The Nexus 7 - My Conclusion

Nexus 7 My Conclusion

So I've had the Asus Nexus 7 tablet for a couple of weeks now and come to a few conclusions, about both the Tablet and the OS, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and there are not too many positives for me. I hate to be negative about tech, because I love it, it's my hobby, but there is not a great deal I REALLY like about the Nexus, there are some good points and I know many love it, but as I originally thought, neither the 'Tablet' as a concept or device or Android are really for me, it's a very personal and subjective thing really !

As I said in my first post, there were quite a few applications I had used before not compatible with Jelly Bean, and maybe this will change as developers alter there coding for them to become compatible ? But the tablet in general is quite laggy for me, I get a lot of stuttering, slow loading, apps freezing or failing and whatever browser I try, loading is slow, very slow at times, maybe it's lack of use ? I'm not using the thing that much and as I set most of my apps to auto update there is often a lot going on when I open it and maybe all those processors aren't quite enough ? My last experience with Android was an HTC Desire HD running Gingerbread and the whole experience was a lot smoother and trouble free, from memory EVERYTHING was a lot faster. I was particularly impressed with the web experience on Android, it all seems a little 'meh' now, even compared to Symbian and quite frankly, Windows Phone Blows it away !!

I'm lucky to follow some great people on Twitter, and Nick Robinson @Ratkat on Twitter, solved one of my main issues with the Nexus in that I really wanted to use BBC iPlayer on the device, and whilst moaning on Twitter about it Nick offered to send me the apk files he'd exracted from his phone for both Flash (no longer supported by Jelly Bean) and the BBC iPlayer, so that for me was quite a big problem solved . As I say, the tablet concept never really appealed, but I could see it's potential as a media viewing device and the BBC is a good thing to view ! Another issue I have is typing on the Nexus, it's doable in portrait, just, but in landscape I find it verges on the impossible, at least when you're holding it, but finally getting Swype beta installed after several attempts has eased the situation for me a good deal, still hate it in landscape but can cope in portrait holding the tablet in one hand and swyping around with the other. My final issue is Twitter, frankly, on Android, it's crap !! I can't find a client I like, nearest thing is TweakDeck, but even that stutters occasionally, and I get a MUCH better experience on ANY of my phones !

So, why in the name of all that's Holy would I keep this plaything with so many drawbacks ? Well as I said, it does have some good points, the ones I suspected, now I have overcome my initial issues with Video playback and the BBC iPlayer, it's quite useful to just lay in bed and watch a Video, YouTube or a BBC programme, the screen is great and the speaker more than adequate. I've recently bought a Nokia 808 PureView phone and the photographs it's produced look great on the Nexus. The battery life is extremely good so it's something I can carry round that is less bulky than a Laptop or Net Book and have a good media experience on, and it will work whilst mobile as I can use my Lumia as a hot spot to use the web on it if needed. Which brings me to the last reason I've decided to keep the Nexus (apart from the fact I won't be beaten by things and am hoping Jelly Bean support in the Play Store will improve and that apps and the web in HTML5 will improve) my Mum !! I have a mother who is in her late 70's who has recently had an operation on her eyes and so her vision is not perfect and I've taken my new toy to show her a couple of times since I got it. I can show her Facbook pictures of her five grandchildren, performances of two of my nieces who are into performing arts on YouTube and photographs I've taken of my kids with my new phone which she can zoom in on and see clearly, which quite frankly is enough reason for me.

To be honest , if I'd spent two or three times the amount of money I spent on the Nexus on another tablet, I would probably have been absolutely gutted, as it is, I can get enough use and enjoyment out of it to justify the purchase, and look forward to it hopefully improving, but I really and truly think it will be the first and last tablet I will ever own. But overall I'm glad I did the experiment and had/am having the experience. I also expect this to be the last piece I ever write about a piece of glass bigger than 4.5" without a physical keyboard.

So, thanks for reading, please don't be put off the Nexus, I'm in the minority, it seems and even for me it has it's good points :)

Stephen Quin

28/07/2012