Nexus 7: Runs sweetly on Jelly Bean

Dubai: The Google Nexus 7 is the best Android tablet I’ve tested so far, in part because it runs on its latest operating system - Jelly Bean.

The Nexus 7 tablet draws comparisons to the Kindle Fire. But, despite sharing the same screen size and basic looks, the Nexus 7 build quality is much better than the Kindle Fire. The Nexus 7′s soft, textured back makes it very comfortable to hold and it weighs-in at just 340 grams.

Unfortunately, there is no micro-SD card slot for adding more storage. Google’s also left out 3G and 4G radios, which means WiFi is the only way to get online.

The seven-inch 1200 x 800 HD backlit IPS display packs a respectable 216 pixels per inch onto the screen. Sure, it’s not quite as impressive as a third-generation Retina Display iPad at 264ppi, but given the price, users have little to complain about.

The display is quite bright and offers wide viewing angles. It is glossy, which means it’s tough to read outdoors unless you crank up the brightness and stay in the shade.

It runs on 1.3Ghz Tegra 3 quad-core processor and 1GB of RAM.

Android 4.1 on the Nexus 7 brings the same three button design found on Ice Cream Sandwich, but they are now centered on the bottom of the device.

Notifications are now accessed through a pull down at the top of the display, much like on Android phones. Selected apps, like Gmail, support expanded notifications that show more of the message.

The voice search is more useful and faster than Siri, delivering not only the information requested, but also more ability to act on it.

However, app selection remains a problem for the Google Nexus 7 tablet. While the overall selection of Android apps has increased, many are not optimised for the tablet.

The cheapest Nexus 7 comes with 8GB of storage, but with only 5.9GB is available. The rest is dedicated to the operating system and other pre-installed software.

At the bottom of the unit is a micro-USB port and 3.5mm headphone jack, while a thin speaker port is the only feature of note on the back, aside from Nexus and Asus branding.

With WiFi and Bluetooth becoming standard features these days, the Nexus 7 has gone one step beyond by including a near-field communication (NFC) chip.

The Nexus 7 also features a 1.2 megapixel front-facing camera and the Gallery app offers a wide range of editing and crop tools to enhance photos before sharing them. Sharing includes the Android Beam for tapping two devices together to make the transfer -- no WiFi or Bluetooth required.

The 4326mAh battery lasts around seven hours on a charge. Your battery mileage will vary greatly depending on your usage. It is priced at $199 for 8GB and $249 for 16GB.