Has anyone purchased the Google Nexus 7, or are interested in one?

They have been in most electrical stores and supermarkets in the last few weeks, so I've had a play around with the Nexus 7, and have been really impressed. It is set at a great price point of £199, so just over half the price of the base model iPad and a similar price to other existing Android 7" tablets already available, such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2.

The things I really noticed the most as soon as I started using one is how responsive it is to use, and how sharp and vibrant the screen is. The screen resolution is obviously not going to match the iPads Retina display, which is in a class of its own for pixel density, but it has a pretty nice 1280x800 resolution, which beats most 10" Android tablets. It also feels so responsive thanks to a quad core CPU and the latest Android 4.1

A couple of stores had the Nexus 7 running alongside other 7" Android tablets, the closest to compare being the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2, and although they look very similar, using them side by side the Tab 2's screen is noticeably lower resolution and even looks blurry compared to the Nexus 7's, and the Tab 2 felt noticeably laggy in use compared to the really smooth use of the Nexus 7.

Very tempted to get one. My wife thinks it is too small and wants a 10" tablet, as she doesn't think a 7" tablet is a big enough increase in size over our 4" smartphones to warrant using one. However I really like the size as it is a lot more portable than a 10" tablet and can easily be put into larger pockets. It's also about the same size as a Kindle, which is also just the right size to hold when out and about.

Obviously everyone compares tablets with the iPad 3, but that is unfair as it is half the price of even the base model iPad 3. It does a good job when compared with one though. It has a faster quad core CPU and GPU compared to the iPad 3, and in real world tests has slightly better performance. It's screen, whilst never going to beat the Retina display's 1536x2048 resolution, it does have a good resolution of 1280x800 which is good for the much smaller 7" display. The pixel densities are 246ppi compared to 214ppi, so it isn't bad at all. I also think the latest Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, with its project butter development is actually now better than the iPad's iOS. It is much more versatile.. and finally overtakes it main rival.

It is also worth mentioning screen size and aspect ratio. The iPad is still a 4:3 aspect ratio, which is good for web browsing, but if you want to watch some streaming TV or a film, most are in 16:9 widescreen, and many files even wider as 2.35:1. On the iPad this means huge black bars top and bottom so you can lose up to 50% of the screen when watching something. On the Nexus 7's screen, it's 16:9 so most TV and films fill the screen and you actually then have a larger image! Apple need to rethink their form factor I think for a device aimed at the media marketplace.

Where the iPad currently does win is the App store. For Smartphones Android is now a match for the App store, but for tablets, the iPad is currently much better served with a lot more Tablet specific apps. But with the latest generation of Android tablets at a much better price point I can see the popularity of them increasing greatly, with Nexus sales increasing the number greatly, so hopefully this will turn this around, and Google themselves realise that this is currently the area that needs the most improvement... something they spoke about recently at the Mobile World Congress.

The problem for Android Tablets until now has been manufacturers eagerness to rush products to market to try and cash in on the new Tablet market kick started by the original iPad. This meant they had to get the older Android 2.3 and older OS working on a Tablet. The hardware was also often underpowered to cut costs, or the screen resolution was the same as much smaller smartphones, making it not a very nice experience and not really worth it over a smartphone. With 4.1 Android is finally matured and coded with Tablets fully in mind, and this really does show. Only now I think Android has finally become ready for Tablets to really shine and can take on the iPad and win. Apple's only real killer is the Retina display, which I don't think will be beaten for some time, although as mentioned earlier, it does have a slow refresh rate which isn't so good for gaming or media watching. It is however still the best option for web browsing, photos and productivity. But lets see what the next wave of 10" Android tablets can deliver.

Finally, back to the Nexus 7. If you consider the price of the iPad, it SHOULD easily beat the Nexus hands down in every aspect, but it doesn't. It shows Apple have been enjoying the success of the iPad and not pushing its development quite as much as they should. Yes the Retina display is great, but the rest of its hardware is very much the same as the iPad 2. Android tablets by comparison started off underpowered and running an OS never designed for a larger tablet display, but the smartphone market as a whole has been developing fast, producing much faster multicore processors and GPUs... as well as Android working hard on the real tablet OS it wasn't to produce from the start. The results of the Nexus 7 really show that a device half the price of the iPad 3 can deliver performance on a par. Apple really need to look at what customers are getting for their money, because clearly it isn't the best technology that could be produced at that price point. Also consider that if the Nexus 7 can be made for £199, imagine what they could make for the £679 the 64GB 3G iPad 3 currently retails for. I'm sure such an Android tablet could blow the iPad away.