T-Mobile has just announced the availability of the great Nexus 7 (2013) Tablet on their growing network. T-Mobile is now taking pre-orders, but will not ship your Nexus 7 until November 20…just in time to show it off over the Thanksgiving holiday. They are selling it for their full-retail for $384 or $0 up front with payments of $16 a month for the next 24 months, unless you cancel your “un-contract” before the 24 months are up, then the balance remaining becomes due immediately.
Other than getting the Nexus 7 with no money down, it makes little sense to purchase this 32GB model from T-Mobile, when the exact same device is being sold at Google Play for only $269, so you could save yourself some cash by buying directly from Google.
To refresh your memory, the specifications are as follows:
- Display – 7-inch HD 1920×1200 resolution
- Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro, 1.5 GHz Processor
- 2GB RAM
- 32GB internal storage (actual formatted capacity will be less)
- 5MP Camera
- 1.2MP FFC
- Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean) – soon to be upgraded to 4.4 KitKat
- Battery – 3950mAh
- Size and Weight – 7.87 x 4.49 x 0.34 inches at 0.66 pounds
The Nexus 7 had an exciting beginning, with Google providing contests to win the device, and the reviews were excellent, but it has been in the news mostly because of its issues with Verizon. Verizon refused to activate the Nexus 7 when it first came out, citing issues of its certification – one customer went so far as to write the FCC to see if Verizon was in violation. In the mean time, Verizon announced their own 7-inch tablet, the Ellipsis series, and rumors started all over again – but thankfully, Verizon issued a statement explaining the entire situation:
During the certification process for the Nexus 7, Google, Asus and Verizon uncovered a systems issue that required Google and Asus to undertake additional work with the Jelly Bean OS running on the device. Since Google was about to launch its new Kit Kat OS, rather than undertake this work, Google and Asus asked Verizon to suspend its certification process until Google’s new OS was available on the Nexus 7.
So slowly, but surely, the Nexus 7 will be available on all the major carriers, hopefully in time for the holidays. Let us know in the comments or on Google+ if you will be picking up an early Christmas gift at T-Mobile or if you prefer to go through the Google Play Store.