Which device is worth the purchase? We compare the Google Nexus 7 against the NVIDIA Shield tablet to see which is the better buy.
In terms of design and display, the NVIDIA Shield is equipped with an IPS LCD display that measures 8 inches and that can render a screen resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels. The tablet has a high grain polycarbonate exterior case which has a matte finish and the sides have furrowed edges which gives it an interesting look. This device is 9.2 mm thick and it weighs 390 grams.
The Google Nexus 7 on the other hand, comes with an IPS LCD display, but measures only 7 inches and has the same resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels. The tablet has a black strip of glass on the sides and a rubberized exterior case. This device is thinner (thickness: 8.65 mm) and lighter (weight: 299 grams) than its rival.
For the hardware and OS, the NVIDIA Shield is a gaming-oriented tablet, having a Cortex A15r3 which is a quad core working at 2.2 GHz paired up with Tegra K1 chipset and KEpler 1 SMX GPU. It supports 2 GB of RAM and it comes with two options regarding interior storage capacity: 16 GB and 32 GB (if you choose to use a microSD card, you can expand your memory by up to 128 GB). The tablet runs on the Android 4.4.2 KitKat.
The Nexus 7 has a Krait: quad core working at 1.5 GHz paired up with the Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset from Qualcomm. iT has 2 GB of RAM, and 16 GB/32 GB of ROM but no option for memory expansion. It runs on the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, but the OS is upgradable to higher versions.
For camera and battery specs, both tablets have 5 MP cameras with similar features (they don’t hold flash). Regarding the secondary camera, NVIDIA pulled something interesting, giving the same type of camera (5 MP) in the front of the tablet, while the Nexus 7 comes with a 1.2 MP.
The battery unit seen on the NVIDIA tablet overpowers the one seen on the Nexus tablet by far (Shield battery capacity: 5197 mAh; Nexus 7 battery capacity: 3950 mAh).
The NVIDIA Shield 16 GB variant cost $299.00, while Google’s Nexus 7 16 GB version cost $208.00.
Which tablet device is worth the purchase? Sound off in the comments section below.
