An odd Nexus

The Nexus series of devices occupy a special place in the Android family These are the ones that are supposed to be designed in direct collaboration with Google and in many ways are considered the lsquoofficialrsquo Android flagbearers mdash the ones that showcase all that is good in the worldrsquos most popular mobile operating system Although most Nexus devices have tended to skirt India mdash the Nexus One was never released in India the Nexus S was removed from the market after a short period of time and we are still waiting for the Nexus 4 mdash the first Nexus tablet the Nexus 7 has landed on Indian shores Made by Google in collaboration with Asus it has been making waves all over the world and is being seen by many as perhaps the best seveninch tablet around We had a chance to find out just how good it was and came away with mixed emotions Plain Jane We will be brutally blunt mdash the Nexus 7 will not bowl you over with its looks It comes across as a relatively plainlooking device with the seveninch display dominating a totally buttonfree front Just above the display is a 12megapixel camera which incidentally is the only camera in the device Turn the tablet around and you get to see a dotted back with the Nexus and Asus brand names displayed prominently On the right of the device are three buttons for increasing and decreasing volume and for switching the device and display on and off The device is made totally of plastic and although not the slimmest at 105mm is very light at 340 gm It will slip into most handbags and overcoat pockets without too much hassle and thanks to the dotted back is comfortable to hold All in all solid rather than spectacular Donrsquot expect to go turning heads with this one Superman interiors Donrsquot be fooled though by the relative simple looks of the Nexus 7 Lurking behind them is some very good hardware and software The seveninch display may not look as spectacular and bright as on some other highend tablets but it has a 1280 x 800 resolution and a ppi count of 216 higher than the muchhyped iPad mini And making sure that the tablet performs at a sprint rather than a jog is a NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad core processor backed up by 1 GB of RAM There is 16 GB of nonexpandable storage as well for keeping your data and apps In terms of connectivity there is WiFi NFC and GPS the 3G version of the tablet has not been introduced in India yet That of course brings us to the software of the Nexus 7 which we really think is its core strength Like all Nexus devices for a while at least the Nexus 7 runs the latest version of Android mdash at the time of writing it was the only device in the country to have received an update to Android 42 And again this being a Nexus what you get is the lsquopurersquo version of Android mdash there are no layers placed over it like TouchWiz or Sense This is simple Android at its best with a number of customisable homescreens and an icondriven interface Terrific performer odd price When it comes to sheer performance the Nexus 7 is perhaps the best Android device mdash phone or tablet mdash that we have used From playing highdefinition games such as Shadowgun to running HD videos and photoediting apps to browsing the Web the tablet handled everything we threw at it with elan It comfortably lasted a day of hefty use on a single charge The sound quality was not the greatest we have seen but the display more than compensated with its detail mdash we just wish it had been a tad brighter Top that all off with the nearguarantee of being among the first to receive android updates over the air and the Nexus 7 becomes a very formidable proposition even in the highly competitive Indian tablet market Money matters What might stop it from being a total rockstar is its odd price tag The Nexus 7 has been brought to India at a price of Rs 19999 which is almost twice that of its dollar conversion equivalent in the US Google is selling it for a mere 199 Of course even at Rs 19999 it is by far the most affordable quad core processordriven Android device in the country but many users will complain at the absence of 3G a rear camera expandable memory and calling facilities mdash especially as these are available in similarly or lowerpriced tablets such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 and Reliance 3G Tab And as we go to print rumour is rife that the iPad mini will also be available shortly in the Indian market at Rs 21990 for its 16 GB WiFi only version All of which makes the Nexus 7 tablet a bit of a mixed proposition Those looking for great design and stacks of features might want to steer clear of it However if you are looking for the real unadulterated Android experience that is unlikely to get dated for a while this is itu00a0We really wish we could fathom the rationale behind its pricing though u00a0