Google Nexus 10 Review

Introduction:

Oh Nexus, it’s one of those familiar brand names in the industry that seemingly conjures up cutting edge devices meant to showcase the very best of the best in the Android sphere. This past summer alone, we were introduced to one game changing tablet in the Google Nexus 7 that redefined what it meant to be a budget friendly device. Stepping its games even further, Google is expanding its presence into the fuller tablet segment, which means that the competition will really need to take notice.

Apple surely surprised many people by introducing two new iPads just in time for the busy holiday season, one being a slightly upgraded fourth-generation 9.7-inch model, but it’s Google who seems to be getting the last word. In addition to announcing the fourth incarnation of the Nexus branded smartphone, Google also went forward to unveil its brand spanking new 10-inch Nexus tablet – the aptly named Google Nexus 10. With Samsung commissioned to manufacture this newest Nexus, combined with some unbelievable hardware specs for a $400 tablet, it’s going to be one all-out battle this crucial holiday season.

The package contains:

• microUSB cable
• Wall charger
• Quick Start Guide
• Warranty Guide

Design:

Constrained to fit within a budget, the Google Nexus 10’s design mirrors what we see out of the Nexus 7 already – meaning, it has a very modest appearance. Sure, it’s made by Samsung, but interestingly enough, it doesn’t look or feel like a Samsung-made tablet. Call it a sigh of relief, but we’re digging the direction of this tablet’s design, though, we wouldn’t necessarily say it’s the most attractive or sturdiest thing we’ve come across. Yes, it’s something that requires two-handed operation most of the time, especially considering it’s a handful using with one hand, since the uniform almost 1-inch bezel around the screen makes the tablet look bigger than it should.

However, we like how it maintains one clean appearance, thanks primarily to its gunmetal colored soft touch casing, which exhibits that distinctive rubbery feel in the hand. We’re glad to know it’s extremely svelte (0.35” thin) and lightweight (21.27 oz) – similar to some of its main rivals.




There are no capacitive buttons on this bad boy, of course. Instead, the only items we see on the front panel of the Nexus 10 are the pulsating LED notification light beneath its screen, and the front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera above its display, which can shoot video in 720p.

On the top edge of the tablet, its dedicated power button and volume control are positioned next to one another. Thankfully, they’re raised and exhibit springy responses, but when holding in portrait, we have to remember to move the placement of our hand to the middle area of the tablet to ensure there are no accidental presses.

Along the left trim, we spot its 3.5mm headset jack and microUSB port for charging/data connectivity – while on the right, the only item there is the microHDMI port. Unlike the Nexus 4, which relies on a relatively unknown Slimport socket for video-out, we’re ecstatic to know that Samsung and Google opted to employ a traditional microHDMI port for easier video-out functionality with the Nexus 10. Somewhat of an unfamiliar sighting from everything else, the tablet’s proprietary docking pins are located on the tablet’s bottom side, which are meant to accommodate whatever future accessories they’ll come out with.

Lastly, the 5-megapixel auto-focus camera with LED flash is perched directly along the top-middle section of the rear casing – surrounded by its dotted patterned casing. Interestingly, there’s a notch towards the right side of the patterned surface that enables us to pry it off – revealing spots that are potentially placeholders for SIM cards, or possibly once microSD slots.


Display:

Getting the last laugh before we call it quits for the year, the Nexus 10 shoves everything else we’ve seen in the past aside, as it gloriously features one sharp looking 10.05-inch True RGB Real Stripe PLS display. For those wondering, its resolution is actually better than 1080p – it’s at a mind blowing 2560 x 1600 resolution to be specific, which conjures up an amazing pixel density of 300 ppi! No doubt our eyes are livid about looking at this immaculate looking display, since it flaunts details like no other tablet before it. Everything seemingly pops with superior clarity and sharpness that’s unmatched at this point!

Color-wise, there’s a dab of saturation evident with the display, which no doubt goes nicely with its warmer color tones. Throw in its superb viewing angles and mighty strong brightness output, the Nexus 10’s display is easily visible in outdoor conditions with the sun bearing down upon us. So yeah, there’s no arguing this is the cream of the crop in terms of tablet displays at this very moment! Needless to say, we have to give some kudos to Google and Samsung for their effort, even more knowing that this is a $400 tablet we’re dealing with!

Interface:

Since Ice Cream Sandwich, Google’s aim with its Android platform was to combine the smartphone and tablet experience into one – and that’s surely what we continue to see with Jelly Bean. Just like the Nexus 4, the Nexus 10 is sporting the newest flavor of Jelly Bean, Android 4.2 to be exact, as opposed to a totally new dessert flavored version. Visually speaking, there’s very little different with the general presentation and layout, and for most people familiar with Jelly Bean already, there’s not a significant change in maneuvering through the platform. Rather than rehashing all of the new experiences found with Android 4.2, which we’ve detailed in our review of the Nexus 4, like Daydreams, native widget support in the lock screen, and automatic resizing widgets, we’ll pay close attention to the aspects specific to this tablet-optimized version.



Support for multiple users:

Whoa! That’s all we have to say about this one. Even though it might seem insignificant, it’s actually a feature we’ve been yearning for since the original iPad. Unlike our smartphones, which are personal to us, tablets are meant to be shared amongst family members and friends. So naturally, we’re thrilled to find that Android 4.2 brings forth support for multiple users – giving each user the ability to personalize the UI of the platform and taking ownership of specific media content.

Notifications and connectivity panels are separate:

On the Nexus 4, the notifications panel also provides access to some of the handset’s connectivity features – as well as being able to modify the screen’s brightness. However, with the Nexus 10, the two are separated. Swiping down from the top-left bezel brings us the usual notifications panel, but in order to access the connectivity features, it’s available by swiping down from the top-right bezel.

Overall, we see Google’s stance of resorting to a very minimalistic layout with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. It doesn’t have the same futuristic look of Honeycomb, which can be perceived as good or bad on a case by case basis, but at the same time, it doesn’t have a cartoony look either. Basically, it has that perfect blend to make the transition from a smartphone to tablet seamless – or vice versa. However, there are still some bugs found with the software because we’ve experienced our fair share of lockups and restarts.

Functionality:

Generally speaking, the usual trove of organizer apps have maintained their form and function – with no drastic change with any of them. With this being a tablet and all, it’s fitting that things like the Calendar and People app are presented in a paneled view, but for others like the Calculator and Clock apps, they merely look like stretched out versions of their smartphone counterparts – such as bummer to say the least!


Being a part of the 10-inch and above tablet category, the Nexus 10’s stock Android 4.2 keyboard is ideally best suited for landscape usage – primarily because of its spacious confines. Also, it helps that it’s super responsive as well. If tapping each button is too old school for you, then you can opt to use the alternative gesture based input it has to offer. Meanwhile, with its portrait style option, it’s a bit too wide to properly use with minimal frustration because our thumbs really need to stretch to encompass its entire layout. Alternatively, it features Swype-like gestures to input text as well.

Without missing a beat, the email experience is always a satisfying one on the Nexus 10 – not surprisingly. Well, the only new item found with this latest build of Android is the ability to archive messages in the inbox by swiping left/right on them. Quick and easy folks! Aside from that, everything else remains the same.



Processor and Memory:

Sometimes we forget, but higher resolution displays require a pinch more processing power to maintain that lovely level of performance. When so many top notch devices sport quad-core processors, some might be irked to know that the Nexus 10 opts to employ a dual-core 1.7GHz ARM Cortex A15 based Exynos 5 chip with 2GB of RAM – albeit, it’s aided by its quad-core Mali-T604 GPU. Performance is good, which is expected with the optimizations with Project Butter, but it’s not without some flaws. Basic tasks are quickly executed with barely any fuss, but when multiple processes are occurring, it exhibits some noticeable lag with its performance. It’s not terrible or anything, but merely something that catches our eye. Taking a quick glance at its benchmark scores, they’re nothing to boast about.

	Quadrant Standard	AnTuTu	NenaMark 2
Google Nexus 10	4446	8954	55,4
Google Nexus 7	3599	0	55,7
Asus Transformer Pad Infinity	4204	12693	39,6
Lenovo IdeaTab S2110A	4782	7037	58,9

Unfortunately, the Nexus 10 doesn't feature a microSD card slot, which some may not like. Instead, the device comes in two internal storage flavors: 16GB or 32GB.

Internet and Connectivity:

Surfing the web via Wi-Fi connections only, we’re naturally pleased by the Nexus 10’s performance with the Chrome browser. As expected, it loads up complex pages in a good amount of time – while its smooth navigational controls and proper rendering help to make the experience fittingly pleasant.


From the onset, the Google Nexus 10 is available in Wi-Fi form only – with no indication if we’ll see cellular connected versions. Rounding out its connectivity features, it packs aGPS, Bluetooth 3.0, and NFC.

Camera:

Regarded as a “fuller” tablet offering than the Nexus 7, this is outfitted with a rear 5-megapixel camera with LED flash – ready at an arm’s length if nothing else in sight is available to capture the moment. Checking out the interface, there’s a dramatic departure from the previous version’s layout, and in fact, it’s essentially the same one found on the Nexus 4 smartphone. Indeed it’s minimalistic and uncluttered, with few manual and shooting modes available, but somehow we were expecting an interface a bit different than its smartphone counterpart. Nevertheless, it brings forth the new feature of “Photo Sphere” that stiches up images together to give us a neat 360-degree first perspective view.


Knowing that we’re dealing with a tablet here, we can’t complain much about the quality put out by the 5-megapixel snapper of the Nexus 10 – mainly because it delivers some pleasant shots, for a tablet of course. Details are average looking, as it maintains a consistent level of clarity throughout the shot, but colors seems a bit dull and devoid, which is noticeably more evident when the flash is in use. Although it’s not as pleasing, its low lighting performance is still tolerable – though, images tend to be noisier in tone.


Likewise, we can say the same about its 1080p video recording quality, which is neither impressive or downright ugly. Rather, it’s comforting to know that details are average, audio recording quality is clear & noise free, and that it records at the smooth rate of 29 frames per second. Otherwise, the distractive elements of its quality include noticeable artifacting and its sensitive exposure adjustment. As a whole, we’d prefer using a smartphone over this, but for a last resort, we wouldn’t flinch to use it.

Google Nexus 10 Sample Video:



Multimedia:

Previewing some of our photos in the gallery, Android 4.2 Jelly Bean now throws in some cool editing functions that make it fun to jazzy up our photos. From a handful of filter options to various frames, there’s a high level of optimization that’s available to us in the Gallery app. Besides that, all the sharing functions are intact with it – so as its typical layout and presentation.


So what can we say about its music player, since it’s the same old Google Play Music app we’re normally exposed to? Well, despite the lack of donning a new interface, we’re still attracted to its cool 3D carousel when browsing through our catalog, but beyond that, there’s nothing much to experience. With the aid of its left and right speakers, the Nexus 10 delivers audio tones that are punchy and full of life – without any evidence of strain or distortion. Additionally, it helps when there are various equalizer settings to enhance its quality.


Even though it might be tough to find videos that are higher than 1080p resolution, the Nexus 10 is a fantastic option for watching all sorts of videos on the go. However, out of the box, it’s only able to support our test videos that are encoded in MPEG-4 and H264 – with DivX and Xvid noticeably absent. Nevertheless, there’s plenty to like about its performance. From its smooth playback to the sheer brilliance of its high resolution display, our eyes are glued to the screen at every moment during the experience.



Software:

Such a common occurrence with all Nexus devices, there are no bloatware apps preloaded on the Nexus 10 – rightfully so of course. Instead, we’re treated to all of Google’s popular apps that consist of Google Earth, Google+, Local, Google Maps, Google+ Messenger, Play Books, Play Magazine, Google Talk, Google Voice Search, Google Wallet, and YouTube. In general, though, it’s lacking the depth of tablet-optimized third party apps that the iPad offers, which is clearly evident in apps like Twitter and Facebook. At this point, we’re hoping to see more of these popular third party apps becoming optimized.

Performance:

Testing out the strength of its Wi-Fi connection, it’s able to retain a solid connection with a wireless router that’s located approximately 30 feet away in another room. Furthermore, we didn’t see its signal strength greatly fluctuating in the same locations.

Battery:

Surmising it can be related to optimizations with Android 4.2 or the new dual-core Exynos chipset it’s using, but the Nexus 10 delivers one great battery life in our testing. So much so that we’re able to get nearly 2 whole days of normal usage with its fully charged 9,000 mAh battery, which is amazing considering it’s sporting that super high resolution display and whatnot. However, it’s worth pointing out that the rear of the tablet gets a bit toasty after prolonged usage.

Conclusion:

It lacks the razor sharp design of Asus’ top line Android tablets or the extended wealth of functionality available with the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1, but hot damn, there’s no arguing that the Google Nexus 10 triumphs over them with its hard to believe price point of $399! Considering that it’s featuring the highest resolution display to grace a tablet thus far, it’s absolutely hard to fathom how it’s priced the way it is. Instead, the Google Nexus 10 is seriously bringing the heat this upcoming holiday season.

Looking at the bigger picture, it’s one tablet that consumers will need to consider if they’re in the market to buy a tablet. Previous to this, the newest iPad seemed like the well-rounded offering since it pushed the threshold with its Retina Display, but Google and Samsung has triumphed in setting the bar even higher – and in a short amount of time too! Even though we would’ve liked to see just smidgen of difference between the presentation style of Android 4.2 on this tablet over the Nexus 4, we’re grateful to find the few that are there – like the support of multiple users. Now that the bar has been established at what a $400 tablet can offer, the Nexus 10 can sit and ride out the remaining couple of months left in the year as being the jack of all trades in the tablet realm.

Software version of the review unit:
Android Version: 4.2
Build Number: JOP40C
Kernel Version: 3.4.5-g4e6298b