Are you still hunting for that perfect gift for the hardware and technology fan in your life? Or maybe you are looking for recommendations to give to your friends and family about what to buy for YOU? Or maybe you just want something new and cool to play with over the break? Welcome to PC Perspective's 10 Days of Christmas where we will suggest a new item each day for you to consider. Enjoy!
The original Nexus 7 launched in 2012 and the 2013 revision was a drastic improvement in style, performance and battery life. It was such a good tablet, that even a year later, it's very likely the most popular Android tablet on the market.
The Nexus 7 is a 7-in tablet with a 1920×1200 resolution IPS screen that holds up well in sunlight and has Gorilla Glass to resist scratches. The tablet is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro 8064 1.5GHz processor that is a bit long in the tooth but is able handle computing tasks quite handily. Obviously something like the NVIDIA SHIELD Tablet would be better for dedicated gaming, but the Nexus 7 will hold its own in that area as well.
Other specifications include 2GB of DDR3L memory, 802.11n WiFi, a 15 Wh battery and it was recently updated to Android 5.0 Lollipop, that latest version Android.
Though Google has removed the Nexus 7 from its Google Play store, you can still find it on Amazon and BHPhoto.com in both 16GB and 32GB variants.
- Nexus 7 16GB – Amazon.com ($179) – BHPhoto.com ($199)
- Nexus 7 32GB – Amazon.com ($251)
If you are having trouble picking out a gift for a loved one, consider buying an Amazon.com gift card! Amazon has basically every product on the planet for your gift recipient to order and purchasing gift cards through these links directly sponsors and supports PC Perspective! And hey, if you were to buy gift cards for yourself to do your own Amazon-based Christmas shopping…that wouldn't exactly be a bad thing for us either! 😉
I have the Nexus 7 Nvidia
I have the Nexus 7 Nvidia Tegra version and I am happy with it but I have yet to receive Android 5.0 for it so I dont know if I will get it.
Don’t get the Update it has
Don’t get the Update it has turned my tablet into a paper weight!!
Worked fine for me, though I
Worked fine for me, though I had done a factory reset in the fall.
That said, I find if I have more than one or two applications open on it it becomes sluggish. Overtime the tablet has definitely lost performance, at release it was generally snappy but each release has made it worse for me.
nakasi (nexus 7 2012-tegra…
nakasi (nexus 7 2012-tegra… aka grouper) has 5.0 already.
https://dl.google.com/dl/android/aosp/nakasi-lrx21p-factory-93daa4d3.tgz
and no, it most definitely does not turn your tablet into a paperweight like the guy above says. He most likely screwed up flashing it to his nexus 7… there he most likely turned it into a paperweight with his stupidity.
Not helping nor contributing
Not helping nor contributing with those comments.
I pointed to the damn system
I pointed to the damn system image, direct from Google itself.
Pointing out someone’s negative comment “IT MADE IT A PAPERWEIGHT” (most likely because of his own inability/stupidity) is not contributing to the conversation.
My update to 5.0.1 (Nexus 7
My update to 5.0.1 (Nexus 7 2013) went very smoothly and is working well. No slowdown or issues. Battery life seems improved. I do recommend either clearing your cache partition or doing a system reset after the update to clear any previous garbage out.
The Nvidia Shield tablet. Not
The Nvidia Shield tablet. Not just because I won it here at Pcper,but I have 3 kids that can’t put it down. If I had the money for 2 more I would get 2 more.
Be sure to take a close look
Be sure to take a close look at the corners once in a while.
Wish my experience was as positive honestly.
And be careful of over-heating while charging..
I was considering the shield
I was considering the shield as a Nexus-8 alternative but the cracking made me abandon the idea. Given the N8 reviews weren’t entirely positive I’m in a wait and see what the future holds mode.
My wife just recently
My wife just recently upgraded from her Nexus 7 2012 to a Samsung Galaxy S 8.4 tablet. The reasons I told her to go with that instead of the N7 2013 were:
Larger screen- 8.4″ versus 7″.
Higher resolution- 1600×2560 versus 1920×1080
Faster processor- 2.3 ghz quad core versus 1.5ghz quad core
Camera- 8mp versus 5mp, though this doesn’t concern us much.
Higher battery capacity- 4800mah versus 3950mah.
Most importantly, the Samsung has an SD card slot, which allows adding another 64gb of storage when she needs it. The Nexus line never has sd card slots. The downsides to the Samsung are the bloated Touchwiz interface (will root and intall custom rom anyway) and the higher price. We paid about $200 at Best Buy versus $150 at Groupon.
Galaxy and Nexus tablets are
Galaxy and Nexus tablets are the best, I’v love to recommend Nvidia but I don’t think Tegra has much life left.
If you do go Nexus 7, make
If you do go Nexus 7, make sure it is the new one. I still see Bestbuy selling the 2012 edition and not discounted at all from its original price!
I picked up a EVGA Tegra Note
I picked up a EVGA Tegra Note 7 16GB for $119.99 total cost pre-Black Friday from NewEgg.
This tablet is replacing my aging Nexus 7 (2012). The Tegra 4 inside it is much better that the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro 8064 in the Nexus 7 (2013).
The only real improvement on the 2013 tablet was the screen resolution but I am fine with the 1280 x 800 on the original 2012 model.
The Tegra Note 7 will also be receiving Android L as an OTA update.
Also I like the extras that the Tegra Note 7 has: microSD slot and the stylus.
It is also interesting that Consumers Report recommends the Note 7.
AnandTech review: http://www.anandtech.com/show/7508/nvidia-tegra-note-7-review