What we liked: Priced to sell, the $199 sticker puts the Nexus 7 in any conversation where the Kindle Fire comes up. Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is considerably more than a minor update to ICS; Google Now is easily the standout new feature. Fast on every front, the Nexus 7 is the new standard for Android tablets, largely thanks to its quad-core Tegra 3 CPU.
Room for Improvement: MicroSD expansion and a rear camera would be welcome. Moving the speakers to opposite ends would improve the game and movie experience. The volume and power buttons take some familiarization due to the tapered rear design.
Review at a Glance: The Nexus 7 is worth every bit of the anticipation and more. The game has changed.
Hardware
At $199 nothing competes. Versus the Kindle Fire specifically: faster processor, higher-resolution display, front-facing camera, and Bluetooth. The NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor handles everything thrown at it. Games like Zen Pinball THD, Dark Meadow: The Pact, and Sonic 4 Episode II look gorgeous and play without a hitch. The 12-core GPU lets water effects, smoke, and lighting actually matter on a mobile display. A Bluetooth gamepad transforms the Nexus 7 into something much closer to a dedicated gaming device.
The 7-inch 1280×800 display is well suited to the way most people actually use tablets: reading magazines, books, and email; browsing; watching video. IMDb, TED, Currents, and the reading apps all shine here. The soft-grip back stayed clean through a week of daily use. Bezel is noticeable but mostly appreciated when it prevents accidental swipes during reading. The extra space on top and bottom, however, is harder to justify.
No rear camera was an occasional nuisance when wanting to snap a photo or use Instagram. NFC is included; the absence of a rear camera alongside it feels like an inconsistency.
Software
Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is a significant step forward. Google could have called this 5.0. Starting with Google Now, it’s immediately clear this is a different Android experience. Smart widget placement, faster animations, offline voice-to-text, and a quicker photo viewer all contribute to a cohesive whole that makes earlier Android versions feel incomplete by comparison. Spend a few days with Jelly Bean and the little friction points of ICS become obvious.
Google Now is the clear standout. It surfaces what you need without being asked. Frequent locations appear with ETA and traffic. Ask about a baseball team twice and it starts showing you scores automatically, with a path to buy tickets. It observes rather than requiring training, which makes it genuinely useful from day one.
Parting Thoughts
The Nexus 7 should be in retail stores, not just Google Play. Google needs to put this device in front of consumers who don’t follow tech news. Android 4.1 is the most intuitive version of Android yet, but still benefits from a day or two of exploration before it clicks for a new user. When it does, it’s the most impressive tablet experience available.
