Google Nexus 7 Tablet Philippines Quick Review, 32 GB Version Mall Price Update : 10 Questions TP Asked An Actual Owner, In the Flesh Photos!

TP Friend Edwin Nacino recently got himself a Google Nexus 7 32GB tablet.

google nexus 7 tablet philippines

Perhaps knowing that there are a lot of Pinoys who are planning to grab the same device this coming Christmas, he messaged me on Facebook earlier this evening and expressed his desire to do a TP 10 Question Quick Review and to share several 'in the flesh' photos of the tablet.

"Mark, I hope that by simply sharing my experience in acquiring Google Nexus 7, I can somehow help those who are thinking about spending their hard-earned money on this device this Yuletide," he told me. Now, isn't Edwin the best?!

google nexus 7 tablet philippines

Mark of TP: What about Google Nexus 7 attracted you to it?
Edwin: I love gadgets and I always make sure to keep myself updated on the latest gizmos. Google Nexus' size and price attracted me to buy one. I think it looks great in the hand and is very pocket-friendly in every sense of the word. But my one big reason for purchasing it: I just got curious! Haha!

google nexus 7 tablet philippines

Mark of TP: It's not yet officially out in the Philippines; Where did you buy your unit? And for how much?
Edwin: Bought the Nexus at a gadget store located in ParkSquare 1 Makati City. I got the 32 GB for only Php 13,995! I used my credit card to do straight payment.

Mark of TP: Do you like the packaging? Which accessories are included in the box?
Edwin: Yes! The outer part looks very compelling. And unlike the reviews I saw on the internet, opening my Nexus' packaging was quite easy. Accessories include the adapter, the cable and the manual.

google nexus 7 tablet philippines

Mark of TP: How did it feel when you first opened the package and held the tablet?
Edwin: Personally, I felt excited. Turned it on and logged into my Gmail account. It went through the syncing process and all that jazz. The back portion of the Nexus tablet feels great. The rubberized material on the back allows me to hold the entire body properly. However, I got a little disappointed with the screen resolution. Unlike my other devices, Nexus 7's display quality never met my expectations.

Mark of TP: What can you say about the design of the tablet? Is it attractive? I know you've owned an iPad before, how does it compare design-wise?
Edwin: The design looks - uhm - simple. No extra buttons. Just the volume rocker and the power button. Frankly, I would still prefer to own an iPad over the Nexus 7. The iPad is far more sleek. But for people who are just looking for a decent, powerful and affordable tablet (without nitpicking at the design), Google Nexus 7 - I guess - would prove to be a good choice.

google nexus 7 tablet philippines

Mark of TP: You said that the screen is disappointing. Can you expound on that? Is it that bad?
Edwin: The display quality is decent. It's not bad but it's hardly the best I've seen. I would say it's good; Just alright, nothing to scream about. I have used several tablets including The New iPad, which you promote, and I can say that my iPad's resolution and color saturation are absolutely better than the Nexus 7's. No contest there, really. Also if you are going to look closer and stare at the screen of the Google tablet, you will see the pixels!

Mark of TP: What can you say about the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS (that Google introduced via this device) and the user interface? You've used other Android devices in the past with earlier versions of the OS, how does the experience compare?
Edwin: Yes, I am using Samsung Galaxy S3 as my daily phone and it runs ICS operating system (Still waiting for the OTA update notification). To tell you honestly, I think there's very little difference between ICS and Jelly Bean useful-features-wise. However, the latter's interface really looks and feels great. The transition from one application to another and the on-screen touch response are almost similar to that of the iOS; I promise you. It's just smooth and fast.

Mark of TP: What can you say about the multimedia features of the tablet? Like the camera and speakers? Are they good enough?
Edwin: There's no pre-installed camera app! I had to download the Camera Launcher for Nexus 7 application from the Play Store. The front facing camera gives decent photos but since I love taking photos, I wish there's also a more powerful camera at the back. The loud speaker, on the other hand, gives clear sounds but doesn't really go all that loud. Overall, the multimedia features are just alright; Nothing special, really.

google nexus 7 tablet philippines

Mark of TP: Nexus 7 runs on a Quad Core NVIDIA Tegra 3 chipset and has a GB of RAM. What can you say about the overall performance of the slate? Have you experienced lags? How about gaming? Is it smooth enough? Do you think those specs enough?
Edwin: I have not experienced any lag at all. The slate runs smoothly. The specs are enough, at least for now, to give me a more fluid and uninterrupted web browsing and gaming experience on this version of the OS. However, I still look forward to owning an Android phone or tablet with 2 or more GB of RAM; That would surely give a perfect user experience to someone like me who's a heavy multi-tasker.

Mark of TP: To wrap this up, which consumers do you think would find Google Nexus 7 an ideal tablet? Any final words about Google's affordable slate?
Edwin: For people who consider both portability and great user experience, Nexus 7 is one of the best choices out there. It gives you the power to do your daily tablet 'tasks and activities' like games, social networking, and e-book reading, all in one very affordable 7-inch tablet. The multimedia features aren't the best but considering the price of the product, I guess that's something we can overlook. I believe Google chose a good partner to create this stellar product; A small and pocket-friendly yet powerful tablet from Asus. All things considered, not bad.

Don't we just love people who tell it like it is? 'Thanks for sharing your Google Nexus 7 experience with us, Edwin! Thumbs up!' TP Friends, let's express our gratitude to Edwin by fanning out this post and sharing it to friends on Facebook and Twitter!