Gadgetory

the google nexus 9 is undeniably one of the best android tablets out there but is it the best I'm xiomara Blanca for cnet let's take a closer look in partnership with Google HTC manufactures the Nexus 9 and it looks rather average I was underwhelmed by its design though it's still a solid piece of hardware with a premium feel it has a pair of front facing speakers headphone jack on the top edge and microUSB port on the bottom the power button and volume rock around the top right corner are almost flushed to the tablets edge and are tricky to find without looking though it's slightly lighter than the ipad air 2 it's noticeably girthier its rounded edges make it comfortable to hold and the smooth matte finish on the back feels good against your fingertips while providing a soft grip it houses a speedy NVIDIA Tegra k1 system-on-chip with 2 gigabytes of RAM and 16 gigabytes or 32 gigabytes of internal storage with no expandable storage option the 8.9 inch screen rocks at 2048 x 1536 pixel resolution and HD video looks vividly sharp with lifelike color however the displays 4 by 3 aspect ratio adds to letterboxing when watching widescreen video it's the first tablet to run Android lollipop 5.0 the revamped user interface is draped in cool grays and blues with trendy flat icons and a stationary google search bar on the home screens considering its speedy specs the Nexus 9 delivers with fast performance large games load within seconds and even when many apps are open in the background it chugs along unfazed I encountered some apps and games that consistently lag and crashed but it's more likely because they're not optimized for Android 5.8 the 8 megapixel rear camera is impressively sharp though the native camera app is rather bare bones and the 1.6 megapixel front-facing shooter is a little fuzzy in focus yet produces well exposed photos with realistic colors the tablet starts at 399 for a 16 gigabyte model and is available in 4G LTE capable versions ultimately determining the best tablet depends on your unique needs and there isn't a one-size-fits-all slate with that said those looking for premium pure Android tablet should definitely put the Nexus 9 at the top of their list so check out my full review for more information I'm xiomara Blanco and this has been a first look at the google nexus 9 tablet