Google Nexus 7

Google did well to team up with ASUS, an electronics producer with a number of notable tablets already on the market – in creating its first branded tablet PC. The result is the Google Nexus 7, a 7” tablet that has wowed early reviewers with everything from its light weight (at 340 grams/12 ounces, the Nexus is nearly 20% lighter than the Kindle Fire) to its low $200 suggested retail price.

Getting the Google Nexus 7 high marks is a nice screen with admirable resolution. Google again tops Kindle here, with its 1280 x 800px IPS display outclassing the Fire’s 1024 x 600px screen. Also of note are the goodly numbers of viewing angles possible without loss of contrast, typically a serious problem in 7” displays. Audio performance is decent.

The operating system is the up-to-date Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, providing instant linkage to lots of Google-centric apps. The Nexus’ technical specs also rank it well against the 7” competition, with a 1.2GHz Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor providing ample power. The standard model has 1GB of RAM with 8GB storage possible, though $50 more gets the user 16GB storage. Data connectivity is through WiFi, though Bluetooth functionality is also embedded.

All in all, very little negative can be said of the Google Nexus 7, a nifty tablet PC that lives up to the high expectations associated with the online giant. Tech-product specialists Engadget went so far as to call the Nexus 7 “the best $200 tablet you can buy” and it may well be. At least for now.