The original Nexus 7 was merely a bargain, a good-enough tablet at a great price. The new Nexus 7 is a downright steal. It's the best 7-inch tablet, period. Google has redefined budget tablet so that it no longer refers to cheap-feeling, sub-$200 devices. You can now grab a svelte, premium 7-inch tablet with a high-resolution screen, wireless charging, quad-core processor, and 2GB of RAM for a measly $229.
The revamped Nexus 7 is more than just the next stock Android gadget offering from Google. It's the company's re-do of what it should have done right the first time. The search (and maps, and mail, and…) giant, with its ginormous, seemingly all-inclusive Android ecosystem, has finally entered the premium tablet market.
Easier to hold, faster than ever
The first thing I noticed about the new Nexus 7 is that, despite sharing the same name as its predecessor, it's an entirely different product. The previous-generation Nexus 7 looks antiquated lying next to this shiny new toy.
Meet the new Nexus 7.
The new Nexus 7 is easier to hold—the bezel is 3mm thinner on each side, so you can comfortably cradle it in one hand while using the other to grip the handrail on your train ride to work. One-handed use is much easier this time around, though I would have loved to see some sort of option to shift virtual buttons to the side of the screen where my thumb naturally falls. (LG's Optimus UI implements this functionality in the dialer application on the company's Optimus line of Android phones.)
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