Google Unveils 2nd-Gen Nexus 7: 1.5GHz SoC, 5MP Rear Camera, Android 4.3

Google had a lot to talk about at its “Breakfast with Sundar Pichai” press event earlier today, but most of the attention leaned towards the company’s long-awaited Nexus 7 follow-up. Produced by ASUS, as the original was, the second-gen Nexus 7 features a similar form-factor (though a tad thicker) but boasts a number of key improvements. Given both the price-point and the fact that the original Nexus 7 isn’t “old”, we’re dealing with some impressive specs here.

With its 1920×1200 resolution, Google has more than doubled (2.25x) the number of pixels versus the first-gen Nexus 7, resulting in a pixels-per-inch rating of 323. Performance-wise, the SoC has also seen an upgrade to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S4 Pro, clocked at 1.5GHz. Had NVIDIA’s Tegra 4 been ready a bit earlier, I can’t help but wonder if that’s what we would have been seeing here.

Unlike the original Nexus 7, Google has foregone an 8GB model here (for good reason, I’d reckon), but like the original, there is no room for expandable storage (not counting cloud, of course). Bluetooth has seen an upgrade to the latest standard, while wireless remains the same (no 802.11ac, but that’s more of a luxury at this point), and like before, GPS and NFC can be found here. A cellular model is also available for those who want to pony up the extra cash for it.

Two of the most noteworthy upgrades (to me) is the bump to 2GB of RAM, and the addition of a rear camera. At times, I feel like my original Nexus 7 could benefit from extra RAM, and likewise, the front 1.2MP camera is about as useless as one can get (proven by the fact that a camera app wasn’t even included).

Of course, we can’t look over the fact that Android 4.3 will be bundled in here as well. Whether or not the original Nexus 7 will be treated to that upgrade, we’re uncertain, but it does seem unlikely.

Currently, some etailers are offering pre-orders of the new Nexus 7, with prices a little above what the original launch saw; $229.99 for the 16GB, and $279.99 for the 32GB. All-in-all though, not bad pricing given the great specs.