Database Develop

Google Nexus 7 - All in One Reviews [Unboxings, Build Quality, Camera, Benchmarks...]

Please Read First:
Introduction
Hi everyone! So basically in this thread i wish to cover everything that one would want to know about the Google Nexus 7! I have a youtube channel which i plan to make the reviews on and embedd them here. I will basically try to cover the Nexus 7 as much in detail as possible. Hopefully my series of videos will help you truly to get to know this device and help you in the decision to spend your hard earned money on this device or save it for something better. All Reviews here are my opinions and may differ from your so i encourage you to tell me how you feel about the nexus 7 by leaving a reply to this thread or on my youtube video page.
A bit about myself:
I am an Android user currently. I started using Android about a year back and since then have learnt almost everything Android threw at me. So i have rooted and unbricked and installed tons of ROMs for myself and my friends. I am by no means a developer although I am currently learning to program in Java. I have also got the chance to work with many Android devices in the past year. You can find the list in my signature. I personally have never used Apple devices(i like them but find them very limiting, expensive and overrated)! After a year of using Android devices i have ended up with the Nexus 7 and thought i would help the community by making a series of Videos dedicated to the Nexus 7. Hopefully this series will help the people to decide if the Nexus 7 is the right device for them in the wide world of Android. My previous device was the Galaxy Note N7000!
Reviews Completed So Far:
Unboxing
Camera Recording Test
Camera Application
Benchmarks
Build Quality
Reviews Still To Come:
Jelly Bean + User Interface
USB OTG + Storage Alternatives
Battery Life
Display
Gaming - Shadowgun
Gaming - Asphalt 6
Gaming - Dead Trigger
Should You Buy?
Note: I will Look To Cover Anything The Community Asks for so Dont Hesitate to Ask for Something In Particular
Note: I will also be updating this thread with the latest Video Reviews so stay tuned to the thread or subscribe to my youtube channel.
Review 1 - Unboxing
Review 2 - Camera Application
Review 3 - Camera Recording Test
Review 4 - Build Quality
Review 5 - Benchmarks
Review 6 - Battery Life (Upcoming)

Off-Forum but look at this!

Look at this mobile and give your opinions, May I will get 1
http://www.google.com.sa/url?sa=t&r...se6K0kzrNsOzkThPA&sig2=VyI2xxdbHpcDxJIbCSknuA
BYOND B63

pkb_always4u said:
Look at this mobile and give your opinions, May I will get 1
http://www.google.com.sa/url?sa=t&r...se6K0kzrNsOzkThPA&sig2=VyI2xxdbHpcDxJIbCSknuA
BYOND B63
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not HTC One x design at all.

pkb_always4u said:
Look at this mobile and give your opinions, May I will get 1
http://www.google.com.sa/url?sa=t&r...se6K0kzrNsOzkThPA&sig2=VyI2xxdbHpcDxJIbCSknuA
BYOND B63
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm looks interesting but even with ratings and costumers giving it great feedback.........I highly doubt that the one who buys it will get support from the company.
Not saying I wouldn't buy it but I am a HTC user since the HD2 ( had to drop off nokia because of symbian then ) and I have it since then it was launched.
But for now my EVO 3D handels my needs
Sent from my shooteru using xda premium

If I will be product adviser of any company then my product will have these :
1) 4.5 HD screen with 350 ppi with gorilla glass 2
2) 1.5 GHz quadcore snapdragon
3) mali 400 quadcore
4) 8 mp primary camera with full HD
5) 2 mp secondry camera with 720p
6) full rooted JB with CWM and drivers free to download for developers/buyers (after a contract breach like HTC )
7) Innovative launcher that replaces oldschool drawer and home screen concept.
Hope any company's representative will hire me or see my post

tab s reviews

I've been reading on some new and not so new reviews from sites like gsmarena, phonearena, androidcentral, android authority engadget etc. And all the reviews have been glowing except for the verge well because it's theverge lol. Do u guys agree with most of the reviews?

I agree about the display, to an extent. The black are great on Netflix and the movie Gravity (Galaxy Gift), but when you watch streaming services from Cable provider, (Comcast Xfinity), the blacks have extreme Pixelation and ghosting. It gets so bad that it's annoying and ruins the whole viewing experience.

isnt that comcast's fault though?
So far no alarmingly bad review so im excited to pick this baby up along with a gear fit

avenging said:
isnt that comcast's fault though?
So far no alarmingly bad review so im excited to pick this baby up along with a gear fit
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It shouldn't be. The movies and TV shows are broadcast in HD. it works fine on my Asus Infinity Transformer. I read that the Netflix and youtube apps were optimized for this device.
So I have a feeling all other media will suffer.

xRevilatioNx said:
It shouldn't be. The movies and TV shows are broadcast in HD. it works fine on my Asus Infinity Transformer. I read that the Netflix and youtube apps were optimized for this device.
So I have a feeling all other media will suffer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ah i see well lets hope that gets tackled too in newer reviews but i remember josh from android authority watched breaking bad on it and he seemed to not have any issues.
by the way, how do you like the color scheme? gsmarena says its kinda gaudy but in android central forums they say the bronze is nice

I just streamed the latest Star Trek movie on Netflix and it was absolutely gorgeous. Same thing with Avengers. Remember you need to give the player about 30 seconds to buffer before judging the picture quality. Once the full HD buffers it looks amazing. HD YouTube content is also glorious.
---------- Post added at 09:38 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:36 AM ----------
The Verge can write an entire review talking about how perfect and amazing something is then end up docking it two stars because it ISN'T APPLE. CNET is same way. According to these guys you would think the single most important feature of a tablet is what the back of the damned thing is made of.

I love the tab but hate the gold/gray....better than white...but why the tacky gold?????

As I said in my previous post. Youtube and Netflix have been optimized for this device. So the picture is going to be amazing. It's other streaming and video services that may suffer. Such as my Xfinity Go App, Crackle . All the blacks gets extreme Pixelation and ghosting. It's horrible

suzook said:
I love the tab but hate the gold/gray....better than white...but why the tacky gold?????
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At first I thought the same about the gold but now I don't even notice it. I have a white 10.5 with titanium book cover and honestly it looks pretty good.
Remember this tablet is made by Asians and Asians love gold. I think they did it to get away from the "cheap materials" moniker. Also to make it look different than the Pro line.

8.4 ESPN Go
Watching ESPN waiting on the game, the picture is gorgeous. Go USA!

this ipad lover gave it a very good review :highfive:
http://www.itproportal.com/reviews/...eed:+itproportal/rss+(Latest+ITProPortal+News)

The reviews that "count" are the ones from real users at retail sites like BestBuy. Right now the Tab S 10.5 is getting 4.9 out of 5 stars with about 40 or so reviews in. If you know BestBuy, scoring anywhere close to a perfect 5.0 is rare.
Most of these guys that do reviews for tech sites have an altar to iPad in their bedroom at home. And yeah, TheVerge hates everything, lol. I've seen them give a review with nothing but superlatives thoughout then in their conclusion call the device "disappointing" and give it 7.5 stars. They enjoy being snobs.

mitchellvii said:
The reviews that "count" are the ones from real users at retail sites like BestBuy. Right now the Tab S 10.5 is getting 4.9 out of 5 stars with about 40 or so reviews in. If you know BestBuy, scoring anywhere close to a perfect 5.0 is rare.
Most of these guys that do reviews for tech sites have an altar to iPad in their bedroom at home. And yeah, TheVerge hates everything, lol. I've seen them give a review with nothing but superlatives thoughout then in their conclusion call the device "disappointing" and give it 7.5 stars. They enjoy being snobs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i think the verge dislikes any product unless it has the apple logo on it lol

avenging said:
isnt that comcast's fault though?
So far no alarmingly bad review so im excited to pick this baby up along with a gear fit
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, it's Samsung GPU not processing the HD video properly. It's not only comcast but there are other websites that's showing this on the tab s too. My iPad displays all the same video just fine. I hope it's just software and Samsung will have a fix in it's next update because I'm a tv show buff and this is not acceptable for such a beautiful amoled tablet.

Yeah and the verge knock a star off Samsung tabs for being "too pricey" when there the same price as the iPad which has less specs but they never mention the price on them. Isheel
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

NixxonExxo said:
Nope, it's Samsung GPU not processing the HD video properly. It's not only comcast but there are other websites that's showing this on the tab s too. My iPad displays all the same video just fine. I hope it's just software and Samsung will have a fix in it's next update because I'm a tv show buff and this is not acceptable for such a beautiful amoled tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you're seeing the ghosting and Pixelation (in dark scenes) on third party apps?

another positive review
http://www.mensjournal.com/gear/electronics/a-legitimate-ipad-mini-competitor-20140718
Im impressed so far almost all the reviews are positive (reminds me of galaxy S2 again)

NixxonExxo said:
Nope, it's Samsung GPU not processing the HD video properly. It's not only comcast but there are other websites that's showing this on the tab s too. My iPad displays all the same video just fine. I hope it's just software and Samsung will have a fix in it's next update because I'm a tv show buff and this is not acceptable for such a beautiful amoled tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So far on YouTube, Netflix and Hulu my 10.5 GPU has performed flawlessly. That leads me to believe this problem is only a software patch away as the GPU is well up to the task with many popular streaming sites.
Quote from the Men's Journal review above:
Compared with the iPad mini with Retina display, the Tab S - even with a higher resolution - never felt sluggish. We put it to the test by reading the entire book Unbroken using the Google Play app. The result? No raging headache. Even movies looked better: The Liam Neeson thriller Non-Stop had more vibrant colors than an iPad mini, which we watched*side-by-side with the Samsung during the same action scene. Once the movie started, the display became brighter and more saturated, maintaining its clear picture*both indoors*and out. You can thank the tablet's Super AMOLED display and its adaptive features, which streamline the switch*between a movie and a book without having to manually adjust the way the screen looks (brightness, colors, saturation)*every time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Although I do not doubt the honesty of those experiencing lag, stutter and generally poor performance, I think the feedback from the marketplace is telling us this may be isolated and by my guess, the result of a bad batch of parts. The percentage of those experiencing problems in this forum while still a minority is probably disproportionately large as those having problems come to forums such as these seeking help while those who are satisfied do not.

so I've used the xfinity app and watched some stuff and honestly my black levels look fine, just like Netflix does...
Sent from my SM-T700 using Tapatalk

jayochs said:
so I've used the xfinity app and watched some stuff and honestly my black levels look fine, just like Netflix does...
Sent from my SM-T700 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Penny Dreadful is where I saw it at its worse. It was horrible.

Hows the phone??

I have ordered 6gb variant hows this phone???
Battery: ?/10
Display: ?/10
Development: ?/10
Camera: ?/10
Heating: ?/10

ZeroVirus said:
I have ordered 6gb variant hows this phone???
Battery: 10/10
Display: 5/10
Development: 3/10
Camera: 5/10
Heating: 10/10
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not necessarily the criteria I would be interested but above is my take. The phone is OK performance wise but is an amazing deal with the current prices ($135-150).

sleze said:
Not necessarily the criteria I would be interested but above is my take. The phone is OK performance wise but is an amazing deal with the current prices ($135-150).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you talking about the 6gb variant the OP is asking about?

ZeroVirus said:
I have ordered 6gb variant hows this phone???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Battery: ?
Display: ?
Development: ?
Camera: ?
Heating: ?
If you were asking about 4 GB variant, perhaps there would be some numbers instead of question marks. And although the phones act quite similarly with different amount of RAM, it seems that the senior member "jhedfors" believes otherwise, making thus advicing pretty much pointless as the 6 GB version is quite a rare one.

Battery 8/10 but on standby it looses about 4% over night.
Display 7/10 u have to play around with the color mode settings in display to get it to your liking
Development 5/10. Doesn't seem like there will be much development in a years time.
Camera 5/10 the pics are ok at best.
Heating 10/10 it really keeps it's cool

I haven't used the phone yet but I can probably say this much. This is for the XT1900-1.
Development: 7/10 - not the biggest thriving community around but there were a number of roms that people are enjoying that came out within the last for months for pie including
Havoc: https://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-x4/development/rom-moto-x4-t3890346
Pixel: https://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-x4/development/rom-pixel-experience-t3876195
Lineage 16 (BETA): https://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-x4/development/rom-lineage-16-0-developer-preview-t3849699
Lesser known/used ROMS:
Arrow: https://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-x4/development/arrow-osunofficial-t3888730
Viper: https://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-x4/development/rom-viper-os-6-0-pie-t3894651
PLEASE read, then re-read how to use these roms as it's not the most straightforward process.
Here is my process, but I haven't tested it yet
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=78978406&postcount=860
To my knowledge, VoLTE should be working with custom roms but wifi calling will not (wifi calling is only on T-Mobile BTW).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The other part of development is the GCam app, which currently there are a number of ports for this phone as there is no single best app yet.
Recently, the development teams have been able to enable the wide angle lens, but there are a number of bugs to still iron out.
Example One: https://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-x4/how-to/guide-x4-camera-gcam-hdr-night-sight-t3874674
Example Two: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=78957227&postcount=73
Example Three: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=78985555&postcount=190
This should bump up the camera score to maybe ~7 as well.

dougo007 said:
I haven't used the phone yet but I can probably say this much. This is for the XT1900-1.
Development: 7/10 - not the biggest thriving community around but there were a number of roms that people are enjoying that came out within the last for months for pie including
Havoc: https://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-x4/development/rom-moto-x4-t3890346
Pixel: https://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-x4/development/rom-pixel-experience-t3876195
Lineage 16 (BETA): https://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-x4/development/rom-lineage-16-0-developer-preview-t3849699
Lesser known/used ROMS:
Arrow: https://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-x4/development/arrow-osunofficial-t3888730
Viper: https://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-x4/development/rom-viper-os-6-0-pie-t3894651
PLEASE read, then re-read how to use these roms as it's not the most straightforward process.
Here is my process, but I haven't tested it yet
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=78978406&postcount=860
To my knowledge, VoLTE should be working with custom roms but wifi calling will not (wifi calling is only on T-Mobile BTW).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The other part of development is the GCam app, which currently there are a number of ports for this phone as there is no single best app yet.
Recently, the development teams have been able to enable the wide angle lens, but there are a number of bugs to still iron out.
Example One: https://forum.xda-developers.com/moto-x4/how-to/guide-x4-camera-gcam-hdr-night-sight-t3874674
Example Two: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=78957227&postcount=73
Example Three: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=78985555&postcount=190
This should bump up the camera score to maybe ~7 as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just listed mine on swappa for $120. The Moto G7 came in the mail today. I never had a problem with my X4. It was a great device.

I got the Google Pixel 5, what do you need to know?

UPDATE 15 October:
Embargo has now lifted!
I got THREE additional videos now live; the full review, camera, and audio review:
UPDATE 5 October:
I've been informed on 5 Oct to not post anything further on the Pixel 5 until the embargo lifts (which I can't communicate when that is).[/B]
You can find more information about the device via my Twitter feed; incl battery updates, camera shots etc.
Hi everyone,
Seen there's some love for the Pixel 5 here at XDA (Hi again XDA gang!), so as I have the phone in front of me. What do you need to know?
I'm looking to get confirmation from my source to see if I can extract the camera.apk for you, but before sharing any files (including original photos from the Pixel 5), I'm getting it confirmed. Rather be safe than sorry
Anyway, ask away, I'll try my best to answer everything I can.
Oh, and my video on YouTube of the phone (if you don't believe I have the phone), is live on my channel too:
EDIT: Latest YouTube hands-on video has just gone live!

TotallydubbedHD said:
Hi everyone,
Seen there's some love for the Pixel 5 here at XDA (Hi again XDA gang!), so as I have the phone in front of me. What do you need to know?
I'm looking to get confirmation from my source to see if I can extract the camera.apk for you, but before sharing any files (including original photos from the Pixel 5), I'm getting it confirmed. Rather be safe than sorry
Anyway, ask away, I'll try my best to answer everything I can.
Oh, and my video on YouTube of the phone (if you don't believe I have the phone), is live on my channel too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBiRaK3XB5Y
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you get into ADB shell and report the output of
Code:
cat /proc/mounts
?

How did you get it? Well, yes, we would all like to take a look at apk gcam

Nice! So heavy is it? Im coming from a Note 9 which is a heavy phone. Hoping the P5 is a little lighter in build. What month security update is it on? What color u got?

TotallydubbedHD said:
Hi everyone,
Seen there's some love for the Pixel 5 here at XDA (Hi again XDA gang!), so as I have the phone in front of me. What do you need to know?
I'm looking to get confirmation from my source to see if I can extract the camera.apk for you, but before sharing any files (including original photos from the Pixel 5), I'm getting it confirmed. Rather be safe than sorry
Anyway, ask away, I'll try my best to answer everything I can.
Oh, and my video on YouTube of the phone (if you don't believe I have the phone), is live on my channel too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBiRaK3XB5Y
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, thanks!
Can you confirm that you can switch to the Ultra Wide Angle camera in third party apps (Snapchat, Instagram, etc) when doing a pinch zoom out?
Is there an Ambient EQ setting in Settings>Display>Advanced?

How much bright display is?
Can you force 90hz from developer settings?
How is haptics?
How is stereo speakers?
How slow it feels to flagship phones like Pixel 4 or Note 20 Ultra? Especially if someone is using 2020 flagship phones.

How does the screen brightness compare to the 4xl?

The wallpapers on the promotional images are included? Can you share? ?

Since you're able to hold it and use it, is it worth the price they are retailing it for ?
How are the stereo speakers, are they comparable to the 3XL ?
How responsive is it ?

How's the feel of the device, slippery or gritty like the renders suggest? Does it support hdmi output from its usb-c port? Still squeezable? Fp gestures for qs return? Pixel visual core is present? Any feature parity between the normal and ultrawide cam? What's the max slo-mo fps? Anything major is missing? And sorry for asking so many questions. ?

topjohnwu said:
Can you get into ADB shell and report the output of
Code:
cat /proc/mounts
?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Won't be sharing any finer details until I have confirmation that I can (incl the camera.apk), sorry!
Ershowike said:
How did you get it? Well, yes, we would all like to take a look at apk gcam
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got it from Vodafone, a mobile provider in the UK.
TokedUp said:
Nice! So heavy is it? Im coming from a Note 9 which is a heavy phone. Hoping the P5 is a little lighter in build. What month security update is it on? What color u got?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's in black, as you'll see from the video. and Weight wise it's light
cstark27 said:
Hey, thanks!
Can you confirm that you can switch to the Ultra Wide Angle camera in third party apps (Snapchat, Instagram, etc) when doing a pinch zoom out?
Is there an Ambient EQ setting in Settings>Display>Advanced?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't use Snapchat, so can't comment on that. But on IG I can't zoom out, but can zoom in. Same happens when I'm on the S10+, however.
ismailonrails said:
How much bright display is?
Can you force 90hz from developer settings?
How is haptics?
How is stereo speakers?
How slow it feels to flagship phones like Pixel 4 or Note 20 Ultra? Especially if someone is using 2020 flagship phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It gets REALLY bright, haven't measured it yet - but I suspect it's above 500 nits.
'Smooth Display' can be enabled via the Display options: 60->90Hz automatically.
There's no additional option in the dev settings
Haptics feel natural, nothing to report, other than it's located at the bottom of the phone.
Stereo speakers upon first impressions are pretty poor; they sound tinny. The S10+ trounces it.
Feels fluid so far, but can'#t really pass much judgement as I've only had it for a short time.
innisdb said:
How does the screen brightness compare to the 4xl?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Didn't get the 4XL, but as mentioned above, it's bright; need to measure it.
meddgab said:
The wallpapers on the promotional images are included? Can you share?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can't share anything from the phone until I can say it's safe to do so, sorry!
Chosen_on184 said:
Since you're able to hold it and use it, is it worth the price they are retailing it for ?
How are the stereo speakers, are they comparable to the 3XL ?
How responsive is it ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See above on the answers I've given to others

Last question .. is squeeze gone ? meaning squeeze to activate assistant .. I loved this feature on my 3XL

TotallydubbedHD said:
Oh, and my video on YouTube of the phone (if you don't believe I have the phone), is live on my channel too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBiRaK3XB5Y
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great video, thanks! Please get @topjohnwu those files if possible.

Chosen_on184 said:
Last question .. is squeeze gone ? meaning squeeze to activate assistant .. I loved this feature on my 3XL
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, it's no longer there, unfortunately!

Can you check if these two features are present?
New Google Assistant keyboard dictation: https://twitter.com/MishaalRahman/status/1311757613235941377
Back tap gestures (like iOS 14): https://www.xda-developers.com/goog...-tap-gestures-android-11-screenshots-recents/

MishaalRahman said:
Can you check if these two features are present?
New Google Assistant keyboard dictation: https://twitter.com/MishaalRahman/status/1311757613235941377
Back tap gestures (like iOS 14): https://www.xda-developers.com/goog...-tap-gestures-android-11-screenshots-recents/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't use G assistant, but will test at some point.
As for the screenshot: it didn't seem to do anything when I did as the video.

TotallydubbedHD said:
I don't use G assistant, but will test at some point.
As for the screenshot: it didn't seem to do anything when I did as the video.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Both features will probably come in a Pixel Feature Drop, then. Thanks for sharing!

How is the screen quality?
IE: coming from a QHD Pixel 4 XL to the FHD Pixel 5?

Add Build.prop file please

What's the screen brightness? Is it brighter than the 4 XL? I have googled everywhere and just no answer about something so important.
Also is the battery life significantly better and do you think it's worth buying coming from a 4 XL?
Edit: nvm just saw your replies! Thank you! Is Ambient EQ available under Settings > Display?
It's not listed on the Store site which is suspicious.