Google Nexus lineup

Mintmaster

Veteran
So we have threads for Apple, MS, Samsung, and Nokia, but not Google?

The Nexus 7 we all know about.

The Nexus 10 really seems to be going after the iPad in the specs war, with an obscene 2560x1600 resolution, seemingly scorching fast JavaScript performance potential if the Exynos 5250 on the Chromebook is any indication, and $100 lower price points ($399 for the 16GB, $499 for the 32GB).

The Nexus 4 seems to be an incredibly low priced Optimus G without LTE or a microSD slot.
  • 4.7" 1280x768 LCD
  • S4 Pro, pretty much top of the smartphone charts AFAIK
  • wireless charging
  • well built and looks classy
$349 unlocked and off contract? Wow. I'm guessing the battery life may not be the greatest, but that's a steal. I don't know how TMobile is going to sell this for $199 on contract, because by going prepaid you'll save the upfront cost in just 4 months and $800+ over two years, though I suspect serious discounts to lure customers.

I'm sure Android handset and tablet makers aren't going to be happy with the Nexus pricing.
 
Well, Samsung and LG are only too happy to sell their stuff for low cost.

I for one think it's a welcome trend. Smartphone prices have been insane. Now that we are close to reaching perceptual limits of everyday performance (games aside), it's about time the prices started crashing.
 
We've had very capable smartphones at low prices for years now. The amazing thing here is that the Nexus 4 is top of the line in the display and CPU/GPU departments, adds the luxury of wireless charging and NFC, by early accounts looks and feels like a premium device, and yet it's still inexpensive.

You're right, of course, as even premium phones like the iPhone have, by the best estimates, ludicrous gross margins, so they should be coming down in price. It's just pleasantly surprising to see it happen when nothing in the same league as the Nexus 4 is priced this low.
 
I for one think it's a welcome trend.

You "think"? Show me one consumer that wouldn't be glad paying less for any product.

Smartphone prices have been insane. Now that we are close to reaching perceptual limits of everyday performance (games aside), it's about time the prices started crashing.
Fear the chinese. What's the Xiaomi M2 set to sell at? Last time I said elsewhere that mobile devices are way overpriced I got nearly lynched. The Nexus 10 tablet falls into the same category; look at what you get and compare to the iPad mini MSRP.
 
I'm waiting for the Nexus 4 32GB being released at current 16GB price. 16GB is too small for me and those cloud stuff just eating into my caps. Btw, I would settle for 32GB at $400. 8GB is okay if it has mSD card slot...
The 10 is very tempting.. Definitely something that my parents could use (7 is too small for their old eyes). But 16GB to 32GB cost $100? That's a rip off. If it's 64GB to 128GB I can accept that. Even those blazing fast SSD cost less (btw, I'm pulling the pricing number from my head, which is $399 for 16GB and $499 for 32GB. CMIIW).
The 7 inch 3G is also very tempting.
 
Google is doing the same thing Apple (and basically every CE company) does, which is to make higher income consumers pony up a lot more for higher end models. Another example is with TVs, where Samsung and Panasonic use the same panels for the majority of their lineup, but just change some small things like connectivity, filters, and TV styling to make people pay more if they can afford it, even though it costs almost nothing to add those things.

Even then, while that $100 may seem like a ripoff, the 10's pricing is still below what you'd expect for a product with better specs than anything else on the market.

16GB may be small for you, but it's far and away the most popular model for the iPhone and there's no microSD slot, so I don't think it's a mistake when Google is clearly gunning for value and volume.
 
Myself I find 16 GB more than enuf on the ipad, hell even 8GB would be more than enuf. IIRC I use maybe 2GB total, what on earth could u fill all those GB's with 1000s apps, some movies (watching on a small screen with crap speakers, yeah right :) ) 1000s songs hmmm cause u never know when u want to hear a particular song
 
Myself I find 16 GB more than enuf on the ipad, hell even 8GB would be more than enuf. IIRC I use maybe 2GB total, what on earth could u fill all those GB's with 1000s apps, some movies (watching on a small screen with crap speakers, yeah right :) ) 1000s songs hmmm cause u never know when u want to hear a particular song

Games? Fifa, Modern Combat 3, and a few other games mostly from Gameloft and EA use more than 1GB (Fifa and MC3 around 1.5GB). For me, 8GB is not an option.
 
Well, I've got around 25GB of music on my phone's SD card at the moment. Sure, I never listen to most of it, but the fact remains that it is there if I want it!

The media playback ability of the newer phones means that storing lots of video on there for playback on external screens is also feasible, not to mention the increasingly large games now being produced.

This is why I'll never buy a phone without a microSD slot. Heck, 64GB cards are down to around 35 quid so why compromise with such limited storage space?
 
While I need a lot of storage on my phone for the HD camcorder, I stream most of the media I consume on my tablet and get by with relatively little storage.
 
The big difference between consuming movie and music is that you can do something else why listening to music compared to the full attention needed in watching movies. Because of that, I can get away with only storing a couple of movies that I want to watch compared to music where I want the ability to listen to any of my music on a whim. So I don't think people will suddenly store lots of movies. But there's definitely a minimum of acceptable space for me, and that is 16GB. Although 16GB is acceptable, it isn't enough for my current usage pattern, but I probably can adjust. I'm hoping for 32GB Nexus 4 or whatever other phone that can match the features and pricing of the Nexus 4... preferably a popular phone where I can be certain that there'll be support from the community.
 
I got a Nexus 7 16GB tablet yesterday and even though I now noticed that a 32GB model would only have been 20€ more expensive, I absolutely love that thing. The build quality and feel of the unit is excellent. The 4.2 OS is very fluid and responsive. The size of the unit is just what I wanted as it is quite comfortable to hold on one hand and it fits nicely into my jacket's pocket, making it very easy to carry around. The whole Nexus lineup seems like a real killer to me.

edit: The fact that the Nexus 7 32GB model is 70€ cheaper than the new iPod touch blows my mind.
 
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I got a Nexus 7 16GB tablet yesterday and even though I now noticed that a 32GB model would only have been 20€ more expensive, I absolutely love that thing. The build quality and feel of the unit is excellent. The 4.2 OS is very fluid and responsive. The size of the unit is just what I wanted as it is quite comfortable to hold on one hand and it fits nicely into my jacket's pocket, making it very easy to carry around. The whole Nexus lineup seems like a real killer to me.

edit: The fact that the Nexus 7 32GB model is 70€ cheaper than the new iPod touch blows my mind.

Well, you are comparing a product with next to no profit, to a product that sells at profit after all ;)

I don't think you will see Apple in any foreseeable future join the others in the race to the bottom.
 
edit: The fact that the Nexus 7 32GB model is 70€ cheaper than the new iPod touch blows my mind.
Is it really that surprising? I thought if you aren't significantly cutting back on capabilities, smaller can end up being more expensive not cheaper. For example, the Nexus 7 has a larger, higher resolution screen, but the 5th gen iPod Touch is now supposed to be using the same screen as the iPhone so it has higher dpi than the Nexus 7 and a larger color gamut with proper calibration, which means it might not actually be cheaper despite being smaller. The 5MP back camera and aluminum material in the housing are probably also notable cost contributors. And Apple's nice margins as Pressure mentioned.
 
also the nexus has wireless charging (major turnoff)
now if they got rid of that (& perhaps increased the price by 50$) I may be interested but ATM wireless charging == no sale
 
Is it really that surprising?

I didn't say it was surprising, just that I feel I get way more and better experience for my usages at a significantly cheaper price. Perhaps "blows my mind" was a wrong choice of words. I just meant that there is no comparison for me about which unit felt more attractive to me. Apple asking for more is hardly surprising in most situations.

I personally think that the PPI in the Nexus 7 is enough. It's not the best quality display in other aspects, but PPI is not it's issue. The PPI of the older iPads is imo insufficient and the pixels pop out too much, not the case with this one.
 
I personally think that the PPI in the Nexus 7 is enough. It's not the best quality display in other aspects, but PPI is not it's issue. The PPI of the older iPads is imo insufficient and the pixels pop out too much, not the case with this one.
I agree, there seems to be diminishing returns on tablets once ppi is over 200. Even though they're both about a 50 ppi difference the improvement between the iPad Mini (163 ppi) and Nexus 7 (216 ppi) is pretty noticeable whereas that between the Nexus 7 and retina iPad (264 ppi) is less so.
 
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