Hmm, I think the SD card is the only advantage over the Nexus 7! I would just pay the tiny bit extra, for what is one of the best tablets on the market!!! Have a look:
Direct updates by OS vendor Yes vs No It can be updated directly by the OS vendor, so no need to wait until the manufacturer or network provider releases an update.
Significantly higher pixel density 323 ppi vs 216 ppi 49.54% higher pixel density.
Reasonably more RAM memory 2 GB vs 1 GB 1 GB more RAM memory.
Lots narrower 114 mm vs 120.6 mm 6.60 mm narrower.
Thinner 8.65 mm vs 10.8 mm 2.15 mm thinner.
Much faster CPU clock speed 4 x 1.5 GHz vs 4 x 1.2 GHz 25% faster CPU clock speed.
Has NFC Yes vs No Near-field-communication (NFC) allows wireless transactions like payments.
Wireless charging Yes vs No It can be charged w/o any plugs and wires similar to electric shavers or toothbrushes (as extra).
my buddy's aunt earned $14958 past week. she been working on the laptop and got a $510900 home. All she did was get blessed and put into action the information leaked on this site... http://xurl.es/qa0uk
64GB Micro-SDXC cards from SanDisk come pre-formatted with exFAT.
I can attest that they work fine in a Samsung Note 2 and it's widely published on forums that other Samsung devices work fine with these cards.
The Blackberry Z10, and possibly other BB OS 10 devices, require the card to be reformatted to FAT32. This works fine, except that you are subjected to the 4GB file size limit of FAT32. For most uses this isn't a problem, but if part of your usage scenario is wanting to backup a few large files, in addition to all of the smaller, more typical file sizes that you would normally carry, then the Blackberry isn't the appropriate tool.
Also, you cannot then swap Micro-SDXC cards between a Blackberry device and a device that uses the more modern exFAT file system. For example, lets say you shot photos and video using a Z10 and saved it on the Micro-SDXC card in the required FAT32 format. You couldn't then put the card into a more modern tablet's Micro-SDXC exFAT enabled slot to display the photos and video to your friends.
But, if you shoot photos and video on a Samsung device (Note 2, S4, S4 Mini), you could then swap the Micro-SDXC exFAT card over to another device with a Micro-SDXC exFAT enable slot (I believe the Samsung Note 8, Tab 7, and possibly some of the other major name brand soon-to-be-released devices coming out of Asia) to easily display your photos and video to friends and family.
Many of the smaller devices are shooting 1080P video, but I'm not aware of any 7" or 8" tablet with a Micro-SDXC exFAT enabled slot that has the requisite 1080P screen to display the videos in full resolution once the Micro-SDXC card is swapped over to the larger display device.
In addition to capacity expansion, I also find it easier to get files in and out of my devices and PCs quickly with the Micro-SDXC cards.
That is why (for me) it is so frustrating to see Google Asus build such a nice Gen 2 Nexus 7, but leave off the fundamentally important Micro-SDXC slot. My main reason for wanting to replace my Gen 1 Nexus 7 is the lack of a Micro-SDXC slot. The Samsung Note 8 has the slot, but lacks the 1080P display.
Coming back to the Asus HD7, I realize that it is a budget device and makes no attempt to compete at the high end. The screen isn't 1080P for example. But, until we get devices that universally have Micro-SDXC exFAT enabled slots, we are looking at a fragmented market where devices don't inter-operate that well together.
It would be interesting to know what the retail incremental cost of a Micro-SDXC exFAT enabled slot is compared to the cost of a Micro-SDHC slot.
Maybe Asus can't hit their target price on the HD7 with a modern Micro-SDXC slot. Or maybe they are taking a page out of Samsung's book (e.g. S4 Mini) and will under-promise and over-deliver by giving us the more modern slot in the end anyway.
have you looked into the Wifi external drives like the seagate goflex? I've been flirting with the idea of putting my 2012 Nexus 7 in the dash of my car as a Nav/media head unit, and think something like the goflex would be perfect to bring all my music with me and not have to fill up the Tablet's storage. It's a bit pricey, but it seems to be a great option.
Nope... but it has occurred to me that if they equip more smartphones and tablets with Wi-Fi-AC, and improve Wi-Fi interoperability between devices and PCs, then internal storage capacity concerns could be much alleviated, although not completely done away with.
Wi-Fi, when implemented properly (as in more reliably and more openly so that devices are easier to be found and recognized), could be a winner on all fronts (storage, communications, etc.).
Unfortunately the only Wi-Fi to PC connection I've been able to get working has been the Samsung Kies Air PC client software. It was kludgey at best, and unworkable most of the time, so I just abandoned using it.
For your nav system, you might have better luck. At least you should have a steady power source from the car's electrical system, and therefore the devices' battery discharge times shouldn't be such a big concern.
In general the forward/backward compatibility requirements in the SD standard mean that larger than standard SD cards should work (SDHC in SD, and SDXC in SDHC slots). If there's a problem out of the box, it's generally that older devices only understand FAT32 while SDXC cards are formatted as exFAT by the factory. This is easy enough to fix yourself assuming you've got a PC with an SD card reader.
Huh? Since when does the SD standard include backwards forward compatibility of the card readers? I've had plenty of card reads that didn't work with SDHC cards, no matter the file system. If what you are saying was the case, there would be no need for these new standards, as SD card readers would be fine reading up to 32GB and 64GB even.... ? :)
I've got a cheap SDHC based mediaplayer (Sansa clip zip) happily reading a 64GB SDXC card that I reformatted as FAT32. A year or two ago when most Android phones with a card slot officially topped out at 32GB SDHC, most if not all of them would take 64GB cards if you downformatted them. Except for an occasional device that had a hardcoded limit and threw a snit they almost universally would read the card at full capacity if you formatted it in a way they understood (at the cost of losing SDXC's higher theoretical speed limits).
SDXC standard was released before there was wide spread availability of SDXC cards, so most manufacturers said they only support 32GB / SDHC and it was hard for people to test if they supported more. However, just because some of those who said they only are SDHC compatible support SDXC these days does not mean that it is a general rule or that SD reader now support SDHC/SDXC cards as well. And certainly, there is no kind of forward compatibility that is in the SD-standard that I could find. So please don't go about it as if everything supports everything.
SD = 2GB max SDHC = 32GB max SDXC = 64GB (current) max, although specification allows up to 2TB
Asus official specs say "Micro-SD up to 32G" which would indicate that they have installed the cheaper, older Micro-SDHC capable slot with the 32GB limit.
The only hope for larger cards here is that they are mistakenly listing the 32GB limit when there might actually be a Micro-SDXC capable slot installed. This happened recently with the Blackberry Z10 and the Samsung Note 8 devices. Both were originally slated to be 32GB max, but actually ended up with the higher capacity Micro-SDXC slots which handled 64GB cards just fine.
It would be very helpful if AT would keep a 64GB Micro-SDXC card available and pop one in and see if it gets recognized when they do device reviews.
An even bigger question is, for those devices that have a Micro-SDXC slot (nearly everything Samsung makes), what happens when the 128GB cards become available? Will it be like hard drives where the device will automatically recognize the larger capacity up to the limits of the specification? If so, then having a Micro-SDXC slot would become very important for people who plan to keep and use their devices for a long time.
The big issue now is that places will be clearing Nexus 7.1 stock out. I already see the 16GB listed for $170 (or less for refurbs). You can get a 32GB N7.1 for $199 at Microcenter.
I guess people who want the Nexus experience will still get a Nexus, people who want mSD support, a rare facing camera and a lighter chassis will get the HD 7. And other markets are different as well, here in Germany, the N7 2012 is still at the normal prices: 199€ for the 16GB one over the Play Stor, 238€ for the 32GB one at a normal store with the Play Store being 249€. That makes the HD 7 a lot cheaper, white being 139€ and the rest being 149€, that's not much absolutely, but relatively quite the pay up to get an N7. :)
So... unless the MicroSD slot is really important, the best bet for bargain hunters may be to look for a deal on last year's N7. I've seen those hit this price point a few times (new).
"Like most other quad-core implementations in Android, I rarely see the fourth core turn on. The first two are frequently active, with clock speeds usually up at 1.2GHz whenever you're doing anything (loading apps, scrolling, etc…). The third core usually plugs in to keep responsiveness up while doing anything more CPU intensive, but that fourth core is almost never plugged."
I would like to ask. Under what conditions does the 4th core get plugged? How many cores ate used while playing games like Modern Combat 4?
Maybe all cores might get used if you're streaming music, downloading a torrent and using the nav all at the same time. All cores could get used if you find a video that can only be decoded in software. I don't use Chrome but maybe each tab also uses a separate process like the desktop one. I sometimes open up multiple tabs right after each other and maybe each core will be used to process each tab. These are all guess because I only have a dual-core phone.
I'm very happy to see only metric measures except screen diagonals, you guys really listen to your audience! Now what about an Allwinner soc review? Hard to get excited from a performance point of view, but it's amazing to see working 50 $ tablets
You should try to find and test a product with Rockchip RK3188 , quad A9 on 28nm with just 25mm2 die size - very curious how it performs and at that size it got to be way cheap.
Seconded. Anand, please get your hands on a cheap Chinese tablet with a Rockchip or Allwinner SoC, if only to test their SoC as well... I'm very intrigued with the RK3188, and Rockchip seems to be ARM's launch partner on Cortex A12, so it's good to keep an eye on them.
I thought it didnt have the gps fully implemented. Can someone clarify? This would be important to me. Tether off of my S4 and use it as a huge GPS screen while I drive.
It would be nice to do a comparison to the hisense sero pro. This is the same price and of very similar specs. I'm thinking the hisense will edge it out but it would be an interesting comparison.
Can you guys run more kinds of WiFi tests on your review devices? Peak throughput is as useful as only showing sequential SSD writes/reads. Can you show how the throughput and latency changes over time especially when there's some sort of interference (ie. microwaves, other WiFi access points, cordless phones, etc.).
All too often my Skype calls and Netflix videos get forced into a lower quality whenever my WiFi gets burps. Depending on the device (ie. single atenna vs 3 antennas), the frequency of my WiFi spazzing vairous. Of course, I get the least amount of issues when connected via Ethernet.
Very compelling but I'll wait till prices drop to $100. If someone could only make a decent $100 tablet, that'd almost be in "impulse buy" territory for me.
I think it's worth noting that the price, although higher than the gen one 16GB Nexus 7 has been since before the iPad mini launch, is actually _cheaper_ than that device when it launched a year ago at $250. Getting a 1200p panel that's also higher quality, a much faster SOC, double the RAM (@1600 vs 1333), much faster storage, and bunch of other little things (rear facing camera, wireless charging, etc.) for $20 less than the 16GB N7 debuted with just one year ago is pretty impressive to me.
As for this thing, I actually wish the 8GB model was available here. This looks like the perfect replacement for an old Nook Color that's used to keep a toddler entertained with movies in the car. Especially if it can read SDXC (even if it's the gimped non UHS 1 speed that some devices not rated for SDXC can read them at).
I've just bought one for my father. Pretty decent thing. Unfortunately it hasn't got USB with OTG. During the brief playing with the thing I did not found the option to create user accounts.
Sorry for the possibly silly question, but does anyone know what the cpu monitoring tool used in the screen shot in the battery test is? Looks awesome!
A bit scary really this. Judged objectively, this thing is a big percentage - 80? - per cent of an ideal small tablet and the new Nexus 7 is a bigger one. Huge improvements would need battery breakthroughs. Yet they're both down at very low prices.
Budget PCs really do seem to have an awful lot further to come.
Anand why on the "ASUS 7-inch Tablet Specification Comparison" chart (or anywhere in the review) are the different sensors each tablet has (or doesn't have) not mentioned?
Because of the lack of complete specifications I have to dig deeper on other sites to get a complete picture of what each Tablet offers. That really shouldn't happen.
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Again a lack of sensors, especially GPS really make these lower cost tablets not very useful.
It's great that this Asus tablet has micro-SD. I won't even consider a tablet that doesn't. It is hugely quicker to swap media sets in and out using SD than any other way. For my uses, the size of internal memory is much less important.
Also, Anand, the presence or lack of micro-SD should appear in the "Basic Tablet Specification Comparison" table. This is really important to people, even if Google and Amazon downplay it for their own marketing reasons. Just look at the number of comments on this topic.
I don't think the absence of SD-card slots on google's devices has anything to do with cost whatsoever, SD-card slots are easy and cheap and available on the lowest of budget devices, It's more an attempt to force people to do everything through (google-)cloud storage I think, as the article states
And yes it's stupid and I'd even say nasty since it would cost them next to nothing to add it. 'don't be evil'? I think there is a reason they abandoned that mantra.
The question now is: What can we the consumers do about it? Are there attachment you can connect to the nexus to add a SD slot without the thing getting too ridiculously messy? Anybody know?
I have Nexus 7 2012 and there is no problem to use USB OTG cable + USB stick (or Transcend USB stick with microSD+SD card slot). I use Total Commander+USB Stick plugin (free). It is possible to open any doc/pdf/jpeg/avi/mp4 file. It is possible to share any folder or external HDD at your laptop and to use like WiFi Network LAN storage using ES File Explorer. It is possible to play any movie using streaming (without downloading) from the Network LAN storage (MX Player or BS Player). It is even possible playing movie from WiFi FTP server.
Quoting the Article: "Google was pretty adamant against including a microSD slot in the original Nexus 7 (preferring a combination of internal and cloud storage), but ASUS put one back in the design of the MeMO Pad HD7."
Good Asus, bad Google, stop being evil, k? Stupid cloud not always accessible.
Just got the official Android 4.3 upgrade on my Nexus 7 2012. Would be glad to see the performance of the new Android version 4.3 at the storage random write tests for the old Nexus 7 and new Memo Pad HD 7.
The "ASUS 7-inch Tablet Specification Comparison" the list was lacked an important function, ---- GPS module.
Not all of the tablet are providing GPS module for you, even though in WiFi iPad are also no GPS module. (no need to say what A-GPS --- a fake GPS, it running is incapable of without wireless network)
ASUS's the three models have GPS module, whether it is as a WiFi version or a 3G version. ASUS tablet's GPS performance got improved ever since the Nexus 7 (2012) launched.
In Android tablets are only for the two brands provided the dependable GPS performance, another is Samsung tablet, like Galaxy Note 8, Galaxy Tab3 T210, Galaxy Tab3 T310, etc..., whether it is as a WiFi version or a 3G version.
Not quite correct comment. Assisted GPS or A-GPS is also functioning as autonomous GPS. Indeed an aluminium case (tablet, smartphone) may be a reason for not quite good performance. You may check-up the Asus(.)com web site - all Asus tablets support GPS (+Glonass for some areas) except the very first ASUS MeMO Pad ME 172V (1024x600 display, not HD). From my personal experience Asus Nexus 7 has the best GPS I know - much better sensitivity than any GPS navigation device. It gets GPS signal in seconds and has excellent sensitivity (inside car, train, in a room near the window even behind sunblind). BTW I would like to see a review of the latest Asus Memo Pad FullHD 10. It is already on the market with better price than Samsung Nexus 10.
you are inaccurate, Some devices just support for A-GPS but is no GPS module. that A-GPS is depending on wireless network. Although it seems like the WiFi iPad could provide some limited navigation (without the GPS module), actually is just a gyro sensor, NOT GPS, incapable to do random position measuring.
What is a gyro electronic navigation? Please note to some of missiles.
"It gets GPS signal in seconds and has excellent sensitivity (inside car, train, in a room near the window even behind sunblind)."
you did not turn off the WiFI signal and remove all the cache, the A-GPS was still working, so, may be faster. However, mountainous areas are likely no WiFI signal, or you are being a trip overseas occurred during no free-WiFi over there.
Also, in mountainous areas, if you wanted to get a position measuring, must be with GPS.
although some sellers claiming MeMo Pad HD 7 has embedded GPS, however ASUS's official webpage of the MeMo Pad HD 7 did not list the GPS sensor nor Gyroscope sensor, so I thought the MeMo Pad HD 7 is likely no GPS sensor (module).
Seems others who have already tested GPS on the MeMo Pad HD 7, and said GPS in the MeMo Pad HD 7 is slightly worse, it has a MT6628 processor with WiFi/BT/GPS/FM combo chip, a cheap way.
I wouldn't be so sure that the MTK SoC in there is indeed made on the 28nm process, in-fact I would not be surprised at all if it was on 40nm. There are lots of interesting Cheap CHinese SOC's out there though, it would be cool to see some tested. Like RockChip, Allwinner, Freescale i.MX, etc.
I wonder if these are stock Android, and if so if that means they'll be updated promptly like Nexus.
Assuming so, then both this, last year's 7, and this year's 7 are really awesome pieces of hardware for the price.
Other than being pocketable I vastly prefer a 10" tablet though, and...ugh...Android just isn't all that useful to me compared to iOS, much less Windows. (Where are the AMD based Windows tablets?!? They've got better CPUs and GPUs and drivers than Atom, and they're just screaming to be put in tablets...)
Does know anyone if this tablet supports MKV files? if yes, files with a size +4gb? I want to use this tablet like a portable video player during my journey...
these are great little tablets. bought one for my wife. she was constantly playing with her phone to access facebook, twitter, instagram, etc. All on a tiny screen. Bought her a nice Lenovo 10" tablet, but she never used it. This is just the right size. Very fast, runs circles around both of my two year old dual core tablets. Liked it so much I bought another for myself.
Just got one, very zippy (surprised), 3 issues: it downloaded, installed and rebooted with 4.2.2 but About still shows 4.2.1 and I tried checking for updates but it now says I am up to date even though About is not reporting it; it seems to occasionally register a single tap as a double; and Kindle dims the brightness! By about 20%. Got this for the micro SD slot.
I have only had it for a few days, and have not had much time to really run it through its paces yet, but I am most likely going to return it. The display, especially. in regard to video, does seem really good. I have not found the device to be generally laggy so far, although I haven't really used it with many apps, under significant "load." My real complaint is with what I saw in some other reviews and was concerned about, the build, fit and finish and overall quality. it does seem creaky, the screen does seem like it is made from plastic, and the one I got had a little glue in the seam between the screen and the rest of the body. That seem seems to be of uneven width around the device and most likely will get other gunk caught in it. I really haven't had a chance to see if it has problems or works well with various apps, but will probably return it. I have ordered, believe it or not, a Dell venue 7, which has 1gb more internal memory, a decent (from what I have read) processor, and an equivalent screen. It runs stock android and is right now at 4.2 (like the asus), rather than 4.3, I think. And it is at a similar price point.
Indeed, the presence of SDHC slot is a good option. Even on Nexus 7, you can use a stick over otg cable, it's not the same thing, because, on his Asus tablet, and all devices with sd slot, with proper software, like directory bind, you can efectively extend your sotrage space on the SD card .
I have a question for the writter: what is the name of the cpu usage monitor you used?
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n0b0dykn0ws - Monday, July 29, 2013 - link
Given the MicroSD card slot I would highly consider getting one of these and using it for on the go media, especially for the kids.YaBaBom - Tuesday, July 30, 2013 - link
+1 for kids... Especially since this tablet actually outlasts the Nexus 7 in the 3D tests--i.e. gaming. Seems like a pretty well balanced tablet.synaesthetic - Wednesday, July 31, 2013 - link
Shame the 8GB model isn't available in the US. >< I would love to have the 8GB model and throw a bigass sdcard in it, then fill it full of movies.anxyandy - Thursday, August 8, 2013 - link
Hmm, I think the SD card is the only advantage over the Nexus 7! I would just pay the tiny bit extra, for what is one of the best tablets on the market!!!Have a look:
Direct updates by OS vendor Yes vs No It can be updated directly by the OS vendor, so no need to wait until the manufacturer or network provider releases an update.
Significantly higher pixel density 323 ppi vs 216 ppi 49.54% higher pixel density.
Reasonably more RAM memory 2 GB vs 1 GB 1 GB more RAM memory.
Lots narrower 114 mm vs 120.6 mm 6.60 mm narrower.
Thinner 8.65 mm vs 10.8 mm 2.15 mm thinner.
Much faster CPU clock speed 4 x 1.5 GHz vs 4 x 1.2 GHz 25% faster CPU clock speed.
Has NFC Yes vs No Near-field-communication (NFC) allows wireless transactions like payments.
Wireless charging Yes vs No It can be charged w/o any plugs and wires similar to electric shavers or toothbrushes (as extra).
Source; http://versus.com/en/asus-memo-pad-hd7-vs-google-n...
BryanDobbins - Saturday, August 17, 2013 - link
my buddy's aunt earned $14958 past week. she been working on the laptop and got a $510900 home. All she did was get blessed and put into action the information leaked on this site... http://xurl.es/qa0ukuhuznaa - Monday, July 29, 2013 - link
Does the MicroSD slot support SDHX? Or in other words: What size of potential memory expansion are we talking about here?Death666Angel - Monday, July 29, 2013 - link
Found one guy in a forum saying his 64GB SDXC doesn't work, but he didn't elaborate on the file system used or what didn't work.gorskiegangsta - Monday, July 29, 2013 - link
I believe SDXC cards use the ExFAT format.madmilk - Monday, July 29, 2013 - link
Maybe exFAT is the most common, but there's nothing stopping you from formatting an SD card as say, ext4.hrrmph - Monday, July 29, 2013 - link
64GB Micro-SDXC cards from SanDisk come pre-formatted with exFAT.I can attest that they work fine in a Samsung Note 2 and it's widely published on forums that other Samsung devices work fine with these cards.
The Blackberry Z10, and possibly other BB OS 10 devices, require the card to be reformatted to FAT32. This works fine, except that you are subjected to the 4GB file size limit of FAT32. For most uses this isn't a problem, but if part of your usage scenario is wanting to backup a few large files, in addition to all of the smaller, more typical file sizes that you would normally carry, then the Blackberry isn't the appropriate tool.
Also, you cannot then swap Micro-SDXC cards between a Blackberry device and a device that uses the more modern exFAT file system. For example, lets say you shot photos and video using a Z10 and saved it on the Micro-SDXC card in the required FAT32 format. You couldn't then put the card into a more modern tablet's Micro-SDXC exFAT enabled slot to display the photos and video to your friends.
But, if you shoot photos and video on a Samsung device (Note 2, S4, S4 Mini), you could then swap the Micro-SDXC exFAT card over to another device with a Micro-SDXC exFAT enable slot (I believe the Samsung Note 8, Tab 7, and possibly some of the other major name brand soon-to-be-released devices coming out of Asia) to easily display your photos and video to friends and family.
Many of the smaller devices are shooting 1080P video, but I'm not aware of any 7" or 8" tablet with a Micro-SDXC exFAT enabled slot that has the requisite 1080P screen to display the videos in full resolution once the Micro-SDXC card is swapped over to the larger display device.
In addition to capacity expansion, I also find it easier to get files in and out of my devices and PCs quickly with the Micro-SDXC cards.
That is why (for me) it is so frustrating to see Google Asus build such a nice Gen 2 Nexus 7, but leave off the fundamentally important Micro-SDXC slot. My main reason for wanting to replace my Gen 1 Nexus 7 is the lack of a Micro-SDXC slot. The Samsung Note 8 has the slot, but lacks the 1080P display.
Coming back to the Asus HD7, I realize that it is a budget device and makes no attempt to compete at the high end. The screen isn't 1080P for example. But, until we get devices that universally have Micro-SDXC exFAT enabled slots, we are looking at a fragmented market where devices don't inter-operate that well together.
It would be interesting to know what the retail incremental cost of a Micro-SDXC exFAT enabled slot is compared to the cost of a Micro-SDHC slot.
Maybe Asus can't hit their target price on the HD7 with a modern Micro-SDXC slot. Or maybe they are taking a page out of Samsung's book (e.g. S4 Mini) and will under-promise and over-deliver by giving us the more modern slot in the end anyway.
Evil804 - Wednesday, July 31, 2013 - link
have you looked into the Wifi external drives like the seagate goflex? I've been flirting with the idea of putting my 2012 Nexus 7 in the dash of my car as a Nav/media head unit, and think something like the goflex would be perfect to bring all my music with me and not have to fill up the Tablet's storage. It's a bit pricey, but it seems to be a great option.hrrmph - Wednesday, July 31, 2013 - link
Nope... but it has occurred to me that if they equip more smartphones and tablets with Wi-Fi-AC, and improve Wi-Fi interoperability between devices and PCs, then internal storage capacity concerns could be much alleviated, although not completely done away with.Wi-Fi, when implemented properly (as in more reliably and more openly so that devices are easier to be found and recognized), could be a winner on all fronts (storage, communications, etc.).
Unfortunately the only Wi-Fi to PC connection I've been able to get working has been the Samsung Kies Air PC client software. It was kludgey at best, and unworkable most of the time, so I just abandoned using it.
For your nav system, you might have better luck. At least you should have a steady power source from the car's electrical system, and therefore the devices' battery discharge times shouldn't be such a big concern.
JayGrip - Wednesday, July 31, 2013 - link
The nexus 13 has a hotspot built in. Its fast 300 mgs a min. Es file exployer lets start a ftp server. Thats how I get files on my nexus 13DanNeely - Monday, July 29, 2013 - link
In general the forward/backward compatibility requirements in the SD standard mean that larger than standard SD cards should work (SDHC in SD, and SDXC in SDHC slots). If there's a problem out of the box, it's generally that older devices only understand FAT32 while SDXC cards are formatted as exFAT by the factory. This is easy enough to fix yourself assuming you've got a PC with an SD card reader.Death666Angel - Monday, July 29, 2013 - link
Huh? Since when does the SD standard include backwards forward compatibility of the card readers? I've had plenty of card reads that didn't work with SDHC cards, no matter the file system. If what you are saying was the case, there would be no need for these new standards, as SD card readers would be fine reading up to 32GB and 64GB even.... ? :)hrrmph - Monday, July 29, 2013 - link
SDXC slots can read the modern SDXC cards as well as the older SDHC and SD cards.SDHC slots can read the specified SDHC cards and the classic SD cards.
The older slots (such as SD or SDHC) cannot read cards of a newer, more modern standard (such as SDXC).
DanNeely - Monday, July 29, 2013 - link
I've got a cheap SDHC based mediaplayer (Sansa clip zip) happily reading a 64GB SDXC card that I reformatted as FAT32. A year or two ago when most Android phones with a card slot officially topped out at 32GB SDHC, most if not all of them would take 64GB cards if you downformatted them. Except for an occasional device that had a hardcoded limit and threw a snit they almost universally would read the card at full capacity if you formatted it in a way they understood (at the cost of losing SDXC's higher theoretical speed limits).One ex:
http://androidforums.com/motorola-droid-3/416704-d...
Death666Angel - Tuesday, July 30, 2013 - link
SDXC standard was released before there was wide spread availability of SDXC cards, so most manufacturers said they only support 32GB / SDHC and it was hard for people to test if they supported more. However, just because some of those who said they only are SDHC compatible support SDXC these days does not mean that it is a general rule or that SD reader now support SDHC/SDXC cards as well. And certainly, there is no kind of forward compatibility that is in the SD-standard that I could find. So please don't go about it as if everything supports everything.hrrmph - Monday, July 29, 2013 - link
SD = 2GB maxSDHC = 32GB max
SDXC = 64GB (current) max, although specification allows up to 2TB
Asus official specs say "Micro-SD up to 32G" which would indicate that they have installed the cheaper, older Micro-SDHC capable slot with the 32GB limit.
The only hope for larger cards here is that they are mistakenly listing the 32GB limit when there might actually be a Micro-SDXC capable slot installed. This happened recently with the Blackberry Z10 and the Samsung Note 8 devices. Both were originally slated to be 32GB max, but actually ended up with the higher capacity Micro-SDXC slots which handled 64GB cards just fine.
It would be very helpful if AT would keep a 64GB Micro-SDXC card available and pop one in and see if it gets recognized when they do device reviews.
An even bigger question is, for those devices that have a Micro-SDXC slot (nearly everything Samsung makes), what happens when the 128GB cards become available? Will it be like hard drives where the device will automatically recognize the larger capacity up to the limits of the specification? If so, then having a Micro-SDXC slot would become very important for people who plan to keep and use their devices for a long time.
Reference:
https://www.asus.com/Tablets_Mobile/ASUS_MeMO_Pad_...
kmmatney - Tuesday, July 30, 2013 - link
The SD max is 4GB. I had a 4GB SD card running happily in my original Wii. The 4GB cards were hard to find, but they did work in most older devices.http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
rabidpeach - Tuesday, July 30, 2013 - link
considering sdhx is mostly a microsoft invention, it might not be well supported in the android universeMonkeyPaw - Monday, July 29, 2013 - link
The big issue now is that places will be clearing Nexus 7.1 stock out. I already see the 16GB listed for $170 (or less for refurbs). You can get a 32GB N7.1 for $199 at Microcenter.Death666Angel - Monday, July 29, 2013 - link
I guess people who want the Nexus experience will still get a Nexus, people who want mSD support, a rare facing camera and a lighter chassis will get the HD 7. And other markets are different as well, here in Germany, the N7 2012 is still at the normal prices: 199€ for the 16GB one over the Play Stor, 238€ for the 32GB one at a normal store with the Play Store being 249€. That makes the HD 7 a lot cheaper, white being 139€ and the rest being 149€, that's not much absolutely, but relatively quite the pay up to get an N7. :)nafhan - Monday, July 29, 2013 - link
So... unless the MicroSD slot is really important, the best bet for bargain hunters may be to look for a deal on last year's N7. I've seen those hit this price point a few times (new).blanarahul - Monday, July 29, 2013 - link
"Like most other quad-core implementations in Android, I rarely see the fourth core turn on. The first two are frequently active, with clock speeds usually up at 1.2GHz whenever you're doing anything (loading apps, scrolling, etc…). The third core usually plugs in to keep responsiveness up while doing anything more CPU intensive, but that fourth core is almost never plugged."I would like to ask. Under what conditions does the 4th core get plugged? How many cores ate used while playing games like Modern Combat 4?
Anand Lal Shimpi - Monday, July 29, 2013 - link
I updated that paragraph a bit to be more specific to the MT8125/MeMO Pad HD7. MC4 tends to use 2 cores from what I've seen:http://images.anandtech.com/doci/7160/Screenshot_2...
peter23 - Monday, July 29, 2013 - link
Maybe all cores might get used if you're streaming music, downloading a torrent and using the nav all at the same time. All cores could get used if you find a video that can only be decoded in software. I don't use Chrome but maybe each tab also uses a separate process like the desktop one. I sometimes open up multiple tabs right after each other and maybe each core will be used to process each tab. These are all guess because I only have a dual-core phone.agentsmithitaly - Monday, July 29, 2013 - link
I'm very happy to see only metric measures except screen diagonals, you guys really listen to your audience!Now what about an Allwinner soc review? Hard to get excited from a performance point of view, but it's amazing to see working 50 $ tablets
abrowne1993 - Monday, July 29, 2013 - link
I feel like there is so much going on in that title.jjj - Monday, July 29, 2013 - link
You should try to find and test a product with Rockchip RK3188 , quad A9 on 28nm with just 25mm2 die size - very curious how it performs and at that size it got to be way cheap.aryonoco - Monday, July 29, 2013 - link
Seconded. Anand, please get your hands on a cheap Chinese tablet with a Rockchip or Allwinner SoC, if only to test their SoC as well... I'm very intrigued with the RK3188, and Rockchip seems to be ARM's launch partner on Cortex A12, so it's good to keep an eye on them.hip2bsqre - Monday, July 29, 2013 - link
How would you enable/turn on the GPS??hrrmph - Monday, July 29, 2013 - link
On the Nexus 7 Gen 1 its in Settings... Personal... Location Access... GPS Satellites.Checking the box allows applications (maps, navigation, etc.) to get your location from the GPS radio receiver.
HideOut - Tuesday, July 30, 2013 - link
I thought it didnt have the gps fully implemented. Can someone clarify? This would be important to me. Tether off of my S4 and use it as a huge GPS screen while I drive.comomolo - Tuesday, July 30, 2013 - link
According to ASUS, this tablet does have GPS support: https://www.asus.com/Tablets_Mobile/ASUS_MeMO_Pad_...luki442 - Tuesday, July 30, 2013 - link
Memo pad hd 7 support GPS. I have this tablet and confirmZibi - Tuesday, July 30, 2013 - link
Mine had it enabled by default. It works OK with Mapamap apphel556 - Tuesday, July 30, 2013 - link
Memo pad hd 7 have GPS and it works very well.scott.st - Monday, July 29, 2013 - link
It would be nice to do a comparison to the hisense sero pro. This is the same price and of very similar specs. I'm thinking the hisense will edge it out but it would be an interesting comparison.Hubb1e - Monday, July 29, 2013 - link
These things are getting cheap enough and powerful enough for me to post one up at every toilet in my house. Oh yeah!matt32 - Monday, July 29, 2013 - link
Can you guys run more kinds of WiFi tests on your review devices? Peak throughput is as useful as only showing sequential SSD writes/reads. Can you show how the throughput and latency changes over time especially when there's some sort of interference (ie. microwaves, other WiFi access points, cordless phones, etc.).All too often my Skype calls and Netflix videos get forced into a lower quality whenever my WiFi gets burps. Depending on the device (ie. single atenna vs 3 antennas), the frequency of my WiFi spazzing vairous. Of course, I get the least amount of issues when connected via Ethernet.
Alexvrb - Monday, July 29, 2013 - link
Yeah I don't know what Google's problem is with SD slots. I'd take this thing over the Google-branded hardware.lightsout565 - Monday, July 29, 2013 - link
Very compelling but I'll wait till prices drop to $100. If someone could only make a decent $100 tablet, that'd almost be in "impulse buy" territory for me.Bob Todd - Tuesday, July 30, 2013 - link
I think it's worth noting that the price, although higher than the gen one 16GB Nexus 7 has been since before the iPad mini launch, is actually _cheaper_ than that device when it launched a year ago at $250. Getting a 1200p panel that's also higher quality, a much faster SOC, double the RAM (@1600 vs 1333), much faster storage, and bunch of other little things (rear facing camera, wireless charging, etc.) for $20 less than the 16GB N7 debuted with just one year ago is pretty impressive to me.As for this thing, I actually wish the 8GB model was available here. This looks like the perfect replacement for an old Nook Color that's used to keep a toddler entertained with movies in the car. Especially if it can read SDXC (even if it's the gimped non UHS 1 speed that some devices not rated for SDXC can read them at).
Bob Todd - Tuesday, July 30, 2013 - link
That should read..."noting that the price of the Nexus 7.2".Zibi - Tuesday, July 30, 2013 - link
I've just bought one for my father. Pretty decent thing. Unfortunately it hasn't got USB with OTG. During the brief playing with the thing I did not found the option to create user accounts.SirCanealot - Tuesday, July 30, 2013 - link
Sorry for the possibly silly question, but does anyone know what the cpu monitoring tool used in the screen shot in the battery test is? Looks awesome!skyline159 - Wednesday, July 31, 2013 - link
It is System Monitorhttps://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com....
randomhkkid - Tuesday, July 30, 2013 - link
Great article as expected Anand, what is the program you used to overlay the core usage/speed in game?Shadowmaster625 - Tuesday, July 30, 2013 - link
So basically this is what we can expect to pick up for $99 during holidays sales.Qwertilot - Tuesday, July 30, 2013 - link
A bit scary really this. Judged objectively, this thing is a big percentage - 80? - per cent of an ideal small tablet and the new Nexus 7 is a bigger one. Huge improvements would need battery breakthroughs. Yet they're both down at very low prices.Budget PCs really do seem to have an awful lot further to come.
HighTech4US - Tuesday, July 30, 2013 - link
Anand why on the "ASUS 7-inch Tablet Specification Comparison" chart (or anywhere in the review) are the different sensors each tablet has (or doesn't have) not mentioned?Because of the lack of complete specifications I have to dig deeper on other sites to get a complete picture of what each Tablet offers. That really shouldn't happen.
-----
Again a lack of sensors, especially GPS really make these lower cost tablets not very useful.
No GPS means NO Google Maps.
Arbie - Tuesday, July 30, 2013 - link
It's great that this Asus tablet has micro-SD. I won't even consider a tablet that doesn't. It is hugely quicker to swap media sets in and out using SD than any other way. For my uses, the size of internal memory is much less important.Regarding SD formatting, here's a utility that let me put a 64GB card in an circa 2009 media player. Get it at: http://www.ridgecrop.demon.co.uk/index.htm?fat32fo...
Arbie - Tuesday, July 30, 2013 - link
Also, Anand, the presence or lack of micro-SD should appear in the "Basic Tablet Specification Comparison" table. This is really important to people, even if Google and Amazon downplay it for their own marketing reasons. Just look at the number of comments on this topic.Wwhat - Tuesday, July 30, 2013 - link
I don't think the absence of SD-card slots on google's devices has anything to do with cost whatsoever, SD-card slots are easy and cheap and available on the lowest of budget devices,It's more an attempt to force people to do everything through (google-)cloud storage I think, as the article states
And yes it's stupid and I'd even say nasty since it would cost them next to nothing to add it.
'don't be evil'? I think there is a reason they abandoned that mantra.
The question now is: What can we the consumers do about it? Are there attachment you can connect to the nexus to add a SD slot without the thing getting too ridiculously messy? Anybody know?
user777 - Thursday, August 1, 2013 - link
I have Nexus 7 2012 and there is no problem to use USB OTG cable + USB stick (or Transcend USB stick with microSD+SD card slot). I use Total Commander+USB Stick plugin (free). It is possible to open any doc/pdf/jpeg/avi/mp4 file.It is possible to share any folder or external HDD at your laptop and to use like WiFi Network LAN storage using ES File Explorer. It is possible to play any movie using streaming (without downloading) from the Network LAN storage (MX Player or BS Player). It is even possible playing movie from WiFi FTP server.
n13L5 - Wednesday, July 31, 2013 - link
Quoting the Article: "Google was pretty adamant against including a microSD slot in the original Nexus 7 (preferring a combination of internal and cloud storage), but ASUS put one back in the design of the MeMO Pad HD7."Good Asus, bad Google, stop being evil, k? Stupid cloud not always accessible.
evolucion8 - Wednesday, July 31, 2013 - link
Hi, I have a question, which CPU monitoring software did you use to monitor the CPU usage during videoplayback? Looks sleek and lean!user777 - Wednesday, July 31, 2013 - link
Smal mistake at the ASUS 7-inch Tablet Specification Comparison:ASUS Nexus 7 (2012) has 1.2MP front-facing camera
user777 - Wednesday, July 31, 2013 - link
Just got the official Android 4.3 upgrade on my Nexus 7 2012.Would be glad to see the performance of the new Android version 4.3 at the storage random write tests for the old Nexus 7 and new Memo Pad HD 7.
timon_comment - Thursday, August 1, 2013 - link
The "ASUS 7-inch Tablet Specification Comparison" the list was lacked an important function, ---- GPS module.Not all of the tablet are providing GPS module for you, even though in WiFi iPad are also no GPS module. (no need to say what A-GPS --- a fake GPS, it running is incapable of without wireless network)
ASUS's the three models have GPS module, whether it is as a WiFi version or a 3G version.
ASUS tablet's GPS performance got improved ever since the Nexus 7 (2012) launched.
In Android tablets are only for the two brands provided the dependable GPS performance, another is Samsung tablet, like Galaxy Note 8, Galaxy Tab3 T210, Galaxy Tab3 T310, etc..., whether it is as a WiFi version or a 3G version.
user777 - Thursday, August 8, 2013 - link
Not quite correct comment. Assisted GPS or A-GPS is also functioning as autonomous GPS. Indeed an aluminium case (tablet, smartphone) may be a reason for not quite good performance.You may check-up the Asus(.)com web site - all Asus tablets support GPS (+Glonass for some areas) except the very first ASUS MeMO Pad ME 172V (1024x600 display, not HD).
From my personal experience Asus Nexus 7 has the best GPS I know - much better sensitivity than any GPS navigation device. It gets GPS signal in seconds and has excellent sensitivity (inside car, train, in a room near the window even behind sunblind).
BTW I would like to see a review of the latest Asus Memo Pad FullHD 10. It is already on the market with better price than Samsung Nexus 10.
timon_comment - Saturday, August 10, 2013 - link
you are inaccurate,Some devices just support for A-GPS but is no GPS module. that A-GPS is depending on wireless network.
Although it seems like the WiFi iPad could provide some limited navigation (without the GPS module), actually is just a gyro sensor, NOT GPS, incapable to do random position measuring.
What is a gyro electronic navigation? Please note to some of missiles.
"It gets GPS signal in seconds and has excellent sensitivity (inside car, train, in a room near the window even behind sunblind)."
you did not turn off the WiFI signal and remove all the cache, the A-GPS was still working, so, may be faster.
However, mountainous areas are likely no WiFI signal, or you are being a trip overseas occurred during no free-WiFi over there.
Also, in mountainous areas, if you wanted to get a position measuring, must be with GPS.
timon_comment - Tuesday, August 13, 2013 - link
I have to make a correction to my post above,although some sellers claiming MeMo Pad HD 7 has embedded GPS, however ASUS's official webpage of the MeMo Pad HD 7 did not list the GPS sensor nor Gyroscope sensor, so I thought the MeMo Pad HD 7 is likely no GPS sensor (module).
Nexus 7 (2012) and Nexus 7 (2013) have GPS module
timon_comment - Tuesday, August 13, 2013 - link
it seems like I have to make 2nd correction,Maybe ASUS's official webpage is very bad
Seems others who have already tested GPS on the MeMo Pad HD 7, and said GPS in the MeMo Pad HD 7 is slightly worse, it has a MT6628 processor with WiFi/BT/GPS/FM combo chip, a cheap way.
extide - Thursday, August 1, 2013 - link
I wouldn't be so sure that the MTK SoC in there is indeed made on the 28nm process, in-fact I would not be surprised at all if it was on 40nm. There are lots of interesting Cheap CHinese SOC's out there though, it would be cool to see some tested. Like RockChip, Allwinner, Freescale i.MX, etc.eebrah - Friday, August 2, 2013 - link
@extide Freescale is not ChineseWolfpup - Friday, August 2, 2013 - link
I wonder if these are stock Android, and if so if that means they'll be updated promptly like Nexus.Assuming so, then both this, last year's 7, and this year's 7 are really awesome pieces of hardware for the price.
Other than being pocketable I vastly prefer a 10" tablet though, and...ugh...Android just isn't all that useful to me compared to iOS, much less Windows. (Where are the AMD based Windows tablets?!? They've got better CPUs and GPUs and drivers than Atom, and they're just screaming to be put in tablets...)
VisionxOrb - Thursday, August 8, 2013 - link
Sero 7 pro from walmart is killer deal as wellTutua - Thursday, August 15, 2013 - link
Does know anyone if this tablet supports MKV files? if yes, files with a size +4gb? I want to use this tablet like a portable video player during my journey...skeighter - Tuesday, August 20, 2013 - link
these are great little tablets. bought one for my wife. she was constantly playing with her phone to access facebook, twitter, instagram, etc. All on a tiny screen. Bought her a nice Lenovo 10" tablet, but she never used it. This is just the right size. Very fast, runs circles around both of my two year old dual core tablets. Liked it so much I bought another for myself.MarkWebb - Tuesday, September 17, 2013 - link
Just got one, very zippy (surprised), 3 issues: it downloaded, installed and rebooted with 4.2.2 but About still shows 4.2.1 and I tried checking for updates but it now says I am up to date even though About is not reporting it; it seems to occasionally register a single tap as a double; and Kindle dims the brightness! By about 20%. Got this for the micro SD slot.Asus Memo Pad HD7 - Monday, October 7, 2013 - link
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mfox - Thursday, November 14, 2013 - link
I have only had it for a few days, and have not had much time to really run it through its paces yet, but I am most likely going to return it. The display, especially. in regard to video, does seem really good. I have not found the device to be generally laggy so far, although I haven't really used it with many apps, under significant "load." My real complaint is with what I saw in some other reviews and was concerned about, the build, fit and finish and overall quality. it does seem creaky, the screen does seem like it is made from plastic, and the one I got had a little glue in the seam between the screen and the rest of the body. That seem seems to be of uneven width around the device and most likely will get other gunk caught in it. I really haven't had a chance to see if it has problems or works well with various apps, but will probably return it. I have ordered, believe it or not, a Dell venue 7, which has 1gb more internal memory, a decent (from what I have read) processor, and an equivalent screen. It runs stock android and is right now at 4.2 (like the asus), rather than 4.3, I think. And it is at a similar price point.danbc - Saturday, February 1, 2014 - link
Indeed, the presence of SDHC slot is a good option.Even on Nexus 7, you can use a stick over otg cable, it's not the same thing, because, on his Asus tablet, and all devices with sd slot, with proper software, like directory bind, you can efectively extend your sotrage space on the SD card .
I have a question for the writter: what is the name of the cpu usage monitor you used?