Nexus 7 (2013) review

As you’d expect, this makes black-on-white text, and vector-based apps such as Maps, look absolutely pristine. Video content and games look bold and bright, too: we measured a searing maximum brightness of 489cd/m2, and a stark contrast ratio of 1,111:1.

The colour temperature of 7120K on our test model verged slightly on the cool side, but not enough to suck the warmth out of the picture. In fact, our only real problem was that, as with Apple’s iPad, a screen this sharp tends to expose the weaknesses of the countless low-resolution, artefacted JPEGs you’ll find online.

On top of this, the new Nexus 7 brings a new 5-megapixel rear-facing autofocus camera, to partner the fixed-focus 1.2-megapixel front-facing one. Images from the rear camera are a little cold and noisy, but quality is fine for snapshots. You also get support for Bluetooth 4, “SlimPort” HDMI (although compatible adaptors aren’t yet widely available) and Qi wireless charging – plus, as before, GPS, NFC and dual-band 802.11n Wi-Fi.

With all this hardware stuffed into such a slim case, you might expect power consumption to be a weak point. The 3,950mAh rating of the internal battery is indeed below average, yet impressively the device lasted 11hrs 48mins in our standard battery tests.

That’s 1hr 10mins short of the Asus Fonepad, and 47 minutes short of the Barnes & Noble Nook HD, but well ahead of most other compacts. For comparison, the original 2012 Nexus 7 managed only 8hrs 48mins.

If you want to find niggles with the Nexus 7, you can. For a start, there’s no microSD card slot. The speakers aren’t very loud, and their low-end response is distinctly lacking. The power and volume buttons at the right-hand side are set almost flush with the case, making them awkward to press. And although the original Nexus 7 seemed like incredible value at the time, the new model looks distinctly premium-priced next to its rivals – especially Barnes & Noble’s £99 8GB Nook HD.

What you get for that premium, however, is a superlative piece of hardware. It’s the fastest, lightest, thinnest, narrowest, highest-DPI compact Android tablet – and because it’s a Nexus, you know the OS will be supported for the foreseeable future, while not getting bogged down by third-party “enhancements”. If you want a cheap and capable tablet, the Nook HD is still a tremendously tempting bargain. If you’re in the market for something more elegant, more capable and more future-proof, however, the new Nexus 7 is more or less irresistible.