Divine intervention: Google's Nexus 7 is a fantastic $200 tablet
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I don't know. Isn't it important to turn a profit to be a hardware manufacturer? By all accounts I've read, Google is selling these at cost or at a slight loss - surely manufacturers can't afford to do that across their whole line. Especially when they can't expect any future income like Google and Amazon can from content/ads.
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ucsimon":odmiqxl7 said:
It's worth noting that Asus announced this thing as a $249 tablet at the start of the year before it was retooled by Google. It was supposedly going to have an amazing camera and 16GB storage at the $249 price point, same price as a 16GB Nexus 7 (although it lost the great camera along the way), so it wouldn't surprise me if the $199 is a minimal margin thing with the 16GB aimed at being the major seller and profit driver.
But unless Asus were taking a hit as well, it seems unlikely Google is losing money on this thing. It might be minimized because Asus needs to get paid as well, but there's no need for other vendors to take that hit too.
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This thing looks awesome. Apple definitely needs some competition for the benefit of all. Its profit margins are totally obscene and it's pretty embarrassing for most traditional electronic companies that they do not seem to be able to cut into that. Lower margins for Apple - more money for its customers.
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Too bad about the camera. That looks far worse than anything at 1.2 MP should be, so here's hoping it's mostly a software problem.
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Loved the Fire size over the iPad, so sold the iPad (Fire rooted and running Android 4.0). When this was announced I returned the Fire since I was within my 30 days. Can't wait for this to ship!
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It is a real pleasure reading a review where the reviewers have done their homework. Good job!
You do say there is no camera app included - that is not really true, although it is hard to get to. There is a post on the XDA forum on how to get to it; might be useful for testing.
You do say there is no camera app included - that is not really true, although it is hard to get to. There is a post on the XDA forum on how to get to it; might be useful for testing.
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This is a great write-up, and makes me excited to get one. Thanks for the review! 
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" We wish we could experiment more with it, but absent a real camera app, it just can't be done."
Aha, but there is. Here's the Camera Launcher for Nexus 7, by Paul O'Brian of Modaco.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... ralauncher
Aha, but there is. Here's the Camera Launcher for Nexus 7, by Paul O'Brian of Modaco.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... ralauncher
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To be fair, the camera issue looks more like a compression problem than a bad camera. Perhaps the Skype app only uses a single core and thus has to scale the quality way down. To get a real sense of the camera, you need a real camera app or at least wait a few weeks for the video chat apps/Skype to be updated to work well with this setup. This is not to say that the camera is outstanding, but I can't believe it's actually really that bad (plus, a bad camera would look different).
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sciwizam":21qu3pya said:
Aha, thanks! I'll try it out now and update if it works any better (I'm betting it will).
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Now you are thanking Aha?caseyjohnston":od1o1z3l said:
Unfortunately their relationship came to a sad end at the start of the video for "The Sun Always Shines On TV". It may be too much to hope for to enter the world of Aha via Skype.caseyjohnston":od1o1z3l said:
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So as it ships from Google, can I load the Amazon App Store as well? I'm spread across both that and Google Play for my Nook Tablet Android purchases...
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The camera issue definitely seems a little odd. I'd be curious to see if the same problem rears its head with Google+ hangouts or video chat in Google Talk. It seems like this could just be an issue with Skype.
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Regarding Chrome vs WebView, the Android devs answered this during the fireside chat at I/O: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGJbPPjANKA#t=3m34s
What's unclear to me is whether or not the Chromium-based WebView is present in 4.1, or if it'll come out with the next major version of Android. I'm guessing the latter since Flash appears to work on Galaxy Nexuses running JB.
What's unclear to me is whether or not the Chromium-based WebView is present in 4.1, or if it'll come out with the next major version of Android. I'm guessing the latter since Flash appears to work on Galaxy Nexuses running JB.
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I think the Kindle Fire's sales numbers have been consistently misinterpreted. The nature of this device and how it is marketed makes it a great gift. But I don't think that ereaders are big impulse buys the rest of the year. Amazon did quite well when it was in season, and I expect they will do quite well this year as well, either with the Fire or with its sequel. And I also expect they will sell much more slowly out of the gift season. I don't think the slow sales this year can be correctly read as failure.
As for the Nexus 7, it sounds like they did a good job, and raising the standard for everyone is a good thing. Personally I am not interested based on "the data it will cull from usage to power its ever-growing ad network" -- I want to see thriving options where the manufacturer and OS designer's primary motivation is to make a great device for me, not one where their primary motivation is maintaining their advertising revenue stream (even if making a good device indirectly helps that goal). Curious to see how the Surface and Surface Pro look when they are released.
As for the Nexus 7, it sounds like they did a good job, and raising the standard for everyone is a good thing. Personally I am not interested based on "the data it will cull from usage to power its ever-growing ad network" -- I want to see thriving options where the manufacturer and OS designer's primary motivation is to make a great device for me, not one where their primary motivation is maintaining their advertising revenue stream (even if making a good device indirectly helps that goal). Curious to see how the Surface and Surface Pro look when they are released.
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I would buy one of these RIGHT FUCKING NOW if these morons would sell it in my country. But apparently my New Zealand money is not good enough for Google. Fuck 'em.
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I always appreciate in-depth Ars reviews and hope those looking for a tablet in this range will find it helpful. But as usual I must protest the following missing items from The Ugly that I remarked on back when the first seven inches got reviewed:
Under 9"
Widescreen
By now the market has confirmed these rejections (widescreen is only useful for video and is actually a hindrance for important tablet uses like magazines and comics, anything under 9" and you may as well use a phone) so the headline for this review had me scratching my head: there is nothing diine here except perhaps the level of insanity that leads more and more under 9" widescreen tablets to be released.
Under 9"
Widescreen
By now the market has confirmed these rejections (widescreen is only useful for video and is actually a hindrance for important tablet uses like magazines and comics, anything under 9" and you may as well use a phone) so the headline for this review had me scratching my head: there is nothing diine here except perhaps the level of insanity that leads more and more under 9" widescreen tablets to be released.
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I don't even need one of these but I kinda want one anyway. $200 for what is essentially an over-sized, phone-less Galaxy Nexus seems too good to let pass for some reason.
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Author, your Fire analogy doesn't hold water. It's not a tablet. It's an enhanced eReader.
At $200 retail, Google can't make a profit on these Nexus things. Google simply isn't into this long term -- it's just trying to kick start. But the real hardware manufacturers know there is no profit as well. So what is their motivation?
Lastly, for serious Web browsing 7" is simply too small.
At $200 retail, Google can't make a profit on these Nexus things. Google simply isn't into this long term -- it's just trying to kick start. But the real hardware manufacturers know there is no profit as well. So what is their motivation?
Lastly, for serious Web browsing 7" is simply too small.
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If you want to test video chat quality, you should use the Google native apps like Google Talk (which has video chat) or Google+ Hangout. Clearly, the camera is not as bad as the Skype screenshot suggests.
And, wow! That is one pretty face!
And, wow! That is one pretty face!
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Google is really amazing in getting their act together. I hope they do a bigger variant as well. 7 inch is great for on the go and book reading. For web browsing and movies on the couch it is a bit small.
I need a foldable 11 incher with the weight of a 7 inch. Yeah, I think I really need that. Or two seven inchers that can be transformed into one big tablet. And a keyboard cover, obviously. Or a pad-phone like thing but well executed and wireless.... Can't wait for the future!
I need a foldable 11 incher with the weight of a 7 inch. Yeah, I think I really need that. Or two seven inchers that can be transformed into one big tablet. And a keyboard cover, obviously. Or a pad-phone like thing but well executed and wireless.... Can't wait for the future!
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clubside":2ofjs42i said:
Putting "under 9"" as ugly is like saying tablets will always be a failure before the iPad is released. Normal people aren't going to buy a product the press isn't raving about and while the Kindle Fire was cheap, it wasnt very good (poor performance) which is why I didn't own one or recommend it to anyone else.
The Nexus 7 is truly the first good 7" tablet, heck it's the first Android tablet worth owning. That's not to say that the Transformer Prime wasn't a good tablet as well, but because it lacks the benefits a 7" tablet has like being able to hold it in one hand comfortably, which makes it excel at reading. Also a 10" relies far more on apps TI be useful, and Android doesn't have them yet.
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litbolt":2nqo7baz said:
I'm not sure what you're seeing, but really the only similarity between this and the Galaxy Nexus is the OS. Just about everything else is fairly different. Quad-core Tegra 3 vs dual-core OMAP. 1280x800 vs 1280x720 screen resolution. There's more, though not really worth getting into. All that said - yes, I want one too. If you're already in the Android camp, it's more for less so you can't really go wrong.
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Why not? Google Search is free. Google Docs is free. GMail is free. They are just executing on their business model: make money on ads and give the rest for free or at manufacturing costs. Just keep clicking the ads.Leather Rope":22qev6jz said:
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Leather Rope":1vf3dpze said:
I think this is somewhat short sighted. You're right Google isn't going to make a profit on the devices, though they may on attached content. I don't see how you can say they're not into this long term though. This is much like every Nexus device before it, a not-so-subtle indicator to the hardware manufacturers where they'd like the platform to go. This also serves to generate some excitement around Android as a tablet platform which may very well spill over to their other hardware partners.
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drfisheye":12cgau6i said:
It isn't such a good strategy if you want other OEMs supporting your ecosystem. Ars called Surface a kick in the teeth to Win8 OEMs, but really it wasn't. There is still plenty of room/profit for them.
OTH this does suck the oxygen out of the 7" Android OEM tablet market.
If you are Samsung/Toshiba/HTC/etc... It is nearly pointless to have a 7" Android tablet. That market was already tiny, now you have to look at an even tinier/lower margin slice. It hardly seems worth the bother.
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I'm still happy I ordered a 16 GB one. So far it looks like the devs have copy/paste to-from USB worked out with Stickmount but not native browse to the USB directly. Soon, I hope. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthr ... ?t=1736825
I still think that in a few months Asus will release their own branded version with the microSD and microHDMI output the critics are clamoring for (maybe even upgraded/second cameras) but I'd expect the cost to be closer to $300.
Nice review. Yes, your audience here appreciates the camera shots being tested that way vs taking pictures of a cat, etc.
I still think that in a few months Asus will release their own branded version with the microSD and microHDMI output the critics are clamoring for (maybe even upgraded/second cameras) but I'd expect the cost to be closer to $300.
Nice review. Yes, your audience here appreciates the camera shots being tested that way vs taking pictures of a cat, etc.
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Leather Rope":jwvttb5r said:
I completely agree with you. http://meincmagazine.com/gadgets/2011/11/ ... -reviewed/
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How often do you really need that much space nowadays? I fell for that a couple years ago with my phone, so I have 32GB of storage. I parked 14GB or so of music on it back then, which just sits there, hardly used, because of things like Pandora and Google Music. For documents, I just grab things from Dropbox when they're needed. Apps take up less than a gigabyte, even back when I had 140 apps or so installed. Even as a pretty heavy user, for 99% of my uses I could get by with 8GB or less, so 16GB is plenty for me.ScifiGeek":21hrmczp said:
The lack of an SD card reader is a bit saddening though, as that would cheaply provide increased storage for those that would like it.
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I'd like to see more information about what kinds of peripherals this thing supports. Obviously bluetooth keyboards are supported, but would it be possible to get a bluetooth mouse up and running? This tablet has serious laptop replacement potential for those with low performance / high portability needs and I'd love to put it to the test.
And what about smart cover like stands or MS Surface style covers/keyboards/stands?
And what about smart cover like stands or MS Surface style covers/keyboards/stands?
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I was so excited for this tablet until I saw Australian pricing :/ add $50 for the living in Australia tax.
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Excellent review, it goes into most of the details I wanted from this tablet. A few gaming tests (in terms of Experience and not really framerates) would have been icing although Android gaming isn't even close to the iPad one right now =/
The ghosting issue of the screen is a little concerning but I've noticed similar things with other IPS screens I've owned and it always wasn't permanent. Something to keep an eye on but not likely a huge issue.
The ghosting issue of the screen is a little concerning but I've noticed similar things with other IPS screens I've owned and it always wasn't permanent. Something to keep an eye on but not likely a huge issue.
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[trollhide]Don't give it to Megan Geuss. She will notice that it's smaller than her 60" plasma and promptly declare it the worst gadget she's ever used.[/trollhide]
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