Hands-on

Google Nexus 10 first impressions

Diangson Louie December 19, 2012 · 2 min read

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Following the success of the 7-inch Nexus 7, Google released its first entry into the 10-inch tablet space – the Samsung-made Nexus 10. We finally got our hands on one so check out our first impressions of this tablet after the break.

Let’s start with the obvious, the Nexus 10 is without a doubt a sleek looking device. It’s all black, thin with curved edges, yet creates an impression that it means business. On the front is a 10-inch True RGB Real Stripe PLS display with a resolution of 2560 x 1600 (300 ppi) topped with Gorilla Glass 2. Placed right above it is the 1.9 megapixel front-facing camera while on the sides are the speakers. The Nexus 10’s display is crisp, icons and texts are sharp with amazing viewing angles. However, it suffers a bit under direct sunlight but still viewable.

Nexus 10_ps

On landscape mode, right on top on the left are the power/lock button and volume rocker, on the right is the micro HDMI port, the microUSB port and headset jack on the left, while at the bottom is the magnetic pogo pin charger. Flip it on its back and you’ll see the 5 megapixel main camera and LED flash. The rest of the body is made of durable plastic with a non-glossy finish while the upper part where the main camera is placed is made of rubber with a dimpled design similar to the Nexus 7.

Nexus 10_back

Google and Samsung skipped on the microSD card so you’re limited to the 16GB or 32GB variants being offered. The Nexus 10 runs Android 4.2 Jellybean out of the box but quickly prompted for the 4.2.1 update which we immediately downloaded. Preliminary benchmark tests shows AnTuTu giving it a score of 12,718, 3,806 on Quadrant Standard, while NenaMark gauged the GPU at 52.9 fps.

Google Nexus 10 specs:
10.1″ True RGB Real Stripe PLS, 2560×1600 @ 300ppi
Gorilla Glass 2
1.7GHz Exynos 5 Dual 5250
2GB RAM
Quad-core Mali T604 GPU
16/32GB non-expandable internal storage
5MP autofocus camera w/ LED flash
1080p video recording @30fps
1.9MP front-facing camera
WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth 4.0
NFC
9000mAh battery
Android 4.2 Jelly bean
Dimension: 8.9mm
Weight: 603g
Android 4.2.1 Jellybean

Nexus 10_box

The purchased unit was the 16GB model which is available at Widget City for Php20,990. See listing here. We are still playing around with the Nexus 10 and so far we are impressed. Check back for a full review in the coming weeks.

What is the screen resolution of the Nexus 10?

The Nexus 10 has a 2560 x 1600 resolution display with 300 ppi.

Does the Nexus 10 have a microSD card slot?

No, the Nexus 10 does not have a microSD card slot.

What version of Android does the Nexus 10 run?

The Nexus 10 runs Android 4.2 Jellybean out of the box.

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Diangson Louie

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This article was written by Louie Diangson, Managing Editor of YugaTech. You can follow him at @John_Louie.

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36 Comments

lawrence_kun · 13 years ago

Not optimized, but most of the mobile apps scale perfectly fine with tablet resolition so its not a deal breaker, compared to apple”s way of scaling wjich is just gross.

Whay to do with the pixel count? Aside from apps, media consumption such as movie watching makes use of it bigtime!

Wayne Ponz · 13 years ago

Yes! XD Woohoo! Nexus 10!

ichigo · 13 years ago

@Jay

That’s FUD spread by Apple fanboys, what more do you need from a tablet? That is its intended use, it’s not designed to completely replace a laptop or a pc. It’s for people who are always on the go. I have a Nexus 7 and I have all the apps that I wanted running whether it’s games or productivity suites. I use it in school and in the office, works fine for me. Unless you’re a super user of office applications.

Name the app(s) that is supposedly not optimized for droid tabs!

Jaja · 13 years ago

Dude… there’s about hundred thousand apps that are not optimized for Nexus 10. And… it’s different from the other android tablet. This app might be optimized for this and not for that.

So yeah.

ichigo · 13 years ago

@Jaja

As I’ve said name the app.

Also, you got it all mixed up, FYI, the problem with Droid apps is that it is fragmented, i.e., what works for the phone (screen less than 5 inches) does not mean will work on tablets 7 inches and up, and vice versa.

As for not optimized, different strokes for different folks.

Ivan · 13 years ago

Totally ditching my ipad 3 for this one!

That screen display beats ipad’s ‘resolutionary’ display by a mile!

Jay · 13 years ago

Right now, optimized apps for android tablets are very limited. So for me, that screen resolution and quad-core cpu means nothing if you’re only limited to browsing and to some productivity apps and games.

Juju · 13 years ago

Not really. There’s not much difference… you won’t notice it anyway.

But wait! There’s more. You see, even though N10 have higher PPI density, iPad has more optimized apps that takes advantage of the display specs.

I give it a tie.

Ivan · 13 years ago

I use my ipad mostly for surfing and reading only. I hardly use it for gaming. So, the few optimized apps for tablets in the google play store doesnt bother me at all. and besides, one of the reasons i prefer the android OS over the iOS is the ease of transferring files. Drag and drop lang. No need for softwares like itunes. Another feature i like is the OTG.