Google has lifted the lid on its newest members of the Nexus family and have unveiled three new products to the family. There's a new Nexus 4 smartphone, the Nexus 7 tablet; which now comes with more memory and 3G, and finally the new Nexus 10 tablet; a new premium tablet with a Retina-beating screen.
The Nexus 4 Smartphone
The Nexus 4 is the latest smartphone from Google and LG under the Nexus brand name. It packing a quad-core processor and coupled with a crisp 4.7-inch screen, with an all-important PPI of 320 (way above the iPhone 4).
The handset comes with wireless charging - you simply put the phone on the charging surface and it will charge without the need of cables or wires. The LG Nexus 4 comes in 8GB and 16GB versions, 1.5 GHz quad-core processor and a healthy 2GB RAM.
The back of the Nexus 4 features a plate of toughened glass, reminiscent of the iPhone 4, which appears black in colour until the phone is tilted in the light to reveal a hologram-like pixelated pattern hidden below its surface.
You'll find a 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera and an 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash. Google claims that the phone currently has the fastest processor on the market, so the Nexus 4 is definitely no slouch.
As well as the usual WiFi 802.11b/g/n, HSPA+ and Bluetooth connectivity, the Nexus 4 is equipped with NFC (Near-field communication), but no LTE 4G.
Despite the impressive build quality, full featured specs (despite the lack of LTE) and refined design, Nexus 4 handsets will retail for just £239 and £279 in 8GB and 16GB versions respectively. Which is incredibly cheap for a flagship handset.
Nexus 7: Now With More Storage And 3G
Having achieved impressive sales of its Nexus 7 budget tablet, Google has gone back to the drawing board to improve upon its Nexus 7 tablet. You can now choose a Nexus 7 with 16GB ($199) or 32GB ($249) of storage. They've also added HSPA+ mobile data, which can work on over 200 GMS providers.
Nexus 10: Retina-beating Screen
The biggest announcement was the unveiling of the Nexus 10. It's a premium tablet that is aimed squarely at Apple's iPad 4. Google has partnered up with Samsung to create the highest resolution screen of any tablet. The 10.055-inch display comes with a resolution of 2560 x 166 (300 ppi) which is considerably better than Apple's 264 ppi on the 4th generation iPad.
Google has spent a lot of time making sure the battery can cope with such a screen and reckons it will last for up to 9 hours of video playback and over 500 hours of standby time. On the front there’s a pair of stereo speakers, which is a welcomed inclusion compared to Apple's mono offering.
The UK price for the Nexus 10 is £319 for the 16GB version and £389 for the 32GB version, which is incredibly competitive, but unfortunately there is no data version for either 3G or 4G.
The Nexus 10 sports a dual-core Samsung Exynos processor with a quad-core ARM T604 graphics processor. The iPad has Apple’s own A6X processor, a dual-core design with quad-core graphics. Memory-wise the Nexus 10 has 2GB of RAM, which is double what you’d get on the iPad 4.
The Nexus 10 has a 1.9MP camera on the front and a 5MP camera on the rear, while the iPad 4 has 1.2MP on the front and 5MP on the back. iPad cameras are flash-free, whereas the Nexus 10 has an LED flash. The Nexus 10 has stereo speakers and the iPad 4 a single speaker.
The Nexus 10 has an accelerometer, a compass, an ambient light sensor and a gyroscope, as does the iPad, but only the Nexus has a barometer. It isn’t there to predict the weather: it’s to identify your altitude for better GPS performance.
UK Prices Overview
- Nexus 4: 8GB for £239; 16GB for £279; available unlocked and without a contract on 11/13 on the Google Play store in U.S., U.K., Australia, France, Germany, Spain and Canada. The 16GB version will also be available through T-Mobile for $199, with a 2-year contract (check here for more details).
- Nexus 7: 16GB for £159 and 32GB for £199; available in U.S., U.K., Australia, France, Germany, Spain, Canada and Japan, and also through our retail partners Gamestop, Office Depot, Office Max, Staples and Walmart.
- Nexus 7 with 32GB and mobile data: £239 and unlocked, on sale 11/13 in the Google Play store in the U.S., U.K., Australia, France, Germany, Spain and Canada.
- Nexus 10: 16GB for £319; 32GB for £389; available on 11/13 in the Google Play Store in the U.S., U.K., Australia, France, Germany, Spain, Canada and Japan. You’ll also be able to purchase the 32GB version in over 2,000 Walmart stores in the U.S.
