Nexus 7 2nd generation

[Tajmaster]

I bought the original Nexus 7 when it came out last year, and I have no complaints about it (with the usual exception of WHY NO SD SLOT! WHY NO MASS STORAGE MODE!).

Fast forward to 28th August 2013 and Google have release the 2nd generation of Nexus 7 aka the Nexus 7 2.

Price: £199 16GB
Store: Tesco

The first one was the bench mark for 7 inch tablets (that includes that poor excuse from the frooty loop company). Great screen, fast fluid OS, great spec etc etc.

The second one builds on that and sticks to its winning formula: the spec here is top of the range:
quad core CPU 1.5Ghz
Adreno 320 GPU
2GB RAM
Android 4.3
1900x1200 7 inch screen
Dual speakers
NFC
Bluetooth
GPS

If you loved the first one, you will love this one too. It feels faster, the screen is amazing, and the sound is much better than the first one (louder!). The screen is simply stunning, such a pleasure to read stuff on it, and thats saying something as the first Nexus had a great screen too.
The sound on this model is much better than the first. I found the the first Nexus 7 could be a bit quiet but this one has 2 speakers and sounds louder than the first generation.
This one also comes with a 5MP rear facing camera. Its not a bad camera, pretty much what you would expect on a mobile device. Its good for spontaneous pictures, ebay listing, Instagram and other social network shots etc, again pretty much what you would use the average mobile phone camera for. The front-facing camera is the same as the one on the previous Nexus 7, image quality-wise.
The software side of it is pretty much the same as the first Nexus (or any other Nexus device), which is no bad thing. This one feels a bit more fluid to me though, not sure if thats because its virgin fresh or not or just in my head.It feels much thinner and lighter than the last one. Google have made the bezel thinner too (thankfully)

I got the 16GB version, which actually has 12.2GB total storage available.
All in all, well worth a buy for a new comer to the Nexus or Android tablets. For a current owner, if you fancy a better screen and sound, then go for it, if youre not bothered, wait for the sale but it a damn fine tablet.


EDIT: Specs from Google: https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=nexus_7_16gb_2013
Technical specifications
Screen
7.02" 1920x1200 HD display (323 ppi)
1080p HD IPS
Scratch-resistant Corning® glass
Camera
1.2MP front facing, fixed focus
5MP rear facing, auto focus
Size
114 x 200 x 8.65 mm
OS
Android 4.3
Wireless
Dual-band Wi-Fi (2.4GHz/5GHz) 802.11 a/b/g/n
Bluetooth 4.0
NFC (Android Beam)
Weight
0.64 lbs (290 g)
Audio Output
Dual stereo speakers
Surround sound, powered by Fraunhofer¹
3.5mm audio connector
Memory
16 GB internal storage (actual formatted capacity will be less)
2 GB RAM
Ports
Micro USB
SlimPort™ enabled
Battery
3,950 mAH (Up to 9 hours of active use)
Wireless Charging built-in (Qi compatible)
CPU
Quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon™ S4 Pro, 1.5GHz
GPU
Adreno 320, 400MHz
Sensors
Accelerometer
GPS
Compass
Ambient light
Gyroscope

 

[AmiNeo]

1900x1200 7 inch screen


:wooha:

For a 7" screen thats one hell of a resolution!

 

[Tajmaster]

1900x1200 7 inch screen


:wooha:

For a 7" screen thats one hell of a resolution!

It looks stunning mate, I prefer it to the older one just for that and the better sound

 

[Amiga Forever]

but there no SD Card slot

 

[AmiNeo]

but there no SD Card slot

Really? that's a kick in the knackers. :roll: Still sounds like a great device though, and being a new gen device and all I'd assume they will have sensible sizes though. 32GB minimum?

Apple's Retina screens are going to have some fierce competition in 2014 methinks...

 

[Tajmaster]

but there no SD Card slot

Really? that's a kick in the knackers. :roll: Still sounds like a great device though, and being a new gen device and all I'd assume they will have sensible sizes though. 32GB minimum?

Apple's Retina screens are going to have some fierce competition in 2014 methinks...

Retina=marketing speil for high rez screen :roll: In fairness to Apple, they did while everyone else just sat about with their thumb up their asses At least its pushing everyone else now, I just dont like how muppets in shops think its the benchmark for screens

The Nexus tablets start at 16GB and they top out at 32GB. I have no idea why Google refuse to use SD slots on their stuff
Id also like to know where mass storage mode has gone on newer Android devices??? Its not on any Nexus device, nor the Galaxy S4 or the newer LG phones (not sure about the Xperia Z).

 

[AmiNeo]

but there no SD Card slot

Really? that's a kick in the knackers. :roll: Still sounds like a great device though, and being a new gen device and all I'd assume they will have sensible sizes though. 32GB minimum?

Apple's Retina screens are going to have some fierce competition in 2014 methinks...

Retina=marketing speil for high rez screen :roll: In fairness to Apple, they did while everyone else just sat about with their thumb up their asses At least its pushing everyone else now, I just dont like how muppets in shops think its the benchmark for screens

The Nexus tablets start at 16GB and they top out at 32GB. I have no idea why Google refuse to use SD slots on their stuff
Id also like to know where mass storage mode has gone on newer Android devices??? Its not on any Nexus device, nor the Galaxy S4 or the newer LG phones (not sure about the Xperia Z).

Thats odd, was it an OS feature? File compression of some kind?

And yeah Retina = marketing lingo for an Apple device's high res display I knew that as soon as I heard the name. The Chinese woman on my course was having an argument with me last year that it was much more than that. lol.

Having now owned an Apple, (iPad and Macbook Pro 13") I have to say I like them a lot for usability and the OS. They do use high quality components (Which other manufacturers also use / have access to like IPS displays and metal bodies) but I don't like their marketing tactics. They build themselves up and invent names for things to make them Apple-centric and idiot friendly. It's confusing to someone who is used to technical specs and is technically minded. But it works for them I guess and other people who aren't technically minded bite, finding it easier to deal with. (Other manufacturers do the same to a lesser extent of course too).

Just bugs me that you can tell a non-technical Apple fan that you have a high res IPS display and the first thing they come at you with is "but is it a retina display? Mine is!" icard (No it's just identical and cost about half as much).

 

[Tajmaster]

Really? that's a kick in the knackers. :roll: Still sounds like a great device though, and being a new gen device and all I'd assume they will have sensible sizes though. 32GB minimum?

Apple's Retina screens are going to have some fierce competition in 2014 methinks...

Retina=marketing speil for high rez screen :roll: In fairness to Apple, they did while everyone else just sat about with their thumb up their asses At least its pushing everyone else now, I just dont like how muppets in shops think its the benchmark for screens

The Nexus tablets start at 16GB and they top out at 32GB. I have no idea why Google refuse to use SD slots on their stuff
Id also like to know where mass storage mode has gone on newer Android devices??? Its not on any Nexus device, nor the Galaxy S4 or the newer LG phones (not sure about the Xperia Z).

Thats odd, was it an OS feature? File compression of some kind?

And yeah Retina = marketing lingo for an Apple device's high res display I knew that as soon as I heard the name. The Chinese woman on my course was having an argument with me last year that it was much more than that. lol.

Having now owned an Apple, (iPad and Macbook Pro 13") I have to say I like them a lot for usability and the OS. They do use high quality components (Which other manufacturers also use / have access to like IPS displays and metal bodies) but I don't like their marketing tactics. They build themselves up and invent names for things to make them Apple-centric and idiot friendly. It's confusing to someone who is used to technical specs and is technically minded. But it works for them I guess and other people who aren't technically minded bite, finding it easier to deal with.

Just bugs me that you can tell a non-technical Apple fan that you have a high res IPS display and the first thing they come at you with is "but is it a retina display? Mine is!" icard (No it's just identical and cost about half as much).

USB mass storage mode means the device storage/SD card mounted in it appears to the PC as a normal USB memory stick would. Now the only 2 options are MTP or PTP mode, which are slower than mass storage mode and dont work on older machines (eg XP SP2 without any updates). I have over 800 pics of my cat on my Samsung (not sure about the Nexus), its takes forever to generate thumbnails and I have to do it each time I open up the directory :nuts: In mass storage mode, it thumbnails stuff once (and quickly) and is much more tolerable. Yes I know 800 pics is excessive but shes my baby

 

[johnim]

I was looking at 2nd gen too but 1st gen suits my needs at the moment

I have just upgraded my gs2 to a gs4 so 5in 1080p screen is great too with slightly faster cpu @1.9ghz and same gpu as n7 x2

 

[Bastich]

Using my SG S4 I have connected an OTG cable with a multicard USB reader and then played a 1080p film direct on my phone

On my Nexus 7 I had to get the Media Importer app and then that one worked as well

 

[Harrison]

I also use the Media Importer App with my Nexus 7 and it works perfectly.

As for the 2nd Gen Nexus 7, I do like the improvements, but I also still like my 1st gen one and it does what I need at the moment so won't be upgrading... however I will once the price drops or there are special offers.

 

[Amiga Forever]

You better off waiting for 3rd Gen Nexus 7 and it would blow first two Nexus 7 away

 

[AmiNeo]

By that logic you'd be even better again waiting for a 4th or 5th...

Who knows if they'll even do a third?

 

[Harrison]

With technology you can always say that because a better one is always just around the corner... better CPU, better GPU, new generation TV, next smartphone etc. You just need to decide that you want to buy one and buy the best you can currently afford.

 

[Tajmaster]

You better off waiting for 3rd Gen Nexus 7 and it would blow first two Nexus 7 away

I wouldnt be so presumptuous, even the 1st gen Nexus is a well specced device, I would imagine Google will be updating it for a long time to come. And besides, most people just browse the internet on their tablets

Similarly with mobile phones, a lot of phones these days (top end ones anyway) are your quad core/1 or 2GB RAM afairs, phone manufacturers are going to have to work their BS machine hard to find a reason not to update the OSs on them regularly because the devices will remain a good enough spec for a long time.

 

[Harrison]

That is a really good point. The phone makers are only interested in pushing stock, and not in continuing to maintain and support existing phones they sold years ago. It's the reason anyone owning an older Android phone is probably stuck on 2.3 with no way to upgrade... forcing you to be stuck or buy a new phone.

A good example is the original Samsung Galaxy S. My wife had one and we still have it as a spare backup. The last official OS that received was 2.3, but you can manually hack the phone and installed 4.2, bringing it bang up to date. Just shows you.

However, the manufacturers still manage to push most of their new phones out via monthly contract customers whom upgrade every 1 to 2 years as part of their contract, so they will still sell/shift a lot regardless.

 

[NovaCoder]

I love my Nexus 7 too (first model) but why-on-why didn't they go a bit bigger.

I think the 'sweet spot' for small tablets is 8", anything smaller just looks like a big phone

Seriously though, if Google had released this updated model with an 8" screen and kept the same price then it would sell like crazy

 

[AmiNeo]

I had a 7" tablet once and found there wasn't quite enough screen to read from it well enough. If I zoomed out text would be a bit too small to read with my eyes for a long time and zoomed in managed about 5 words per line.

I now use a 10" iPad and find it about right for reading. Sideways on its almost the same height and width as an open paperback which would be about 11" or so in a similar aspect ratio.

8" is probably about right for a single paperback page in portrait orientation going by my measurements. 7" is a little small for reading comfortably unless you have really good eye sight (don't need glasses at all). At 6" I've always felt the kindle to be a little too small, but I guess resolution has a role to play in readability too. Smaller text should be more readable at higher resolutions.

 

[AmiNeo]

I love my Nexus 7 too (first model) but why-on-why didn't they go a bit bigger.

I think the 'sweet spot' for small tablets is 8", anything smaller just looks like a big phone

Seriously though, if Google had released this updated model with an 8" screen and kept the same price then it would sell like crazy

Wish granted... by LG

http://hexus.net/mobile/news/tablets/59533-lg-unveils-g-pad-83-premium-android-tablet/

 

[NovaCoder]

Yep looks tasty