Google Nexus 7 2 Review Roundup: Critics Love the Tablet, Say There's None Better in its Category

Google's new Nexus 7 tablet was finally unveiled last week, and while the price has jumped $30 higher than last year's model, the general consensus seems to be that the price hike is worth it. If you're thinking of picking up the Nexus 7 refresh when it hits most retailers July 30, here's what reviewers are saying about the tablet.

"There are plenty of people for whom the iPad mini is definitely the right tablet. But before you pick, look through the Play Store and see if you can find everything you need. Because outside of that discrepancy, the Nexus 7 is a better tablet than the iPad mini. It's so comfortable in one hand, the screen is incredible, and its performance is virtually flawless. Android itself has even developed into a great tablet operating system, in many ways better than iOS." — The Verge

"The new Nexus 7 is everything a generational refresh should be - performance goes up dramatically, issues were fixed (storage), features were added (5 GHz WiFi, rear facing camera, Qi charging, high DPI display), and it's all in a thinner and lighter form factor." — AnandTech.

"The Nexus 7 2 has a very good user experience regardless of the price, and when you take the price into account, the new Nexus 7 is an absolute killer product. This is going to be a rough few months for the 7" competition because if you are ready to spend $229, the Nexus 7 2 is pretty much the only game in town at this quality/price level." — Ubergizmo.

It's not quite perfect, but most reviewers point out that the small setbacks shouldn't keep an interested buyer from purchasing the tablet.

"The back is missing the soft grippy texture of the original, screen colors lack accuracy, and there's no microSD support. Android 4.3 has few useful interface improvements." — CNET

"Android is still playing catch-up when it comes to tablet-friendly apps, but we're hopeful those kinks will start to get ironed out if and when consumers gravitate to the Nexus 7.

Our biggest lament is the muted contrast of the otherwise stellar IPS display; while it's not a total dealbreaker, we're holding out hope that Google might push out a software update to bring the gamma levels in line with competing hardware, assuming it's not simply a glitch with our review unit." — TechRadar.

All in all, it seems the verdict is in: There's no better 7-inch Android tablet on the market in the same price range, and there won't be for some time, probably until the next Nexus 7 tablet is released.