[Acint1924]

Disclaimer: I am an Apple fanboy who has owned every iPhone and iPad since their release.

Ok, so now that I have that out of the way, we can get on to the juicy stuff. I have been growing tired of the iOS devices and have been looking for an alternative to freshen things up. When I heard about the nexus 7, I thought I would try it and if I really liked it, I would pick up the Galaxy Nexus for $350 which is a great price. My thought was I could sell my iPad 3 and buy both these Google devices with the money I receive.

Before I completely took the plunge, I found a Nexus 7 at Sams club on the release date and figured I could test it out for awhile before I made my final decision.

My first impression was WOW, I love this thing. The hardware and software out of the box seemed very smooth and intuitive unlike Android the last time I tried it (the original Verizon Droid). I immediately thought that the 7inch form factor was leaps and bounds better than the iPad. After using it for about a week, I am still convinced I am right and apple will be forced to come out with an iPad mini.

Now unfortunately, I have still decided to return the Nexus and stick with my iPhone and iPad. I just couldn't get over two key areas where Android/Nexus 7 aren't up to par:

1. Apps: the quality of apps isn't even comparable to their iOS counter parts. Going from twitter on the Nexus to twitter on the iPad is night and day. This applies to the majority of apps that I tested. Until developers focus on tablet apps for Android, this will be a major rift.

2. Web Browsing: the iPad still feels much smoother when browsing the web. I did not like the feel of chrome although this may just be personal preference.

With all that said, I will still be recommending the Nexus 7 to friends and family who are looking for a good, cheap tablet. I don't think the Nexus can compete with the iPad directly but it will certainly grab a chunk of the market who doesn't want to spend $500 when they can get 3/4 of the way to the same experience with a Nexus 7.

Just my $.02.

[steve dave]

This is pretty much my exact feeling. It is certainly nice but unfortunately not at the level of the iPad. The funny thing, though is that these issues really have nothing to do with the price of the device. It is pretty clear that if the software was up to par it could actually compete with the iPad.

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[freddyc]

I think it's all personal preference. After playing with an iPhone, I see why people like it. The OS is very smooth and responsive. Unfortunately, it bores me to death. I'm curious to see how (assuming the rumors are true) a smaller iPad is going to impact not only other 7" tablet sales, but 10" iPad sales as well.

[taarkan]

I can understand #1 but I would guess within 6 months or less the tablet-centric apps for Android will bloom. The wait won't be long.

The good thing about Android is there are a many other choices besides Chrome. Dolphin HD might fit your needs better but as you said it's a preference thing. I personally love Chrome especially for its ability to sync bookmarks, sync web pages across all devices and chrome to phone.

[kenyee]

There's also the Maxthon web browser which feels faster. Chrome is actually fairly fast..you should have tried the browser that used Safari's Webkit engine if you wanted slow
And for Twitter, try the Plume app.

No real surprise Android apps aren't at the same level as iPad apps yet...the iPad had a pretty big lead while Google was trying to figure out what a tablet OS really meant (4.1 is really their 1.0...ICS was really sort of a beta 0.9 )
The quality of apps should go up over the next year or two.

[Aguaski]

Thanks for sharing a good and fair opinion. You might be a self proclaimed Apple fanboy, but at least you are open minded. Thanks for giving Android a try. Please continue to keep an eye on Android as the improvements will keep coming. Hopefully we will win you over in the future.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

[chrisdiaz73]

I somewhat agree with the OP. I too am an apple fanboy with more apple products than I care to admit. Even my 2 year old has his own iPod touch where he can call us via facetime, lol. I picked up the Nexus 7 because I am always open to change plus I absolutely love the 7" form factor. When an iPad mini comes out, I will certainly get one. However, for now the Nexus 7 meets my needs. I am an apple fanboy but at the same time, very vested in the Google environment and love how android integrates all of it, however sometimes the simplicity of apple can make things just easy, especially when your trying to show your family to do things.

[hawonjung]

Good and honest reviews. Only reason for me to leave the iPad easily was I don't use many apps. I've been using android phone / iPad combo since the original iPad but with Nexus 7, I'm fine without the iPad now.

My main reason of loving nexus 7 is the form factor. What a perfect size and weight :-)

Sent from my Nexus 7

[Guineaa]

PDFs on the nexus is also really laggy. Panning zooming flipping to new page all took painful seconds before the text would render clearly. Tried several apps all same thing. I bought n7 for reading PDFs on the go, so that was a big disappointment.

[1812dave]

enjoy your heavy iPad. I'll enjoy my light n7...
Agreed on chrome. Why not use dolphin? Can't agree on apps. Android has had turn by turn nav for ages, :-)

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Android Central Forums

[JHBThree]

enjoy your heavy iPad. I'll enjoy my light n7...
Agreed on chrome. Why not use dolphin? Can't agree on apps. Android has had turn by turn nav for ages, :-)

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Android Central Forums

He's talking about quality tablet apps. Android doesn't have a good selection compared to iOS.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

[JHBThree]

I can understand #1 but I would guess within 6 months or less the tablet-centric apps for Android will bloom. The wait won't be long.

The good thing about Android is there are a many other choices besides Chrome. Dolphin HD might fit your needs better but as you said it's a preference thing. I personally love Chrome especially for its ability to sync bookmarks, sync web pages across all devices and chrome to phone.

We've been waiting for tablet specific apps since honeycomb, and Google has shown little interest in putting forth a serious effort to make it a priority.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

[rockcrawler]

Google? What Google app do you use that is not tablet optimized?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

[jsgiv]

Original iPad had the same "issue". Many of the applications were nothing but scaled iPhone applications.

I personally use it primarily for browsing and reading books. Have an iPad 2 and while its nice (when I can wrench it away from the kids) - I find it too bulky to use. N7 fits the bill nicely as both a replacement for my kindle 3g as well as a serviceable replacement for the ipad .

I agree that its a bit lacking on native tablet apps but I think this will change very quickly.

Interestingly enough I'm now having trouble wrenching the N7 from my kids' grubby hands. :P

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Android Central Forums

[nbieter]

Its more a matter of market share. The face that there aren't as many Android tablets being sold means there aren't as many apps optimized for them. With the Nexus 7 out, I could see that changing.

[JHBThree]

Google? What Google app do you use that is not tablet optimized?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

Pretty much all of them, save for one or two. I was also talking about Google providing tools for developers to make tablet centric apps. Google doesn't care. Its going to be another Rubin 'multitouch moment'.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

[JHBThree]

Its more a matter of market share. The face that there aren't as many Android tablets being sold means there aren't as many apps optimized for them. With the Nexus 7 out, I could see that changing.

Nonsense. The issue is the way Google approaches tablet apps.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

[amroa]

I'm an iDevice guy and am very happy with the N7. I too think iOS is getting a little stale.

After nearly 6 iterations of iOS,
1. I still can't quickly toggle my radios from one location. To get to Bluetooth, I have to go to Settings->General->Bluetooth. To get to WiFi have to go to Settings->WiFi etc., etc.
2. No active home screen. This really gets to me. The lack of ability to give my phone my own personality. Turn on the phone, and it's just a bunch of icons like everyone else's.

Having said that, I do feel there is still some polish on iOS I still don't see on JB. When I scroll with my thumb on Chrome, there are still times it moves like a brick and there are other times it's can be nearly smooth like iOS. Inconsistent. On a few occasions, I've had to press a button a few times, before JB acknowledged it.

So for now, I'm happy learning something new. And if I get used to it, I will have a tougher time deciding on the 6th gen iPhone when that is released. Frankly not too thrilled about a screen that will only be taller.

Oh, and I posted earlier the laughs on the reviewers having trouble opening the box. I had zero problems with that.

[senwar]

Well a newbie here who also uses iPads and Iphones (only one I didn't have was original iPhone). I won't call myself a fanboy tho as that just annoys me. I just like the usability.

Have had my nexus for only a day but it will be replacing my iPad. I only really browse and use a bunch of apps that work on both - yes the iPad is slightly faster and smoother - but I can live with that for the price. The nexus is great on first use that's for sure. Its the form factor i prefer tho. Love it. But overall it does exactly what I need and I'll be selling on my iPad as I couldn't really justify the price for what I used it for anyway.

Very impressed up to now.

[Daniel0418]

Google did this to themselves. I have had the feeling a lot of iOS and even android users are going to be disappointed with the browser on the Nexus 7. The performance of the browser is sub par, and the sad thing is the stock android browser in jellybean (just called android browser with the blue icon) is miles better. Its better than the iOS browser by a lot. Its fast, smooth, looks good, and instead Google replaced it with Chrome and it sucks because Chrome still feels very beta to me.

[whiteshadow001]

I own and ipad 2, Sgt 10.1, hp touch pad, and soon a nexus 7 and hopefully a transformer pad infinity 700. I love my ipad and Sgt 10.1 equally. Of course I'm an android fanboy but I have respect for the other os's as well

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

[bwad]

I'm in the same boat here, and agree with pretty much all comments. My main use is email and web browsing, apps don't concern me too much but I agree there is a huge difference currently between iOS and Android apps.

The email clients are great. Much improved over ver 2/3 of Android. Chrome is letting me down I think, I love Android and coming from a honeycomb device that was horrid (Galaxy Tab 7.7), it's far superior. Chrome is no where as nice as Safari on the iPad though, I think google needs to step up from Project Butter and into Project KY.

[JHBThree]

Google did this to themselves. I have had the feeling a lot of iOS and even android users are going to be disappointed with the browser on the Nexus 7. The performance of the browser is sub par, and the sad thing is the stock android browser in jellybean (just called android browser with the blue icon) is miles better. Its better than the iOS browser by a lot. Its fast, smooth, looks good, and instead Google replaced it with Chrome and it sucks because Chrome still feels very beta to me.

I don't like chrome at all. Its slower and less stable than the stock browser on my galaxy nexus. Its definitely not up to snuff compared to Safari, and struggles against Browser. Heck, the only thing its better than is Firefox.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

[julesR]

I keep wondering why there are so many comparisons of the N7 to the ipad, not even in the same class. For the extra $$$, I would expect, no demand, the ipad to be smoother and faster in every way. Even at that, it's only a little smoother and a little faster. Yes, app development is behind the iworld, but I can live with that since the N7 does everything I need and then some. The nitty gritty of what brings me to the N7 are the 7" form factor, low price and customization options of android, none of which can be found on any idevice. Besides all that, Apple has lost my respect as a company with all their legal shenanigans. I will never buy another ianything.

[steve dave]

I keep wondering why there are so many comparisons of the N7 to the ipad, not even in the same class. For the extra $$$, I would expect, no demand, the ipad to be smoother and faster in every way. Even at that, it's only a little smoother and a little faster. Yes, app development is behind the iworld, but I can live with that since the N7 does everything I need and then some. The nitty gritty of what brings me to the N7 are the 7" form factor, low price and customization options of android, none of which can be found on any idevice. Besides all that, Apple has lost my respect as a company with all their legal shenanigans. I will never buy another ianything.

Like I said, these issues are software related. This is the same software that is/will be running on more expensive android tablets. It absolutely fair to compare it to an iPad in this regard. Especially for those of us who were interested in the possibility of this replacing ios with android. I have already done it in the phone space, it just looks like I will br waiting a while until I would ever br able to do it with tablets.

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