The
rumours turned out to be true: Google and HTC have teamed up for the
next generation of Nexus tablet, which falls conveniently between the
sizes of earlier models, adopting the familiar 8.9-inch form factor
that's been a staple of Apple's product line since 2010.
While it may be unfair to compare the Nexus 9 to an iPad Air, that's exactly what Google and HTC will be doing when the new tablet starts racking up pre-orders in the US this Friday — but they'll also have a legion of mobile fans eager to get their hands on the sweet new flavour of Android 5.0 Lollipop as well.
To get a sense of how the forthcoming model fares against Google's earlier tablet offerings, we sat down and compared the Nexus 9 with last year's new Nexus 7 and the search giant's earlier attempt at a big-screen slate, Nexus 10. Here's what we discovered:
While it may be unfair to compare the Nexus 9 to an iPad Air, that's exactly what Google and HTC will be doing when the new tablet starts racking up pre-orders in the US this Friday — but they'll also have a legion of mobile fans eager to get their hands on the sweet new flavour of Android 5.0 Lollipop as well.
To get a sense of how the forthcoming model fares against Google's earlier tablet offerings, we sat down and compared the Nexus 9 with last year's new Nexus 7 and the search giant's earlier attempt at a big-screen slate, Nexus 10. Here's what we discovered:
The
big news for Nexus 9 buyers is that Google has adopted the more
squarish form factor made popular by Apple's iPad, featuring an 8.9-inch
QXGA IPS LCD display that packs 2048x1536 pixels into a 4:3 aspect
ratio.
That's a distinct departure from the 7.02-inch, 1920x1200p IPS display found on the Nexus 7 (2013) manufactured by Asus, which made watching 1080p HD movies and TV shows a real pleasure thanks to its taller 16:9 aspect ratio and 323ppi resolution.
The Nexus 9 also falls short of Samsung-made big-screen Nexus 10, which featured a 10.055-inch diagonal WQXGA screen with a lower 300ppi, despite the increased 2560x1600 pixel resolution.
That's a distinct departure from the 7.02-inch, 1920x1200p IPS display found on the Nexus 7 (2013) manufactured by Asus, which made watching 1080p HD movies and TV shows a real pleasure thanks to its taller 16:9 aspect ratio and 323ppi resolution.
The Nexus 9 also falls short of Samsung-made big-screen Nexus 10, which featured a 10.055-inch diagonal WQXGA screen with a lower 300ppi, despite the increased 2560x1600 pixel resolution.
There
aren't a whole lot of ways tablets can differentiate themselves from
one another, but HTC has come up with a few interesting design choices
for the Nexus 9, including a thin bezel with brushed metal sides and a
soft grip back offered in a trio of eye-pleasing colours (Indigo Black,
Lunar White and Sand).
Last year's Nexus 7 looks quite modest by comparison, with a nearly pocketable 114x200x8.65mm frame weighing only 290gram in black or white; both models feature a thicker bezel at the top and bottom, although the Nexus 7 remains the more unsightly of the duo.
Speaking of bezel, there's plenty to be found on the Nexus 10, a somewhat unsightly beast of a tablet with its 263.9x177.6x8.9mm frame that tips the scales at 603gram versus the Nexus 9's positively svelte 153.68x228.25x7.95mm, which weighs a mere 425gram with Wi-Fi-only or 436gram with LTE cellular radios added.
Last year's Nexus 7 looks quite modest by comparison, with a nearly pocketable 114x200x8.65mm frame weighing only 290gram in black or white; both models feature a thicker bezel at the top and bottom, although the Nexus 7 remains the more unsightly of the duo.
Speaking of bezel, there's plenty to be found on the Nexus 10, a somewhat unsightly beast of a tablet with its 263.9x177.6x8.9mm frame that tips the scales at 603gram versus the Nexus 9's positively svelte 153.68x228.25x7.95mm, which weighs a mere 425gram with Wi-Fi-only or 436gram with LTE cellular radios added.
Nexus
9 isn't just making headlines for its good looks: HTC also plans to
make a splash with the first 64-bit processor to be found inside a
Nexus-branded device (take that, Nexus 6), courtesy of a Nvidia Tegra K1
Dual Denver processor clocked at 2.3GHz with a 192-core Kepler GPU
thrown in for good measure.
That kind of onboard power is likely to run circles around last year's Nexus 7, whose quad-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro and 400MHz Adreno 320 GPU seem downright quaint by today's standards.
There's also CPU power to spare when compared to the dual-core ARM Cortex-A15 Exynos 5 Dual that keeps the Nexus 10 humming — which is no match for the raw 64-bit power of the Nexus 9, especially with a decidedly meager Mali-T604 GPU on the larger device.
That kind of onboard power is likely to run circles around last year's Nexus 7, whose quad-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro and 400MHz Adreno 320 GPU seem downright quaint by today's standards.
There's also CPU power to spare when compared to the dual-core ARM Cortex-A15 Exynos 5 Dual that keeps the Nexus 10 humming — which is no match for the raw 64-bit power of the Nexus 9, especially with a decidedly meager Mali-T604 GPU on the larger device.
By
sheer size alone, Nexus 10 trumps all contenders with an absolutely
mammoth 9,000mAh Lithium polymer battery, although the 6,700mAh pack
powering the Nexus 9 rises to the challenge anyway.
Google and HTC are touting up to 30 days of Wi-Fi or LTE standby time with the Nexus 9, and up to 9.5 hours of video playback or Wi-Fi web browsing (shave off an hour for browsing over LTE, however).
Still, the Nexus 7 also boasted up to 9 hours of "active use" from a mere 3,950mAh battery, and even managed to include Qi-compatible wireless charging for good measure — a feature neither Nexus 9 nor Nexus 10 can muster.
Google and HTC are touting up to 30 days of Wi-Fi or LTE standby time with the Nexus 9, and up to 9.5 hours of video playback or Wi-Fi web browsing (shave off an hour for browsing over LTE, however).
Still, the Nexus 7 also boasted up to 9 hours of "active use" from a mere 3,950mAh battery, and even managed to include Qi-compatible wireless charging for good measure — a feature neither Nexus 9 nor Nexus 10 can muster.
Nexus-branded
hardware has rarely been known for impressive optical prowess when it
comes to taking pictures or shooting video — after all, Nexus 10 and
last year's Nexus 7 featured a marginal 5MP rear-facing camera, with
1.9MP on the former and 1.2MP on the latter around front.
HTC and Google appear committed to ditching that reputation with the Nexus 9 however, courtesy of an 8MP rear camera with auto-focus and LED flash plus a 1.6MP front camera, both capable of f/2.4; we'll remain skeptics until our review goes live, but for now it's a step in the right direction.
HTC and Google appear committed to ditching that reputation with the Nexus 9 however, courtesy of an 8MP rear camera with auto-focus and LED flash plus a 1.6MP front camera, both capable of f/2.4; we'll remain skeptics until our review goes live, but for now it's a step in the right direction.
As
one might imagine, Nexus 9 packs the latest and greatest technology,
including a Gorilla Glass 3 display with a unique double tap to wake
feature plus quad-band GSM and CDMA, penta-band HSPA and LTE and
802.11ac 2x2 (MIMO), all of which should produce faster wireless
connectivity than earlier Nexus tablets.
By comparison, the dual-band 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi found on the Nexus 7 looks lacking a few features, while Nexus 10 at least improved things slightly with the addition of MIMO+HT40 wireless; both models feature older variations of Corning's Gorilla Glass, however.
HTC has also equipped Nexus 9 with dual front-facing BoomSound speakers, dual microphones, NFC Bluetooth 4.1 and a magnetometer, all of which make Android 5.0 Lollipop a much tastier treat than older models; Google will also be offering a magnetically attached keyboard case for the Nexus 9.
Some things never change, however: All three Nexus tablets feature 2GB of RAM, with either 16 or 32GB of internal storage with no opportunity to add more, which seems like a lost opportunity in this era of the 128GB iPad.
By comparison, the dual-band 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi found on the Nexus 7 looks lacking a few features, while Nexus 10 at least improved things slightly with the addition of MIMO+HT40 wireless; both models feature older variations of Corning's Gorilla Glass, however.
HTC has also equipped Nexus 9 with dual front-facing BoomSound speakers, dual microphones, NFC Bluetooth 4.1 and a magnetometer, all of which make Android 5.0 Lollipop a much tastier treat than older models; Google will also be offering a magnetically attached keyboard case for the Nexus 9.
Some things never change, however: All three Nexus tablets feature 2GB of RAM, with either 16 or 32GB of internal storage with no opportunity to add more, which seems like a lost opportunity in this era of the 128GB iPad.
We're
pretty much declaring the Nexus 9 a winner based on specs alone,
although there's one downside for Nexus 7 fans: A larger price to match
the bigger display, putting Nexus 9 on equal footing with the Nexus 10
at $399 for the base model compared to a wallet-friendly $229 for the
smaller model.
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