Google - Nexus - 7" - 16GB - Black

I had the original Nexus 7 and these are my thoughts after just two days with the new second generation Nexus 7. Great display although I can't really tell that much of a difference between the first generation and second generation. The new version is blazing fast... Even after a complete data wipe and reset on the original Nexus 7 and running an app to clean up the internal memory (The original Nexus had some lag issues as it upgraded to newer versions of android and you needed to clean up the memory drive) The new version is a lot faster.. but webpages and videos load a lot faster and the new Android (My original Nexus is now on Android 4.3 now) is super smooth and even more so with the extra RAM and better processor, you can truly see the difference. The other major improvement over the original are the speakers... The original Nexus 7 had HORRIBLE speakers... even with the volume all the way up I had to use headphones to actually hear anything clearly on the tablet.. Even in a library it was hard to hear let alone if there is anything else going on around you... The new Nexus 7 now has two rear speakers and they are ten+ times better than the original... You can actually hear things without headphones on. I can actually watch video without having to get my headphones or hold the tablet up to my ear to hear it... The touch screen seems a lot smoother to the touch and much more responsive vs the original but it may just be that it's brand new out of the box vs a device that is 13+ months old.... So far after two days things I don't like... The power button is pretty much flush with the rim of the device and it's not as easy to power up as the original. With the original Nexus 7 it took way less effort to power the screen on... with the new one I find myself thinking I hit the button only to have to press at it a couple of times to light up the screen. After messing with it it's just a matter of making sure you put enough pressure and hit the button right. The original device the button sat up higher on the side than on the new one.... But even after two days now I am starting to figure out how to hit it right and I am sure over time I'll have it perfected in such a way I don't have to "Try" more than once.... There are a few Apps that are not optimized yet for 4.3 but that is minimal as android 4.3 was just released a few days ago... Developers will have that figured out in no time. I also have pretty much zero need for the backside camera. It's a luxury upgrade but I don't take pictures with my tablet but plenty of people do so it's a nice upgrade over the original but not something I need or will use much if ever.... in my home my wife and one daughter both have iPad's and my other daughter just got the Galaxy Tab 3 8" tablet.... You can't really go wrong with any of these devices... I've used the iPad and Galaxy Tab 3 numerous times. The iPad is bigger and heavier but Apple puts together a solid product. The Galaxy Tab 3 is bigger than the Nexus but smaller and lighter than the iPad... I don't really care for Touchwiz set over Android. but overall it's a pretty solid device... It comes down to preference.. I use a Galaxy S3 smart phone but it's rooted and I have Touchwiz removed and I run stock vanilla android on my phone. Spec wise your can go wrong with any of these devices.... It's really personal preference more than anything else... I loved my original Nexus 7 and the new one is an improvement over the original. I'd recommend the Nexus 7 but go down to your local best buy and play with the display models and see what you think fits your lifestyle and preferences best...

I purchased the new 7" Nexus from Best Buy on the first day it was available there. I've always wanted a 7" tablet and it sounded like this was just the tablet to fit the bill. Instead of spouting all of the features that everyone already knows about, I'll let you know about some of the issues that I have with it. 1) Button ergonomics. I much prefer the power button to be on a different side than the volume control. My Samsung phone has the power on the top (when holding in portrait mode) and this is where I would have liked the Nexus to have but it. When holding it in Landscaped position, it is quite difficult for me to hit the power button. All of the buttons are recessed somewhat. This is great for making sure that they do not get hit accidentally, but I find it difficult to actually use them without actually looking at the unit. The ergonomics of the buttons are not great for my hands. 2) Wi-Fi - I have serious issues with the Wi-Fi on this unit. From my Trendnet TRU-812DRU, the Nexus often drops its Wi-Fi signal and sometimes never even sees it. You might think that this is the routers fault, but I have no such problems with the Samsung phone or with the iPad 3. I can bring all three devices right to the router and the Samsung and iPad both have full signal and the Nexus does not even show the Trendnet signal at all, says its unavailable. If I reboot the Trendnet, it will usually find it again, but it will drop it often. I have no issues with the Nexus with my Linksys WRT310N wireless however. But the wireless signal is not as strong from this device and I prefer to use the Tendnet for wireless. I have had issues with other wireless routers at other locations with the Nexus. I can tell you that when the Nexus does connect with the Trendnet, I can get internet speed test ratings which are 10+ Mbs faster than I do on my iPad., 57Mbs on Nexus vs 40Mbs (download) on the iPad best case. 3) screen - from what I had heard, I was expecting even better resolution on the Nexus 7 than I have with the iPad 3's "retina display". To my eye, I don't think it looks as detailed, although I need to run through a more scientific side by critical analysis of the same photos to really be sure. 4) I'd expect better compatibility by now between Google’s Nexus 7 and Google's Chromecast. While its not necessarily fair to comment about Chromecast support on a Nexus review, I'm doing it anyway. There is as of yet no way to even get output from the chrome browser on Nexus to Chromecast because the extension is not supported on Android. You cannot even view your photos stored on your Nexus on your Chromecast device. The implementation of Chromecast on the Nexus is outstanding for Netflix and YouTube. But that’s about the extent of it, well there is Google Music but the album artwork uploaded to the Chromecast is so pixilated that I cannot put it onto my television. Plus, I have not figured out send the picture to my TV but the audio to a separate Bluetooth device. Who wants to listen to music through their TV? This makes Google music of limited use onthe Nexus with Chromecast. There is also Google + but I not played with it much yet. Now for a bit of good news about the Nexus 7. The Bluetooth signal strength is generally superior to that of my Samsung phone or iPad. I can go further distances with the Nexus away from my Bluetooth devices without dropouts using the Nexus. I still (mostly) love the Nexus. I think the pricepoint and features make it a good 7" tablet.

I was hesitant to buy this years Nexus 7 based on my experience with last year's model. I bought the 1st generation model a year ago but wound up exchanging it for an iPad mini. I know there are tons of tablets to choose from nowadays with the prices ranging from $60 to over $600 so I'm going to compare the two models that most people will eventually wind up buying as far as the 7"-8" tablets are concerned: the Google Nexus 7 (2013) and the iPad mini (w/o Retina display). I chose these two because they were most similar in price. (The iPad mini w/Retina display costs almost twice as much; the regular mini only $70 more). Here are the pros & con's of both: Nexus 7 (2013) PROS: Excellent screen resolution (323 PPI); quad core processor; 2 GB of RAM; price; nice thin & light simplistic design; good battery life CONS: Some models have known issues; sub par camera; no expandable storage options like many of the other Android tablets; 8" would've better for reading books, especially with the 16.9 wide screen aspect ratio, buggy at times; occasional lag. iPad mini PROS: Perfect size for reading, playing games or watching movies for a portable handheld tablet; extremely reliable and durable (my kids dropped it a hundred times and it still works fine); great contrast for watching movies; excellent battery life; iOS ecosystem with a tremendous selection of apps & podcasts CONS: Low resolution screen (163 PPI) for reading books and articles; dual core processor & only 512 mb of RAM (weak for a $300 tablet); takes about 5 hrs to fully charge; laggy when upgraded to new iOS 7; costliest tablet in its category Since I have both models, I can honestly say you would be happy with either model. If you read a lot books, news articles & emails and price does matter to you, go with the Nexus 7. If you want an extremely reliable tablet that will hold its resale value well and is simple to use and has great color reproduction when watching movies on Netflix, spend the extra $70 and get the iPad mini.

I got this for College. I found all my books for my classes online in eBook form, so I figured I would find a tablet to put them on, that way I don't have to lug around a bunch of textbooks. I also wanted a screen that had a full HD display (at least 1080p), in case I want to watch High Definition movies on it. I was debating between a large (10 inch) or small (7 inch) tablet. And I wanted something running Android software (or at least nothing Apple related). Also I only had a budget of about $200. This thing fit the bill. I read mostly good reviews for it, so I bought it at my local Best Buy. It is a nice looking tablet, and it met all of my expectations. The display is great. The colors and display are great (1900x1200, even more pixels than 1080p). If you have an android phone, it operates similarly to that. Any app that it doesn't come with, you can find easily on Google Play for free (like a music player or file manager). I was afraid it might be too small, but so far I use it in my classes as you would use a textbook, and it has never been a problem for me. I also watch movies on it, surf the internet, and check email and stuff. I haven't used it to type documents, but I tested the spreadsheet and Word apps, and they work well. Overall, I am in love with this tablet. The only drawback that I can possibly think of is that it doesn't come with any expandable memory options, like a MicroSD card port. I got the 16GB version, and it has not been a problem for me though. I don't mind it at all. If I want to put something from my computer onto the tablet (or vice versa), I just use the USB cable. Simple. Also, although I was reticent to use cloud storage because of the need to always be near an internet connection, I have been using Google Drive and OneDrive (formerly SkyDrive) more often recently, and sometimes those things are easier than storing stuff on actual devices. Really this thing is great. I am not upset that it isn't as large as the 10 inch tablets. It has grown on me. I think now I actually prefer the smaller size. It's easier to hold when reading, or watching movies while holding it. If you have the money, and you want a great little tablet, don't wait. Go get this thing. It will make you happy.

I'm on my second unit. First unit was an open box that stopped working 2 weeks after purchase so I exchanged for a brand new one. The new one initially worked great. But now there's annoying issues that I shouldn't be having with a tablet this new and is a 2nd generation. I was able to setup accounts (users) for myself and wife and a restricted account for my son. The restricted account allows you to set which apps the account has access to. My son cannot make purchases and therefore cannot download any apps. I have control over that which is good since he's still young. The wife has full access and I set her up using my google account since we didn't want to setup a separate google account for her - you apparently need one since you'll be using google play (the app store) on Android. The speed on the tablet is good. The version I have is the WiFi only model and my Internet speed is 6Mbps (U-Verse) and every so often I may encounter a slight "hick-up" in internet speeds. I had downloaded a movie via Flixster and the playback was jumpy, but when I steamed the same movie it was flawless which surprised me since I originally thought having it on the device would mean better playback - but perhaps the memory access isn't as quick as I had thought? WiFi hookup hasn't been an issue and both myself and my wife have taken it out and about and been able to connect to WiFi spots or at work without any issues. Camera is just okay IMO and needs help - i.e. lighting - or pics are degraded. Now for the annoyances. We started having an issue were the tablet would get stuck in mute - I mainly have it on mute when playing games at times. I tried the volume buttons and even tried to reset in settings but the "mute" stays on. I have to logoff and use my son's or wives account to adjust volume and then log back into my account and then it will allow me to adjust volume. Google support gave me a different workaround than I use, but it's still a workaround and I haven't tried it because they said clear cache or data for all apps - yeah sure let me just wipe my data for all apps! Another issue that just recently started is the "notification" bar/area seems to stick - i.e. even if I am not trying to open the notifications and touching an icon at the bottom of the screen, the notification starts to slide down - just a tad bit, and then it goes back up. We've found if we touch the tablet with one hand (it's in a case) and use the other on the touchscreen, then it works. But once you have just a single hand it stops working and you have to reboot to completely get rid of the issue. Overall I like the tablet and it's one I want to give 5 stars to, but the annoyances and support make me feel that perhaps this wasn't the right purchase. In fact I'm regretting that I didn't originally ask for a refund because I honestly don't feel I should have to pay to ship an glitchy item back to the manufacturer (ASUS) especially after reading that so many other buyers have had issues. I have two PC's I built using ASUS motherboards and always thought they were a good company but this purchase has completely reversed that personal perception. As it is I would not recommend this product and suggest a wait and see or go with a tablet that has less issues and better support - maybe ASUS will get it right eventually?

I have owned my Nexus 7 for 9 months, and I have to say that I have had very few problems. The screen is absolutely gorgeous and colors look very vivid. The device rarely lags and is overall very powerful. The sound is also pretty good. The battery is very amazing; back when I bought the device, I would unplug the device before bed and when I woke up it would still have 99% in it. I could probably get 6-7 hours of web searching on it, and maybe 3-4 video streaming. If you need a device that can handle anything you throw at it, this is the one. The first negative would be the camera. I personally don't take very many pictures (rarely ever on a tablet), but the pictures that this device takes are never great. Don't even think about zooming at all without the picture being grainy. I know that most people don't take pictures on tablets, so it is ok that Google/Asus sacrificed the camera for the price (and even if the camera does not produce great pictures, it's better than not having one at all). Next, as amazing as the screen is, I noticed some purple/pink pressure marks on the bottom left part of my screen (they are only noticeable if the screen is black and the brightness is high). Now obviously this is 100% my fault for not taking good care of my device, but it is something to make sure you don't do to your device if you decide to buy it (that goes for any device). Just make sure you don't put too much pressure on your screen. Lastly, very rarely (maybe once every 2 months), my Nexus 7 suffers from random shut downs. Since it is so rare, it isn't something to worry too much about, but you should keep it in the back of your mind. Over my 9 months of using this device everyday, there is very little that I can complain about (any bad quality has a ton of good qualities that make up for it). Although the device is not perfect, it is one of the best Android tablets on the market (and I highly recommend Android over any Apple device). Although the device is not perfect, it is probably the best choice for this screen size, as it is so inexpensive. If I had to buy another tablet, I would definitely purchase another Nexus 7, and so should you.

I purchased this in store on April 7 2014, few weeks go by and I am loving this device. Than on April 26 I plug it in to charge and go to use it a few hours later and the screen will not turn on. The device still works as I can hear it unlock using facial recognition. I can also guess where the numbers are and unlock the device that way too. I can make it ring using find my android. I can also plug it in to a PC and browse the files. Just what appears to be a randomly broken screen. No damage to the device at all and it has never been dropped. I babied the device. After calling best buy and learning their return and exchange policy is ONLY 15 days and that they would not take it back, I called google. Google was no help and told me to call Asus. Asus gave me an RMA number and I have to return it at my own expense for warranty repair. Btw, they say they may send you a re-manufactured or re-certified device in its place.....I have a screen protector on the device which will ruin the protector if I remove it, so I guess that is also more money down the drain. To make it worse I will have to pay for data while my device is away getting repaired or replaced. If you google nexus 7 screen problems or nexus 7 power problems. It's scary the amount of people with similar problems. There are all sorts of different power on/off sequences with power on and volume buttons to try and fix but none of them actually do. Will report back with what my experience with Asus is like. Very disappointed in best buy. If they can't guarantee a product for at least 30 days then they do not deserve my future business. Lots of other retailers both on and offline which still do 30 day. update: May 7 2014, Asus has had the device for 1 full week now, they have not been able to provide me a status online or through their support team. I am beginning to fear the worst. Their online status webpage says it take 1 business day after receiving item to update status. Asus support says devices are typically turned around in 5 to 7 days. Both statements have come to be false!

The 2013 Nexus 7 is a great choice (easily the best choice as of 08/23/2013) for anyone looking to buy a 7" tablet. The screen quality is the first thing that blew me away about this tablet--it is a stunning display. It has a full HD display packed into the fairly small 7" screen. This thing has the same pixel count that my 40" TV has: that's insane. The color accuracy, while not perfect, is much better than other Android tablets currently on the market. This new model is slightly thinner and taller than the first generation, which I wasn't sure I'd like, especially switching from a 10" tablet, down to a 7". I was completely wrong; the width is perfect for holding in one hand, making long reading sessions a breeze. I don't enjoy typing on a tablet screen, no matter the size or form factor, but I use a bluetooth keyboard with this tablet and that suits my needs perfectly. I don't currently use a proper word processor, so I can't speak to it's viability as a desktop replacement in that respect, but it works great for email and taking notes during meetings. Some of the updates that came along with the new version of Android really help this tablet shine. I love the new look and feel (I transitioned from a tablet running Ice Cream Sandwich, so it was a big leap), and, most importantly, the speed. This is the first device I've owned that has access to Google Now and I have to say I'm a pretty big fan of it. It's not anything revolutionary, but it's pretty convenient to get real-time information that you are interested in without having to search for it. The only negatives I've run into are pretty nit-picky. At launch, there were no accessories for this device. It took about a month for some half-decent cases and screen protectors to start trickling through. I have both a case and screen protector for my Nexus now, but both are of less-than-stellar quality; I'm not saying they're bad, but I would have preferred to pay more for accessories with a higher build quality. I can't blame the makers of the tablet for that issue, though. What I can blame Asus and Google for is the lack of connections. I'm all about simplicity, but, out of the box, the Nexus 7 has very limited options for connectivity; however, Google released the Chromecast along with this tablet and that takes care of nearly all of these issues. I would highly recommend purchasing a Chromecast along with this device--it will provide a lot of increased functionality and ease-of-use. Overall, this is the best 7" tablet on the market right now. It's comfortable, fast, and cheap and I can't think of a good reason to buy any other Android tablet right now. Disclaimer: I do not use Apple products, I am not part of Apple's ecosystem, and I will not compare this to an Apple product, because there are very few similarities.