Great Devices: Nexus 7 2013

I’m setting myself a little HomeAssistant dashboard panel, which is a great opportunity to reuse an old tablet. When checking what devices I had available, I came across my old Nexus 7 (2013), which made me think about how great this little device is. Looking back, I’m not sure I can think of a single bit of tech I’ve been as pleased with.

This was one of the few early-to-release impulse buys I’ve had. I had the Nexus 7 2012, which itself was hailed as a great device thanks to its impressive specs and quality for the budget price, while showcasing the cutting edge of Android at the time. I don’t think I planned to upgrade, but when coming across the 2013 device in a shop, I was surprised at how refined it felt.

And refined it was. A higher res and better quality screen, wireless charging, more power and RAM for a smoother Android experience. The stereo speakers stood out, and were something I missed, and was surprised by the lack of, when I later bought an iPad Air 2. Best of all was the feeling of the device. It wasn’t fancy metal, but just a high quality soft touch shell which formed a thin and dense form factor that felt great, and it still feels great to this day. The soft touch plastic doesn’t even show signs of disintegrating like many do.

I continued to use the tablet up until 2019. It still seems reasonably snappy to use, albeit on its very outdated Android 6 (Marshmallow) operating system, so it’s not something to start browsing the web on. It’s slowly charging as I write, but it still seems to hold some level of charge when unplugged!

I look forward to giving this great old 13-year-old gadget a new lease of life.