is still far from pleasant.

There is one speaker on the back with two microphones which work very nicely. The soft-touch at the back absolutely feels tremendous in your hand. It is a bit textured, so when you hold it, you just feel like you are not going to drop it. The rechargeable 4325mAh,16 Wh Li-ion non-removable battery will get you through a day with over 9 hours of HD video playback, 10 hours of web browsing or e-reading and up to 300 hours of stand-by time.

The Nexus 7 has been designed for a game console, thanks to the super fast quad-core CPU and A 12‐core GPU delivering rich and immersive graphics. The Google Play store boasts a ton of games and most of the apps you like including Netflix, Evernote, Dropbox, Flipboard, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Spotify, Readability, Hulu, and more, with over 600,000 apps available on Google Play.

Co-developed by ASUS, the Nexus 7 is powered by a NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor and it is helped out by 1GB of RAM, devouring every task you put it through. Its performance is fantastic for playing games or watching movies. Everything is faster, pages load quickly, and running multiple apps is smooth. The patented 4-PLUS-1 CPU which actually has five cores. The fifth one kicks in when low-level tasks are being done, to help conserve battery power, and the quad-cores kick in when you need it, such as when you are gaming or watching videos. The Nexus 7 runs the latest version of Android platform, Android 4.1, Jelly Bean, the world’s most popular mobile platform. It delivers smarter notifications, better looking brand new widgets and home screen customization that is extremely easy to use. Android is faster and more intuitive than ever.

Nexus 7 was made for Google Play, it is the hub for apps, books, music, movies, TV shows, and magazines, packing with the latest and greatest apps, but if you dig a little deeper you will soon find a host of other things you can download to enhance your Android OS experience. Apart from the huge selection of over 600,000 apps, there is also a dedicated book section entitled Play Books, where users can find their favourite novels and download them on to their device.

The other section within the Google Play store is the movie section, entitled Play Movies. Furthermore, you can use the Music Manager to import your entire iTunes music library up to 20,000 songs into Google Play. However, this cannot include DRM protected songs. Once your music is imported it automatically becomes available on Nexus 7. In addition, you can enjoy your music on play.google.com and any other Android compatible phone or tablet, without having to sync or worry about backups again. Amazon’s Kindle and Barnes & Noble’s Nook apps for Android give you access to any e-book you buy from them.

The way in which users can access apps, books and music has stayed the same, and the overall changes were minimal, with symbols and sub-menus being renamed. Google Apps include Gmail, Chrome, Google+ and YouTube, everything automatically syncs across your tablet, phone and computer. Gmail is better than ever on Nexus 7, it is intuitive and easy to swipe back and forth between email threads. With offline search, you can search for emails without having to use a Wi-Fi connection. The Google Chrome is built in, delivering speedy web browsing experience. The Nexus 7 is equipped with 1.2MP front-facing camera for video chat. You can stay connected with up to nine friend with Google+ Hangouts.

Overall, the Google Nexus 7 is a portable and light tablet, and packed a good range of Google services. It is one of the best 7-inch tablets on the market. At this price point, you get Android Jellybean , full Google Play support, fantastic display, ultra fast processor, and NFC. The seven-inch screen is good for reading and probably for typing. Use your two thumbs and type together, it is very fast and easy. It is a very capable tablet. If you do not mind the lack of memory expansion, this Nexus 7 is highly recommended.

Google Nexus 7 Android 4.1 Tablet PC: Customer Reviews

Pros:

The performance is very snappy and speedy with the combination of a quad-core chip and Android 4.1 Jellybean, the latest version of Android platform.

The tablet is pocketable and compact, and is lighter than your average paperback.

It is equipped with an extraordinary display (It is not Retina). It can be an entertainment device for movies, music, TV, magazines and books. The pictures are crisp and clear with good viewing angles.

The Nexus 7 is comparable to the new iPad in terms of the fluidity of its animations.

Access to the Google Play store. The Google Play Books app makes reading experience a pleasure. You can add bookmarks and resize text.

The Google Chrome browser is installed, it works flawlessly for web browsing.

It comes with affordable price ranges, the 8GB model costs only $199, while the $249 is for 16GB model which is best for storing more movies and you plan on loading them onto the device rather than streaming them.

Cons:

The screen is reflective and hard to use in direct sunlight.
There is no microSD card slot.
The lack of HDMI output and rear camera.
It is abnormal that you cannot add notes or highlight text in Google Play Books. However, you can use the Kindle app for highlighting and adding notes.

Conclusion:

The Nexus 7 is compact and light with a beautiful screen, snappy performance, a comfortable design, and overall great media options, the Nexus 7 can be the top-notch 7-inch tablet available on the market. It is a great tablet for playing games and movies. The lack of memory expansion, HDMI, and rear camera is understandable for a low-cost device.

The specs are impressive with quad-core processor, Android 4.1 OS, amazing screen, and Google Play store. It can be an alternative to Kindle Fire, but not the iPad killer. To be an iPad killer, the Nexus 7 need to gather a universe-size amount of app support, however this could be the first step to start competing with the top rivals on the tablet market.

Google Nexus 7 Android 4.1 Tablet PC Specifications

Google Nexus 7 Android 4.1 Tablet PC Images

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Disclaimer Notice: All photography is owned or licensed by Asus.

Google Nexus 7 Android 4.1 Tablet PC is now available on Amazon.

Date first available: July 14, 2012
Retail Price:
Amazon Price:

Google Nexus 7 vs. Amazon Kindle Fire: Compact Tablet Showdown
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Google Nexus 7 vs The Rest
Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and The Software

Two user-friendly tablets that pack plenty of power at an affordable price, they are flagship Android tablets that get all the attention. Both of them are the latest portable tablets available on the market; Kindle Fire HD and Google Nexus 7 offer the greatest balance between value and functionality. The tablets may not be the most powerful you can find but they still give you much of the best that Android has to offer. With screen sizes of seven inches, the same that served the Samsung Galaxy Tab so well for many years, they are great for watching videos, reading books, catching up with your social networks or playing casual games.

Both devices are most popular tablets on the market. There are two main ways in which a new generation of Android tablets is judged including screen size and processor speed. With clock speeds pretty well exhausted, the theory is that more cores can make a system more efficient, so the focus has moved on to the number of cores a processor has, as more horsepower is put into a single, achieving task like a 3D game, or shared between multiple tasks running at the same time. However, the software needs to be optimized for this. So while it may be a no-brainer that a quad-core device will offer better results than a dual-core the reality may be different.

We had this in mind, the Kindle Fire HD is a dual-core device, and Nexus 7 is a quad-core device. You will notice the difference between them. Google Nexus 7 is a tablet offering that could genuinely complete, it has sold well, and captured mainstream attention like no other Android tablet. On the other hand, the Nexus 7 has its very own direct rival that is Kindle Fire HD from Amazon. Both devices are seven-inch tablet PCs with an impulse-buy price tag attached. So which is the best device for you, and where should your hard-earned money go? So read on to find out… Kindle Fire HD VS Google Nexus 7