Google unveiled its Nexus 7 tablet PC towards the end of June 2012, and at $199 for the 8GB model the search giant had priced its tablet to compete head-on with Amazon’s Kindle Fire.
The Nexus 7 was built by Taiwanese manufacturer Asus in partnership with Google, and looking at just the technical specifications it seems to trounce Amazon’s 7-inch contender.
A comparison between the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 and Nexus 7 isn’t so clear cut, however.
Samsung offers a microSD slot, rear and front cameras, and GSM capabilities which include 21Mbps HSPA+ (3G).
The table below shows how the devices compare side-by-side:
| Nexus 7 | Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 | Kindle Fire | |||
| Maker | Asus (with Google) | Samsung | Amazon | ||
| Operating System (at launch) | Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) | Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) | Modified Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) | ||
| Display | 7″ WXGA (1280×800) IPS | 7″ WVGA (1024×600) PLS | 7″ WVGA (1024×600) IPS | ||
| Camera, primary | 1.2 MP front | 3MP rear | None | ||
| Camera, secondary | None | VGA front | None | ||
| Storage, internal | 8GB | 16GB | 8GB | 16GB | 8GB |
| Storage, expandable | None | microSD (32GB) | None | ||
| RAM | 1GB | 1GB | 512MB | ||
| Chipset | Nvidia Tegra 3 | TI OMAP 4430 | TI OMAP 4430 | ||
| Processor | 1.2GHz quad-core Cortex-A9 | 1GHz dual core Cortex-A9 | 1GHz dual-core Cortex-A9 | ||
| Graphics | 416MHz GeForce ULP (12 cores) | PowerVR SGX540 | PowerVR SGX540 | ||
| NFC | Yes, with Android Beam | No | No | ||
| Battery | 4,325mAh | 4,000mAh | 4,400mAh | ||
| Mobile data | None | 21 Mbps HSPA+ | None | ||
| US pricing | $200 | $250 | $250 | $400 | $200 |
While neither the Nexus 7 nor Kindle Fire are officially available at retail in South Africa, it remains interesting to see how the current batch of 7-inch tablets stack up.
The Nexus 7 has received glowing praise from well-respected sites such as Anandtech, The Verge, and Engadget.
Considering that the 16GB model is half the price of an equivalent iPad 3, and still cheaper than a new iPad 2, it would be interesting to see how South Africans receive the Nexus 7 should Asus and Google decide to bring it to our shores.
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