Oh man oh man has this day arrived! From the rumors, to the announcements, to the pre-order shipping date disorder. The Nexus 7, Google’s first foray into the tablet space and a brand new Nexus line device at that. Also not forgetting that this is the first Jellybean OS device out there as well. I would say I’m going hands on with this thing, but really this is to become a part of my starting five (what do I mean by my starting five, stay tuned for another post on that coming as well). This is more than just a review, or a first impression, this is more how it will affect my lifestyle. So let’s take a glimpse.
Style
One word people, sexy! The Nexus 7 is ever bit as sexy as you seen in pictures or on videos. First I must say and I’ve always said it before, 7 inches is the ideal tablet size. I’ve said it back when I first use the Blackberry Playbook (you can read my thoughts on Laptop Magazine too). 7 inches is super easy to hold and very portable. The Nexus 7 adds to that with its slim sexy size.
Then there is the “driving glove” leather back to it, that feels oh so good to touch and hold, while also provide excellent grip when one handing the tablet. The front is all screen, which looks great by the way (who needs retina anyway lol). And the back is sports the Nexus wording, as well as ASUS on the bottom. The Nexus 7 feels and looks great. Then when you sit back and think about how much you paid for it, oh yes!
Apps & Perks
Okay if the fact that this is one of the sexiest tablets I’ve seen and the price starting out at $199 wasn’t enough to convince you to purchase this Nexus 7, the apps and perks should. While I will say that although iOS dominates the apps market with the sheer number of apps available for the platform, Android is no slouch. The Google Play store has a healthy amount of apps in its own right. You should have no problem find an apps for just about any need you have, and because Android is just as big a player as iOS, any popular app is likely to be on or coming to the platform.
Then there is the perks currently with getting a Nexus 7. For one there is the $25 Google Play Store credit, which you can use on most items in the store. Rent some movies, buy some music, or get a few apps and games on Google. Also the Nexus 7 can use Google Wallet, and if you are a first time Google Waller user, you can set up the Google Prepaid card which also comes with a free $10.00 to use. So once you get the Nexus 7, your already off to a good start. There is more freebies as well, like a copy of Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon and some magazines too. So if the price and the fashion aspect wasn’t enough, come on and pick one up for the included perks as well!
Battery Life & Performance
The first thing I did after I did my complete setup of the Nexus was give it a full charge and then just use it until it hit empty. I started off the day at around 7:30am on Wednesday morning, and have been using it since. Now I try to keep it real world use, which means using it as I normally would. This would be having it on WiFi when I was in a WiFi area, turning it off when I wasn’t and using with application like Pulse, Scope, Spotify, Chrome, and more. So far this thing has some good battery life. As I write finish writing this review on Friday afternoon, now at 2:07pm it still has 8% battery and asking me to connect the charger. This is quite good.
When it came to performance, the Nexus 7 was as smooth as Butter….Yea I said it lol. Scrolling from screen to screen flies by, launching applications happens quickly. The Nexus 7 handles that, games, and media without hiccup. It is hard to believe all this can be had for only $199 starting. I hate to keep harping on price, but there is really no reason you can’t jump into the tablet game with this one people, to risk saying any fanboy-ish, this really is a great performing tablet.
Experience
From the time I have turned it on, it has been a joy to use. There are few negatives so far, okay maybe a few. I will point out that the storage, or lack of may bother some people. I would recommend springing for the 16GB version if you are worried about storage. I recently had that feeling when I got the HTC One X. But honestly most of what I’m doing is either online or can be streamed. Beyond storage, the only other negative I found was the lack of flash. Though if you do a little searching you can find a way to get it on there sure enough, I mean this is a Nexus device so tweaking it should be easy enough.
Other than those things, the Nexus 7 is a pleasure to use. It is speedy, looks great, and comes at a very affordable price. For the last couple days I have been using it, it has shown great battery endurance, and the screen looking amazing on it. Then of course there is the 7 inch size, which I proclaim to be the ideal size. I’m able to a palm it like a basketball or tuck it nicely in my hands as I travel around. This doesn’t feel too big and tire me out, so it is perfect to carry around with you.
Google’s first entrance into the tablet space is definitely off to a good start. Of course there are some small quirks here and there, but overall this is a great tablet on its own right, and when you factor in the price makes it a must have? What do you think?
