Google refreshes Nexus 7 with twice iPad mini's pixel count, for $100 less
Google on Wednesday fired a shot across Apple's bow, unveiling a revamped version of its Nexus 7 tablet that's aimed at outdoing Apple's iPad mini at a lower price.
The new Nexus 7 is the follow-up to one of the top-selling Android devices in that platform's burgeoning tablet ecosystem. The new version outdoes its predecessor in just about every way possible, with 1.8 times the CPU performance, four times the GPU performance, and twice as much RAM.
The diminutive tablet still sports the same 7.02-inch display seen on the first Nexus 7, but Google and manufacturing partner Asus have significantly bumped up the resolution. The new tablet's display outputs at 1920x1200, with a pixel density of 323ppi. That's more than 50 percent higher than the original Nexus 7's 216ppi density, nearly twice the iPad mini's 163ppi, and higher even than the full-size Retina iPad's 264ppi.
Showing off the device's display, Google called it the "highest DPI of any tablet on the market."
The new device is also 6mm narrower and 60g lighter than its predecessor. Its larger battery adds an additional hour of video playback, as well as two more hours of web surfing.
Google also added a 5MP rear camera to the device to accompany the 1.2MP front-facing camera. The rear camera is capable of capturing 1080p video.
Google also showed off the newest build of its Android operating system, version 4.3. Still under the Jelly Bean moniker, version 4.3 brings multi-user restricted profiles, allowing users to set parental controls governing how other profiles can access in-app purchases. It also brings Bluetooth Smart integration, allowing devices running 4.3 to interface with low-energy, wearable devices. The Nexus 7 will be the first device to ship with the new operating system, and Google will be rolling it out to other Nexus devices shortly.
The considerable bump in display resolution seems aimed directly at Apple, which held off on a Retina display when releasing the iPad mini last year, but has been rumored to be prepping a Retina iPad mini for release in the next year. Apple may well release a new model of its fast-selling smaller tablet with a higher-resolution screen, but current speculation has such a device on hold until early 2014.
The first Nexus 7 debuted last year a few months before the iPad mini, and the device went on to solid sales. Late last year, the CEO of Asus ? which manufactures the device ? said his company was producing one million units per month. The iPad mini, though, debuted soon after and grabbed much of the attention in the small tablet segment.
On stage, Google execs pointed to the growing presence of Android devices in a tablet segment Apple jumpstarted and by some measures continues to dominate. In terms of global Android tablet activations, the last two years have seen an explosion in the number of new devices, with Google now estimating the total number of activations at roughly 70 million. Roughly 50 million of those, according to Google, have come in the last twelve months.
The new Nexus 7 will be available on July 30 from Google's Play Store, as well as a number of other retailers' online and physical locations. A 16GB Wi-Fi model will cost $229, and a 32GB Wi-Fi version will cost $269. Google will also be offering an unlocked 32GB Wi-Fi + 4G LTE version ? compatible with AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile ? for $339.
The new Nexus 7 is the follow-up to one of the top-selling Android devices in that platform's burgeoning tablet ecosystem. The new version outdoes its predecessor in just about every way possible, with 1.8 times the CPU performance, four times the GPU performance, and twice as much RAM.
The diminutive tablet still sports the same 7.02-inch display seen on the first Nexus 7, but Google and manufacturing partner Asus have significantly bumped up the resolution. The new tablet's display outputs at 1920x1200, with a pixel density of 323ppi. That's more than 50 percent higher than the original Nexus 7's 216ppi density, nearly twice the iPad mini's 163ppi, and higher even than the full-size Retina iPad's 264ppi.
Showing off the device's display, Google called it the "highest DPI of any tablet on the market."
The new device is also 6mm narrower and 60g lighter than its predecessor. Its larger battery adds an additional hour of video playback, as well as two more hours of web surfing.
Google also added a 5MP rear camera to the device to accompany the 1.2MP front-facing camera. The rear camera is capable of capturing 1080p video.
Google also showed off the newest build of its Android operating system, version 4.3. Still under the Jelly Bean moniker, version 4.3 brings multi-user restricted profiles, allowing users to set parental controls governing how other profiles can access in-app purchases. It also brings Bluetooth Smart integration, allowing devices running 4.3 to interface with low-energy, wearable devices. The Nexus 7 will be the first device to ship with the new operating system, and Google will be rolling it out to other Nexus devices shortly.
The considerable bump in display resolution seems aimed directly at Apple, which held off on a Retina display when releasing the iPad mini last year, but has been rumored to be prepping a Retina iPad mini for release in the next year. Apple may well release a new model of its fast-selling smaller tablet with a higher-resolution screen, but current speculation has such a device on hold until early 2014.
The first Nexus 7 debuted last year a few months before the iPad mini, and the device went on to solid sales. Late last year, the CEO of Asus ? which manufactures the device ? said his company was producing one million units per month. The iPad mini, though, debuted soon after and grabbed much of the attention in the small tablet segment.
On stage, Google execs pointed to the growing presence of Android devices in a tablet segment Apple jumpstarted and by some measures continues to dominate. In terms of global Android tablet activations, the last two years have seen an explosion in the number of new devices, with Google now estimating the total number of activations at roughly 70 million. Roughly 50 million of those, according to Google, have come in the last twelve months.
The new Nexus 7 will be available on July 30 from Google's Play Store, as well as a number of other retailers' online and physical locations. A 16GB Wi-Fi model will cost $229, and a 32GB Wi-Fi version will cost $269. Google will also be offering an unlocked 32GB Wi-Fi + 4G LTE version ? compatible with AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile ? for $339.
Comments
It doesn't look bad. I wonder how many true tablet apps there are, though? HD doesn't matter on an app that is sized up.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
Hey… Still using that faulty NAND, are you Google? There's a reason this is $100 less.
Cheap is cheap.
Not just the slowdown and bad battery life, but it also started falling apart.
http://androidforums.com/nexus-s-support-troubleshooting/459571-my-nexus-falling-apart.html
I don't get how people support Google after so many empty promises over the years.
Pretty much. I can see lots of people returning these because I'd imagine battery life would be dreadful on this.
If this goads Apple into releasing that retina IGZO mini (or even if that's release is a happy coincidence) I'll be pleased.
This display is simply ridiculous and the hardware can't support it. It became obvious how even simple 3D games that were shown off, such as Prince of Persia didn't run very smooth. It was also interesting to see, how extremely careful they were when it came to scrolling during the presentation. They did it very, very slowly and always without momentum, trying to hide the fact how choppy everything gets once you scroll properly. Despite these attempts though, there were instances where the choppyness was obvious, heck even Google Maps scrolling was horrible.
Really sad to see things getting down to a spec race. A retina display would certainly make a lot of sense on a mini, but there's no point in stuffing such high resolution displays in so small devices where both hardware and software have trouble supporting those features, because essentially the user experience gets worse, unless all you do is look at static images.
They said it gained an hour battery life in the presentation. I think Android 4.3 has something to do with that.
That's what she said.
Yeah, I most definitely prefer the iPad Mini's bigger screen size, smaller bezel, and aspect ratio over the Nexus 7.
Which apps where those, they weren't in the top 500 that is for sure. I haven't seen that since Android version 2.3. All new apps are written for dynamic resolutions, their is no longer a set resolution. There are some apps that use lower resolution but these are either very old or poorly programmed and no one uses them.