Canadians now have more solid alternatives to the iPhone, iPad, and iPad mini to choose from, thanks to Google.
Hurricane Sandy put a damper on Google’s big launch event in New York City, but the company clearly couldn’t contain its excitement. Today, a slew of brand new Nexus devices were unveiled: a pair of upgraded Nexus 7 tablets, the beastly Nexus 10, and the quad-core Nexus 4 smartphone. And this time, Canadians have access to the whole line-up.
Let’s start with a quick look at the Nexus 7, the one device we could previously buy from Google Play. The 16GB version has moved down to the entry-level $209 price point and a new 32GB model now stands in its place at $259. There’s also a second 32GB Nexus 7 that comes with HSPA+ support, which only costs an additional $50. On the iPad mini, Apple dings you $130 for 4G LTE connectivity.
And if a 7-inch tablet just doesn’t fit into your tablet-purchasing plans, there’s the Nexus 10. Yes, it’s got a 10-inch display, but this one features an iPad-crushing resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels. Its 300PPI puts the Nexus 10′s screen more in line with high-def smartphones than the Retina iPad, which has a 264PPI display. Google has also topped it off with a thin slice of Corning’s Gorilla Glass 2 for added durability.
So what else does the Nexus 10 have to offer besides a crystal-clear display? It’s powered by a Samsung Exynos 5450 processor, a powerful new chip and one of the first based on ARM’s Cortex-A15 architecture to hit the market (it’s also used in the new Samsung Chromebook). The tablet PC also packs 2GB of RAM, 802.11N Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and NFC radios, 2MP front- and 5MP rear-facing cameras, and a whole slew of sensors (GPS, accelerometer, compass, ambient light, gyroscope, and a barometer). There are two models to choose from, a 16GB Nexus 10 for $409 and a 32GB for $509. Another model with a 3G modem is coming next month, but pricing hasn’t been revealed yet.
The Nexus 4 is LG’s first crack at a Nexus device, and it’s the first Nexus phone to go on sale in the Google Play store in Canada. LG opted to use the zippy Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro chip to power the Nexus 4, and it won’t disappoint power users. It’s capable of some pretty impressive benchmark scores and it performs just as well in the real world, tearing through browsing, apps, and games with ease.
As for the all-important display, it measures 4.7 inches on the diagonal and packs 1280×720 like most top-notch smartphones. It’s fully unlocked, and supports GSM,UMTS, and HSPA+ networks (again no LTE) — just bring your own SIM card. Other key features include 2MP and 8MP cameras, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi (MIMO), NFC for Android Beam sharing (and soon mobile payments, too), and an inductive charger, that those who remember the Palm Pre will find oddly familiar.
Here’s the big knock on the Nexus 4: it’s only available in two capacities, 8GB and 16GB. That’s not a lot of space, especially since the Nexus 4 stays true to its roots and skips a microSD expansion slot. Then again, the 8GB version sells for just $309 off-contract on Google Play and the 16GB model is just $50 more. The 16GB iPhone 5 costs twice that much ($699 from Apple) here in Canada. And apart from being a whole lot cheaper, the Nexus 4 ships with Google Maps installed (sorry Apple – couldn’t resist).
Two other details worth knowing about the Nexus 10 and Nexus 4 is that they’re the first Nexus devices with HDMI output, and they’re also both running Android 4.2. The updated OS includes Google’s new gesture-based keyboard (similar to Swype), lockscreen widgets, omni-directional panorama mode in the camera app, and even support for multiple users profiles on tablets. Yes, now you can let your kids use your Android device without worrying about them messing up your own painstakingly-customized account. Sony introduced their own version of this feature on their recently refreshed Xperia Tablet S, and we think it’s a great addition.
What do you think about the new Nexus devices, Sync readers? At these prices, and with these specs, will Google give Apple a run for its money?
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