I was so happy with the Galaxy Nexus, and Nexus 4 after it, that I jumped on the first generation of the Nexus 7 tablet in 2012. Similarly, my experience with that tablet was good enough that I bought the Nexus 7 2013 edition immediately upon it’s launch.
Later, when Google stopped offering them, I even bought a spare! I regret not purchasing the HSPA+ capable version when I saw it offered by Expansys at a discount.
Earlier this year I knew I needed new devices, so I was eagerly awaiting the launch of the Pixel and Pixel XL. However, Google spoiled that by doubling the price of the Pixel compared to past Nexus offerings.
Nexus devices had long been price/performance leaders. At $650+ they maybe be competitive on a feature or performance basis, but they’re just another pricey handset. They’re not especially good value, so I didn’t order one immediately.
The Nexus 7 has been serving me reasonably well, up until recently. This past weekend the touch screen became flaky, which suggests that it’s on it’s way out. I still have the spare, but as we approach 2017 I think perhaps it’s time to look for something more current.
A suitable replacement has proven less than obvious. Here’s a wish list:
- It needs to be something of similar size and weight, but with newer hardware. I don’t want something bigger, the 10" Pixel C is too large. Nor should it be much smaller.
- The display doesn’t need to be more than 1920×1080 pixels.
- Just 16 GB of memory is too little, but 128 Gb is unnecessary. I expect that 32 GB of storage would do nicely.
- It would be nice if it was capable of video output to HDMI while charging, like the 2013 version of the Nexus 7, while in its dock.
- Of course, it should run the Nougat release of Android without any extra junk.
- It should be approachably priced, not over $400.
Suggestions?
Some have suggested the Nexus 6P. At at just 5.7" that’s small-ish, a bit expensive, and has a phone that I simply don’t need.
Anyone using the nVidia Shield K1? It seems like a great value/performance combination. I wonder if/when it will receive Nougat?