At one time, the appearance of the Kindle Fire had the effect of a bomb exploding on the tablet market, since until that moment only Chinese manufacturers dominated the price range up to $200. Amazon has actually proven that for just $199 you can create a very good 7-inch tablet with a high-quality IPS screen and up-to-date hardware. The model turned out to be so successful that certain moment was able to compete with the “great and terrible” Apple iPad. And it is not at all surprising that Google, which has long held all the trump cards, decided to use the recipe for success...
The Nexus family was initially positioned as a set of reference devices reflecting Google's wishes for mobile devices, working under its control operating system Android. Devices with hardware recommended for trouble-free operation and, first of all, updated software, were created in collaboration with partners HTC and Samsung. After Google purchased Motorola's mobile division, it became obvious that one of the next Nexus would be created in collaboration with this manufacturer, but in the meantime, Taiwanese ASUS was chosen as a partner in the production of a budget tablet.
In fact, the choice is more than justified, since ASUS occupies a very prominent role in the tablet market with its Transformer family. The company has not yet released seven-inch devices, except for the line of “mobile companions” Eee Pad MeMO, which never made it to our market, but in any case she has plenty of experience. As a result, Nexus 7 turned out to be really successful, especially when compared to the Kindle Fire.
Judge for yourself, at the same cost Nexus 7 built on a quad-core platform rather than a dual-core platform, features a higher resolution screen, and most importantly, runs the latest Android 4.1 Jelly Bean with the stock store Google Play, and not its incomplete analogue from Amazon. Well, as a small matter, the Nexus 7 has a microphone, camera, GPS, Bluetooth and NFC, which the Kindle Fire does not have. Unfortunately, the two most important functions for geeks ( we're talking about of course, about a slot for memory cards and a 3G module) the new product never appeared, but demanding them from a $200 device would be at least strange.
Equipment
Nexus 7 comes in a miniature package with the signature Nexus family logo and ASUS and Google branding. By forcefully sliding (or tearing) the outer shell you get access to a black box made of matte cardboard, in which, in addition to the tablet, you can find brief instructions easy to use and compact charger 10 W with a removable USB/micro-USB cable (you can also charge the tablet from a PC).
Those who prefer to use the device in a cover can also purchase a branded book case. It is made of soft plastic with a matte surface, protects the back panel and screen, contains all the necessary cutouts for connectors and a speaker, and is available in six colors to suit every taste. There are also solutions for Nexus 7 and from third-party manufacturers, so there is plenty to choose from if you wish.
Design, ergonomics
Nexus 7 It has typical dimensions for 7-inch tablets, the body thickness is 10.5 mm, and the weight is about 340 grams. The front panel of the tablet is completely covered protective glass Corning Fit Glass.
There are no hardware keys here and only in the upper part you can find a light sensor and a single 1.2 MP camera for video calls. The top and bottom edges of the 7-inch matrix are noticeably wider than the sides, allowing you to hold Nexus 7 Using both hands in a horizontal position is noticeably more comfortable than in a vertical position.
The upper part of the tablet's sides is made of silver plastic with a characteristic rib, and the lower part is the rounded part of the rear panel. The latter is distinguished by a pleasant rubberized surface with a dotted texture, which allows you to more securely hold the tablet in your hands.
On the back panel you can find embossed NEXUS and ASUS logos, as well as a long slot with a false acoustics grille. Despite the fact that there is only one hole, the developers did not skimp on installing two speakers. In our case back panel dark gray, but the first samples Nexus 7 were also available in white.
On the top edge there is the first microphone, on the left there is a second microphone and a four-pin connector for the docking station. All available connectors are located on the bottom edge: micro-USB and a standard 3.5 mm audio output. Finally, the right side contains the power button and volume rocker.
As a result, from the point of view of design and ergonomics Nexus 7 turned out to be quite successful. It does not inspire admiration in appearance, but it also does not feel cheap from small Chinese “brands”. The thin body, pleasant to the touch, and the lack of a pronounced design (and this, believe me, is rather an advantage) allow you to simply use it without being distracted by anything else. The presence of hardware volume keys allows you not only to more conveniently control sound, but also to use them in third party applications, for example, turning pages in Cool Reader.
Screen
Display Nexus 7 is built on a 7-inch IPS matrix with a resolution of 1280 by 800 pixels, while most models of similar form factors use screens with a resolution of 1024 by 600 and lower. The backlight brightness is adjusted automatically or manually, ranging from 15 to 260 cd/m2, with the 50% level being 150 cd/m2. The image quality is a B plus, the color gamut is excellent, and the contrast changes only at viewing angles that are too sharp for typical use.
Matrix Nexus 7 covered with protective glass from Corning and yet even with careful handling it can be scratched without much effort. Capacitive multi-touch supports up to 10 simultaneous touches, the coating is easily cleaned from dirt and glides easily under your fingers.
Functionality
Tablet Nexus 7 built on the initial 1.2-GHz version of the NVIDIA Tegra 3 platform (T30L), equipped with 1 GB of RAM and 8 or 16 GB of data storage without the ability to increase its volume using memory cards. The tablet is running the latest version of the operating system at the time of review Google Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. Considering that this is actually a reference model from Google, Nexus 7 owners can count on priority OS updates in the future.
Even though Nexus 7 based on the slowest version of the Tegra 3 platform, gigabyte RAM and modern architecture allow us to show fairly high results in benchmarks and real applications. Navigation in shell, web browsing, watching videos and even heavy games work without obvious slowdowns (as much as possible in principle for Android devices). With a built-in 16 Wh battery, the tablet is capable of operating for 9.5 hours in video playback mode at a screen brightness of 100 cd/m2, which is a very decent result. Moreover, during actual use I liked the minimal “charge leakage”, left alone for a day Nexus 7 lost less than 10% of capacity, which many owners of Android smartphones have lost the habit of.
As you saw in the first part of the review, Nexus 7 does not have a slot for memory cards, so you should take care of sufficient data storage when choosing the 8 or 16 GB version. Do not forget that not all of the declared capacity is available to the user; for example, in a 16 GB Nexus 7 you can only use a little more than 13 GB. But from the point of view of communication modules and additional sensors, this tablet is more than good. The developers added Bluetooth 3.0 to the mandatory Wi-Fi module, and the gentleman’s set of a light sensor, electronic compass, gyroscope and G-sensor was supplemented with a sensor magnetic field, GPS module and even exotic NFC, which has no practical use yet.
Interface
As we already mentioned, Nexus 7 It runs the latest Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, much like Google's previous tablet OS. The standard lock ring is nicely animated with a dot array, here you can go straight to the desktop or start working with text or voice search from Google.
The user has access to 5 desktops, a service bar and a search bar at the top, as well as a panel with six icons and three standard Android buttons at the bottom. Interestingly, in standard modes (desktop and application list) only vertical interface orientation is available, while almost any application can work in landscape position.
Notification panel Nexus 7 contains pictograms latest events, Wi-Fi network and battery charge indicators, as well as a clock. By pulling the top of the screen you get access to the notification panel with buttons for locking the accelerometer, going to the settings section and quickly clearing the notification area.
The set of pre-installed applications is minimal, but you can easily expand it yourself using the Google Play store. For example, the standard video player refused to play regular AVI files; to watch the video, I had to install a third-party MoboPlayer. Mobile Chrome has become the standard browser in Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, which is at least logical from Google’s point of view. Let us remind you that starting from version 4.1 the Flash plugin from Adobe is not available, so owners of new devices, including Nexus 7, you will have to get used to the content in HTML format 5.
Video review of the Google Nexus 7 tablet
Results
Nexus 7– 7-inch budget tablet, built on a combination of the quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 platform and the latest Google Android 4.1 OS. The cost of the model in the USA is only $199 for the 8 GB version and $249 for the 16 GB version, but the price of the initial 8 GB version in official deliveries to Ukraine will be about $350, which significantly reduces its attractiveness for domestic buyers.
Also don't forget that Nexus 7 looks quite competitive when compared to the Kindle Fire, which came to market almost a year ago. But we don’t yet know how it will perform in the fall in comparison with the Kindle Fire 2 and the Apple iPad Mini, which is highly anticipated by Apple fans, so it’s too early to make a final conclusion that we have the best budget tablet of 2012.
I liked it
Cost in USA
A combination of NVIDIA Tegra 3 and Android 4.1
Good IPS screen with relatively high resolution
Thin, light and rigid body with a grippy back panel
Hardware volume keys
Microphone and camera make video communication easy
Availability of GPS, Bluetooth and NFC sensors
Didn't like it
— cost in Ukraine
- lack of memory card slot
— horizontal interface orientation is not supported on the desktop
The product was provided for testing by the Notus online store, www.notus.ua
 |
|
| Type | Tablet |
| Screen diagonal, inches | 7 |
| Matrix | IPS |
| Screen covering type | glossy |
| Screen resolution | 1280×800 |
| Touchpad type | capacitive |
| Multi touch | + |
| Processor type | NVIDIA Tegra 3 |
| Frequency, GHz | 1,2 |
| Number of cores | 4 |
| Graphics | NVIDIA Tegra 3 |
| Pre-installed OS | Android 4.1 |
| Amount of RAM, MB | 1024 |
| Built-in memory capacity, GB | 16 |
| External ports | micro-USB, headset |
| Card reader | — |
| Front camera | 1.2 MP |
| Rear camera | — |
| Light sensor | + |
| Orientation sensor | + |
| Ethernet | — |
| WiFi | 802.11 b/g/n |
| Bluetooth | + |
| GSM/3G | — |
| WiMAX | — |
| GPS | + |
| Battery capacity, mAh | 4325 |
| Battery voltage, V | n.d. |
| Time battery life | up to 9.5 hours |
| Weight, g | 340 |
| Dimensions, mm | 198.5x120x10.45 |
| NFC (Android Beam) |
I was unable to review this model. for a long time, since the Nexus 7 is an understandable device and, to some extent, idealized by Android fans, which left a certain imprint on this model. Its life cycle is a year, so until the summer of 2014 there is still sense in purchasing such a device, although it will soon be replaced by an update.
A unique situation has developed in the tablet market - there are not many tablets with a balanced price/quality ratio, but there are as many cheap ones as you like. Second-tier manufacturers and Chinese manufacturers are churning out huge quantities models, each of which boasts individual characteristics that make them stand out from the crowd. It could be powerful battery, someone has a good matrix or uses a fast chipset. Someone plays low cost and this attracts people to their side. But the Nexus series models have always been distinguished low price and excellent functionality that no one has been able to match. If you want to be confident in your device, then you shouldn’t think about which tablet to choose - you won’t find a better one than a Google-branded tablet.
If in 2012 the 7-inch Nexus was the cheapest and this amazed the imagination, then for 2013 the update was a little more expensive, and the difference with other manufacturers was not so noticeable. As before, the real manufacturer of this tablet is Asus, they manage to make the device excellent in terms of assembly, hardware, and speed. From Google we see support for all the latest Android versions.
In my opinion, this tablet can easily be considered one of the most attractive 7-inch Android tablets and look at it as an everyday device that can easily fit not only into any bag, but even into clothing pockets. Considering its low cost, this tablet is suitable for schoolchildren, students, and anyone who requires compactness and Android on board. Of the obvious disadvantages, I can name only one - the screen resolution, which is much inferior to that of the iPad Mini with Retina, perhaps this is the only difference that will be significant. On the other hand, when initially choosing between iOS and Android, you need to understand what each system will give you, and this is a choice of worldview, from which further reasoning follows. I have both an iPad Mini (the first one and also with a Retina screen) and a large iPad, plus a Google Nexus 7, which is used among these devices and is quite equivalent to them.
Design, dimensions, control elements
The glossy screen, which is prone to hand marks, contrasts with the matte back surface. Over time, the coating does not wear off; in any case, there are no abrasions on it. Tablet size – 200x114x8.65 mm, weight – 290 grams. It is quite compact, but wide and fits well in the hand. On the upper side edge there is an on/off button, next to it there is a paired volume control key - working with the keys is inconvenient due to the slight bevel, you have to apply additional force, pressing the buttons is uncomfortable to the touch, after six months I still couldn’t get used to this feature. On the left side there is a 3.5 mm headset jack, on the right in the middle there is a microUSB connector. On the back side you can see a 5-megapixel camera lens, on the front there is also a camera for video calls. The device has two speakers, that is, a stereo effect is provided, they are quite loud and this is attractive.
I have no complaints about the build quality, everything is excellent, just as I like the materials.
Compared to Apple iPad mini
Display
Specifications The screens are as follows: IPS matrix, resolution 1920x1200 pixels (120 pixels are always allocated for touch keys), 323 dpi. The picture quality on the screen is excellent, the colors are bright, the display does not fade too much in the sun, and remains readable.
Automatic backlight adjustment does not let me down; as a rule, I have it turned on. This screen clearly beats the first iPad Mini (162 ppi), but loses to the iPad Mini Retina(2048x1536 pixels, 326 ppi, 7.9 inches). And here it should be noted that everyone will choose their own - I frankly like the screen in the iPad Mini Retina, it is much better. But, for example, it is better to watch movies on the 16:9 screen, which is installed in the Nexus 7. This raises the question of what you prefer. In my opinion, this is a matter of preferences - I am comfortable both there and there, especially since often the original quality of films, their resolution is comparable to the resolution of screens or even worse.
Battery
It's no secret that the iPad is the benchmark in terms of operating time; as a rule, it is 10 hours when watching videos. Other manufacturers strive to provide similar times, but often cannot achieve this, but Asus, with certain reservations, was able to do this. Battery capacity – 3950 mAh, 15 Wh. According to the manufacturer, it is capable of playing video in 720p resolution and at 50 percent screen backlight for about 8 hours, in other modes – up to 10 hours. In practice, everything turned out to be not so bad, but quite the opposite - playing HD video for about 10 hours with a backlight of 50 percent, with maximum backlight I got 7.5 hours. If you are comfortable with the backlight at about 25 percent, the tablet will last more than 12.5 hours. In a word, everything is very, very good here; for Android this is one of the longest-lasting tablets.
IN everyday life I have this tablet no less than an iPad Mini, that is, about 2-3 days, depending on what I do on it. On average, operating time during the day is about 1.5 hours (Wi-Fi, backlight 60 percent). If you try to simply measure the time spent on the Internet, you will get about 11 hours at maximum backlight - but this is not a very reflective picture, rather an ideal case.
One of the downsides is the charging time - it is about 3 hours, so I usually leave the tablet overnight, otherwise in a hurry, getting ready in the morning, I may be left with a discharged device.
Hardware capabilities, performance
The model is built on a chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro 8064 (4 cores, 1.5 GHz - version with Wi-Fi), or 8064 and MDM9215M for the LTE version. In both cases there are 16 and 32 GB versions; no memory card is provided. In my opinion, it is worth choosing a model with a large amount of memory, especially if you plan to download movies, music and use the device actively, and not just for mail and web surfing. It’s up to you to choose a model with or without a 3G/4G module - I came to the conclusion that I don’t use SIM cards in tablets, I usually distribute the Internet from a router or phone, this option suits me best.
The device has 2 GB of RAM, which is quite enough - it works quickly. However, in synthetic tests the tablet also demonstrates, although not maximum, quite good results.
Camera
It remains a mystery to me why people use cameras in their tablets when they have phones, because the latter, as a rule, take much better pictures. Tablets always have cameras from previous generations, and the Nexus 7 is no exception; it has a simple 5-megapixel matrix and a Google-branded interface. During all this time I didn’t have even 5 photos, I had to urgently take more to show them to you. Nothing special, the camera is not amazing.
Music and video - multimedia capabilities
From the point of view of playing music, the tablet turned out to be successful, it sounds good in headphones, but the latter need to be selected, not all models are suitable for the Nexus 7 - there is sound, but the music is flat and does not sound. In general, it's not a problem if you have multiple ears - choose the ones that sound best.
If you do not download your music, but use Play Music, then the choice of headphones does not play a special role; for this quality of music, any ears will be enough for you.
Out of the box, a larger number of video codecs are not supported, unlike tablets from Samsung, where such support is built in natively. It is enough to install MX Player to overcome this drawback. There are no problems with playing video in various resolutions up to FullHD, everything plays perfectly.
The bottom line is that this tablet is quite good from a multimedia point of view, it compares favorably with many Chinese counterparts on other chipsets, which often simply do not handle video.
Since this is a standard, typical Android, I’m sending you to an overview of the features of this system, I don’t see the point in repeating myself, this pure android from Google.
Impressions
The cost of Nexus 7 in the USA is $229 for the 16 GB version or $269 for the 32 GB version; in Russia, official deliveries in large retail stores cost 10,990 rubles and 15,990 rubles, respectively. In principle, both prices are adequate and correspond to the market situation.
Is the 2013 Nexus 7 worth buying today, or can you wait for the next model? The question remains open - after all, if the purchase is unbearable, then you can wait. But if you need a device today, then you should take a closer look at these tablets - they are one hundred percent worth their cost.
Related links
The first Nexus 7 tablet, released by ASUS at the request of Google, appeared in 2012 and caused a great stir, which was associated primarily with the price of the device: Nexus 7 16 GB was sold in the States for $250, and the characteristics of the tablet were quite comparable to competitors’ devices , which were sold two to three times more expensive. This year, 2013, ASUS and Google presented a new edition of this tablet, for which they decided not to change the name Nexus 7, but simply added the year of manufacture to it. I was very interested in this tablet primarily because I am looking for an Android model for iPad replacements mini, which suits me with everything except the iOS operating system. So I didn’t wait for nature’s favors and immediately ordered it as soon as it appeared on Amazon Spain. The version with 32 GB of memory cost me 257 euros. By the way, I wouldn’t hesitate to fork out for a version with 64 GB on board, given the lack of microSD support on this tablet, but, alas, maximum size There is 32 GB of memory. So, ASUS Nexus 7 (2013).
CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro 8064 +MDM9215M Quad-Core, 1.5 GHz*2
Flash memory: 32 GB (there is a model with 16 GB)
RAM: 2 GB
Display: 7", 1920×1200, IPS, 323 PPI, multi-touch
Net: Wi-Fi Dual-band (a/b/g/n), Bluetooth 4.0 (A2DP, Bluetooth Smart)
Mobile network: no (there are models with 2G/3G/LTE)
Memory card: No
I/O: microUSB, 3.5 mm headphone jack
Battery: built-in, 3950 mAh, 15 Wh
Cameras: 5 MP rear and 1.2 MP front
Additionally: NFC, accelerometer, light sensor, proximity sensor, support wireless charging(Qi) and connections external display via wire (SlimPort)
GPS: yes (A-GPS)
Dimensions: 200 × 114 × 8.6 mm
Weight: 290 g
Price: 257 euros for 32 GB Wi-Fi in Europe, $268 for the same in the States, in Russia the 32 GB version with 3G/LTE is 16 thousand rubles. What primarily interests us here? I'm interested in the differences from the previous Nexus 7 model. They exist and are significant, let's list them:
- more efficient processor; more built-in memory (then there were models with WiFi only 8 and 16 GB; however, there was a model with 3G with 32 GB); twice the RAM; a 5 megapixel rear camera appeared; display resolution has become FullHD; appeared LTE support; a light indicator appeared; The width of the device has become 6 mm narrower; weight decreased by 50 grams; stereo sound appeared; support for Qi and SlimPort appeared.
Included: tablet, USB-microUSB cable, network adapter, brochure. 
Appearance and features
The entire front of the tablet is covered with Gorilla Glass. The front camera is now located not in the center, but closer to the right edge of the tablet. 
On back cover The tablet has a Soft Touch coating. With it, the device fits well in the hand, but this coating is very easy to scratch and get dirty, so be prepared for the fact that after a few days of use the tablet will completely lose its presentation. 
The bottom end has a microUSB output and stereo speakers. 
The right side is the power button and volume rocker. By the way, the solution is frankly lousy: it’s very easy to turn off the tablet when you just want to turn up the volume, and vice versa. I read reviews on the Internet - many users complain about this. However, this arrangement is most likely explained by the fact that this tablet is mainly designed for use in landscape mode: then the power button is on the top left and can be conveniently pressed with the index finger of the left hand. 
The top end is an output for a headset and stereo speakers. 
Well, let's compare the Nexus 7 with the iPad mini. Here you can clearly see that the Nexus 7 has a display aspect ratio of 16:9, while the iPad has a 4:3 aspect ratio. By the way, there are still fierce debates about this: some believe that the 16:9 format is more convenient than 4:3, while others argue that everything is exactly the opposite. 
I'll tell you this. If the tablet is mainly used for watching movies, then the 16:9 format is more convenient. But if it is used more for Internet surfing and reading, then 4:3 is more convenient. I ordered this case for this tablet - I thought it would also work as a stand. 
It works as a stand, but only in a horizontal version and somewhat crookedly: the lower part needs to be pulled out of the holders and inserted into one of the grooves on the left side of the case. The tablet cannot be placed vertically, but this is sometimes necessary for reading books and PDF documents, so I will look for another case. 
Display
IPS display with FullHD resolution and pixel density comparable to top smartphones - 323 PPI. For comparison, the iPad mini has 162 PPI (it is known to Retina display I have not yet acquired it - to the great disappointment of users). The control buttons are used only on-screen: they eat off a strip from the display, 120 pixels high. As a result, from 1920x1200 we get FullHD resolution - 1920x1080. And the resolution of 1920x1200 is only available in full-screen video viewing. Viewing angles are expectedly excellent (IPS is typical), the colors are rich but natural, the brightness margin is very good: normal mode I set the brightness to about 50 percent. The display has a very high-quality oleophobic coating, thanks to which it gets dirty with fingers a little less than expected. Device operation
What’s good about “clean” Google smartphones and tablets is that they have pure Android installed without any heaps of additional junk, which, as a rule, the user doesn’t really need, and it’s impossible to remove it without root. (Here a big hello to the developers from Samsung, who are great experts in the matter of filling a smartphone-tablet with uninstallable software.) The main desktop. 
By the way, contrary to the opinion of some users, even in version Android 4.3 there is no option to enable display of battery percentage - this feature is usually added to their firmware by manufacturers of flagship smartphones and tablets: Samsung, Sony, HTC, and so on. And here it’s pure Android, so no interest for you. To enable this feature, I use the Battery Percentage app. (Well, and at the same time, there’s even more - “Calendar in the status bar”.)
Google services folder.
Applications installed on the system.
Widgets (there are three screens).
The notification area appears when swiping from top to bottom.
The notification area can be switched to settings icons.
List of recently launched applications.
Lock screen.
You can move it and include several widgets that will scroll on the lock screen.
Widget with notes.
Now let's talk about some of the more interesting applications. Keyboard convenient, in Russian there are separate buttons with a period and a comma, plus a hyphen and an underscore. (How the missing comma on the iPad is annoying!) I didn’t even want to change this keyboard to something else - it’s very convenient and well thought out.
Advanced editing tools are supported.
Google+- Google social network, where you can now store your photos. 
Overall, not bad, but I like Cool Reader much better.
By the way, in landscape mode, even in a two-page version, it’s not very convenient to read here due to the 16:9 format. But in portrait it’s fine. Music. The application allows you to store your music library in the cloud and synchronize it between all your Android devices.
By the way, the tablet sounds noticeably better than the previous one. The speakers here are located at different edges of the device and are stereo - the tablet sounds very, very good. Of course, the sound turns out to be flat and does not please with bass, which is not surprising, but at the same time the speakers do not wheeze, there is no overload - it sounds straight up to the B level. But the sound in headphones was disappointing: even when adjusting the equalizer, it was not possible to achieve decent quality. In the headphones the sound is C grade. The main complaints are no bass and flat sound. When the equalizer is turned on, the sound level at maximum drops to unacceptable levels: you can no longer listen even in a quiet room, let alone on an airplane. Moreover, I tried a variety of headphones - from Ear Pods to Monster Diesel. Video. The standard video player from the gallery does not understand half of the container codecs, so I immediately install MX Player Pro, which suits me one hundred percent.
With hardware acceleration, any video, including FullHD, is played back without any lag.
There is an interesting mode - viewing a gallery of created photos, while on the left is shown what the camera is currently transmitting.
The camera footage is, frankly, disgusting. It focuses very poorly: what is near and what is on distant objects. Moreover, even during the shooting process, it is clear that she is focusing crookedly. Each frame has to be taken five times - then at least something works out. In poor lighting, it makes a terrible noise, as expected, and also often sets the white balance crookedly. Here, admire it. (These are selected frames that turned out more or less. Everything is clickable.) 
Low light test. 
Normal daylight, the balance actually floated into the blue. 
The colors are whitish and unnatural. And this is in sunlight. 
The image always turns out cloudy. (No, the camera glass is not dirty, I checked.) 
In general, it's junk, not a camera. Performance
Purely visually, the tablet works very quickly. Scrolling graphics lack smoothness, but this is known Android problem(compared to iOS), and not a specific device. I ran a test using Quadrant Pro. Here is the result - 5108, which is impressive. It gave 3732 to the previous model.
Vellamo tests.
I didn't seem to find any other bugs. Conclusions
I was frankly pleased with the tablet. Compared to the previous model, which itself was very good, there are many noticeable improvements. Only disappointed front camera, but, on the other hand, why the hell is it needed at all? Well, I would like microSD support, but with 32 gigabytes on board, in general, you can already live. The price situation now is no longer the same as when the first Nexus 7 was released: competitors have noticeably lowered the prices of their tablets, of which there is a pleasant variety. However, let’s just say that you won’t find an equally powerful package for that kind of money. For example, a seven-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 costs $179 in the States, but it has much weaker hardware in all respects. Eight-inch Samsung Galaxy The Tab 3 costs $280, but it also has worse specifications. So for the money this is, in my opinion, a very good option. Do I need to upgrade my previous Nexus 7 to the 2013 model? Everyone must decide this for themselves. But compared to the old model, almost all the parameters have noticeably improved, so maybe this also makes sense. Well, one more question that is relevant to me personally: will I exchange the iPad mini for this Nexus 7? I will answer this way. Almost 100% - I will, because an Android tablet (especially this one) suits me more than an iPad with iOS. The only problem that has not been resolved at the moment is the lack of a “Kiosk” application (or its equivalent) for Android. Moreover, if one part of the magazines that I read on the iPad can be easily read on Android in their online versions, then several other magazines - Empire Russia and Total DVD - are not published in online versions, the only compromise here is their releases in PDF, which I fits. The only thing that doesn’t work is that I still can’t find where and how I can officially buy them in PDF format.
Asus Nexus 7 | Introduction
The ASUS (Google) Nexus 7 tablet is produced under the brand of the American company Google, and is produced at the facilities of the Taiwanese ASUS. The tablet is based on a modern “system on a chip” NVIDIA Tegra 3, equipped with a 7-inch touch panel IPS with 1280 x 800 resolution and the latest operating system Android system 4.2.1. In the USA, prices are very low, from $159/$199 for the 8/16 GB version, in Russia prices are higher - from 9-10 thousand rubles. You will find out all the details about the tablet in our review.
| Characteristics of Asus Nexus 7 (manufacturer information) | |
|---|---|
| Official website | ASUS |
| Retail price | 16 GB (without 3G) - from 10 thousand rubles |
| Screen | 7″, IPS display (capacitive, multi-touch) |
| Permission | 1280 x 800 (216 ppi) |
| CPU | NVIDIA Tegra 3 T30L Quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A9 (up to 1.3 GHz in single-core mode) – the “junior” version of the Tegra 3 family of processors |
| Graphics core | ULP GeForce, 12 cores 416 MHz |
| RAM | 1 GB DDR3L 1333 MHz |
| Built-in flash memory | 8/16/32 GB depending on version |
| Expansion cards | No |
| Front camera | 1.2 MP |
| Rear camera | No |
| Dimensions | 198.5 x 120 x 10.5 mm |
| Weight | 340 grams |
| Battery | 4325 mAh Li-polymer 16 Wh 3.7 V |
| PC connection | micro-USB (USB 2.0) |
| Wireless interfaces | 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth, 3G (in appropriate versions) |
| Interfaces | 3.5 mm mini-jack audio, 2 microphones, mini-USB, OTG-USB (keyboard, mouse, but not drives, although there are third-party solutions) |
| Peculiarities | Microphone, NFC module(Android Beam), accelerometer, GPS, magnetometer, gyroscope |
| OS | Android 4.2.1 |
Asus Nexus 7 | Design and appearance
The design of the tablet is nice. I would especially like to note the back cover: the rubberized surface “golf ball” is pleasant to the touch. The front of the screen is covered with glass. The video camera eye and light sensor are visible from above. The frame around the sides of the screen in portrait orientation is medium size for a 7″ tablet. But the top and bottom edges are quite large. To complicate the situation, part of the panel at the top and bottom is occupied, respectively, by a black status bar and on-screen buttons, which makes the frame appear larger.
On the other hand, in landscape orientation The frame on the right and left is comfortable for the fingers. Although you won’t be able to reach all the keys on the on-screen keyboard with your thumbs.
The rear panel houses the Nexus and Asus logos, as well as the speaker grille. At the top end there is nothing but a microphone, at the bottom there is a 3.5 mm audio jack and a micro-USB port. On the right side there is a lock button, also known as the power button, and a volume rocker. On the left side there is another microphone and a connector for a docking station. The docking station itself is not yet on sale, but ASUS promises to release it in the near future.
Asus Nexus 7 | Equipment
The tablet comes in a nice box, on which part of the image of the tablet forms the number 7. The package includes the tablet itself, a 5 V, 2 A power supply (output), and USB cable. That is, you will get only the essentials, but you can hardly expect anything more from a tablet of this price.
Asus Nexus 7 | Software
Google's Nexus products receive a system update almost simultaneously with its publication. Nexus 7 is no exception. We tested the tablet with installed version 4.2.1. Nexus Android is completely “naked”, without additional programs and a special manufacturer interface, as Google sees it.
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I would like to note the main advantages of this version of the system.
- Multi-user interface. Each has its own settings, applications, desktops, etc.
- Ability to process pictures and photos in the standard Gallery application
- Security check for applications not from Google Play has appeared
- Continuous input by drawing lines.
- Wireless image output to TV
- Ability to resize widgets
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- Changed camera app
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- Finally appeared stopwatch and timer. By the way, beautifully designed, comfortable and functional
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- Time of several cities (in the clock widget too)
Asus Nexus 7 | Camera
The tablet has one camera – a front one with a resolution of 1.2 MP. It does not have autofocus, so it is only suitable for video conferencing and Skype. The image is clear. Thanks to two microphones (the second is used for noise reduction), the sound is also excellent. There is no camera app, photos can only be obtained from specialized applications(Skype, for example).
Asus Nexus 7 | NFC
The ASUS Nexus 7 tablet has NFC support. It may be needed in the future, when compatible payment terminals appear, which will allow you to buy goods, travel tickets from an electronic wallet linked to the tablet, receive various discounts, etc.
But now you can use the NFC function. Thanks to Android Beam, you can use NFC to exchange various links between two devices by simply holding them close to each other. When NFC zones touch, information is sent to the recipient as soon as the screen is touched. So, for example, when the page is opened in the browser, a link will be transmitted, and when running application– page with this application on Google Play. The main thing here is convenience. There is no need to search for a receiver, nor pairing, nor launch a special menu. The transfer is completed in one click.
Asus Nexus 7 | Settings
The settings in Android 4.2 are not much different from previous versions. But there are also innovations. They consist of setting up new functions, which we have already described above in the section on software.
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There are no mobile network settings in the tablet version without 3G. Therefore, using standard means of connecting USB modems via OTG cable not possible. Of course, you can find instructions in the forums for adding support for 3G modems, but to do this you will have to install custom firmware and root, which voids the warranty.
Flash drives cannot be connected normally. The OTG USB port can only connect a keyboard or mouse. When a mouse is connected, a cursor appears on the screen. But connected drives are not initialized normally. You can fix the situation yourself quite easily, using a program from Google Play.
Asus Nexus 7 | Music
Used to play music standard application"Play music." It is clear and convenient. There is also an equalizer available. The tablet itself has two speakers. The sound is loud. On full volume The tablet is comfortable to listen to only in noisy places; in silence, even half the volume is enough. The sound is good with headphones too. In terms of sound, the tablet is simply excellent.
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Asus Nexus 7 | Games
NVIDIA Tegra 3 is one of the best SoC processors on the market today, it competes well with the same Qualcomm Snapdragon S4. Tablets based on NVIDIA have a significant advantage over other platforms - games are optimized for NVIDIA. Google Play has a special application where you can see a list of games optimized for Tegra and get links to download or purchase games. Some games can also be downloaded to other platforms. And some are supported only by the Tegra family.
For example, in the game Beach Buggy Blits, drops appear on the screen while driving through water.
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Auralux has a beautiful shimmer.
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The graphics in the games are excellent. Everything cannot be expressed in words. As they say, it is better to see once than to hear a hundred times.
Asus Nexus 7 | Movies
We ran tests on our standard set of videos, which were updated in 2012.
| Standard Definition | ||
|---|---|---|
| Film/video | Notes | Test result |
| Borat – Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (XVID AVI) | MPEG4 Visual (XviD Advanced Simple@L5) 1095 kbps 608×336 25 fps, MP3 audio 2 channels, no subtitles | Refusal |
| Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (XVID AVI) | MPEG4 Visual (XviD) 1135 kbps 704×288 23,976 fps, Dolby Digital audio (AC3) 6 channels, no subtitles | Refusal |
| Harry Potter Parody (DX50) | DivX 5 MPEG4, 998 kbps 640×480 29.97 fps, MP3 audio 2 channels, no subtitles | Refusal |
| Nuclear Explosion (DIVX) | DivX 4 MPEG4 798 kbps 352×240 25 fps, no sound, no subtitles | Refusal |
| TV Show about USSR/ Program about the USSR (DIV3) | DivX 3 Low MPEG4, 137 kbps 260×196 10 fps, MP3 audio 1 channel, no subtitles | Refusal |
| Donald Duck (FLV) | Flash Video, H.263 video 303 kbps 29 fps, MPEG audio | Refusal |
| TV show (television program) 20040506.rm | RealMedia, video RealVideo 4 386 kbps, 29 fps, audio 1 channel 64.1 kbps Cooker | Refusal |
| Crash.rmvb (Manga) | RealMedia variable bitrate, video RealVideo 4 408 kbps, 29 fps, audio 2 channels 96.5 kbps Cooker | Refusal |
| Video Kharkov/Kharkiv video (MPEG2) | MPEG Video (Version 1, BVOP) 2800 kbps 25 fps, MPEG Audio (Version 1), no subtitles | Refusal |
| Video “Masyanya”/Masyanya show (Flash/SWF) | ShockWave 360×288 (5:4), 25 fps, MPEG-1L3 audio, no subtitles | Refusal |
| Video from Nikon D300s/ Camera video Nikon D300s (M-JPEG) AVI | M-JPEG 1280×720 (16:9) 24 fps, mono PCM audio, no subtitles | Refusal |
| Program “Golden VIP-Youth” / “VIP-Youth” show (MP4S) | MPEG-4 Visual (MS MPEG-4 v3) 1078 kbps, 320×240, WMA audio (version 2) 2 channels, no subtitles | Refusal |
| TV commercial about the love of candy / I like sweet show (WMV3) | WMV3/VC-1 350 kbps 360×288 23 fps, WMA audio (version 2) 1 channel, no subtitles | Refusal |
| Nevzorov “Hell” (MP4V) | MPEG-4 Visual (Simple@L3) 352×288 25 fps, audio AAC (Version 4) 2 channels, no subtitles | Success |
| Justified Cruelty/History of Violence) (AVC) | AVC/H.264 720×408 1390 kbps 25 fps, audio AAC (Version 4) 2 channels, no subtitles | Success |
| Video from an Olympus camera / Camera video Olympus (M-JPEG) MOV | M-JPEG 320×240 (4:3), 12.5 fps, mono PCM audio, no subtitles | Refusal |
| Budweiser Roller (MP43/WMA2) | ASF, video S-MPEG 4 v3 66.4 kbps 15 fps, audio WMA | Refusal |
| BBC: The Private Life of Plants (DVD) | MPEG-2, 720×576, Dolby Digital audio 6 channels, subtitlesChecking DVD playback from an ISO image | Refusal |
| House of Sand and Fog (DVD) | MPEG-2, 7.6 Mbit/s, 720×576, DTS audio 6 channels, Dolby Digital 6 channels, subtitlesChecking DVD playback from a folder on the disc. Checking Dolby Digital and DTS tracks. Checking menus and chapter navigation. Checking subtitles. | Refusal ( VOB files separately) without sound |
| High Definition (HD) | ||
| Back to the Future 3/Back to the Future 3 (XVID, 720p, AVI) | XVID MPEG-4, 4495 kbps 1280×720 23.976 fps, Dolby Digital audio (AC3) 6 channels, no subtitles | Refusal |
| Cruel Intentions/Cruel Games (WMV3, 720p, AVI) | VC-1 (WMV3), 5386 kbps 1280×720 23,976 fps, Dolby Digital audio (AC3) 6 channels, no subtitles | Refusal |
| Mamma Mia! (AVC, 1080p, MKV) | AVC/H.264, 13 Mbps 1920×800 23,976 fps, sound 6 channels Dolby Digital (AC3), DTS, subtitles | Refusal (no sound) |
| Inglourious Basterds (AVC, 1080p, MKV) | AVC/H.264, 9759 kbps 1920×800 23,976 fps, sound 6 channels Dolby Digital (AC3), DTS, subtitles | Failure (not enough memory on tablet) |
| Book of Masters/ Book of Masters (Blu-ray AVC/H.264) | 0005.m2ts, AVC/H.264 26.2 Mbps 23.976 fps, DTS MA audio, Dolby Digital (AC3) | Refusal |
| One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (Blu-ray, VC-1) | 0000.m2ts, VC-1 15.1 Mbps, Dolby Digital (AC3), DTS, subtitles | Refusal |
| Sky Captain / Sky Captain (Blu-ray, MPEG2) | 00002.m2ts, MPEG2 18.9 Mbit/s, Dolby Digital, DTS, subtitles | Refusal |
| The Resident/ Trap (AVC, 720p, MKV) | AVC/H.264, 6.9 Mbit/s 1280×544 23,976 fps, 6-channel Dolby Digital (AC3) sound, subtitles. Checking header compression (Header Stripping). High Level Check ReFrames (12) | Refusal |
| Video from Sanyo HD2000 camera (1080p 60fps) | SANY0377.MP4, 24.3 Mbps 1920×1080 59.94 fps, AAC audio. Checking the playback of 1080p 60fps videos | Success |
| The Avatar/ Avatar (excerpt) (AVC, 1080p 60 fps) | AVC/H.264, 46.6 Mbps 1920×1080 59.94 fps, 6-channel DTS audio, subtitles. Checking the playback of 1080p 60fps videos | Refusal (no sound) |
Out of the box, the Asus Nexus 7 played almost none of our test files. In any case, on Android you can install any player you like from Google Play, which we strongly recommend.
In terms of productivity application performance, the 4-core “system on a chip” Tegra 3 left far behind its competitors. Gaming performance was higher inexpensive tablets, previously tested in our laboratory. In addition, Tegra 3 supports some graphics functions (dynamic lighting, shadows, reflections, etc.), which are not taken into account by the SmartBench test, but manifest themselves in optimized games.
JavaScript Performance
SunSpider is a JavaScript benchmark that demonstrates both the performance of the tablet's JavaScript engine and (to a lesser extent) processing power. hardware. A poor implementation of JavaScript on a very fast tablet can ruin the overall performance of the platform. And at the same time, an excellent implementation of JavaScript will allow you to effectively use even slow systems. However, today the main implementations of JavaScript engines are becoming closer to each other, and developers are borrowing all the best ideas. JavaScript tests are single threaded due to the nature of browsers. The SunSpider benchmark avoids many of the micro-benchmarks we see in apps like GeekBench, yet the benchmark attempts to evaluate CPU-sensitive tasks found in real-world web applications.
Below are the results of SunSpider 0.9.1 on tablets and Android phones. Android devices use Google V8 JavaScript engine.
The smaller the result, the better. Unlike previous versions of Android and other tablets, Google Chrome is standard browser default. But Google has optimized it well for speed, the browser performance is excellent, the tablet will not slow down on large pages.
AnTuTu
We have added the results of the popular AnTuTu test. The Antutu test has been updated, and the results of the old and new versions do not match. We will present comparative results with one of the best tablets on the Russian market -.
| CPU | GPU | RAM | I/O | General | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ASUS Nexus 7″ An 4.2.1 | 6316 | 3674 | 1874 | 897 | 12 761 |
| 3944 | 5015 | 1851 | 829 | 11 639 |
The results are decent, but in this synthetic test the Mali 400 MP4 graphics core of the IconBIT NetTAB THOR tablet produces a higher frame rate per second. Thanks to a more powerful 4-core computing processor, the Asus Nexus 7 shows good results. Note that with Tegra 3 GPU you will get unique graphics features available in optimized games. Therefore, lower “pure” GPU performance is not so important. On the other hand, I would like better GPU performance results from the Tegra 3 GPU.
Quadrant
| CPU | Memory | I/O | 2D | 3D | General | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ASUS Nexus 7″ An 4.2.1 | 11179 | 2548 | 1754 | 235 | 2391 | 3621 |
| IconBIT NetTAB SP2 9.7″ An 4.0.4 | 7380 | 4538 | 5912 | 317 | 2307 | 4091 |
| IconBIT NetTAB THOR 10.1″ An 4.1 | 7517 | 4452 | 5886 | 862 | 2129 | 4169 |
As an alternative, we would like to cite IconBIT netTAB Matrix II, which recently . With it you get hardware comparable in power to the Nexus 7 (albeit with two processing cores instead of four), also a good IPS screen with a lower resolution, standard support for 3G modems, the ability to expand memory with micro-SD cards (there is a special slot), standard connection external drives. There is also an HDMI output. Finally, the IconBIT netTAB Matrix II tablet costs one and a half times less and does not have many of the shortcomings of the Nexus 7. On the other hand, the Nexus 7 performs much better in games specifically optimized for Tegra 3.
But ASUS tablet Nexus 7 is good not only for games on Tegra 3. You will receive ASUS build quality and a guarantee with service centers in Russia, constant support from the manufacturer and quick updates to the operating system - the tablet already comes standard with Android 4.2.1.
So we leave the choice to our readers. We consider the IconBIT netTAB Matrix II and ASUS Nexus 7 as close competitors, both tablets have advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages of Asus Nexus 7
- ASUS quality, good body, net service centers in Russia
- Compact dimensions of a 7″ tablet
- Powerful system on a chip NVIDIA Tegra 3 T30L
- Latest version of Android OS 4.2.1, updates simultaneously with the publication of the new version
- High resolution IPS display 1280 x 800 (216 ppi)
- Accelerometer, GPS, magnetometer, gyroscope, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC
- Loud speakers
Disadvantages of Asus Nexus 7
- Lack of HDMI connector with powerful hardware
- The docking station is currently not available for sale, although the connector is available
- The standard support for video formats is poor, you need to install the player from Google Play
- Wide frame at the top and bottom of the screen
- Lack of micro-SD card slot
- Lack of support for external drives via USB – OTG
- Lack of support for 3G modems (16 GB version)
