With Apple announcing their iPad Mini to try and put a dent into the smaller Tablet market. Google pulls out the big guns and partners with Samsung to create the Nexus 10. Can this beast of a tablet compete with the iPad. Or will it fade into obscurity like so many before it trying to directly compete with the giant known as Apple? Take a look inside as I go over the specs and decide for yourself!
Google Nexus 10 Tablet by Samsung?
This is the big brother to the Google Nexus 7. The major difference though? While the Nexus 7 was manufactured by ASUS, the Google Nexus 10 tablet is manufactured by Samsung. You know the same people who brought you the Samsung Galaxy SIII? By partnering up with Samsung Google Google isn’t playing around anymore. They have created a gorgeous powerful device to directly compete with the Apple iPad.
Read More: Google Nexus 7 Tablet is Coming Soon | Google’s own 7 inch Tablet Running Jellybean 4.1!
Design
OK, At least it doesn’t look like an iPad so the Apple Patent Regime won’t get sicked onto them. But the basic black with the round edges kind of throws me off. This is where the Apple iPad shines. The Nexus 10 has no sleek looking lines. It looks clunky despite having the same dimensions as the iPad or the Samsung Galaxy 10.1.
Technical Specs
Lets take a look at the specs of this device. The things that stand out for me right off is the Display, the CPU/GPU, and the 2 GIGS of on board RAM that will be available for the device. So not only will the screen look gorgeous but it will be a very powerful device!
I’ll be comparing this to Apples iPad’s Retina Display. Lets see how the Samsung Nexus 10 pairs up with it.
Screen
The Apple iPad Retina has a 2048-by-1536 resolution at 264 pixels per inch (ppi) screen. And that screen is sharp and crisp with nice overall color and brightness. The new Google Nexus 10 is on par with its slightly higher screen resolution and 300 ppi. And if your a fan of the AMOLED display like me – you know this is going to be one gorgeous screen! The only thing that I don’t see is the lack of the “oleophobic” anti-fingerprint coating that the iPad has.
- 10.055″ diagonal at 2560 x 1600 pixel resolution for 300 ppi
- WQXGA
- Corning(R) Gorilla(R) Glass 2
CPU/GPU
The Apple iPad Retina has their new A6X Dual Core Processor. Which if speculation from around the web is correct is pretty much the same chip being used for the Nexus 10? What this means is that performance should be on par or at least equal to the new iPad Retina. Unfortunately there are no benchmarks currently for the device since it hasn’t been released into the wild yet.
- CPU: Dual-core A15
- GPU: Mali T604
Size
What is interesting is this is almost exactly the same size of the current Samsung Galaxy 10.1 Tablet. It is almost the same size as the Apple iPad Retina as well.
- 263.9 x 177.6 x 8.9 mm
Weight
With it being only .50 grams lighter than the Apple iPad Retina you won’t notice the weight difference between the two devices.
- 603g
Cameras
At the time of this writing it is unknown if it does HD video in 720p or if it has special “magic crystals” like the Apple iPad Retina. Or if it will take pics anywhere near as good as it. We will have to wait until the larger sites get their review copies and see how it performs.
- 5 MP (main)
- 1.9 MP (front)
Wireless
The Nexus 10 is touting that it will have some of the fastest wireless speeds available with a tablet. Of course they put in a little disclaimer that actual speeds might be slower. This means that although in theory they should be fast in practice say connected to my old WRT54G Lynksys Router? It will still be as fast as the hardware limits it to 
.
It is also interesting to not that the Nexus 10 has the NFC chip which should allow for easy data sharing between other NFC enabled devices.
- WiFi 802.11 b/g/n (MIMO+HT40)
- Bluetooth
- NFC (Android Beam)
Memory
If you go online to order the Nexus 10 you will see an option for a 32GB as well. Although it the press release states only a 16GB version available. What is nice to see is the 2GB of on board RAM for the OS. Although industry standard has been.
- 16 GB (or 32 GB) internal storage (actual formatted capacity will be less)
- 2 GB RAM
Connectivity
At least you won’t have to replace all of those chargers as this will use the same mini-USB as just about every other Android device you probably own today. That and it’s nice to see support for HDMI out.
- Micro USB
- Magnetic Pogo pin charger
- Micro HDMI
- 3.5mm headphone jack
Battery
Google is stating up to 9 hours of Video playback and up to 500 hours of Standby with this device. Apple is claiming up to 10 hours. Real world results will definitely vary I’m sure.
- 9000 mAh Lithium polymer
OS
Ah, yes the elusive Android 4.2 Jellybean is native to the Google Nexus 10! Unfortunately I haven’t tried out the latest version of Android as supposedly my HTC will be getting it pushed to it any day now. But you can learn more about Jelly Bean and its features here.
- Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean)
Sensors
The basics in what you expect to come with a tablet now days. Nothing new to see here.
- Microphone
- Accelerometer
- Compass
- Ambient light
- Gyroscope
- Barometer
- GPS
Other Features
Multiple Profiles
With Google’s Android 4.2 Jelly Bean you now have the ability to setup multiple profiles on a tablet. No longer do you have to worry about sharing your tablet with say… your kids. They can now have their own profile with Handy Manny or Yo Gabba! Gabba! on their profile and you don’t have to suffer the assault when you pick it up again.
Keyboard Gestures
Ok, this is Samsung’s version of their Swipe keyboard. It is definitely faster than typing once you get used to it!
Powerful Photo Editing
Now you can edit your photos right on the Nexus 10 instead of having to transfer them to your computer first. Not much detail at the moment on how well this works though!
Easily Project to Your HD TV
Google is saying that you can easily share your pictures or videos to any HD TV that has a Wireless Adapter attached to it.
Google Play Store
Now has over 700,000 Apps! (Source: Bloomberg) This means that almost everything that you could find for the iPad is now available for Android. Well that is a half truth. All of the snazzy apps that Apple shows in its commercials? They are NOT available for Android. So do your research before purchasing.
Whats Missing?
No SDRAM Slot
Well as with all of the latest Google Nexus devices they all suffer from the inability to access the battery or add additional storage. Look at the quote below.
We got tired of seeing OEMs include many GB of internal storage for music, while users were still running out of space for apps and data. This approach lets us merge everything on one volume, which is way better.
– Dan Morrill, Android engineer at Google
The only thing I can say is that is a cheap cop out. I’m sure it is more likely they are pushing for you to use Google Play for Music or Movies.
No Cellular Service
Although this isn’t really a big selling point for me. But the lack of a Cell enabled device might be a killer if Google doesn’t offer a version with it.
Availability
The Nexus 10 will be available on November 13th ready for the Christmas season. So if you were thinking of getting an iPad? You might want to hold off and go with an Android You can Pre-Order the Nexus 10 at the Google Play Store or Online for when they become available.
- 16 GB Wifi Only – $399.99
- 32 GB Wifi Only – $499.99
Final Thoughts
Overall I think that Samsung partnering with Google and creating a 10″ Tablet is awesome.
What I Like:
- The Price! You can’t go wrong with paying about $200 less than the Apple iPad Retina. Although you can get the older iPad 2 for the same price.
- Pure Google Experience – This is running JUST Google’s Android OS. And nothing more. No bloatware, no fancy overlays. Just Google’s stuff.
- Hardware – This has the latest and greatest hardware around and should be at least as powerful as the latest iPad, and should look just as good!
What I Don’t Like:
- Lack of Expandable Memory: The fact that they have closed up the device is a cop out. I like the ability to easily backup my stuff to an external SD card.
- Design: Personally I think it looks ugly compared to an iPad. And I’m a huge Android fan!
Ultimately it will be up to you to decide whether you will get this tablet vs. an iPad. For me I would still get this over an iPad as I don’t like the whole Apple experience I’m stuck with when I get one. But it does seem that some of that “freedom” I enjoy with Android is going away.
Will you be picking up one of these? Or will you end up going with an iPad. I’d like to hear your thoughts about this!
- $399.99
