Is the small 7" screen too small for reading Magazines?

[DirkBelig]

It depends on the design and formatting of the magazines as well as the resolution of the screen.

I get three magazines thru Play: Entertainment Weekly, Wired, and Vanity Fair. EW is reworked from the printed version's layout with scrolling boxes, etc. You can't zoom (boo for some pictures), but I've never had a problem with text sharpness on the OG Kindle Fire, and both Nexus 7s. Vanity Fair has a brilliant layout that doesn't try to mimic print - articles are laid out vertically and you scroll down to read; they provide page #s like 8/17 to let you know where you are. Wired is the worst in that it simply ports over the print layout and even on the new N7 screen, it's too small to be read easily. I'm a little far-sighted - I don't need glasses for daily use, but I wear them when I go to the movies or edit photos - and if I've worn them (as I'm doing now) I can't read the type. You can zoom in and swipe around and if you tap the screen, on top a button for the "text version" appears which makes a clear, but ugly, page of the copy. Since half of Wired's thing is the graphic design, reading in text mode sucks.

Is bigger automatically better? Not always. I tried Next Issue (nearly totally broken on Android) on my OG iPad and many magazines are clearly designed for Retina/hi-rez displays. I was reading Inc. and had to zoom in to see the text and it was still fuzzy. The new Game Informer mag on my iPad is brutal on the eyes due to the low rez screen; anyone with the first two gens of iPads (pre-Retina) are hurting. GI on the Nexus 7 is a mess as well - 500MB download because of all the embedded video and too small on a 7" screen. I read that on my computer's 24" display.

 

[gaol]

For my magazine subscriptions on Zinio, I still prefer my iPad 2: less zooming in and out to read individual articles.

But for reading Kindle books, my 2012 Nexus 7 is just about the right size.

 

[TraderGary]

For my magazine subscriptions on Zinio, I still prefer my iPad 2: less zooming in and out to read individual articles.

But for reading Kindle books, my 2012 Nexus 7 is just about the right size.

For me on my 2012 N7 books were good and magazines were a pain.

On my 2013 N7 both books and magazines are a pleasure. I use the Kindle app and my magazines are very sharp and easily readable. Of course my excellent 20/20 vision helps a whole lot.

Sent from my incredible new Nexus 7 (2013)

 

[krustyg]

I have last years version with the lower resolution screen and I have been using it for both books and magazines with no complaints. I could only imagine the newer model would be a big improvement over something that was pretty good to start with

 

[Farish]

I remember seeing this picture. This compares display area available between the 3 tablets. If you are wondering viewing for reading, this one will be a great help for you.

 

[OceanView]

I remember seeing this picture. This compares display area available between the 3 tablets. If you are wondering viewing for reading, this one will be a great help for you.

http://cdn.thenextweb.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2012/07/h36j2np.png

Thanks for that visual.
I've given up on the Nexus 7 after seeing one of my friends N7.
It's just too small for Magazines for my eyes.
I am curious of the next iPad and Mini from Apple and may consider it if they can put some higher end hardware in there.
In the meantime I bought a Nook HD+ with the 8.9" screen. The screen has high enough resolution to make reading magazines pretty sweet.
For $149 it's really a great deal and if I decide to get something else in the next year, I can always hand it down to my family members.

 

[Farish]

Thanks for that visual.
I've given up on the Nexus 7 after seeing one of my friends N7.
It's just too small for Magazines for my eyes.
I am curious of the next iPad and Mini from Apple and may consider it if they can put some higher end hardware in there.
In the meantime I bought a Nook HD+ with the 8.9" screen. The screen has high enough resolution to make reading magazines pretty sweet.
For $149 it's really a great deal and if I decide to get something else in the next year, I can always hand it down to my family members.

My wife was using my iPad Mini for reading and she really wanted a bigger screen. So at 179 we bought the 32gb Nook HD+ and for that price it couldn't be beat. Outside of facebook and a couple websites/Games(Candy Crush) all she does is read on her tablet. Sure it doesn't have all the specs of a Nexus 7 and it has some bloat from their skin of Android but for that purpose it works great. If you aren't into anything too heavy that Nook will last you a couple years.