Google's own tablet, the Nexus 7, just docked with the Orbiting HQ. While we have an extensive review coming soon, we thought we'd unwrap it and get a little preview of what it's all about.
The Nexus 7 comes inside a sleeve within a black covered box. If we pull off the cover, the tablet itself sits right on top, wrapped in sticky cellophane. A box underneath the tablet has spare contents: a USB-to-micro USB cord, a USB wall charger, and two small booklets with the warranty and instructions.
Initially, we felt the tablet was on the dense side; we could feel most of the weight is in the screen. The back is a slightly rubberized, dimpled plastic emblazoned with the Nexus logo, with a smaller Asus logo just above the speaker. Interestingly, the FCC certifications, which we've studied closely before on the iPhone, are only displayed on a sticker with the Nexus 7.
The Nexus 7's two ports, a headphone jack and micro USB port, are placed on the bottom, and the sleep switch and volume rocker are on the right-hand side. The proportions of the bezel seemed ominously similar to the Maylong, the $99 tablet that haunts our dreams. However, once we turned the device on, we found that the two devices, despite a modest $100 price difference, couldn't be more dissimilar in performance or build quality. How the Android tablet landscape has changed in less than two years.
Once we turned the Nexus 7 on, it asked us to select a language and then log into a Google account. We had to give permission for the tablet to pull in information from the Google account to inform our Google Now experience and give separate permissions for location data.
With the window to our personal data souls fully opened, the tablet told us we had received a free $25 credit for the Google Play store (per the offer on the product page, which Google says is only for a limited time). The tablet also came preloaded with a selection of content in various formats, including Swann's Way, issues of Popular Science and Esquire, and a Busta Rhymes song featuring Chris Brown (demographic target illustration complete).
As for first impressions of its performance, we're blown away. This is Google, 100% done messing around with choppy software or less-than-buttery animations. With a 1280x800 display at 7 inches, the Nexus is packing 216ppi, and it's looking pretty crisp and bright.
Ryan Paul will be posting his full review of the tablet soon.
Listing image by Casey Johnston
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