Nexus 7 : Impressions after a couple of days…

It’s been a couple of days since I got my spangly new Nexus 7. I was hoping to chalk it down to an impulse buy, but after 3 failed attempts to buy one at high-street stores I got frustrated and ordered one off Google Play directly…

If you’ve used an Android phone (or tablet) before, there aren’t many mysteries here. It’s just a bigger, faster and smoother version of what I’ve seen before. There has been lots of talk about the improvements in Jelly Bean (Android 4.1). Now I don’t know if it’s really because of changes in Android, or just because of the hardware refresh compared to my HTC Wildfire, but this thing is like sh*t off a shovel! Everything is so quick and smooth. It’s really cool! As far as *my* use is concerned, Android and iOS are now the same thing. You can be picky, but Jelly Bean is a very polished product.

The issue with phones and tablets is that every pro is also a con. For example:

• Size: It’s smaller than my iPad, but that makes it a little more annoying for typing than the already-annoying iPad.
• Portability: Because it’s smaller than the iPad, it feels more portable than that, but not as portable as my crappy old HTC Wildfire or some of the larger smart phones.
• Reading: Even though it is smaller than the iPad, it’s still bigger and heavier than my Kindle. That, added to the shiny screen makes it vastly inferior to the Kindle for reading novels.

Mark Rittman made some mention of the unusual form factor as far as displaying web pages. It’s true the aspect ratio is more like a large phone than the tablets I’ve used/seen, but that hasn’t affected me so far.

I don’t have a posh smart phone, but for those that do, you might want to read Howard Rogers’ review. I’m guessing a lot of people might actually get more use out of a Galaxy SIII or Galaxy Note phone that the Nexus 7.

So the conclusions are pretty simple. For £200 it is a really excellent device. It’s half the size of the iPad and half the price, so you get what you pay for in that respect. If you have the money and want the extra screen size, the iPad is a better option. If price is an issue, or you prefer a smaller tablet, then the Nexus 7 is a great choice.

I’m not sure what the future holds for my Nexus 7. It might end up replacing my iPad, in which case my nephews will get that. The Nexus 7 might become a present for my nephews and I’ll keep the iPad. I might end up using both devices. Yesterday I was streaming the Olympics or Netflix on my iPad, while doing emails and tweeting on my Nexus 7. I have this horrible feeling I will have my laptop, iPad, Nexus 7 and Kindle when I’m traveling to OOW this year…

Cheers

Tim…

---

Nexus 7 : Impressions after a couple of days… was first posted on August 12, 2012 at 10:18 am.
©2012 "The ORACLE-BASE Blog". Use of this feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this article in your feed reader, then the site is guilty of copyright infringement.