Nexus 7 VS Nook HD: A Comparison of Low-Budget Tablets

Nexus 7 & Nook HD

Barns & Noble(BN), the second largest online bookstore in USA, announced a 7'' tablet called Nook HD two days ago. We have made a comparison of this device with Amazon Kindle Fire HD yesterday. Today we'll  continually compare it with another 7'' Android based tablet --- Google Nexus 7.

Before the comparison, I want to share some rumors about Nexus 7. It's said Google is developing 2 new Nexus 7 models with the manufacturer ASUS. These 2 devices, priced at $199 and $99, are predicted to put into market in the end of year. According to anonymous news, to compete with iPad Mini, a 7.85'' model which is rumored to be announced in October, the $99 Nexus 7 tablet will unveil before that.

Now let's compare the specifications of Nexus 7 and Nook HD.

Nexus 7 VS Nook HD (7'' version)

Name	Nexus 7	Nook HD
Price	$199	$199
Color	Black	Snow/Smoke
Display	7 inches	7 inches
Memory	8GB (16GB / $249)	8GB (16GB / $229)
Resolution	1280*800	1440*900
Dimension (mm)	198.5*120*10.45	194.4*127.1*11.0
Weight (grams)	340	315
OS	Android 4.1	Customized Android 4.0
Processor	1.3 GHz Cortex-A9 Quad-core	1.3GHz TI OMAO 4470 Dual-Core
Apps Store	Google play	Nook Apps
WiFi	802.11 b/g/n	802.11b/g/n
Bluetooth	Support	Support
NFC	Android Beam	None
Camera	1.2MP front-facing camera	None
Battery	10hrs for reading/10hrs of e-reading	10.5hrs for reading/10hrs of e-reading
TV output	HDMI	HDMI
Loudspeaker	Stereo	Stereo
Release date	Available since July 2012	Accept pre-order now Available on Nov 1, 2012

Dimension & display

As 7'' tablets, these two devices have similar dimensions but Nexus 7 is a little heavier in weight. As to the display resolution, Nexus 7 has 1280*800 pixels resolution, which is lower than Nook HD's 1440*900.

OS & processor

The Nexus 7 is the first tablet of "Google Nexus devices" and equipped with the newest Android 4.1 OS. For the Nook HD, it comes up with customized Android 4.0, is a little out dated but reasonable to upgrade to 4.1 version later.

The Nook HD runs on a 1.3 GHz OMAP 4470 Dual-Core processor, which is one of the fastest processors in any of the most popular low-budget tablets. The Nook HD starts with 8GB of internal memory and able to expand easily with microSD card slot.

The Nexus 7 is powered by a Quad-Core 1.3 GHz Tegra 3 processor, which was one of the best low-budget tablet processors for a long time. It also has 8GB of internal memory but does not support microSD card expandation.

Camera

As we mentioned yesterday, Nook HD has no cameras. Nexus 7 has a 1.2MP front-facing camera for video chatting.

Communication

Both machines support WiFi and Bluetooth, additionally the Nexus 7 supports NFC feature (Android Beam).

Apps Store

Google Play, the Google's official apps store, has 675,000 applications. These apps have been downloaded 25 billion times, according to the Google's latest announcement. Without access to the full Google Play store, the Nook HD is rendered relatively useless.

Price

As competitors, Google and BN set the same price for the two tabelts: $199 for a 8GB version. But for a 16GB one, Nexus 7 priced at $249, which is $20 higher than Nook HD.

Conclusion

From we mentioned above, I can draw a conclusion that the Nook HD is newer and better than Nexus 7. The Nook HD has higher resolution, better processor and expandable memory.

However. Nexus 7 also has advantages such as camera, newest OS and apps store. So which 7'' tablet is your cup of tea?