Showing posts with label android phone. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

A Nexus with power, potential, and the right price

Finally, we have an Android handset that deserves the Nexus name. The Nexus 5 is fast, gorgeous, and stocked with features (including LTE) and it is the device for showing the true power of the Google universe and the Android operating system. And, at $349 (16GB) or $399 (32GB) at the Play Store -- about $250 less than other top-tier flagship smartphones -- it's a great deal whether you're on a budget or not (and whether you're an Android fan or not).

Yes, with a fast Snapdragon 800 processor, a sharp 1080p touch screen, and a competent battery, there's a lot to like about the Nexus 5 even if you never get past the main menu. But it's really the Android 4.4 KitKat operating system that we're here to see. Though not long on flashy new features, KitKat brings an ever deeper integration with Google's expanding array of services and a promise to end the age-old scourge of Android fragmentation.

Still, at that price, sometimes it makes it difficult to judge the Nexus -- is it a top-tier phone for cheap, or a midrange device that's bizarrely souped up with great innards? Do its variable camera and relatively dim screen get a pass because it's a $400 handset after all, or should I be expecting better from a Google flagship? And it is a flagship, much more so than the Nexus 4 and even the Galaxy Nexus were, but pinning it down further is difficult.

However you want to consider it, one thing's for certain: the phone's specs are indeed high-end, and its reliable performance further bolsters its appeal, despite its flaws. For what it's worth, the Nexus 5 is the best unlocked phone on the market.

The price tag makes it conceivable that you might buy the Nexus 5 off-contract and then seek out the best deal for service. If you have the cash ready, you'll almost certainly get a better deal that way. Just in case you don't, O2 and Vodafone are offering it for no money down on two-year contracts.

I never expected to fall in love with the Nexus 5, but it seduced me. It certainly has its flaws, and we'll get into them in due course, but it's also a beautiful phone that sets a new benchmark for Android.

The Nexus 5 is a vessel. Google's flagship is supposed to compete at the premium end of the market, but it would prefer the software, not the hardware to be the star of the show. To that end, it is almost completely devoid of superfluous detail.

As I rest it vertically on the arm of my couch it conjures visions of the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey. To soften it off and make it more comfortable to hold, the corners are rounded.

This black slab (which also comes in white) is all about the screen and the entire front of the Nexus 5 is glass. The only details that break it up are the round earpiece centre top and the front-facing camera to the left of it. There is actually an LED notification light down below the screen, but you'll only see that when it blinks into life.

Despite having a five-inch display, the Nexus 5 measures just 137.9 x 69.2 x 8.6mm and the bezels are nice and thin.

With a Full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, which translates to 445ppi, the Nexus 5 display looks crisp and accurate. It's an IPS display, and while critics will point to AMOLED's superior brightness and black levels, you'd be hard pressed to notice.

The back and sides are soft-touch, matte plastic and it only weighs 130g, just like the Galaxy S4.

Flip it over and you'll see a couple of design flourishes. The word "Nexus" is embossed in lowercase gloss, with a tiny LG logo below it. Up top on the left you'll find the glaring round eye of the 8MP camera, which is surprisingly big. A tiny LED flash is just below.

The bottom edge has a standard microUSB port and there are two grilles either side of it - the Nexus 5 only has one speaker in there; the other hides a microphone. Up top you'll see the standard 3.5mm headphone port and a tiny hole for an extra microphone.

On the left spine there's a ceramic volume rocker, with no markings. On the right spine there's a ceramic power button and the SIM tray, which you'll need a SIM tool or a pin to pop out. The Nexus 5 does not open, so there's no microSD card support or battery switching.

The Nexus 5 is one of the most comfortable phones I've ever used. It is comparably slow to heat up, so there are no issues holding it while watching movies or during extended gaming sessions. The soft-touch finish contrasts perfectly with the ceramic buttons, which makes them very easy to find and use without looking.

There are negatives. The camera lens protrudes enough to make you worry about it taking the brunt of any impact when the Nexus 5 is put down on a flat surface. That glass expanse, without any protective lip or border, suggests that a drop could easily result in disaster and scratches might be easy to come by.

There's also the inevitable smudging from fingerprints, which turns up on the back and the front, but that's a common problem.

It's not a flashy design, but the Nexus 5 does feel solid and well made. It may be a little big for easy one-handed operation if you don't have big hands, but the extra screen size will justify that trade-off for most people.

At this price, the design of the Nexus 5 is impressive. It's understated, almost making the iPhone 5S look gaudy, and it feels more expensive than the Galaxy S4.

Key features

Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support
Penta-band 3G with HSPA; LTE cat3
4.95" 16M-color 1080p True HD IPS Plus FullHD capacitive touchscreen
Corning Gorilla Glass 3 display protection
Android OS v4.4 KitKat
Quad-core 2.3 GHz Krait 400 CPU, 2 GB RAM, Adreno 330 GPU, Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chipset
8MP autofocus camera with LED flash, geotagging, optical image stabilization, photo sphere, 1080p video recording @ 30fps with continuous autofocus and stereo sound; HDR mode, Dual recording, optical image stabilization
1.3 MP front-facing camera
16GB/32GB of built-in storage
microUSB port, USB host support, USB on-the-go, SlimPort TV-out
Bluetooth v4.0
NFC
Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, Wi-Fi Direct and DLNA
GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS
Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
Voice commands
Accelerometer and proximity sensor
Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic
2300mAh Li-Po battery, wireless charging

Main disadvantages

Non-expandable storage
Poor video and audio codec support out of the box
Non user-replaceable battery
Comparatively poor battery life (except for calls)
Loudspeaker is on the quiet side
Limited availability at launch

Although there's almost no physical resemblance to back it up, the Nexus 5 is based on the LG G2 and that's not a coincidence. The Nexus 4 last year was based on the Optimus G, so history's clearly repeating itself. At least as far as what's under the hood.

Otherwise, the Nexus 5 has one of the most understated exterior designs a flagship smartphone has ever had. It's not an attention-grabber like the iPhone 5s, the HTC One or the Xperia Z1, as if wanting to underline that what matters is inside.

Google Nexus 5 live photos

The latest major release of Android as usual premieres on a new Nexus phone. The Nexus 5 runs Android 4.4 KitKat, which brings even tighter OS integration with Google services. There are a number of other improvements and hints at what's to come. But before we get to that, we'll focus on the Nexus 5's build and finish. The Android 4.4. KitKat overview will follow right after, so without further ado, see you after the break.

The price

The big USP that differentiates this phone from the crowd is the value for money it represents. £299 for a premium Android smartphone that's this good is a steal. Even at £339 for the 32GB version, the Nexus 5 is seriously undercutting the competition.

Apple devices are expensive. The iPhone 5S starts at £549 for the 16GB version and you'll have to lay out an extra £80 to get a 32GB model for £629, or pay a whopping £709 if you want the 64GB version.

While Apple is comfortable with its premium pricing strategy, you get the sense that the Nexus 5 has really put pressure on the competing Android flagships.

When the Samsung Galaxy S4 was first launched, it was around £600 for a SIM-free handset. It's possible to get your hands on the SIM-free 16GB Galaxy S4 for £420 now.

It's a similar story with the HTC One, which cost around £500 on release, but can now be snapped up for as low as £430 for a SIM-free 32GB handset.

The LG G2 is significantly cheaper at £350 for the SIM-free 16GB version and around £400 for the 32GB model. The Nexus 5 was also manufactured by LG and is partly based on the G2, with very similar specs, although the G2 trumps the Nexus 5's 8MP shooter with a 13MP camera, and has a much bigger 3,000mAh rated battery compared to the 2,300mAh battery in the Nexus 5.

Whatever way you cut it, the Nexus 5 is a lot of phone for your money, and it looks like a real attempt to drive prices down, which can only be a good thing for consumers.

The camera

It would be fair to say that the camera in the Nexus 5 was a bit of a disaster on release. It's an 8MP shooter with optical image stabilization that's intended to be a good substitute for a point-and-shoot camera.

There's nothing wrong with the hardware, but the software let it down badly. The camera was far too slow to focus and could be slow to launch, which killed your chances of capturing those spontaneous moments with friends and family.

In ideal conditions the Nexus 5 camera could capture stunning shots, but how often do you get ideal conditions?

Google listened to the criticism and quickly released the Android 4.4.1 update to deal with the slow focus issue by balancing speed and image quality a bit better.

Where previously it would take forever to capture a shot, as you waited for the auto-focus, especially in low light conditions, or with fast-moving subjects, after the update it's much faster.

It also enables the camera app to load a little faster, and improved the contrast to produce more vibrant colours. The HDR+, which is exclusive to the Nexus 5, gets a much-needed progress indicator.

Swipe right to left on the lock screen or tap the camera icon and you'll be ready to snap a shot within a couple of seconds. Results are generally very respectable. You can take a look for yourself in the camera section later in this review.

Speed

The Nexus 5 is really about speed and power. The snappy processor dovetails with the Android 4.4 platform beautifully.

Google did not cut any corners with the quad-core 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800 processor. It is a cutting-edge CPU that has been paired with the Adreno 330 GPU. That's the same combination you'll find in the LG G2, the Sony Xperia Z1, and some variants of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the Samsung Galaxy Note 3.

Actual performance varies from device to device because sometimes the speed is throttled to prevent overheating. Suffice to say the Nexus 5 is very, very fast.

Interface and Performance

The display on the Nexus 5 is excellent, which makes this a great device for consuming entertainment.

LG's mature IPS LCD technology really delivers. The colours look accurate and the 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution on the 4.95-inch screen translates to an amazing 445ppi (pixels per inch).
To put that in context, the iPhone 5S has a ppi of 326 and even the Galaxy S4 trails a tiny touch behind on 441ppi.
Put it side-by-side with an iPhone 5S or a Galaxy S4 and you might detect a yellow tint. The display on the Nexus 5 is also not as bright as its competitors, which has a slight impact on legibility, particularly in direct sunlight.
On the whole, Google's compelling proposition is a premium smartphone that doesn't have to feel uncomfortable in flagship company. It has achieved a winning price without compromising on quality.

As the poster phone for Android 4.4 KitKat, the Nexus 5 shows off the latest version of the platform beautifully, and it has a few exclusive extras.
We fully expect it to be at the front of the queue when Google hands out its next delicious upgrade. According to Google's reasoning for not updating the Galaxy Nexus with Android 4.4, the Nexus 5 can expect to get updates for at least the next 18 months.

If you're coming from an earlier version of Android then there are lots of little improvements to enjoy. I cover the full details in my Android 4.4 KitKat review, but highlights include productivity extras, a redesign for the messaging and phone apps, and a general boost in performance which comes under the banner of Project Svelte.
The interface has been significantly lightened and slimmed down. Icons are white and menus are grey, where once they were blue, and the Roboto font looks as though it has been on a diet.
The Nexus 5 also boasts the exclusive Google Experience Launcher. You'll find the touch sensitive trio of back, home, and multitasking at the bottom.
The app dock sits above them with an app drawer icon in the centre which will take to you full app list. The rest of the dock is customisable so you can add your favourites and have them accessible on every home screen.

Swipe right to left and you'll access additional home screens. White dots at the bottom of the screen indicate how many home screens you have and which one you're on, although sadly you can't tap on them to shortcut to another screen.
Drag an icon to the right and you can create a new home screen. There doesn't seem to be a limit, and if you empty a home screen it simply disappears.

Long press on any home screen and you'll see your full scrollable list and get access to wallpapers, widgets, and settings. By dumping widgets from the app drawer and making the app icons bigger, there are now four across a screen instead of five, the interface is easier to navigate and clearer.
Swipe left to right on the home screen and you'll find Google Now, which can also be brought to life by the magic words "okay Google" uttered on the home screen (though you will need to set your language to US English in Settings > Google > Search > Voice for that to work).
Notifications and quick settings are easily accessed by pulling down the notification shade from the top of the screen. Android has the best notification system around, and you can find everything you need to know in here.

Part of the reason that the interface is so accessible is the speed. The Nexus 5 is a top performer. It has a 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800 with an Adreno 330 GPU and 2GB of RAM.
When I ran Geekbench 3 the scores were 885 for single-core and 2579 for multi-core. That's higher than the Galaxy S4 and way higher than the HTC One.

It even beats the iPhone 5S (on 2486) for multi-core performance, although Apple's flagship gets a freakishly high score of 1379 for single-core performance.
By combining that processing power with the carefully optimized Android 4.4 platform Google has delivered a completely lag-free and highly responsive experience. The Nexus 5 is a dream to use.
You can skip in and out of apps and games without any stuttering. Even with more than 20 entries in the multitasking menu there's no hint of a pause.
You can snag the Nexus 5 in 16GB or 32GB versions. The actual capacity is always less; in this case you get 26.7GB on the 32GB version and around 12GB on the 16GB version. If you consider that it's not unusual for graphically impressive games to be over 1GB in size, you'll see the sense in opting for the 32GB version.
Remember that you can get an extra 15GB of free cloud storage by using Google Drive, and it's worth automatically backing up photos and videos, so you never lose them.

Sweet KitKat Android premieres on Nexus 5

Google Nexus 5 is the first smartphone to run on Google's latest Android 4.4 KitKat OS. Just like the previous Jelly Bean iterations, KitKat doesn't bring any game changers. Instead it polishes further the user experience, overall system performance and experience, plus brings along some handy system app updates. For example, Android KitKat comes with the latest Hangouts app that combines SMS, MMS and Gtalk chats into just one single app. It also introduces a new powerful Phone app and an even easier way to interact with Google Now.
First things first though, here is our traditional video walkthrough to get you started.

Google Now gets better

Google Now was first introduced back in Jelly Bean 4.1 and is definitely one of the most interesting aspects of the Android OS. Simply put, it's Google's version of a personal assistant. Google Now is in the same neck of the woods as Apple's Siri, but it learns constantly from your daily routines.

It's accessed by holding the home button (plus an upwards swipe), swiping to leftmost pane or just by saying "OK, Google". We found out that the Nexus 5 fires up Google Now on the first G of the command, so you can just say "OK, G" or "OK, Go" and that will be enough. For all it's worth, "OK, Jesus" and "OK, Grandpa" worked too.

Google Now gives you short overview of information it believes is relevant to you right now in the form of cards. Going to work in the morning? Google Now knows this and lets you know there's a big traffic jam on your usual way to the office, so it offers you a re-route.

It can interpret a lot of things from your search history as well. If you've been searching for, let's say, your favorite football team, Google Now will prepare a card showing you the next match the team is playing and will provide you score updates once the game begins.

Google Now

Google Now, if you allow it, can scan your email for upcoming flights, deliveries or restaurant reservations and let you know when they are due. There are also numerous kinds of cards like birthdays (yours and those of your contacts) and what distance you've walked in a particular month. The last one could definitely feel creepy for some users, but it's easily turned off from the Google Now settings menu.

Google Now in action

Google has also integrated Voice Actions into Now. They can handle stuff like sending messages (SMS or email), initiating a voice call, asking for directions, taking a note or opening a site. Google Now can also launch apps, check and manage your calendar and look for nearby places of interest and stuff like movie openings in theaters.

Google has added lots of more customization on Google Now in Android 4.4 KitKat. You can now set your default transportation method, you favorite sports teams, company stocks you are following, places you are interested to visit and more. Once you add items you want to keep an eye on Google Now will do this instead of you. It will automatically inform you for various changes, news and updates.

Customizing Google Now behavior

The More section of the customization will update automatically with topics you can choose from once you've start using Google Now search capabilities.

You can now set reminders straight from Google Now's UI. Just hit the bottom left icon (the palm with a stretched index finger). There you can add reminders or just check all the past, ongoing or upcoming reminders.

Adding a reminder manually • A reminder

One big advantage of Google Now is that the voice typing functionality doesn't require an internet connection to work. You can enter text by speaking anywhere you can use the on-screen keyboard - be it the Messaging app or a note taking app - without the need for a data connection as long as you have pre-downloaded the needed language packs (and those only take about 20-25MB of your storage per pack).

Making voice typing available offline also made it faster as it's not dependent on your connection. What's even more impressive is that the transition hasn't cost it anything in terms of accuracy.

Battery life

I have had to charge the Nexus 5 every day since I started using it. Starting out with a full battery it's generally 30% or below by the end of the day, and for really heavy usage days it needed a top-up before bedtime.

Now, there isn't really any such thing as "normal" usage, but it would be fair to say that I'm a heavy user. I take my phone everywhere and use it frequently. I left Wi-Fi and mobile data on at all times, enabled location tracking with high accuracy, and opted into Google Now.

A typical day will include a cumulative hour of gaming, maybe 90 minutes worth of web browsing, a couple of photos, and a smattering of app action in Facebook, eBay, Twitter, and Flipboard, not to mention obsessive email checks (even with it set to a 15 minute refresh rate).

What this reveals, beyond my worrying smartphone addiction, is that the Nexus 5 is fairly typical.

The battery lasts, on average, a good third longer than my 18 month-old Galaxy S3, but it's nowhere near the longevity of the last phone I tested, which happened to be the BlackBerry Z30. That's probably not an entirely fair comparison, because there was a lot less to enjoy on the BB.

Initially the battery life is very erratic, but this is no cause for concern, because you should find that it settles down after the first few days. Remember that downloading and installing a burst of apps tends to eat the battery life fast.

Downloading and installing an exceptionally large game, such as Asphalt 8: Airborne, which is 1.6GB, using Wi-Fi actually ate a staggering 10% of my battery.

If you use the Nexus 5 to navigate with turn-by-turn directions or play a graphically intensive game, like the aforementioned, Asphalt 8 then you will really notice a major drain.

The Nexus 5 battery dropped 3% in ten minutes of gaming. Streaming a 55 minute episode of Breaking Bad through Netflix ate 20% of the remaining battery life. A 15 minute call drained just 2% away.

I should also point out that my home is outside 4G range, so if you've got LTE coverage that could drain the juice faster. On days when I was able to get an LTE connection I didn't notice a major difference, but your mileage may vary.

The Nexus 5 battery is rated at 2,300mAh, a bit lower than the Galaxy S4's 2,600mAh battery.

Our 90 minute video NyanGareth battery test, with the screen at full brightness, knocked the Nexus 5 from fully-charged down to 74%.

Source

GSM Arena LG Nexus 5 Reviews (Desing 8.2/10, Features 8.3/10, Performance 8.6/10) - Nov 13, 2013

Engadget LG Nexus 5 Reviews (Critic Reviews 8.4/10, User Reviews 9.1) -Nov 5, 2013

Slash Gear LG Nexus 5 Reviews (9/10) -Nov 8, 2013

Techradar LG Nexus 5 Reviews (Design 4/5, Features 4.5/5, Performance 4/5, Usability 5/5, Value 5/5) -Jan 28, 2014

PCMAG LG Nexus 5 Reviews (4/5)

Official Website

Where to Buy

Official Website

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Tuesday, April 15, 2014

The best Android tablet gets even better

The original Nexus 7 enchanted and enthralled - and did so despite some slight compromises. The fact that it was so cheap (£159 for a 16GB version) meant it remained outstanding value for a long time. Problem is, a year is a long time in the tablet world, and competition is fierce, so the new Nexus 7 is just what the doctor ordered.

And then in late July 2013, came the announcement. A new Nexus 7 - so good, they named it twice. (Some have differentiated it by adding the year to the name. For clarity, I'll refer to the old one as "the original Nexus 7-inch from now on.).

Of course, Nexus devices are synonymous with pure Google experiences. This is the chance for Mountain View to show off Android in its purest form, away from the meddling fingers of Samsung or HTC who just love to Sensify and TouchWiz up their devices.

The Nexus 7 launched with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, which was a minor update from 4.2. It has since been updated to Android 4.4 KitKat, which adds a few bits and pieces to the bag of tricks, but I'll get into that later. I expect it will also be one of the first devices to get the next version update, whatever it may be….lemon meringue pie perhaps?

The Nexus 7 is still aiming for that sweet spot. The price has been bumped up - it's now £199 for the 16GB model that would have cost £159 before - but the specs are much better, so it's still very reasonably priced.

And it looks a lot better too. Whereas the original Nexus 7 looked like a medium level device, the new Nexus 7 now looks like a premium slab. I'll go into more detail in the next section, but suffice to say, it's pretty damn gorgeous.

It's only available in 16GB or 32GB versions - the latter will cost you a penny short of £240. And they are strictly Wi-Fi only. As with the previous incarnation, there's also a cellular version, and the difference this time is that the Nexus 7 is 4G LTE (vs HDSPA) compatible.

If ever there was a tablet that you could just pick up and carry around with you, chuck easily in a bag and know it's there when you need it, then the Nexus 7 is the one.

Obviously, you'll need a case or some kind of protection as it'd be nothing short of criminal to scratch that beautiful glass screen, but I assume that most people will be practicing Safe Nexus 7 from the get-go.

It would be foolish to just go into the specs without comparing the Nexus 7 to its predecessor - that's what most people will be expecting. Suffice to say, this is one beautiful piece of equipment. The front is one sheet of high gloss Gorilla glass, interrupted only by the minute presence of a front-facing camera for selfies and Skypes.

It's thinner and lighter than before (200 x 114 x 8.7mm and 290g, compared to 198.5 x 120 x 10.5mm and 340g). Eagle-eyed mathematicians will notice there is a slight height increase, but it's negligible in practice. The LTE version adds another 9g.

Whereas before there was a plastic trim around the bezel, painted to look like metal, here it's gone. This is an all-black device. The screen just blends into the sides, which curve round to create an uninterrupted back panel. And if I had to find fault, it would be with this bit.

Firstly, the bezels have been shrunk right down to make the screen almost extend to the edges. But it makes it difficult to hold the Nexus 7, because the natural act of curling your hand around the tablet and resting your thumb on the bezel is now impossible without touching the screen and causing all kinds of annoyances. Instead, you have to rethink how you hold the tablet.

True, it can be held fully within the palm, but that's quite tiring after a while and not particularly comfortable. Others have taken to holding the Nexus 7 like a giant phone, resting the pinky at the bottom and the thumb at the side.

Yet while this is possible, it's again not the most comfortable experience. The power/sync port at the bottom ends up digging into the skin and the angular left hand corner digs into the palm.

Added to that, the back is no longer textured but a matte plastic, and therefore grip is reduced. It's not going to cause you sleepless nights, but it is going to bug some people (like me) at first. Thankfully, most people will keep their Nexus 7 in a case of some, and that makes this much less of an issue.

Another thing to mention is fingerprints. You have never seen a fingerprint magnet like this. Prepare for lots of rubbing the Nexus 7 against legs (preferably your own) to combat smudges.

Aside from that Micro USB port at the bottom, there is little to remark on. Asus and Google have deliberately gone for minimalism here.

Look hard on the front and you may see a notification light beneath the screen - but that only appears when your attention is needed. There's a power/sleep button on the right-hand side, accompanied by volume rocker.

On the back has an etched Nexus logo, along with another addition: the rear camera, which was one thing many original Nexus 7 owners craved. It's fine for showing someone something on Skype - but if you have intentions of using your tablet as a camera, as some antisocial types do, then frankly you need taking outside and giving a firm telling off to.

One thing you will notice is two lots of speakers - stereo, if you will. All mod cons here, it appears. They're on the top and bottom at the rear but the idea is that when you watch stuff in landscape, they'll be at the sides.

Oddly, they're at the back, facing away from you, which seems silly when you consider that HTC has moved the bar with the HTC One. But we'll find out how they fare a little later.

Altogether, this is a solid device. Where the original Nexus sometimes felt like a compromise due to the price (issues of light bleed and creakiness on the left hand side were common complaints), this feels like a premium, well-put-together piece of kit that should command more than the measly amount Google is asking.

This is definitely most apparent when you see the screen. The only word that fits here is "wow." The PPI of the original Nexus 7 represented one of its missed opportunities: at 216 (800 x 1280) it was by no means bad, but it always felt like it could have been just that little bit better.

And now it is. Google and Asus have pushed the density on the Nexus 7 up to the competition's level and beyond. It's now a staggering 323ppi (1200 x 1920). Consider the iPad's Retina display is 264ppi and you can imagine just how razor sharp this is. Text pops out and images look almost inexpressibly crisp.

Add to that the fact that there is virtually no gap between glass and screen, and this is a display to die for. Viewing angles could not be better - which is great, because tablets are more likely to be shared around than phones - and crispness is unmatched.

Naturally, the glass makes it less than ideal for outdoor use, but if you set brightness to maximum it should be able to cope.

http://www.techradar.com/reviews/phones/mobile-phones/htc-one-1131862/review

Yes, it's a game of one upmanship to a certain degree. In all likelihood, you don't need a display that sharp. But by God, do I want it. And I love it. Sure, the Retina iPad Mini gives the Nexus 7 a run for its money, but you can't do much better on a tablet in terms of display.

Colour reproduction is also far better. A common complaint with the original Nexus 7 was that images tended to look faded and washed out. Again, I couldn't grumble too much because of the price, but it was one of those things that we geeks tended to notice and grind our teeth at. Thankfully, everything now just appears much warmer on the Nexus 7 than before.

It's still a world away from the brightness and vividity of Samsung's displays employed on the likes of the Note 8 or the Galaxy S4, but they are loved and loathed in equal measure. Some think they look great, while for others the effect is unnatural.

Either way, the fact is, unless you're odd, you won't pick up a Nexus 7, look at the display and feel disappointed in the slightest.

What you might feel disappointed with, however, is the storage issue. You won't find a Nexus 7 with anything more than 32GB of space - and remember, Google doesn't do external memory these days. In its efforts to push us all onto the cloud, you're stuck with what Google deems to be adequate.

And as we've become used to, that 32GB on the box doesn't mean you get 32GB to play with, as the OS takes up a huge chunk. You're left with just 26GB. With the size of some HD games, plus a couple of movies, you'll eat that up fairly easily. Obviously, the 16GB is even more dire in this regard.

There are two things Google could have done here: either given the option of a larger device (64GB or 128GB), or relented and left an SD slot for those who want to expand. Samsung still does that with the Note 8.0, as does Sony with the Xperia Tablet Z, and neither experience too many problems.

But larger memories would mean higher prices and that ruins the Nexus 7's USP. Increasing storage would mean Google losing face. It's a vicious circle, and it's the punters who lose out. If you are a media fiend, the paltry allowance might mean the Nexus 7 isn't the tablet for you, despite how great your content would look on that screen.

As with most modern devices, you'll find a sensor which adjusts the display to make sure you are getting optimum backlighting for battery power conservation. I found it to be pretty unremarkable - it just does what it should do.

However, if you decide to turn it off and put the display onto full manual brightness, make sure you've some sunglasses handy. This is one bright son of a gun, and you will be dazzled.

The battery has taken a hit, at least on paper. It's no longer 4325mAh and now reports for duty at 3950mAh. But Google appears to have some method in this madness. Aside from the fact that it makes the Nexus 7 lighter than the original, it doesn't seem to have much of an impact.

In fact, I'd say that the battery here is better than the original Nexus 7. Android 4.4 is great at battery management. When this unit goes to sleep, it goes to sleep. Not a slumber, not a doze, but a complete conk-out. And yet, it'll stand to attention at a second's notice when you need it again.

Key features

7" 16M-color IPS TFT capacitive touchscreen of WXGA resolution (1280 x 800 pixels), scratch-resistant Corning glass
NVIDIA Tegra 3 chipset: quad-core 1.2GHz (1.3GHz in single-core mode) ARM Cortex-A9 processor; 1GB of RAM; ULP GeForce GPU
Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
8/16 GB of built-in memory
1.2 MP front-facing camera
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot
Bluetooth; Android Beam
Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
GPS with A-GPS support; digital compass
Accelerometer and proximity sensor, gyroscope sensor
4325 mAh Li-Po battery
Incredibly attractive pricing

Main disadvantages

The screen is a bit washed out and has poor sunlight legibility
Non-expandable memory
No USB mass storage or TV-out
No mobile data-enabled version
Front-facing camera only
Disappointing audio output

The Nexus 7 sure has its downsides, but it makes a killer tablet for web browsing, email or gaming. With the Samsung Galaxy Nexus price set at $350 (one of the cheapest dual-core droids, especially considering the screen size and resolution), it looks like Google's Nexus line has transformed from developer-oriented devices to some of the best Android buys.

But there's more to it than just bang for the buck - a Nexus gadget is a ticket to fast updates to the latest Android OS, an untouched Android at that (some don't really like vendor skins) and a great developer community pushing the gadgets beyond what Google had in mind for them.

Nexus 7 tablet at ours

So, is smart money on the Nexus 7 tablet or were there too many corners cut to make the price? Is the Kindle Fire shaking in its boots?

The specs look promising despite a few stinging omissions, but it's now for our tests to answer those questions.

Software features
The Nexus 7 ships with the very latest version of Android (4.3), and to be quite honest, the OS isn't much different from the previous incarnation (4.2.2). At least not obviously so. For a detailed look at the updated OS' features, check out our Android 4.3 review .

One of the few notable Android 4.3 additions is the Multi-User Restricted Profiles feature, which allows you to set up accounts with extremely limited access. Josh Miller/CNET

The notable new features are Multi-User Restricted Profiles, OpenGL ES 3.0 support, and Bluetooth Smart. User profiles were introduced with Android 4.2, and the latest version allows you to add a kid-friendly profile that the primary profile controls. The restricted profile will only have access to apps deemed acceptable and will have no access to the Play store. It's an ideal solution for families wanting to share a single tablet; however, Google leaves the decision of implementing it up to the developer.

OpenGL ES 3.0 improves polygonal graphics performance and allows the tablet to better handles effects like lens flares, shadows, and other shader effects. With Bluetooth Smart, the Nexus 7 can connect to a newer generation of Bluetooth devices as well as transmit metadata like song titles.

I'm a huge fan of close-up pics of tablet buttons. Actually, I'm not, but I liked this particular pic so much, I married it. That's also not true. Josh Miller/CNET

The other 4.3 changes are minor or so deep into the back end that most people will never notice the difference. It's certainly not as satisfying a leap as 4.1 to 4.2 was, and we'll likely have to wait until Android 5.0 to get some really meaty and truly exciting software upgrades.

Hardware features
The 7-inch Nexus 7 houses a 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro system on chip with a quad-core Krait CPU and a single-core Adreno 320 GPU. It has 2GB of RAM and includes support for 802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4GHz and 5GHz) Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 (including Bluetooth Smart support), and a GPS. Additionally, a gyroscope, accelerometer, and a digital compass are included as well.

*The Micro-USB port doubles as an HDMI port, as long as you have the required (costs about $30) adapter. Josh Miller/CNET*

The tablet supports SlimPort, which allows you to use the Micro-USB port as an HDMI port via a $30 adapter, but there is no physical HDMI port on the Nexus 7.

NFC support returns, and we also get wireless charging, which according to Google will allow any Qi-compatible charger to fill the Nexus 7's battery. And that does indeed appear to be the case, as the Nokia Lumia DT-900 wireless charger worked without issue; however, the actual charging speed was painfully slow compared to a wired charge.

Performance
First things first, the Nexus 7's screen is incredibly sharp and text is particularly fine and easy to read. You may not fully appreciate its high pixel density immediately, but when looking at it next to almost any other tablet screen, the Nexus 7 clearly comes out on top. It's also one of the brightest tablet displays I've ever seen. Colors are more accurate and fuller compared with the 2012 Nexus 7 and the contrast ratio is noticeably higher. Viewing angles are wide and images appear to have a fuller, more corporeal integrity.

*Behold the beauty of the Nexus 7's razor-sharp screen. Josh Miller/CNET*

However, despite its color improvements, the 2013 Nexus 7's screen doesn't represent color as accurately or vibrantly as the 8-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab 3's, though the Tab 3's screen isn't as sharp. The Nexus 7's screen looks comparatively greenish when looking at pictures or movies of faces and sometimes pushes purple when lots of bright colors are in the mix. Most won't notice, but it definitely stands out with the two tablets side by side.

If you're looking for pre-done customisation out of the box, you're looking in the wrong place. Nexus devices are intended to let you see Android in its rawest form. It's a way of witnessing Google's vision. And that's exactly what you're getting with the Nexus 7: pure, unmodified, untinkered-with Android 4.4.

That means homescreens - five of them. But of course, you can instantly replace them with your own launchers and tweaks. Lots of people go for custom launchers, which provide a safer, less technical way of modifying the look of a device without having to go down the rooting and custom ROM line.
Ultimately, what you're getting on the surface of the Nexus 7 is something that looks pretty much identical to previous Jelly Bean versions, give or take the odd tweak.

Widgets are prevalent, as they have been since day one of the Android OS, making them a key selling point that iOS users can only hanker after. And nowadays, they're not just on your homescreen, but your lock screen too.
It's ideal for the ultra-lazy - you don't even have to swipe to unlock your screen when you want to perform a task. It equates to dozens fewer finger swipes a day for heavy users. No wonder we're turning into a nation of fatties.
(As a side note, remember, Nexus devices get updated first. So when that OTA notification comes, it's just a matter of hitting 'Install' to stay on top of the pack.)
Breaking with the look of Jelly Bean (and Ice Cream Sandwich before it), the colour scheme is much lighter in KitKat.

All those Tron-looking blues have been swept away, and replaced by a clean and crisp white and the odd touch of grey. It gives everything a lighter, more elegant feel.
Looks aside, it's easy to navigate and intuitive enough. First-time users may find the menus a little overwhelming, but seasoned tinkerers will be at home.

This is a world away from the extreme handholding of Apple's models, as any Android fan will attest.
In fact, most of the changes to the OS are under the hood. There are some slight differences, like the fact you can now have user profiles, but it's other things that make a difference. Things like support for Bluetooth 4.0 and OpenGL ES 3.0, plus better DRM coding.
Google's invested some serious time and effort into providing a usable keyboard in its interface, something which first broke cover in the Nexus 4 in late 2012.
It's a great effort, albeit hardly an original idea. It apes the functionality I first grew to love with the Swype keyboard, which was later adopted by Swiftkey.
Indeed, it's almost on a par with the latter in terms of functionality and reliability, though I still prefer Swiftkey for two reasons.

Firstly, the fact you can alter the keyboard's theme (I'm fickle), and secondly, because flicking between letters and numbers is easier on Swiftkey than Google Keyboard. But there's really not that much in it.

As for the performance, boy does this baby fly. Last time, I got excited by Project Butter - a bit of Android code that would revolutionise our lives by making everything run smoother and quicker.
But it wasn't as great as it sounded. Anyone with a creaking original Nexus 7 will tell you that Project Butter can't work miracles.
The optimisations of Android 4.4, and Project Svelte, are a different matter altogether. Mixed in with that 1.5GHz quad-core Krait CPU, Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset and 2GB of RAM, they mean there is little you can do to make the new Nexus 7 stall.
Games and apps load in a flash and you can swipe between screens, littered with widgets, and not encounter the slightest stutter.
Multi-tasking is handled with ease - it's all done via one of the three on-screen soft buttons you'll find throughout the OS. I had more than 20 apps open at the same time and encountered no problems whatsoever. The Nexus 7 is hard to beat in this respect.

Battery Life

I have to hand it to Asus and Google here. It may be sorcery – I won't pry too much – but they have managed to pull off the impossible here.

They've shrunk the battery size, and yet seem to have improved battery life compared to the previous iteration.

From 4325mAh to 3950mAh, on paper at least, I thought they'd taken leave of their senses. But it just goes to show how much the software influences the energy spend that the Nexus 7 seems to just go. And go. And go. And go.

This is hardly a scientific comparison - it's hard to compare an old Nexus 7 that's been used for a year with a different processor and screen to the new one and hope to give a fair verdict.

But what I'll say is this: where I expected the new Nexus 7 to fall down, it actually just keeps on giving.

In real world usage, results will vary – it depends what you're using your tablet for, but I found that when testing, I was using the Nexus 7 nearly all day.

With all Google services enabled, I managed about two hours worth of surfing the web, read a Kindle book for about 45 mins, sent 20-30 emails from a separate Exchange account set to push, connected to the car stereo via Bluetooth and streamed some music on a 20 minute drive, as well as checking out Google Maps Navigation for the duration of that journey.

I went from a full charge overnight, taking the Nexus 7 off the juice at 8am. By 9pm, I was still going strong with 41% of battery remaining.

The new Nexus 7 was put through TechRadar's video battery test which sees a 90 minute video played at full brightness (or 300 Lux, whichever arrives first), with multiple accounts syncing in the background.

After the video had finished the Nexus 7 had dropped just 20% battery which is similar to the Kindle Fire HD, while the G Pad 8.3 dropped 30% during the same test and the Tesco Hudl saw a 21% loss.

This is a tablet that you can use without worrying it will die on you. Of course, you have to remember that the more apps you load on, the more background processes you have running and the more juice you're likely to get through.

And when the LTE version comes out, it'll be running an extra radio which is likely to impact. But for now, it's pretty damn good.

On top of that, I'm pleased to see that Google has continued with previous models and kept the charging port as Micro USB.

There is nothing worse than an OEM using a proprietary port. It's so stressful worrying in case you lose it and have to pay a king's ransom to replace it officially.

The alternative is being able to charge wirelessly - something that is available on the Nexus 7, but I was unable to test just yet as the correct accessories haven't made their way over.

Spesification

CPU	1.3-GHz Nvidia Tegra 3 (Kai platform)
RAM Included	1GB
RAM Upgradeable	1GB
Storage Drive Size	8GB
Storage Drive Type	Flash Memory
Display Size	7
Display Resolution	1280 x 800
Graphics Chip	NVIDIA GeForce
Graphics Memory
Wi-Fi	802.11b/g/n
OS	Android 4.1
Camera Resolution
Front-Facing Camera Resolution	1.3MP
Ports	Headphone; microUSB
USB Ports
Card Reader Size
Warranty / Support
Size	7.8 x 4.7 x .41
Weight	12 ounces