My first Nexus 7 that I pre-ordered from Google had significant screen lift/sponginess/creaking on the left side.
The replacement had no screen lift, but had a badly blown speaker (and one out-of-the-way dead pixel).
The replacement for that one seems to be pretty good after a month of use. It recently started to creak on the right side if I'm holding and slightly squeezing it on that side. No screen lift is associated with this, though, so it's not a problem. In fact, it kind of gives it a little character!
I love my Nexus 7, but hope the next version has better build quality and QA, even if that means paying a little more.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Android Central Forums