Mastodawn

10 years ago, Google launched the 2nd-gen Nexus 7, and no tablet has captured its magic since

https://gadgetro.id/post/2251

10 years ago, Google launched the 2nd-gen Nexus 7, and no tablet has captured its magic since - gadgetro.id

Ten years ago today, Google released the 2nd-generation Nexus 7, just days after a surprise announcement. Back then, Android tablets still felt fresh and exciting. It seemed like anything was possible, and things could only improve from there. Well, we know what happened next. But the depressing state of the tablet market to come was in no way the fault of the Nexus 7. In fact, this is still one of the best Android tablets ever made, and it’s worth looking back and showing it the honor and respect it deserves.

RBG Jul 27, 2023

This was my first Android device. Still got it, not using it much, but its still working.

inspector Jul 27, 2023

Man, I always wanted a Nexus 7, but it was never easy to get one in my country back then. And then Google officially partnered with Amazon and Flipkart to launch the tablet…right after I’d gotten a new iPad.

AnonymousLlama Jul 27, 2023

I remember when it came out, it only launched in a few countries and I was super surprised to see it on the play store in Australia (when historically we usually get fuck all)

I paid 299 AUD for it. An unthinkable price nowadays

jetsetdorito Jul 27, 2023

I still miss how nice this was when it came out. Rocking a Galaxy Tab S5e with Lineage OS which I’m really enjoying now though.

alaxitoo Jul 27, 2023

I had one of these! Loved it 😍

varoth Jul 27, 2023

I had one. Well I still have it, but I stopped using it years ago for some reason. I forget why. I think I ran out of storage or something. Anyways, I had gotten a cheap Fire tablet and that thing sucked, so I dug out my Nexus and somehow wound up bricking it. Yay. Now I have a Tab A8 that’s working fine so far.

greasypeanuts Jul 27, 2023

I loved my Nexus 7. The rubbery silicone back of the tablet made it the most comfortable device I have ever held. Meanwhile my laptop and phone made of glass and metal making them cold and slippery

DingDongBell Jul 27, 2023

fuck glass, also nexus 5 back is the best

Gorroth Jul 27, 2023

Oh I loved that one

ijeff Jul 27, 2023

I miss that back cover more than anything! It was so grippy.

cestvrai Jul 27, 2023

Nexus One was the highest build quality Android I ever owned. I miss HTC.

AbidanYre Jul 27, 2023

The touch screen got wonky from time to time and the power button ribbon tended to wear out.

N5 was the sweet spot for me.

cestvrai Jul 27, 2023

True, I forgot about the power button dying and needing to hack in trackball wake.

Never had screen issues.

AbidanYre Jul 27, 2023

I don’t remember the exact details but it was something related to multi touch calibration. Turning the screen off and back on fixed it.

Noit Jul 27, 2023

I loved mine, but sitting a year or two the flash memory had degraded to the point it was completely unusable, even just as a digital photo frame.

The small tablet market is still underserved today, I’m running an iPad mini, which is great, but it’s definitely a second-class citizen compared to the bigger iPads.

inspector Jul 27, 2023

Yes, definitely! I don’t have as much use for a tablet these days, which is an unfortunate thing. My phone is big enough to cover most use cases, and my iPad 2017 is too big to be used comfortably for most things - it’s not ergonomic to hold upright in most conditions, it’s slippery without a folio case (and cases are hard to find unless you get an official Apple one which is very expensive), typing on it is a pain because of how thin it is, and the only saving grace it has in terms of typing is the mini floating swipeable keyboard added to iPad OS in recent years.

I’d definitely love to run something like a Nexus 7 again! Perfect form factor for most things, including media consumption, reading books, and much much more!

RBG Jul 27, 2023

That was thr first version, the article is about thr 2nd gen device where the flash memory problem got fixed.

AnonymousLlama Jul 27, 2023

I remember getting both. The first gen was pretty sweet, had an interesting texture on the back. The second one came out in a 3G/4G model and was great. I've got it in a draw still, no idea what I could do with it nowadays.

Noit Jul 27, 2023

I had a second gen one, and it suffered less than the first, but definitely did suffer as it aged.

magic_lobster_party Jul 27, 2023

I still have my Nexus 5 somewhere in a drawer, and it’s still my favorite phone ever. Time from time I pick it up, and I get reminded of how good it felt to hold it in the hand. It’s so light. The buttons are at the right place.

I wish they made phones with the same form factor again.

Kerrigor Jul 27, 2023

Damn that phone felt good to hold.

IONLYpost Jul 27, 2023

The first phone with Material Design UI, surely felt diffrerent. Although every "premium tier" phone back then would be cheap and plastic by today's standard.

Kerrigor Jul 27, 2023

Oh I meant literally the physical shell of the phone. I actually prefer the slightly grippy, rubbery plastic feel of the Nexus 5 and Nexus 7.

AnonymousLlama Jul 27, 2023

Was great value too, back in the days when you could spend a few hundreds dollars and get a top quality phone.

Never_Sm1le Jul 27, 2023

I would vouch for Mi Pad 4 as N7 2nd gen sucessor had it not been for its limiting supply

Lifted_lowered Jul 27, 2023

No android tablet since then you mean. I loved that thing. I still use Pixel phones but I caved and bought an iPad. Even the Pixel tablet can’t compare.

chrizfitz Jul 27, 2023

How

Lifted_lowered Jul 27, 2023

Sheer processing power, stylus compatibility, and interoperability with computers of the same brand, which Samsung does too. I want an Android tablet that has as good a stylus and CPU speeds, then I would be right on it, because Android is a superior mobile OS in many ways. I loved my Nexus 7 and my ASUS Transformer but they just weren’t there yet.

chrizfitz Jul 27, 2023

So is it the ipad pro you’re talking about? Are the high end Samsung tabs comparable?

figaro Jul 27, 2023

Unfortunately, not really. iPad with an m2 chip is on another level.

ImaginaryFox Jul 27, 2023

I haven't been satisfied with the iPadOS software compared to the S23U. Feel like that utilizes multitasking and stylus functionality way better which would be much more appreciated on the large screen of the iPad. Little things like edge panels, one hand operation +, and stylus being built in and having options like smart select pop right up when I take it out leads me me to using it more. Then the limited folder options on top of that and worse external monitor support feels like all that power that can run a full on desktop is wasted and held back by the mobile OS.

One thing I do love about the iPad is that I can rely on long term security updates, since majority of my use is as a glorified comic reader along side my kindle for ebooks. It does make it easier to tolerate iPadOS, and pretty the only reason I chose it over the Samsung despite finding myself using the S23U way more even when I have the iPad available. I ended up expecting less from the iPad than my phone. I don't know if it would have ended up that way even if it had more features, or if it was just me adapting and accepting iPadOS for what it was.

chrizfitz Jul 27, 2023

Thank you for a detailed post with pros and cons. With everything it’s not black and white,

Lifted_lowered Jul 27, 2023

Agreed about the software. I wish we had a base Android tablet with the same hardware as the iPad Pro.

AnonymousLlama Jul 27, 2023

I remember the high end Android tablets being in a rough place because of app performance and layouts (where some apps still don't offer a really good tablet centric layout, they give you a big mobile layout)

I remember looking at the Galaxy tab range about 5-6 years ago and while they had good processors, they seemed to struggle on multi-core performance and smoothness.

It could totally be a different scenario today, but it feels like their reputation has been set, the Android tablets are a poor man's iPad (which is a bit funny considering how expensive some can be!)

Lifted_lowered Jul 27, 2023

This is basically it, we just need better hardware in android tablets and maybe more optimization, Google is trying with tensor but it is a ways off.

Mr_Blott Jul 27, 2023

interoperability with computers of the same brand,

Literally the opposite of interoperability 😂

TheEntity Jul 27, 2023

That would be "intraoperability", I guess.

AbidanYre Jul 27, 2023

“walled garden”

Lifted_lowered Jul 27, 2023

True, that was poor word choice. I guess it would just be “operability?” Or “integration?”

Mr_Blott Jul 27, 2023

“Forced ecosystem”

Mike Stevens 🇦🇺 S23U Jul 27, 2023

Honestly can’t say enough good things about my Tab S8. I use it for editing photos in Lightroom Mobile, and it works so damn well with the stylus. Very responsive and fast.

Lifted_lowered Jul 28, 2023

Good on you M8 glad it works well.

infinitevalence Jul 27, 2023

My Nexus 7 still lives and it’s running Android 12. I use it for mostly YouTube these days.

notsocrazy Jul 27, 2023

Have you had to do anything to the hardware to get it to keep up? I was using mine as my bedside device up until about a year ago when it got too slow

infinitevalence Jul 27, 2023

Nope, just installed Lineage OS. To be clear its the 2nd gen, my 1st gen is worthless, Asus cheeped out on the flash and it degraded rapidly.

Lineage is not perfect, there are little bugs and I have to reboot youtube every now and then, but for just watching video’s its good enough.

weedazz Jul 28, 2023

What rom?

infinitevalence Jul 28, 2023

Lineage OS

Carter Jul 27, 2023

The Nexus 7 would be absolutely pointless today. It’s barely bigger than most phones.

I had one at the time but the form factor was simply inferior to either a 10inch Android offering or any iPad.

GreatAlbatross Jul 27, 2023

I remember a co-worker having the Dell Streak (5") and being astounded how something that large would fit in your pocket.
Mind you, a decade later and I still use a phone under that size!

yamasaur Jul 28, 2023

I had that phone also, anytime anyone would see it outside they would marvel at how large it is. Now I have a fold which is even bigger when unfolded. The dell streak from what I remember feels like an s23u would be similar size to it but it was probably larger due to bezels and the aspect ratio

fmstrat Jul 27, 2023

Agreed, this is rationale for my comment about the Duet 3. Its the “new kind of tablet” for today. And cheap.

shitescalates Jul 27, 2023

I disagree. 7" 16:9 is still much more usable than 6.7 20.5:9. And not everyone wants a giant phone. Having a cheap, usable tablet would be very useful for a lot of people.

AnonymousLlama Jul 27, 2023

Loved the Nexus 7. I remember getting the 4G model and finally being able to do crap on my way to work (back in the days when 4G connectivity was hard to get back on Android tablets)

StableStackOfBricks Jul 27, 2023

At this point I use all Apple Products (Except for my Ubuntu Desktop) but damn do I miss the Nexus 7 so so so much

EatMyDick Jul 27, 2023

That thing was garbage. They all were.

FoxBJK Jul 27, 2023

I had to RMA this thing 3 times because of hardware failures. I had a 5X at the time as well, still pissed about the boot loop.

Google hardware was really not that great back in this era. The 7 had a great form factor but nothing else by today’s standards would hold up.

Goronmon Jul 27, 2023

Yeah, mine barely lasted to years before it just refused to boot.

lazynooblet Jul 27, 2023

I’m still enjoying the Pixel C, still a great tablet I think

GreatAlbatross Jul 27, 2023

The nexus 7 was siesmic in the android tablet market at the time.

Previously, your choices were iPad, equally expensive (but often lacking) android tablets (galaxy tab, moto xoom), or really rather crap cheap offerings (I had a 7" resistive archos that cost me £70…I wish I hadn’t spent the money).

When Google released the N7, it was a big change. It was a small tablet, with enough grunt, a good IPS screen, cohesive software, and was £150.

The fire-sale of the HP touchpad, imho, kicked google off on this. It made google realise that there was a market for a decent android tablet at a lower price point.

inspector Jul 27, 2023

There have been very few good affordable Android tablets: both the variants of the Nexus 7, and then the only other one I can recollect is the Amazon Fire Tablet 7, which launched probably sometime in 2015 or 16.