Google Nexus 7 16GB

• 

  J Milne

  1 review
  

  Very good

  This is a very good device, not perfect by any stretch, but as a portable productivity tool or useful gadget, if you are already the owner of an android device it's simply brilliant. I bought this on the day before it was released (JB HiFi had it out the back but hadn't put it in the display yet). It's become an integral part of my family ever since.
  
  The Nexus 7 has some serious grunt behind it. As a result the graphics and processing responses are a pleasure to observe. Even when burdened by an additional launcher such as SPB Shell 3D the responses are crisp and sharp. Email, word processing and PDF's can be viewed and manipulated easily and quickly. The additional screen space makes all those things you struggled to do on a 4.7 inch screen easily accomplished. It's size makes one handed typing, while holding it with the other hand in either portrait or landscape easy and practical.
  
  I have two sons with Asperger's. This tablet is brilliant. Small enough to easily carry. Big enough for them to play interactive games. If you have Firefox on your PC you can download any youtube videos you want, pass them onto the Nexus and play native flv files crisply and cleanly.
  
  I have a lot of content sitting on my N7, and it's still saying it has 3.5 Gig remaining. Which probably brings me to why it missed two stars...
  
  The 16 Gig memory limit is a little light. The 32 Gig model, if we ever see it in NZ would be perfect. If you have a suitable android phone which you can specify as a portable WiFi hotspot the lack of a sim card isn't a problem. It also makes your mobile data management much easier and less painful if you have a young family.
  
  Only other draw back is that this device makes your Nexus S look really lame. Oh well. Progress. Roll on the Nexus 4!

  6 months ago
• 

  pandemik

  15 reviews
  

  Excellent

  Great little tablet. Asus and google have done a great job for the price. Even at the inflated price this is on market in NZ ($439 I paid) it packs a lot in for the money. Hardware good design and is a sharp piece of engineering. The IPS screens good and hi-res very crisp text and clear photos/video (colours in brighter areas are not so vivid, software calibration could use some work it seems), very nice to hold with textured back. Light, it's about half the weight of an ipad and can be comfortably held for long time like a reader. It's proving to be a really good reader, websites, news, ebooks. in portrait mode you can type on the on screen keyboard with thumbs quite comfortably. Also suprise killer app: Gaming is outstanding in landscape mode - Tegra 3 packs some punch in graphics performance - light weight makes using tilt controls really sweet. Speaker in rear is clear - has dual drivers hidden in there. Sound quality through headphones and plugged in to a big home theatre set up was great - right up there with the best i've heard out of mobile devices. The OS is EXCELLENT, it's a pure Android experience free from crapware, it's really slick and smooth and Android 4.0 was already good but 4.1 is a good refinement with some powerful stuff - Chrome browser gives very close to a full desktop experience in your hand. Google Now is also very cool, predictive search results and handles kiwi accent pretty well considering. Best voice control I've ever encountered. All the settings are so easily accessible and the great Android notificaition system is even better than ever. Multitasking is also slick and effective. These are areas Android is ahead of iOS.
  
  How does this compare to iPad? It doesn't. This is it's own category of gadget. So much more portable, it's half the price and half the weight it's not even fair to compare the two. That's like comparing a tiny netbook to a full laptop. Also Android is so cool also does more, and faster, with tons of personalisation options that iOS feels restricted and burdened with eye candy that you can't turn off. Google Now is also an impressive service and it's only early days yet. Finally, when I got this gadget I logged in with my Google account and BOOM just like that all my paid apps i'd bought on my smartphone were available on my tablet, along with all my contacts and wifi-passwords. I didn't have to buy a single one twice! Well done Google!
  
  Pros:
  Screen is sharp
  Ergonomics and portablitiy is spot on
  PerformanceCPU is fast as GPU kicks ass
  Battery life is outstanding 10+ hours of abuse easily. Charge every 2-3 days for me.
  standard common Mini-b usb connector with OTG support
  Android 4.1 "Jelly Bean" just rocks
  Google Play store has so everything you might ever need
  
  Cons:
  Some google services (music, books) not available in NZ!
  Very few accesories available yet (Should be plenty eventually but man it's taking a while)
  No microSD card slot
  no HDMI output.
  Colours on screen are flat and muted at high brightness levels
  USB host mode only works with a OTG adapter which is hard to find then software support is limited. USB keyboard and mouse did work for me though.
  Need to install some apps like Nova launcher to get more functionality.
  Tablets have a long way to go yet, still a tad gimmicky
  
  Who should buy it: Anyone needs very capable but very portable computing. Nice middle spot between a smartphone and a laptop.
  Good performance for money, maybe consider this instead of a netbook? If an iPad is kind of big and pricey for you this might be your thing too. Women: It's handbag size.

  9 months ago 2

International user reviews

(7.00) 1 reviews on Google Nexus 7 16GB from our members in Norway. Translate to English.

(8.81) 52 reviews on Google Nexus 7 16GB from our members in Sweden. Translate to English.