Nexus 7 (2nd gen)= OMG the screen is amazing!

[BD2003]

I picked up one the other night. It's my first android device, so I'm not sure if what I'm experiencing is just this unit, or android in general.

There's a slight delay when I'm scrolling and the two finger zoom doesn't feel nearly as tight as it does on my iPad....I'm assuming these are just android in general.

But there are times when I tap the screen and it just doesn't respond. I'll swipe to the right or left to get to another page of apps, or try to close a window, swipe a card away etc...and I have to do it like three or four times. It's also ridiculously hard to get the cursor exactly where you want it when you're editing a document. But the keyboard and vertical scrolling seem generally responsive, and I haven't experienced anything like the crazy map zooming problems that some nexus 7s supposedly have.

So is android less responsive in general? Maybe they had to compromise the accuracy of the touchscreen to hit that price point? Basically...is this something I just need to get used to with android devices, or do I have a bum unit?

 

[ultimatebob]

I brought my Nexus 7 to work today, and I was stunned to see that it already knew the WiFi password to get into our corporate network. I guess that Google saves that information as part of my Google account, so it was already populated.

In other words, Google probably has a logon account and password for almost every WiFi access point in the world stored somewhere in their server farm. Scary. Cool, but scary.

 

[ponyo]

I picked up one the other night. It's my first android device, so I'm not sure if what I'm experiencing is just this unit, or android in general.

There's a slight delay when I'm scrolling and the two finger zoom doesn't feel nearly as tight as it does on my iPad....I'm assuming these are just android in general.

But there are times when I tap the screen and it just doesn't respond. I'll swipe to the right or left to get to another page of apps, or try to close a window, swipe a card away etc...and I have to do it like three or four times. It's also ridiculously hard to get the cursor exactly where you want it when you're editing a document. But the keyboard and vertical scrolling seem generally responsive, and I haven't experienced anything like the crazy map zooming problems that some nexus 7s supposedly have.

So is android less responsive in general? Maybe they had to compromise the accuracy of the touchscreen to hit that price point? Basically...is this something I just need to get used to with android devices, or do I have a bum unit?

Android scrolling is different from iOS. I wouldn't say it's less responsive, just different.

There are reports of units with faulty multi touch and touch going crazy. It could be software or hardware. Google is aware and supposedly investigating. Faulty touch and GPS problem is why I haven't picked one up. I will wait couple of months til Google and Asus iron out the issues. By then the new iPad Mini will be out and I can compare and get the better tablet.

 

[ibex333]

This is what I keep hearing on the internets...

The new Nexus 7 is buggy... Many apps don't work or work like crap under 4.3.
BUT IT HAS SUCH A NICE SCREEN!
Nexus 7 doesn't have an sd card slot..
BUT IT HAS SUCH A NICE SCREEN!
Nexus 7 has a horrible, terrible, abysmal camera, which is not even capable of half descent pictures...
BUT IT HAS SUCH A NICE SCREEN!
Nexus 7 back is not as grippy anymore. The texture on the old one was better!
BUT IT HAS SUCH A NICE SCREEN!
Oh, the ugly huge bezel on the Nexus 7..
BUT IT HAS SUCH A NICE SCREEN!
Google is brainwashing herds of dumb sheep to buy this useless device...
BUT IT HAS SUCH A NICE SCREEN!
Really, it's only very good for watching pron on the toilet, browsing the net, reading novels or checking email...
BUT IT HAS SUCH A NICE SCREEN!
Really it's the same device like last year, and the extra CPU power and RAM doesn't really add anything to "real world performance" and only looks good in benchmarks..
BUT IT HAS SUCH A NICE SCREEN!

Not trying to troll, just sayin'....

 

[Ravynmagi]

This is what I keep hearing on the internets...




Not trying to troll, just sayin'....

Not sure if you are trolling or not.

But people don't buy tablets only because it has a nice display. The Nook HD has a really nice display and it still didn't sale until there was a fire sale.

Besides the great display...

It's fast! The S4 Pro is running quad Krait 300 cores and an Adreno 320 GPU. It's by far the fastest 7 or 8 inch tablet available, and faster than most 10 inch tablets even (think only the new Tegra 4 Toshiba tablet can beat this).

It's light and comfortable. It's got a very nice to hold soft touch back, not super grippy but still grippy. And it's has a narrow portrait bezel so the hand wraps around it nicely. This tablet is probably the most comfortable tablet to hold.

It's the best value in tablets. At $230/$270 the Nexus 7 FHD is an insane value when it comes to tablets. Not everyone needs/wants tablets, but if you want a tablet this should be at the top of the list to consider.


The Nexus 7 FHD is not perfect. But no tablet is and it has a lot more going for it other than a great display. Maybe the display is getting so much attention because ASUS did the calibration (or complete lack of) so poorly with the previous Nexus 7.

 

[Red Storm]

So I tried a standby test the other night, leaving it idle from 6am until midnight. It went from full charge to 65%, so I investigated and for some reason the Media Server was constantly running, which was killing battery life.

Tried it again the other night, same time frame, and it went from full charge to 94%.

 

[Lyfer]

I'm disappointed this thread has turned into an apple vs android thread but I'm not surprised (Since it is AT). Its like Mac vs PC deja vu. But having this device for now a week, honestly it runs circles against my iPad 2 and I have yet touch my iPhone or iPad. The 7" form factor feels just right, my only complaint is after using iOS for so long is the lack of a physical home button.

 

[Ravynmagi]

So I tried a standby test the other night, leaving it idle from 6am until midnight. It went from full charge to 65%, so I investigated and for some reason the Media Server was constantly running, which was killing battery life.

Tried it again the other night, same time frame, and it went from full charge to 94%.

I'm still having battery concerns too. First it was Google+ using up the battery, so I disabled that, now Google Services just took it's place. Same amount of battery drain. I lose about 15% every 8 hours of idle time.

I tried using airplane mode last night, but that didn't make any difference.

It's not bad, I can live with it as long as I charge it fully each night. Hopefully Google will have a fix for it soon.

 

[BD2003]

Android scrolling is different from iOS. I wouldn't say it's less responsive, just different.

There are reports of units with faulty multi touch and touch going crazy. It could be software or hardware. Google is aware and supposedly investigating. Faulty touch and GPS problem is why I haven't picked one up. I will wait couple of months til Google and Asus iron out the issues. By then the new iPad Mini will be out and I can compare and get the better tablet.

There's no question that it has more latency, at least in comparison to my iPhone 5 and iPad 3. Its a much more disconnected feel, but I can probably live with it. If it doesn't recognize a tap one more time its going back though. I really want to like it, but that's a deal breaker.

 

[ultimatebob]

Is it just me, or haven't you seen any of these stability issues that people have been reporting with the Nexus 7? The only app I've had problems with is the Simpsons Tapped Out game, but that sucker is flaky on iOS as well.

 

[Tom]

Mine works great. I haven't had issues with touch and no latency.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

yeah alot of people still base their opinion of Android of yester-year. Every since they introduced Jelly Bean it has been a total different experience.

Blah blah blah blah blah. The problem with this argument is that people have been saying things like this forever. "Ever since 2.2 was introduced it's been a whole different experience. You don't need a task killer anymore." "Android phones up until 2011 were pretty bad until they introduced dual core phones." Now it's 4.1 now you say?

You're right, Android has progressively gotten a lot better, but regarding the recent battery discussion, it's not some perfect OS. I turned on location reporting for the past 2 days (I must've had it off in 4.2.2 or something), and I realized how this nlpwakelock can suck the hell out of your battery. 30 minutes or so? It's a heavy price to pay for Google Now convenience.

I'm still having battery concerns too. First it was Google+ using up the battery, so I disabled that, now Google Services just took it's place. Same amount of battery drain. I lose about 15% every 8 hours of idle time.

I tried using airplane mode last night, but that didn't make any difference.

It's not bad, I can live with it as long as I charge it fully each night. Hopefully Google will have a fix for it soon.

My Nexus 10 went from 100% down to 95% in 1 day 4 hours with wifi off.

Edit: Further investigation shows Plume causing 4000 wakelocks in this period despite turning background notifications off entirely and sync off. Android is always 1 wakelock away from bad battery. You can blame the app developers or whatever, but its certainly not a set it or forget it situation. I'm going to Greenify the app from now on, but I'm not exactly sure why I need to Greenify an app in order to get good battery life.

 

[Ravynmagi]

My Nexus 10 went from 100% down to 95% in 1 day 4 hours with wifi off.

Edit: Further investigation shows Plume causing 4000 wakelocks in this period despite turning background notifications off entirely and sync off. Android is always 1 wakelock away from bad battery. You can blame the app developers or whatever, but its certainly not a set it or forget it situation. I'm going to Greenify the app from now on, but I'm not exactly sure why I need to Greenify an app in order to get good battery life.

Yeah, my Nexus 4 has great battery life too. I think the Nexus 7 2013 is pretty new and may need an update or two to address a few of it's issues before it's battery life gets to where it needs to be.

If it was just third party apps, I could understand that (and probably kick that app to the curb if I could for a while). But for me (and others on XDA forums mention it too) it seems to be Google's own apps causing the battery drain. At first I thought it was the Google Plus doing it, but after I disabled it, I had the same battery drain but now it was just Google Services doing it instead. Some folks on XDA thought it was Google Now. So I turned that off. So far it might be a bit too early to be completely sure, but it appears my battery isn't draining nearly as fast. My battery graph is more of a plateau than a steep hill. So this is promising so far. And that is kind of a relief too. I don't really need Google Now on my tablet it (I use it mostly on the phone instead) and I'm glad it's not Google Plus, because I do like using that on the tablet. I turned Google Plus back on earlier too and battery stats don't show it eating up battery anymore.

 

[Ravynmagi]

Is it just me, or haven't you seen any of these stability issues that people have been reporting with the Nexus 7? The only app I've had problems with is the Simpsons Tapped Out game, but that sucker is flaky on iOS as well.

It's an EA game. Of course it's buggy as hell.

I still can't even install The Sims FreePlay on my Nexus 7 2013 yet. Another quality EA game. I think it took them over half a year before it would work on the Nexus 4.

 

[openwheel]

Still can't get over how awesome the screen is

Some 1080p shows during a cross Atlantic flight. Very well executed form factor. My favorite travel companion by far.

 

[lopri]

Yah I saw it again and the screen is gorgeous. It was running on 5.0 GHz band WiFi, and whatever apps/browsers work blazing fast. It even tethers natively, including Bluetooth tethering!

 

[lothar]

Android scrolling is different from iOS. I wouldn't say it's less responsive, just different.

There are reports of units with faulty multi touch and touch going crazy. It could be software or hardware. Google is aware and supposedly investigating. Faulty touch and GPS problem is why I haven't picked one up. I will wait couple of months til Google and Asus iron out the issues. By then the new iPad Mini will be out and I can compare and get the better tablet.

Yup. I too am waiting for the issues to get ironed out.
Hopefully, these issues gets ironed out in 3 months because I have to send my 2012 Nexus 7 to my best friend that lives abroad.

 

[Staples]

The reports of defects are not surprising. Asus has had a history of faulty manufacturing these last few years.

 

[Lyfer]

The reports of defects are not surprising. Asus has had a history of faulty manufacturing these last few years.

Who hasn't? You guys are expecting so much at the $230 price point which I find hilarious. If its faulty then exchange it. Everyone's is going to have some kind of issue. My original IPhone 4S had a faulty mic and it took me an exchange to fix.

If anyone knows of another tablet with a 1920x1200 or better screen at $230 that's not locked into a proprietary OS (cough kindle/nook) and has 0 known issues, thn sign me up for one so I can return my Nexus 7.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Who hasn't? You guys are expecting so much at the $230 price point which I find hilarious. If its faulty then exchange it. Everyone's is going to have some kind of issue. My original IPhone 4S had a faulty mic and it took me an exchange to fix.

If anyone knows of another tablet with a 1920x1200 or better screen at $230 that's not locked into a proprietary OS (cough kindle/nook) and has 0 known issues, thn sign me up for one so I can return my Nexus 7.

Stop using this $230 price point or whatever as some sort of excuse for corners that get cut. It's not acceptable for these products to have major issues at launch. The 4S issue you described to me is unacceptable. The question I have for everyone is that while there are ALWAYS complaints about new products, how prevalent are these issues? It seems that the Nexus 7 has more widespread issues than other devices at launch.

Returning to the price point, I understand if $230 means that Google has to sacrifice features, but bugs and issues? No way. Remember, Google used the Nexus 7 as a retreat from the high end tablet and instead of fighting Apple directly with an iPad challenger, they went with a lowly priced 7" tablet to compete in the 7" arena. Furthermore, Google's pricing strategy is to make practically $0 on hardware and rely on apps to gain them profit. They chose this strategy, and that once again doesn't give them the right to release a flawed product. It's like if Apple decided to lower prices and sacrifice their ridiculous hardware profit margins. You wouldn't accept a shittier product. When they lowered the MacBook Pro from $1999 to like $1699, did we suddenly say "Sure, now you're allowed to release a product that overheats and has a shitty screen?" Google was the one that chose this cutthroat pricing. Despite the fact that $199 will get you a far shitter tablet from Samsung, Asus, Acer, HTC, etc, Google went ahead with this great pricing still. I'm tired of compromises. If Google's going to release a powerhouse CPU and an awesome screen, then I believe the rest of this tablet should fall in line with the specs. High end specs? High end product. High end quality.

 

[jiffylube1024]

Is it just me, or haven't you seen any of these stability issues that people have been reporting with the Nexus 7? The only app I've had problems with is the Simpsons Tapped Out game, but that sucker is flaky on iOS as well.

Mine rebooted twice the first day I got it, and once the second day. Twice I was changing my live wallpapers (galaxy pack) about 10 times and comparing different settings, and once I was downloading all of my apps to the device at once and doing a bunch of other things.

Aside from that, no reboots or flakiness since whatsoever.

 

[openwheel]

What reports of "defects"!!? The only real issue is the reported GPS software issue.

Just because a couple OCD people started a thread about possible "defect", does not mean there is a "wide spread" issue. Talk about stirring the pot. You haters crack me up.

My Nexus 7 has zero dead pixel, beautiful colors and deep contrast, smooth, responsive, and fast. Talk about no compromises, this tablet is excellent, not only for value but bests Apple's offering in the compact tablet catetogy at a much lower price. The biggest down side is that Android is not stupid proof like iOS.

 

[cliftonite]

Stop using this $230 price point or whatever as some sort of excuse for corners that get cut. It's not acceptable for these products to have major issues at launch. The 4S issue you described to me is unacceptable. The question I have for everyone is that while there are ALWAYS complaints about new products, how prevalent are these issues? It seems that the Nexus 7 has more widespread issues than other devices at launch.

Returning to the price point, I understand if $230 means that Google has to sacrifice features, but bugs and issues? No way. Remember, Google used the Nexus 7 as a retreat from the high end tablet and instead of fighting Apple directly with an iPad challenger, they went with a lowly priced 7" tablet to compete in the 7" arena. Furthermore, Google's pricing strategy is to make practically $0 on hardware and rely on apps to gain them profit. They chose this strategy, and that once again doesn't give them the right to release a flawed product. It's like if Apple decided to lower prices and sacrifice their ridiculous hardware profit margins. You wouldn't accept a shittier product. When they lowered the MacBook Pro from $1999 to like $1699, did we suddenly say "Sure, now you're allowed to release a product that overheats and has a shitty screen?" Google was the one that chose this cutthroat pricing. Despite the fact that $199 will get you a far shitter tablet from Samsung, Asus, Acer, HTC, etc, Google went ahead with this great pricing still. I'm tired of compromises. If Google's going to release a powerhouse CPU and an awesome screen, then I believe the rest of this tablet should fall in line with the specs. High end specs? High end product. High end quality.

You are not entitled to anything. If people are not happy with it they will return and not buy it.

 

[ponyo]

What reports of "defects"!!? The only real issue is the reported GPS software issue.

Just because a couple OCD people started a thread about possible "defect", does not mean there is a "wide spread" issue. Talk about stirring the pot. You haters crack me up.

My Nexus 7 has zero dead pixel, beautiful colors and deep contrast, smooth, responsive, and fast. Talk about no compromises, this tablet is excellent, not only for value but bests Apple's offering in the compact tablet catetogy at a much lower price. The biggest down side is that Android is not stupid proof like iOS.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYGd7GFVqB0
http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/13/4617350/nexus-7-buyers-report-more-defects-touchscreen-freezing
http://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/mobile/W0Hfkq8hf-c%5B1-25-false%5D
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2381123

Looks like it's fairly more than couple "OCD" people and that YouTube video shows the problem is very real. After suffering through hardware GPS problem with the original Galaxy S that was never fixed by Samsung, I'm very wary of purchasing phones/tablets with obvious hardware defects. I waited 3 weeks after Galaxy Nexus was introduced to make sure Google solved the random volume software bug that was present in the GSM Galaxy Nexus when used with T-Mobile frequency before purchasing. Sometimes these things can be fixed with software like it was the case with the Galaxy Nexus. But other times like with the horrid GPS problem with the Samsung Galaxy S phones and Asus Transformer Prime tablet, the issue is hardware and no amount of software fix will fix the defective hardware. I'm glad you like your tablet and have defect free one. But I rather not deal with the hassle and am perfectly fine with waiting to purchase til the issue is solved or fixed.

 

[Tom]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYGd7GFVqB0
http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/13/4617350/nexus-7-buyers-report-more-defects-touchscreen-freezing
http://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/mobile/W0Hfkq8hf-c%5B1-25-false%5D
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2381123

Looks like it's fairly more than couple "OCD" people and that YouTube video shows the problem is very real. After suffering through hardware GPS problem with the original Galaxy S that was never fixed by Samsung, I'm very wary of purchasing phones/tablets with obvious hardware defects. I waited 3 weeks after Galaxy Nexus was introduced to make sure Google solved the random volume software bug that was present in the GSM Galaxy Nexus when used with T-Mobile frequency before purchasing. Sometimes these things can be fixed with software like it was the case with the Galaxy Nexus. But other times like with the horrid GPS problem with the Samsung Galaxy S phones and Asus Transformer Prime tablet, the issue is hardware and no amount of software fix will fix the defective hardware. I'm glad you like your tablet and have defect free one. But I rather not deal with the hassle and am perfectly fine with waiting to purchase til the issue is solved or fixed.

That video doesn't show anything. The rest of your post has nothing to do with the Nexus 7.