The Google Nexus 10 was an
entirely expected model that rocked up on the shelves in late 2012,
taking on the iPad in the 10-inch segment and joining the Google Nexus 7 on the virtual Play Store shelves.
With a stunning screen, fun rubber body and a lower price, is this the tablet you should be craving?
It wasn't going to be an easy fight for Google; the iPad has always been in a league of its own and had a serious head start, but Google wasn't entering the fray unprepared.
At £319 for the 16GB model the Google Nexus 10 is £80 cheaper than the equivalent iPad Air.
In fact even the 32GB model, with its price tag of £389 comes in at
slightly under a 16GB iPad Air and it's far cheaper than a 32GB one.
Don't
think that just because it's relatively cheap it's not a premium,
powerhouse device though. With a retina-searing 10.05-inch 2560 x 1600
Super PLS display, it's even higher resolution than the latest iPad,
with 300ppi against the iPad Air's 264ppi.
With a display that beautiful it's reassuring to know that it uses Corning Gorilla Glass 2 to keep it in pristine condition.
It's
no slouch under the hood either. With a dual-core 1.7GHz Samsung Exynos
processor and 2GB of RAM, it should just about be able to keep up with
the latest Android devices, though it's starting to look a bit long in
the tooth compared to the likes of the quad-core Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet.
Initially launched running Android 4.2 Jelly Bean out of the box, the 'pure Google' tab has since seen three OS updates spanning Android 4.2.2 right through to Android 4.4 KitKat, which made its way to the device in the early part of this year.
While
the minor update to Android 4.2.2 didn't bring that much to the table
(since it's mostly just bug fixes and stability enhancements).
The
introduction of Jelly Bean saw all manner of improvements manifesting
themselves on the Nexus 10, most notably the option to tweak settings at
user level. The option to lock individual apps through 'personal
spaces' was one of the most well-received bits of functionality brought
along version 4.3.
More
noticeable upgrades came in the form of camera improvements and Open GL
ES 3.0, which allowed VOD streaming at 1080p over a cellular data
connection.
'So far, so good'
was the general sentiment and it's even more pleasing (if not hugely
surprising) to see Google shovelling its latest platform out to the
Nexus 10. Yes, it may be getting on a bit these days but the Nexus range
was, after all, created to show off the latest and greatest Android
iterations...
It's
a similar tactic to the one used for the Google Nexus 7 - produce
top-end hardware at the lowest price possible to get people buying. It's
even learned a few lessons from the Nexus 7, since this time Google
isn't bothering with a cripplingly small 8GB model and is making a 32GB
version available from day one.
But
opting for a dual-core processor rather than a quad-core one was a
little surprising, and while it's a lot less money than the latest iPad,
the Google Nexus 10 could hardly be called cheap. So perhaps in this
case it's high-end hardware at a not unreasonable price, which somehow
doesn't have quite the same ring to it.
Early
sales of the Google Nexus 10 were extremely promising. Despite the
slightly higher price tag compared to some other Android tablets on the
market, the Nexus 10 has sold out on Google's Play Store on multiple
occasions, with buyers clearly entranced by the super high resolution
screen and larger dimensions.
Unfortunately
for those who like to lug massive tablets around on the go or stream
content until their heart's content, the much-talked about 3G or 4G
variant never actually materialised.
In
the months that have passed since this review was first published
however, speculation has mounted over when the next Nexus 10 will appear
and what it'll have under its sizeable hood, with the latest rumours
suggesting all manner of improvements are on the way.
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