Fire vs. Nexus 7

[droidntn]

For us Fire owners, what is your opinion of your Fire versus the new and upcoming Nexus 7?

I'm sorta out on it myself. I use my Fire all of the time and love love love it.
But, the 7 will offer some new things.
That said, I'm not sure I would use those new things; front facing camera, sd slot.
I might use them I'm sure if I had them, but I haven't been missing those things.
I had hopes that it would be a little more not so 'commercially' and have a home screen that was more pure Android. But, it appears at least, it's just like our home screen and built to sell media, this time for Google Play. (I know you can root your device and make it more customizable)
But, it's not that big of a deal really, just a want if I could.
I'm actually pretty happy with the homescreen and layout. I just wish I could make folders or something and put apps into those.
And, sometimes, it's a little laggy. So, the newer faster processor in the Nexus 7 would fix that.

What's your thoughts and plans?

 

[Little Darwin]

I am happy with my Fire. However, if I were to be in purchase mode today, I would probably lean toward the Nexus 7 due to its better processor.

Fortunately, I have broken myself (somewhat) of the habit of needing the latest and greatest tech gadgets or I would have to be looking real close even now. (I do hope I win one in the current contest here).

The only thing that I miss on the Fire that I use on my phone is a GPS... I think a 7 inch tablet used as a GPS would be great! Does the Nexus have a gps receiver?

I would probably not use the camera and my Fire has plenty of storage for me, so those aren't selling points for my typical usage.

So, in summary, if I were buying today I would probably lean toward the Nexus 7, but it isn't anything I am going to rush out and buy to replace my Fire.

 

[bl024292]

I am debating getting a used fire or getting the 7. My mother in law has a fire and my xoom is a little big for everyday use, the nexus would be perfect.

 

[popartist]

I'm with Little Darwin - if I were buying today it would be (almost) no contest - the Nexus 7. But I'm not feeling a big enough difference to ditch the Fire I already have to rush out and buy the N7.

(Disclaimer - I would love to win the contest too, and would lovingly use my N7 all the time if I did, and give my Kindle Fire to my niece or nephew )

 

[motty69]

The Nexus 7 does not have a sd slot, but it does have GPS and Bluetooth.

https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...us/?playredirect=true&hl=en-US&token=f4th6p1m

View attachment 29014

Personally I can't wait to get one of these and dump my wonky Fire on my poor son. The combo of this hardware and Jellybean will make the Fire seem like it's made by Fisher-Price. Maybe the wifi will work right without a reboot and the screen will actually respond when touched.

 

[kinster02]

For us Fire owners, what is your opinion of your Fire versus the new and upcoming Nexus 7?

I had hopes that it would be a little more not so 'commercially' and have a home screen that was more pure Android. But, it appears at least, it's just like our home screen and built to sell media, this time for Google Play. r something and put apps into those.

What's your thoughts and plans?

Unlike the Kindle Fire, its not the home screen, its suppose to be a big widget.

 

[davidintel]

Apparently the Nexus 7 home screen will not work in landscape mode. I gonna wait for Kindle Fire 2(or whatever they decide to name it), then decide between the Nexus and that. Maybe even the 10" KF2 will be something to think about, depending on the price.

 

[droidntn]

Unlike the Kindle Fire, its not the home screen, its suppose to be a big widget.

So..... The home screen is changeable? Folders maybe?


Sent from Marx Maxx using Tapatalk.

 

[cohoman]

I also find the Nexus 7 very appealing, but I find it hard to dump my Kindle Fire for it. So instead I installed a custom ICS ROM this morning as a temporary stop gap to keep my Kindle Fire Tablet fresh and give me something new to play with.

 

[mechapathy]

So..... The home screen is changeable? Folders maybe?


Sent from Marx Maxx using Tapatalk.

It's stock Android 4.1. So yes, folders, complete customization, everything else you might expect from vanilla Android.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[AndroidDawg]

I had a Kindle Fire for several months and got rather tired quickly of it and how closed-off it was compared to my wife's iPad.

I understand the differences between a Fire & iPad but I still felt as if the Fire software was too clunky and the apps were insanely lacking

 

[droidmyme]

I was browsing the web and I found this review:Nexus 7 review: the best $200 tablet you can buy - Engadget

Pretty good review, compares the two tablets. Basically, the Nexus 7 has a higher resolution, much faster processor, and because it's a Nexus, the latest and greatest Android versions it will get, aka Jelly Bean currently.

Reviewer also mentions that Amazon content is cheaper, however, since it's NOT exclusively for the Kindle Fire, that point is basically moot.

 

[DirkBelig]

Seeing the people who think the Play homescreen widget means they'll have to root and flash another ROM makes me want to scream! This is only second to the dopes who whine, "No SD card, no sale!" (Because the lack of external storage totally killed the iPad in the market.)

The Nexus 7 is an improvement over the Fire in every way with only the loss of the ability to borrow books from the Kindle Lending Library being a ding. Higher rez HD screen, GPS, Bluetooth, Tegra 3 processor, a power button in a sensible place, webcam, latest pure Android experience and it's 18% lighter. I was a day one pre-orderer for the Fire and the moment they showed the Nexus 7 at I/O, I was at the Play site ordering a 16GB unit.

Get the Nexus, long-press the Play widget, drag it to the Trash, download Amazon Kindle, MP3, and Appstore apps, and have all the apps from Play AND Amazon and all the cheaper A'zon media content; watch videos in the browser. BAM! Done! All the function of the Fire with better everything else. How can anyone even think this is a close call? Watching the hemming and hawing makes me wonder how people would react if their favorite supermodel/actress came up to them offering all the sex and pizza you could want? "Uhhhhh, I dunno."

 

[Joelist]

People do need to understand (as is stated above) that the Nexus 7 is an honest to God fully functional tablet. It is not a media consumption device with a heavily skinned OS like the Fire, which is not all that useful for anything else but buying and using Amazon content. Like Dirk said, if you don't want the Google Play stuff drag the widgets (which is what they are) to remove them.

 

[oxymoron]

DirkBelig made me laugh.

I have a kindle fire that I gave to my stepson. First I flashed an ICS MIUI ROM, and that was okay for a while. But the last thing I flashed was AOKP otter build M5. Before flashing jellybean on my Gnex, I pretty much ran AOKP as my daily driver. It's nice to have it on the kindle.

That being said, the kindle (even with M5) is no comparison to the N7. I totally pre ordered a 16 gig. Cannot wait to play with it.

And yes, I will unlock the bootloader and root it on day one. Roman already said he'll be developing for it, so I'm looking forward to some AOKP goodness on that baby.

The kindle is pretty nice once you mod it, but the Nexus 7 is a "real" tablet.

*clever signature*