It's time for Google to resurrect the Nexus 7

19 Nov 2024, 02:24 by Roger Fingas · Android Police

Google's original Nexus 7 tablet is over a decade old, which, for me, is easy and difficult to comprehend. It's easy because Google has released so many devices since then. The company doesn't use the Nexus brand anymore. It's difficult because I remember when it was new, and people were snatching it up. At a time when every Android tablet was struggling to make headway against the iPad, it was a hit, with sales upwards of 7 million units.

Google has made several attempts at tablets since the Nexus 7 but with mixed success. We don't have numbers for the Pixel Tablet. Still, I feel confident suggesting that the company may want to revive the Nexus 7 concept and give the public what it wants and what people may not even realize they want.

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Nexus 7: The Android Tablet, Rebooted

Android tablets, for the last year plus they've existed, haven't been anything to get excited over. At least that's my opinion on the matter. And even

What made the original Nexus 7 a special device?

A product greater than the sum of its parts

Source: Stephen Shankland / Creative Commons

It wasn't any one thing, but the price helped. You could get a Nexus 7 for as little as $200, putting it within the threshold where you might buy one as a companion device, with no expectation that it had to replace your phone or laptop. That wasn't true with Apple's third-generation iPad, which began at $500 and could approach the cost of a laptop if you went for maximum storage and 3G.

At the same time, the Nexus 7 was better than other low-cost Android tablets, such as Amazon's Kindle Fire. While the base model had 8GB of storage (quickly upped to 16GB), it had a better LCD panel, a quad-core processor, and an NFC (near-field communications) chip at a time when many phones didn't have one. Google got away with this by keeping profit margins low. The idea was to lure you into buying media from Google's digital storefronts, including books, movies, games, and music.

You might buy one as a companion device, with no expectation that it had to replace your phone or laptop.

The tablet was designed to mimic Kindles and other popular e-readers. It was easy to hold, even in one hand, and compact enough to stash in a bag or backpack. There were downsides to the product. For example, third-party Android tablet apps were rarer than they are now. However, as long as your expectations were realistic, they were probably met.

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How a new Nexus 7 makes sense in 2024

Meeting the demands of the new decade

A cheaper price would make first-party Google tablets more appealing. The Pixel Tablet is a relatively good deal at $319 (or less) for 11 inches and 128GB of storage. Still, people often cut costs where they can, and businesses try to sell us subscriptions (Google among them). I doubt we'll get down to $200, but a $230 or $250 Nexus 7 reboot would get attention. I'd be more inclined to get one with a speaker dock since it could replace the 2021 Nest Hub on my nightstand.

Google would have a major software advantage: first-party Android.

A new Nexus 7 would face tough competition from third-party Android tablets, some of which are dirt cheap. On top of better hardware specs, Google would have a major software advantage: first-party Android. The best Android features tend to debut on Google devices, and here, we'd get an affordable tablet with Gemini AI built in. That would blow most generic Android tablets out of the water.

A small tablet form factor has a unique utility, even with some phones approaching the Nexus 7's size. There's a reason Apple put out a new iPad mini. Seven- and eight-inch tablets are often better for reading, sketching, web browsing, and watching movies and TV shows, especially on plane trips. It could also draw in a lot of gamers, given that it would be a cheap alternative to products like the Steam Deck or the Nintendo Switch. Google would need to stay on top of the controller situation, promoting third-party add-ons like Razer's Kishi Ultra or shipping one of its own.

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Is there any chance of the Nexus 7's return?

Leave your wallets in your pockets, compadres

Source: Domenic K. / Creative Commons

Only in the most nebulous sense. There haven't been any rumors of a similar tablet. Google could be cautious about releasing anything different, especially if there's a chance it would be overshadowed by similarly-sized Pixel phones. Alternately, a new Nexus 7 could do damage in the reverse direction, drawing some shoppers away from products like the Pixel 9 Pro or Pro Fold.

The chances boil down to how well the Pixel Tablet has sold and how committed Google is to first-party tablets.

A new tablet probably wouldn't be named the Nexus 7. It might be called the Pixel Tablet 7. I see Google bumping up its screen size to eight inches to distinguish the product from Pixel phones and to compete with the 8.3-inch iPad mini. It would probably use an LCD instead of an OLED panel to keep costs down, but we might get a Google Tensor processor.

In the final reckoning, the chances boil down to how well the Pixel Tablet has sold and how committed Google is to first-party tablets. If it isn't that committed, Pixel Tablet numbers might lead it to abandon tablets for a while. If it has some commitment, poor or merely adequate sales could be a reason to regroup and re-strategize, which would bode better for reviving one of its greatest products.

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What if the Pixel Tablet is a runaway hit?

Ironically, that could be something that quashes a Nexus 7 revival. Tech giants like Google and Apple seem reluctant to deviate from the formula when something is selling like gangbusters, especially if it means shrinking device size rather than growing it. Consider that the last "mini" iPhone was 2021's iPhone 13 mini. It sold less than hoped and was replaced with the iPhone 14 Plus the following year. The only thing that would prompt Google to make a new seven- or eight-inch tablet is preventing Samsung from locking up the cheap-yet-good Android tablet market, which isn't out of the realm of possibility.