Nexus 7 (2013) - Mini Review
by Brian Klug on July 27, 2013 12:54 AM EST- Posted in
- Tablets
- Snapdragon
- Qualcomm
- Android
- Mobile
- APQ8064
- Nexus 7
- Android 4.3
One of the biggest complaints I had about the original Nexus 7 was connectivity, as it only included 2.4 GHz 802.11b/g/n support. The hilarity of that situation was only compounded by the fact that Google could only demo the Nexus 7 at that Google I/O plugged in through USB-OTG Ethernet adapters because 2.4 GHz is effectively impossible to use at conferences. With the new Nexus 7, dual band (2.4 and 5 GHz) WLAN is now included with a WCN3660, Qualcomm’s companion WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n, BT 4.0, and FM Tx/Rx combo (though FM features aren’t enabled on the Nexus 7 2013).
Performance is correspondingly improved, and if you’re in an urban area where 2.4 GHz is congested beyond use, this makes the difference between an unusable brick and working tablet. Many have asked, why not WCN3680 (the 802.11ac enabled successor to 3660), the answer is of course, you’re talking about a ~$200 tablet, stuff like this understandably has to be n–1 without making the bill of materials untenable.
There’s also GNSS (GPS+GLONASS) on the WiFi only model which I tested, this goes through WCN3660 and into the baseband on APQ8064 in this configuration I believe. I’ve had nothing but great success with Qualcomm’s GNSS being the fastest out there to 3D cold fix, that holds true with the Nexus 7 (2013), even walking around the urban canyon scenario that San Francisco poses to GNSS.
Charging
The Nexus 7 (2013) is Qi (pronounced: “chee”) enabled, the de-facto wireless charging standard of the now. The Qi charger area is dead center in the middle, using a coil inside of the NFC one. That makes positioning easy.
I tossed the Nexus 7 on my Energizer Qi two-position mat when I got home, and it works perfectly, of course Qi can only charge at up to 5 watts. The in-box supplied charger is a 1.35 A variant, which isn’t anything special. Connected to my special linear power supply and battery charge downstream port controller which negotiates the proper standard, I saw the Nexus 7 (2013) draw a max of 1.32 A (6.6 watts), which makes sense given the supplied charger. I don’t have a 0–100 percent charge time number yet.
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doobydoo - Thursday, August 1, 2013 - link
I guess this it what happens when you compare devices nearly a year apart...smartypnt4 - Saturday, July 27, 2013 - link
I'll have to agree with you and others here. I do much prefer the 8" size to 7" (as an aside, the 8" 16:10 seems to be the best of both worlds that I've used. Sadly only Samsung makes one of those.), but that screen would have me buying the N7 every time.I've used the iPad Mini countless times trying to convince myself the low PPI and comparatively worse color accuracy (vs. my current 4th gen iPad) wouldn't matter, but I can't sell myself on it. The screen on the mini is disgraceful in 2013. By pure numbers, it traded blows (and was often beat) by the 2012 Nexus 7, to say nothing of the 2013 N7. I can't deal with a screen like that in 2013. Not when it'd become the worst screen I use daily.
Now that the N7 is out, honestly, Apple has no excuse not to show up with a "retina" iPad mini this fall. If they do, it'll be a tough choice for me to make on which to get, but at that point, you really can't lose. If I was buying this instant, there's no competition. The Nexus 7 has too many advantages over the Mini for me. I understand if you value form factor to the exclusion of everything else, though. I've been known to do that myself on occasion.
guidryp - Saturday, July 27, 2013 - link
"Now that N7 is out", doesn't really apply, the iPad Mini design was likely set in stone 6 months ago. They can't just change their mind when someone ships something better than expected.I think we are only 50% likely to see a Retina Mini and if we do, the price will likely go up as well, so it still won't be huge competition for the N7.
smartypnt4 - Saturday, July 27, 2013 - link
My point was this: previously, it was speculated that the iPad mini in "retina" guise didn't exist Due to the technical limitations presented by trying to pack a screen like that into a chassis this small and light. Now that ASUS/Google have made it apparent that something can be performant and thin and light, while having a screen that's about on par with the iPad 4 in terms of color and contrast, no Apple apologist can claim that there are technical limitations on creating an iPad mini with an awesome screen.Unfortunately, I have a feeling that you're right on the likelihood of getting a retina mini. Then again, I was adamant that the iPad 3 wouldn't have a 2048x1536 screen, so what the hell do I know? And if it does so happen that ewe see a retina mini, I doubt it'll be in any way a competitor to the Nexus 7 due to the cost of the thing. I'd love to see it stay at $330 to keep some semblance of competition alive, but I'm starting to doubt that'll happen. Only time will tell, I suppose.
doobydoo - Thursday, August 1, 2013 - link
Well arguably they haven't done it properly - because the FPS we're seeing on all of the onscreen benchmarks it vastly inferior to that on the iPad Mini.Anyone can shove a high res screen in, but packing the power to drive that screen was the challenge, and I don't think Google (Asus) have done this.
Also - the iPad Mini was not retina because it was released nearly a year ago, technology changes.
doobydoo - Thursday, August 1, 2013 - link
I doubt they'd push the price up - they didn't when they made the iPad retina.Impulses - Sunday, July 28, 2013 - link
8" 16:10 would be my preference too, but for $230 and being a Nexus device I'll easily settle for 7". I can't stand 4:3 and I can't fathom why a ton of people seem to enjoy web browsing in landscape (even with 16:10 tablets!).Mugur - Monday, July 29, 2013 - link
... and I though I was alone. Yes, after playing with all sizes, 8" 16:10 seems to be the option I like best. But this Nexus looks so nice... :-)zhenya00 - Sunday, July 28, 2013 - link
The N7 doesn't show 1920x1200 pixels of content though. I presume that the new N7, like the old, shows some lesser number of points, probably still 960x600 points, meaning that it has less effective resolution than the mini, especially in width where you'll notice that it is often unable to show the entire width of a web page. In my opinion this is what makes the iPad so perfect for web browsing; it fits the majority of modern web pages perfectly in portrait orientation with no wasted space and no side-scrolling necessary.abazigal - Sunday, July 28, 2013 - link
I expect the ipad mini 2 to be identical to the ipad4 in terms of specs. A6x processor, 1gb of ram, 326 PPI (little reason to go higher when retina apps run well on such specs). We may see a 8mp camera, but otherwise, I don't see much differentiating it from the Nesux7 apart from ecosystem.Let's admit it. For all this comparisons, the Apple users are still going to stick with an ipad, while the Android users are going to get the Nexus7, simple because they are all too deeply invested in their ecosystem of choice to consider switching camp. You have your google play, I have my app store. I value my airplay mirroring just as you want to root your ROM.