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Nexus 10 Reviews & Hands On

Atma

Extreme Android User
Dec 26, 2011
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No real reviews yet, but there are a few hands-on looks at the Nexus 10.

*EDIT*
New full reviews in second post.

Wired Hands-On

"I’ve still got a lot of testing to do with the Nexus 10 before a full-on review, but so far it feels more like a bigger version of the fantastic Nexus 7 than just another “me too” 10-inch tablet. This is an achievement for Google, considering how completely forgettable most large Android tablets are."


SlashGear Hands-On

"It’s the display that obviously catches your attention. Samsung calls its panel True RGB Real Stripe PLS but the only takeaway you need is that it’s incredibly bright, has vast viewing angles – you can basically look at it askance and still see everything, without any color inversion or distortion – and graphics appear painted onto the Gorilla Glass 2."


Engadget Hands-On

 
Now full reviews are starting to come in.


SlashGear Review Nov. 2

9,000 mAh is a big battery, but it has a powerful processor and lots of pixels to satisfy. Google’s prediction of up to 7hrs web browsing or up to 9hrs HD video playback actually turned out to be over-cautious, however, when faced with more typical mixed use. Browsing, streaming Full HD movies from Google Play, reading digital magazines, and doing some emailing and photography, and the Nexus 10 managed 11hrs, which is particularly impressive.


The Verge Review Nov. 2

I was worried about how all the pixel-pushing would affect the Nexus 10's performance, but I needn't have been. I'm not sure what to credit — the ever-improving Android platform, or the Exynos 5250 Cortex-A15 processor powering the Nexus 10 — for the fact that the Nexus 10 is the fastest, smoothest, most reliable and powerful Android tablet I've ever used. (And I'm pretty sure I've used all of them.) Swiping through homescreens is smooth, apps launch a lot faster than I'm used to, and multitasking is an absolute breeze — even with 20-plus apps open, nothing seemed to slow down.


ZD Net Nov. 2

Audio is very good, for a tablet. The Nexus 10 has stereo speakers along the shorter edges of the case that give plenty of volume and good separation when watching videos in landscape mode. It's not until you actually get proper stereo from a tablet that you realise how much you've missed it — if anyone still does comparative device shopping in the high street, this one feature may sell a substantial number of devices.


Engadget Nov. 2

The brightness of the display is fair, though not quite as searingly bright as the 600nits the Infinity can pump out. Colors are well-rendered and viewing angles are very good, but we were a bit disappointed by the contrast. Blacks were a bit on the murky side, sometimes appearing more purplish, and we couldn't help but notice some distracting light leakage around the lower corners of the display, something we verified on a second Nexus 10.


Wired Nov. 2

Let’s start with the beautiful display. Up close and at arm’s length, it looks just as good as the third- and fourth-generation iPad’s 2048 x 1536 Retina display. The resolution of the Nexus 10 is actually higher — 2560 x 1600 across 10.055-inches — though the two display resolutions appear identical to the naked eye. Nothing looks bad on the Nexus 10. Colors are bright and vibrant. Detail is plentiful, and text rivals the printed page. Movies, photos, web pages, books, magazines and particularly games — everything looks outstanding.


Ubergizmo Nov. 2

With the Google Nexus 10, Google and Samsung have managed to come up with a technological wonder. Google has made the right calls in term of aesthetics and industrial design, while Samsung was able to bring the best hardware to the game. The display is beautiful and the system has enough muscles to handle any media you throw at it.


ExtremeTech Nov. 2

Even when it comes to the 10.1-inch PLS (enhanced IPS) 2560
 
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The reviews are certainly not 100% positive. The Nexus 10 seems not to be the 'home-run' that the Nexus 7 was. That being said, nobody is really denying the Nexus 10 is still amazing and it's the premier Android tablet now.

~ ArmyX
Yeah but engagdets review seemed a little dumb to me. They act like the dual core process is a step backwards. I thought the a 15 is suppose to be top notch. They were also thinking it was slow because of benchmarks.

I also read the verge review. They gave the new ipad a 9 or something. Really not sure why it seems to get a free pass, it was a small upgrade. Nexus 10 has better processor and screen. Ipad is better build quality and better apps, that should be it.

I like the ipad but apple sure gets a lot of free rides it seems.
 
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The verge

Ipad

GOOD STUFF
Display is still best-in-class
Apps launch faster and smoother than ever
App ecosystem is unrivaled
BAD STUFF
iOS is lacking some features
Lightning ecosystem is relatively small
Still pricey with LTE

Score 9.3

Ipad mini

GOOD STUFF
Fantastic design and build quality
Software selection second to none
Great battery life
BAD STUFF
Screen is lower resolution than the competition
Can sometimes be a little awkward to hold
Expensive

Score 9.0

Nexus 10

GOOD STUFF
Fantastic display
Fast, smooth performance
Great battery life
Good speakers for a tablet
BAD STUFF
App ecosystem woefully lacking in tablet apps
High-res screen clashes with some low-res Android graphics
Materials not as good as Nexus 7

Score 8.3

Didn't the ipad 3 have issues with the apps not being high res at first too?
Not to mention the specs but both the nexus 7&10 are quite a bit cheaper
 
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GOOD STUFF
Fantastic display
Fast, smooth performance
Great battery life
Good speakers for a tablet
BAD STUFF
App ecosystem woefully lacking in tablet apps
High-res screen clashes with some low-res Android graphics
Materials not as good as Nexus 7

Score 8.3


I'd like to see the formula they use to come up with the numbers. I think it would look something like this:

MonkeyCounting3.jpg
 
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So I own a nexus 7, just received a ipad mini, and I'm currently using an iPhone 5. I love technology, I think all are great.

I love the size of the ipad mini, I think the 4:3 ratio works here, good screen size. But for 330 it is a step price. $70 bucks more gets you a nexus 10 or $130 less gets you a nexus 7.

You really do see a big difference in screen size with the nexus 7 and ipad mini, but the nexus 7 screen looks noticeably sharper as well.

I'm not sure how the ipad mini doesn't get dinged for that.

The only thing in worried about is the light leakage on the nexus 10. But im sure it is with only some devices. My ipad mini is white and came with some scuffs on the back. So it happens.
 
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If you look at several reviews they show no memory expansion as a negative for the Nexus 10, whereas with the iPad 4 the lack of expansion isn't even mentioned. There seems to be a different standard in these reviews for features & pricing depending on which brand they are reviewing.

Objectively I can say that the iPad has the edge in the Tablet App catalogue and the build quality. Nexus 10 has the edge in the display, price, OS, and the specs.

Realistically the Tablet App catalogue is the real feather in Apple's hat. Google and Android developers need to start pumping out high resolution quality Tablet Apps for Android.

~ ArmyX
 
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If you look at several reviews they show no memory expansion as a negative for the Nexus 10, whereas with the iPad 4 the lack of expansion isn't even mentioned. There seems to be a different standard in these reviews for features & pricing depending on which brand they are reviewing.

Objectively I can say that the iPad has the edge in the Tablet App catalogue and the build quality. Nexus 10 has the edge in the display, price, OS, and the specs.

Realistically the Tablet App catalogue is the real feather in Apple's hat. Google and Android developers need to start pumping out high resolution quality Tablet Apps for Android.

~ ArmyX

Completely agree, I think the nexus 7 helped tablet apps but I'm hoping the nexus 10 is what pushes it to the next level.

One thing the verge said was the nexus 10 is the smoothest, fastest, and most reliable android tablet they have ever used. But somehow Engadget acts like it isn't even fast. Though I think they are going off of benchmarks on engagdet, though the verge has the nexus 10 at the top even on benchmarks.

I can't wait to get to try one out in person. Man oh man my wife hates my technology addiction. Hehe
 
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I really can't decide here. I want a LTE/3G tablet. I'm totally indecisive on the Nexus 10. Specs are amazing, but the lack of Tablet Apps and LTE/3G kind of bothers me.

~ ArmyX

iOS apps don't scale to screen resolution, better Android apps do. iOS has a tablet catalog because they need one.
 
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