Gadgetory

Keng Google's budget tablet compete with Samsung's new miniature tablet let's take a look I'm Taylor Martin this is PocketNow and this is a Samsung Galaxy Tab pro 8.4 versus the Google Nexus 7 for the last two years Google's Nexus 7 has been the small Android tablet to beat in terms of value and quality starting at just $2.99 it's incredibly affordable and it packs a ton of great features but it isn't perfect and there's plenty of room for another small tablet to compete is Samsung's Galaxy Tab pro 8.4 the tablet to do just that let's find out the hardware situation between these two tablets is interesting the Nexus 7 doesn't try to be anything it isn't it's a budget tablet and it's designed as such it's minimal and understated the entire back side is a matte finished partly carbonate the tapered edges make it feel incredibly thin in the face is as stark as it gets no buttons just to display notification LED and front-facing camera it's actually quite beautiful in its simplicity the Galaxy Tab pro 8.4 does its best to live up to the 400 our base price by using facades and spoof materials the backside is made of plastic with a leather-like appearance with faux leather stitching and the trim along the edges is a faux brushed metal it feels notably better than previous Galaxy Tabs but it doesn't necessarily look all that much better the Nexus 7 is easier to hang on to with one hand due to its smaller size it measures 200 millimetres tall 114 millimetres wide and eight point seven millimeters thick the Tab pro 8.4 is 19 millimeters taller 14.5 millimeters wider yet 1.5 millimeters thinner at 290 grams the Nexus 7 is also 41 grams lighter than the Tab pro that said we actually prefer the size and shape of the Tab pro 8.4 likely due to the much larger display in the form factor that in the grand scheme of things isn't all that different than the insides the Galaxy Tab pro 8.4 certainly has the upper hand in terms of specs both come with the same storage options 16 or 32 gigabytes and 2 gigabytes of RAM but the Tab pro has a Snapdragon 800 chipset made of a 2.3 gigahertz quad-core Krait 400 CPU and Adreno 330 GPU eight megapixel camera and a 19-point to one hour battery the Nexus 7 has a Snapdragon s4 pro chipset made up of a 1.5 gigahertz quad-core Krait 300 CPU and Adreno 320 GPU if I have megapixel camera in a 16 watt hour battery the Nexus also has qi wireless charging to boot while the Tab pro features an IR blaster and Wi-Fi AC the displays on these two tablets are quite impressive the Nexus 7 has a 7 inch IPS LCD panel with a resolution of 1920 by 1200 pixels and was one of the most impressive tablet displays at the time of its launch with a density of 323 PPI the Tab pro 8.4 comes with an 8.4 inch WQXGA Super Clear LCD that's 2560 by 1600 pixels and an overall pixel density of 359 PPI both displays look great by themselves but when compared side-by-side the Tab pro 8.4 has the more vibrant panel with more natural tones the Nexus 7 appears cooler and some images tend to look a little less lively the tap pros display is sharper and prettier even if it may arrow on the side of oversaturation frankly we prefer the design and build of the Nexus 7 more we like its rear facing speakers which shoot audio into the palm of your hands in landscape mode to offer better stereo separation the feel of the tablet and its appearance more so than the Tab pro 8.4 we prefer on-screen buttons particularly on a tablet and wireless charging is a huge plus but the Tab pro and the speck Department is the clear winner this comparison is far from over however let's dive into the software shall we both tablets come running KitKat version 4.4.2 however the Nexus 7 runs a pure stock version of KitKat whereas the Galaxy Tab pro 8.4 software has been heavily customized by Samsung to include it smart features TouchWiz and the magazine UX homescreen it also has a host of other features for better or for worse if you're a bare-bones no-nonsense sort of person the Nexus 7 will certainly speak to you more deliberately it's as vanilla as it gets with no bloatware and running Android exactly as Google intended and it will have access to future software updates months before the Tab pro 8.4 the tab pro isn't totally worth writing off though amongst all the Samsung clutter like Samsung Apps and its own digital content library alongside Google's own stores Samsung software has some redeeming features like multi-window for those unaware multi-window allows users to run two compatible applications side by side such as YouTube and Chrome you can drag and drop information between the two applications without needing to copy and paste and it's all possible through a quick swipe from the right edge of the display however we definitely feel samsung software can be detrimental to the overall experience it looks like a confusing mixture of a modern tiled interface Tizen OS and Samsung's old TouchWiz interface it looks and feels conflicted and possibly incomplete and the Settings app only seemed to get worse with each update making it more and more confusing to navigate and find even some of the most simple settings if you want the most useful tablet features to date though Samsung has a corner on multitasking in this specific comparison as the multitasking experience on the stock Nexus 7 is bland and uninviting however it being a Nexus device by nature it has a far brighter future if modding and custom roms are your thing this particular part of the comparison boils down to preference all the changes made in Samsung's software however have a lasting effect which includes lag in some of the most vital areas the home screens we know the Snapdragon 800 is an impressive chipset we've seen time and again how great it is with performance and even the Nexus 7 Snapdragon s4 pro chip is highly capable and efficient both tablets are capable of running games with impressive graphics but where the Nexus 7 continues to run buttery smooth the Tab pro 8.4 begins to hiccup and stutter something as simple as flicking through the home screens can call the tablet to pause for a split second and that's unfortunate considering the near flawless history of the Snapdragon 800 and Krait 400 as well as its promising benchmark performance this is yet another lesson in how misleading benchmarks can often be if consistent performance is what you're after your odds of getting just that are far greater on the Nexus 7 battery life on the Nexus 7 isn't exactly the greatest the 16 watt hour 39 50 milliamp hour battery is a bit small for a tablet but it has managed to last us one day plus since we first bought it in the summer of 2013 you may need to recharge it every night if you're a heavy user we can't say for sure yet but the Tab pro 8.4 may be a similar story it has a 19 point what our battery rated at 4800 milliamp hours so far its stamina seems to be comparable to the Nexus 7's we found the camera on the Nexus 7 to be pretty lackluster after all it is a tablet the camera isn't a priority for most but it's essentially a toss-up for the camera quality between these two particular tablets out of the box the Tab pro 8.4 is set to capture at 6 megapixels instead of 8 for the 16:9 aspect ratio this means it's cropped and its field of view is narrower however its images were definitely more lively and warmer than those taken to the Nexus 7 which produced cool lifeless images frankly neither camera is mind-blowing but at the end of the day we give it to the Tab pro 8.4 for taking more balanced colorful images in all it boils down to a couple of things which you can likely answer for yourself with a few simple questions are you after a better value or a better tablet how important is the display and can you deal with occasional performance stutters the Nexus 7 starting at only two hundred and twenty nine dollars is undoubtedly the better value but the Tab pro 8.4 comes with things we wish the Nexus 7 had all along like an IR blaster snapdragon 800 and true simultaneity after using the Tab pro we're smitten with its size and almost feel cramped on a 7-inch tablet and the performance issues of the Tab pro 8.4 aren't wildly out of control it may seem that way in this short video but keep in mind you're only getting a snippet of our use so the lag and stutters will likely seem far worse than they actually are if you've got the extra cash to spend we highly recommend giving the Tab pro 8.4 a try but if you're on a tighter budget you'll be pleased for the Nexus 7 just as well folks that's gonna do it for this video if you enjoyed it be sure to click the thumbs up button below and subscribe to the channel to see more videos in the future including the full video review of the Galaxy Tab pro 8.4 be sure to follow us on all the usual places twitter facebook and google+ at pocket now I'm Taylor Martin you can find me on twitter at casper tech and i will see you next time