Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Google Nexus 7 Vs The Apple iPad mini, Which Will Be On Top

Ever since google announced the Nexus 7 at Google I/O in summer it has been dominating the 7" tablet market. The Nexus 7 not only runs the latest version of android but it also has a quad core CPU and the best part is that it is priced a a staggering $199. With that price point and that amount or processing it is really hard to overlook this tablet. In the other side is the Apple with their iPad mini which they just unveiled yesterday. The iPad is the most popular tablet in history and Apple has sold over 100 million units since it first debuted in 2010. The iPad mini is not trying to compete with other android 7" tablets in terms of pricing but it beats the Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD, and Nook HD in terms of media consumption with the whole iTunes library and the app store in your hands. Currently the Nexus 7 is available for purchase via the Play Store and the iPad mini will start going on sale next friday on 34 major countries. 

Google Nexus 7

The Google Nexus 7 is built by Asus and it is the first tablet to bear the nexus name so it will get the updates as soon as a new version is out. Google is trying to conquer the 7" tablet market by pricing it super low and bringing power and performance to the table with the Nexus 7. The Nexus 7 comes with the latest verison of android which is 4.1.2 jellybean and a 4.2 update is coming as soon as google announces it next week. The Nexus 7 starts at $199 for the 8GB model and $249 for the 16GB model, currently the 8GB model is out of stock and Google is set to announce the 32GB Nexus 7 which will replace the 16GB Nexus 7 in terms of price. The Nexus 7 lacks some key things like cellular data and a micro SD card slot, for some people this might be a deal breaker. Google is also set to announce a cellular version of the Nexus 7 next week. For a recap the Nexus 7 has a quad core Tegra 3 processor, 1GB of RAM, a 7" 1280 X 800 screen, and a front facing camera. 


Apple iPad mini 

Just yesterday Apple announced the iPad mini and we knew all about even before WWDC 2012 because the leaks are just very accurate these days. Ok enough about that, the iPad mini is not just a smaller version of the iPad but it is a perfectly constructed device and every inch of it is an iPad as apple themselves describe it. The iPad mini has a 7.9" screen with a 1024 X 768 resolution, an A5 dual core processor, 512MB of RAM, a rear facing 5MP eyesight camera, a 720P facetime camera and the all new lightning connector. The iPad mini will be priced at $329 for the base model which has 16GB of storage and wifi only. The cellular model in the other hand starts at $459 for the 4G+wifi 16GB model. 

Comparison

          First up we will compare the dimensions of both of the devices because yesterday at the event Apple touched at something pretty interesting. The iPad mini is about 14.7 wider than the Nexus 7 but according to Apple you can still use it with one hand without any issues. Yesterday at the event apple compared the iPad mini with the Nexus 7 and the first thing they touch on is the weight and the bezel. The iPad mini has a slimmer bezel and is more lighter and premium in the hand compared to the Nexus 7 which is thick and made out of plastic. Then they compared the screen size and say that the iPad mini has a larger display area. After that Phil touched on the web browsing experience and points out that the total space for page if you minus the android soft keys and tabs is 49% smaller than the iPad mini, this means that the iPad mini has 49% more area for viewing the web. The same thing also happens in landscape mode. Again he touted about the 275,000 apps in the app store which are dedicated iPad apps and not just scaled up like what it is on android. In terms of build quality and overall dimension i think the iPad mini wins this round. 
          Next up we will compare the software on both of this devices. Both of these tablets run the latest version of their OS, for the iPad mini its iOS 6 and for the nexus 7 its Jellybean. In terms of fluidity the iOS 6 still has an edge over what google is offering with Jellybean despite the launch of project butter. Android in the other hand has an edge over iOS by being able to customize the whole OS to your liking opposed to iOS where you will only see the 5 rows of icons day and day. Both of these softwares come with their special features like siri on iOS and Google Now on android. Both of these programs are very powerful indeed and will help you in your day to day activities. For this round i have to give it to android because it just has the customizations that people just want.
          In this section we will be talking about the overall usability situations for these tablets. The iPad is by far one of the best media consumption devices around and people like it because of the versatility that it can bring. The software enhancements also help in making the iPad mini an overall better tablet. In the other side Google is backing out the Nexus 7 by putting in the best hardware ever seen on a 7" tablet and also putting in the most smoothest android ever. In terms of one handed usability both of the tablets are pretty capable of one handed usage but it will be easier to hold the Nexus 7 compared to the iPad mini because the Nexus 7 has a 14.7mm width difference. The iPad mini is really just the best all rouder tablet because you can play games, watch movies and do many things compared to the Nexus 7. 
          Next up we will compare the features of both of these tablet. Storage capacity is one of the most important things when buying a tablet and with the app file size getting ever so big time after time a larger storage capacity is always better. Both of these devices do not have micro SD card slots but the iPad mini has an edge over the Nexus 7 by having capacities of up to 64GB. Another thing which some users want in a tablet which is portable is cellular data and again the iPad mini has an edge over the Nexus 7 by having a cellular variant but one thing to note is that the iPad mini will only accept nano SIM cards just like the iPhone 5. Additionally the iPad mini also has another edge over the Nexus 7 by having a rear facing camera. So with that said this round goes to the iPad mini. 
          Finally we are going to touch on the pricing of both of these tablets as pricing is always the thing to concern most. The Nexus 7 is priced at $199 for the base model and the iPad mini will cost you around $329 for the base model. The Nexus 7 is obviously the better bang for the buck as it has the best price to performance ratio we have ever seen. So this round goes to the Nexus 7

Conclusion

Ok before i talk about the winner for this face off, i would like to say that this is a personal choice and i am not biased towards Apple nor Google so without further ado lets get started. The tablet i choose is the iPad mini, the reason why i choose it is because it has a lot of features which normal consumers use. Although it does not have a lot of customization features like the Nexus 7 but at least is gets the job done. Also the iPad mini also have an edge over the Nexus 7 by having more storage options, a cellular data version and also a rear facing camera which for some people is quite important. The iPad mini is also tied up to various apple services like iTunes, the app store, iBooks and many more so you will never run out of content to read or stream on to you device. Although the pricing is about $80 more expensive but it is good tradeoff as you will get a more premium and lighter device and also a whole library full of iPad centered apps for you downloading pleasure. One downside that the iPad mini bears is the lack of a retina display which is quite a bummer but nevertheless the screen is still pretty decent. With the iPad mini you will also be able to have a wide variety of choices for third party accessories like a case. But if you do decide to get the Nexus 7, it is not wrong too as it is also a very awesome and pretty capable tablet. If you are in a budget and looking for a tablet the Nexus 7 is the best choice. But i would really recommend you waiting for the next gen Nexus 7 as second gen devices tend to be more complete. 

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