Asus Google Nexus 7 (2013) Vs. Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 - Which is superior?
Are you looking to buy a tablet and confused about which tablet to choose between Google Nexus 7 (2013) and Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0? Then read this article which gives a comparative review of both the devices.
The competition in the tablet market is getting stiffer and stiffer. It has now become difficult to choose a tablet for our budget. It needs good comparison while buying to make sure that you end up with a device you want. Both New Nexus 7 and Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 are upgraded versions of devices in their respective series. Design and Build
The new Google Nexus 7 comes with a great build quality. The front panel is completely made of Corning Gorilla Glass while the back panel is made of polycarbonate which gives a soft-touch feel while holding. It can be held with both hands or one handed for a longer time either in portrait or landscape mode, thanks to its lighter body. The dimensions of the device are 200 x 114 x 8.7 mm. It weighs 290 grams, which is great for a 7 inch device.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 is entirely made of plastic but it can still provide that solid feel. The design of the device looks attractive, thanks to the hyper glaze. But it is difficult to hold the device with both hands in portrait mode (will be fine in landscape mode) because of the slim bezels on its sides. The dimensions are 209.8 x 123.8 x 7.4 mm and it weighs 314 grams.
Winner: Both the devices have excellent build quality. The Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 is thinner but the new Nexus 7 is lighter. But both the devices are an inch apart. So it is difficult to judge the winner and the result is draw.
Display
The new Nexus 7 has a high-quality 7 inch IPS LCD capacitive screen with a great pixel density of 323ppi. Its display resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels is the highest available in a tablet of smaller size. The display unit supports wide viewing angles and more colours. Combined with all these features, the Asus Google Nexus 7 (2013) is all set to provide high quality viewing experience.
The Galaxy tab 3 8.0 comes with an 8 inch WXGA TFT capacitive touch screen with a pixel density of 189ppi. The display resolution is 1280 x 800 pixels and does promise crisp and beautiful display.
Winner: With the market's best available compact tablet display, new Nexus 7 is the obvious winner.Processor and RAM
The new Nexus 7 has a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 chipset powered by quad-core krait clocked at 1.5GHz at its heart which is very well accompanied by 2 GB of RAM. The Adreno 320 GPU is takes care of the Graphics. The powerful processor enables good multi-tasking and gaming.
Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 is equipped with Exynos 4212 chipset powered by dual-core Cortex-A9 processor clocked at 1.5GHz and like new Nexus 7 it is also equipped with good amount of 1.5 GB of RAM. The graphics is looked after by the Mali-400MP unit. With 1.5 GB RAM, the Galaxy Tab has the ability to cater to multi-tasking and smooth interface.
Winner: With 2 GB RAM the new Nexus 7 stands at the better position. And the quad-core processor (even though the processors are of different make) also gives new Nexus 7 the edge and makes it the winner.OS and Memory
The new Nexus 7 comes with a latest version of Android OS i.e. Jelly Bean v4.3 straight out of the box. Google introduced the latest version by making a few tweaks to the already accomplished previous version. New Nexus 7 comes in two memory versions – 16 GB and 32 GB. There is no option for expansion of memory.
The Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 comes with Android Jelly Bean v4.2.2 and Samsung's TouchWiz interface over it. The TouchWiz interface adds new features and options which are optimized for tablet interface. Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 also comes in two memory versions – 16 GB and 32 GB. It also has an expansion slot and can be expanded up to 64 GB.
Winner: New Nexus 7 has the edge over Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 in terms of the OS. But lack of expansion slot in the Nexus gives Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 the edge. In this case there is no clear winner and it is draw.Camera and Multimedia
The new Nexus 7 comes packed with a 5 megapixel rear camera, which enables to take pictures with a resolution of 2592 x 1944 pixels. There is a front-facing 1.2MP camera for video calling. It enables to shoot 1080p high quality videos at 30fps. There is also an option to switch to 720p video recording if you don't want to have large video files. There is good support for necessary audio and video formats thanks to the video player apps in the play store.
The Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 comes with a main camera which also enables to take images up to a resolution of 2592 x 1944 pixels. There is a front-facing 1.3MP camera. It supports shooting 720p videos at 30 fps. It also supports multimedia very well and enhances the viewing experience.
Winner: Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 has good built-in multimedia support than new Nexus 7. But the 1080p camera will give new Nexus 7 the edge. So the result is draw. Battery and Connectivity
New Nexus 7 comes with a Non-removable Lithium-Ion 3950 mAh battery. It gives the good playback time and browsing time when coupled with the newer OS. It has support for GSM (2G)/HSDPA (3G)/LTE (4G). The LTE version comes only in 32 GB memory. It also has in-built support for wireless charging (Qi compatible). It supports NFC and Bluetooth v 4.0 along with all the necessary sensors and GPS.
Galaxy Tab 8 3.0 is also packed with a Non-removable Lithium-Ion battery which has a capacity of 4450 mAh. It will give a good amount of usage time on a moderate usage. It also has support for 2G, 3G and 4G. It has all the sensors like new Nexus 7, supports GPS and Bluetooth v4.0, but lacks the NFC support.
Winner: Apart from small capacity difference in battery, new Nexus 7 stands in a better position than Galaxy Tab 8 3.0 with NFC support and built-in wireless charging. New Nexus 7 is the winner.Pricing
As said earlier, new Google Nexus 7 comes in two memory versions – 16 GB and 32 GB. The Wi-Fi versions of 16 GB and 32 GB are available in North America and Europe. The prices are $229 (Rs. 14,000 approx.) and $ 269 (Rs. 16,500 approx.) respectively for the versions. The LTE version (32 GB) which is still to be released is announced at a price of $349 (Rs.21,000 approx.). The device is still to be launched in India.
Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 is already launched in India. The Wi-Fi version (16 GB) is available at a price of Rs. 21,495 while the Wi-Fi + 3G version (16 GB) is available at a price of Rs. 25,725. The LTE version is still to be released. It is available in some online stores like infibeam and tradus.
Winner: With a highly competitive price the new Nexus 7 eliminates its competition completely and it is the winner.Final Verdict
With all the comparison above you can see that Google new Nexus 7 offers more features at a lower price than Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0. Google and Asus are making it tough for other tablets in the market to compete with their device. So if you are looking for a small screen tablet to buy then Google Nexus 7 (2013) is the best option right now.
