Once again, we’re gathered here to see two contenders go head to head to see which tablet is going to come out victorious. This time around we’ve got two fairly evenly matched contenders that should be able to trade blows with each other no problem. When they’re as evenly matched as this who’s going to come out top? What’s going to help the Nexus break away from the Kindle’s choke hold? What’s going to help the Kindle get out-of-the-way of the Nexus’ shrapnel. Read on to find out which one of these is going to be victorious.
The Specs
The Nexus 7
The Nexus 7 has been the darling of the 7-inch world for some time now and with some recent tweaks to the recipe by Google it looks like it’s only going to get better. Let’s not forget that this is going to get a whole lot of updates to come and allows you to experience everything that Android has to offer without any hassle or fuss. This is a Nexus device after all and it’s certainly living up to that reputation, it’s available directly through the Play Store for an incredible price as well as numerous retail outlets If you’re a fan of Android an rely on Google’s services then this is the tablet to get as the Kindle Fire HD won’t let you access any of your Google Goodness.
Pros
- Updates guaranteed for roughly 2 years.
- Clean and clear access to all Google services, seamlessly.
Cons
- Play Store not packing that many movies.
- Tegra 3 can be a bit of a battery hog
The Kindle Fire HD 7-inch
Amazon have made the Kindle Fire range a popular mark in the tablet world. Having the weight of the biggest online retailer in the world certainly helps. However, there are a lot of things about the Kindle Fire HD that make it a brilliant tablet whether its your first or not. On a 7-inch device you’re more likely to be consuming content, such as movies or books or magazines, as ironically, Google have proven. Amazon have no problem offering content then, with a massive library of books thanks to their successful and established Kindle store and a bucket load of film and TV, there’s no way you could run out of stuff to watch on this. When it comes to apps though, the Kindle Fire line has been lagging behind for some time, while it’s nowhere near as bad a comparison between the iPad and the Nexus 10 it’s not that good. Being locked out of Google’s services on the other hand, might be the biggest blow of all for the Fire HD, there’s no GMail here, no Google Drive and no Play Store.
Pros
- Brilliant integration into Amazon’s online store
- Well priced;just like the Nexus
Cons
- It might be Android but, in name only, there’s no Google here so if you like GMail and Google Drive, look elsewhere
- The app selection isn’t as vast as any other Android tablet out there.
- You have to pay more just to get rid of ads on your lockscreen…
And The Winner Is…
In this fight it had to be the Nexus 7. Simply put, you can do everything that the Kindle Fire HD does for the same price; you can still read Kindle books and you can get access to movies and TV shows from all manner of different services. Where the Kindle Fire HD locks you into being all Amazon all the time, the Nexus 7 lets you go wherever and do whatever the hell you want and at the end of it you’ve still got the Play Store that’s never been so full as it is now. There are more apps to choice from on the Nexus 7 as a lot of developers are choosing not to put their apps in the Amazon App Store, there’s also the reassurance that, this being a Nexus device, you’ll be updated for quite some time to come.