Google Nexus 10 vs Apple iPad 3 (new iPad)
For various reasons, when people talk about tablets; especially 10 inch tablets; they tend to identify it as iPads. This is because Apple iPad was the first most popular 10 inch slate in the market. Even though Android tablet line stacked up with various sizes including many in the 10 inch arena, none of them got any real attention from the consumers. It’s true that they were also sold in significant numbers, but never did we hear anticipation for a 10 inch Android tablet until recently. As you know, Google has decided to take the manufacturing process in to their hand and has released three smart devices in various sizes. It starts with Nexus 4 which is a smartphone and continues with Nexus 7 and Nexus 10. Apparently, Google Nexus 10 manufactured by Samsung was highly anticipated for an Android 10 inch tablet which shows how much consumers trust on Google’s own products. We have to give it to Google; we are not disappointed at all seeing the all new smart device line. On top of that, all of these devices are offered at an affordable rate although they are indeed the top of the line products in today’s market. Hence, we can expect them to give a tight competition to the rivals out there in the market including Apple new iPad. Let us compare Google’s Nexus 10 with Apple’s new iPad and try to identify which is going to be the favorite for customers in this holiday season.
Google Nexus 10 Review
Google has started to name their Nexus devices depending on the screen sizes, and hence Google Nexus 10 that is manufactured by Samsung comes with a 10.05 inch Super IPS PLS TFT capacitive touchscreen featuring a monster resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels. For those of you who thought Apple new iPad still have the highest resolution are in for a surprise with the introduction of Google Nexus which now holds the title for the device with the highest resolution. It indeed has an intimidating resolution and has deep blacks and vibrant colors. The pixel density is also very high at 300ppi which is better than Apple new iPad. The outlook has a remarkable resemblance to Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and hence might be considered as not as much as visually appealing. However, it certainly has higher build quality than the latter and the soft-touch plastic black plate make it a pleasure to hold on to this wonderful slate.
The resemblance to Galaxy Tab ends there for Nexus 10 that has a very different and innovative hardware. It is powered by 1.7GHz Cortex A15 dual core processor on top of Samsung Exynos 5250 chipset along with Mali T604 GPU and 2GB of RAM. This whole setup runs on Android OS v4.2 Jelly Bean. The first question you might ask me is why it doesn’t have a Quad Core processor, well the answer is they have changed the architecture from Cortex A9 to Cortex A15 and also overclocked it to 1.7GHz. That would be as much powerful as a nominal Quad Core in some contexts. Frankly, we think they are just not ready to come out with Cortex A15 Quad Cores. But fear not, with the new Mali T604 GPU and 2GB of RAM, is there anything you can’t do in this tablet? The answer is NO! Any app you find will run smoothly and seamlessly in this incredible tablet, and it’ll be a pleasure to use it. It has an ideal level of thickness which enables the slate to fit in to your hands and at the same time, refrain from it slipping away from your fingertips.
Nexus 10 comes with Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n connectivity with Wi-Fi direct and dual side NFC. It is true that the unavailability of a 3G version may be problematic to a certain audience, but hey, you can always host a hotspot on your smartphone or can buy a Mi-Fi device. Google may decide to release a 3G version of this tablet as well in the future like they released one for Nexus 7.
Samsung has included 5MP rear camera with LED flash and autofocus which can capture 1080p HD videos @ 30 frames per second. It also has a front camera that is of 1.9MP which you can use for video conferencing over Wi-Fi. The usual accelerometer, proximity sensor, gyro sensor, and compass are available in this slate, as well. It only comes in black like the other Google Nexus line. The internal storage stagnates at 16GB of 32GB without an option to expand using microSD cards, which can be an issue for extreme media users. However, 16GB is a manageable amount for a slate like Nexus 10. After reading the review, you very well know that Nexus 10 is not a budget line tablet. However, you may be surprised with the price it’s offered. The 16GB version is offered at $399 which is $100 less than Apple new iPad. It will be released on the 13th of November in the US, UK, Australia, France, Germany, Spain and Canada. We can gladly recommend this tablet as the best tablet in the 10 inch Android tablet market.
Apple iPad 3 (new iPad) Review
There had been many speculations about Apple iPad 3 (new iPad) because it had such a pull from the customer’s end and, in fact, many of those features were added up to a consistent and revolutionary device that is going to blow your mind. Apple iPad 3 (new iPad) comes with a 9.7 inches HD IPS retina display that features a resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels at a pixel density of 264ppi. This is a huge barrier that Apple has broken, and they have introduced 1 million more pixels to the generic 1920 x 1080 pixels display which used to be the best resolution a mobile device provides. The total number of pixel adds up to 3.1 million which is now the highest number of pixels available in a mobile device. Apple guarantees that iPad 3 (the new iPad) has 40% more color saturation compared to previous models. This slate is powered by A5X dual core processor with quad core GPU although we don’t know the exact clock rate. It is needless to say that this processor will make everything to work smooth and seamlessly.
There is a physical home button available at the bottom of the device as usual. The next big feature Apple introduces is iSight camera, which is 5MP with autofocus and auto-exposure using a backside illuminated sensor. It has an IR filter built into it which is really great. The camera can also capture 1080p HD videos, and they have smart video stabilization software integrated with the camera which is a good move. This slate also supports the best digital assistant in the world, Siri which was supported by iPhone 4S only.
iPad 3 (new iPad) does come with LTE connectivity apart from EV-DO, HSPA, HSPA+, DC-HSDPA and finally LTE that supports speeds up to 73Mbps. The device loads everything super-fast on 4G and handles the load very well. Apple claims iPad 3 (new iPad) is the device that supports most number of bands ever. It has Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n for continuous connectivity, which was expected by default. Fortunately, you can let your iPad 3 (new iPad) to share your internet connection with your friends by making it a Wi-Fi hotspot. It is 9.4mm thick which is amazing and has a weight of 1.4lbs which is rather comforting.
iPad 3 (new iPad) promises a battery life of 10 hours on normal usage and 9 hours on 4G usage, which is another game changer for iPad 3 (new iPad). It is available in either Black or White, and the 16GB variant is offered at $499 which is rather low. The 4G version of the same storage capacity is offered at $629 which is still a good deal. There are two other variants, 32GB and 64GB which comes at $599 / $729 and $699 / $829 respectively without 4G and with 4G.
A Brief Comparison Between Nexus 10 and iPad 3 (new iPad)
• Google Nexus 10 is powered by 1.7GHz Cortex A15 dual core processor on top of Samsung Exynos 5250 chipset along with Mali T604 GPU and 2GB of RAM while Apple new iPad is powered by 1GHz Cortex A9 Dual Core processor on top of Apple A5X chipset with PowerVR SGX543MP4 GPU and 1GB of RAM.
• Google Nexus 10 runs on Android OS v4.2 Jelly Bean while new iPad runs on Apple iOS 6.
• Google Nexus 10 has 10.1 inch Super IPS PLS TFT capacitive touchscreen featuring a monster resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels at a pixel density of 300ppi while iPad 3 has 9.7 inches LED backlit IPS TFT capacitive touchscreen featuring a resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels at a pixel density of 264ppi.
• Nexus 10 is only offered with Wi-Fi connectivity while iPad 3 is also offered in a 3G variety.
• Nexus 10 is bigger but thinner and lighter (263.8 x 177.8 mm / 8.9 mm / 603g) than new iPad (241.2 x 185.7 mm / 9.4 mm / 652g).
• Google Nexus 10 has 9000mAh battery while new iPad has 11560mAh battery.
Conclusion
As we have claimed in the review, Google Nexus 10 is easily the best tablet offered in the Android 10 inch tablet market. However, how it scales up with Apple iPad 3 is an entirely different matter which is at the hands of the customers. The major complain coming from the customers is that Google Play Store doesn’t offer as much tablet apps as iTunes does. This is true because Apple actually got a head start, but it’s fading at a fast pace now, and Google Play will catch up iTunes in the near future. Besides that, the looks may be a point of complaining because people are used to the glamor offered by the iPad. But hey, Nexus 10 has better built quality than most of the tablets out there, and it’s even at par with Apple new iPad. On a technical perspective, Nexus 10 is definitely better than iPad 3 as it has a better processor, a better display panel with a better resolution and pixel density and, what’s more, it’s even lighter than Apple new iPad. The best thing is Nexus 10 is offered $100 less than Apple new iPad. We understand that Apple iPad may be the only option if you are looking for a tablet with 3G connectivity, but Google is bound to release a 3G version soon as well, like they did for Nexus 7. In that case, we daresay Google Nexus 10 will be a good opponent for Apple new iPad.