Google Nexus 10 vs Apple iPad 4

Last week saw Apple tweak the specifications for its full-screen (9.7″) sized iPad, which is now renamed as the iPad 4.  Today saw Google launch a similar device with a slightly larger screen, the Nexus 10.

The Nexus 10 seems to resoundingly beat Apple in almost every respect.  It has a slightly larger screen with a greatly improved 30% increase in pixels, striking right at the heart of the iPad’s greatest strength to this point – its high quality screen.  It is similar in size and 2 ounces lighter – both devices are still somewhat heavy, but the Nexus 10 is two ounces lighter.

The Nexus 10 is probably a slightly faster unit in most applications, but offset against that is a slightly shorter battery life – 9 hrs compared to 10 hrs for the iPad 4.

Both devices have moderate quality cameras – perhaps strangely, the phones have the best cameras of all three devices, in both cases.

Of significance is the appreciably lower price of the Nexus 10 compared to the iPad 4.  Units with the same capacity are $100 cheaper from Google, or – if you need to add GPS functionality (and it is great to have GPS on a large-sized screen) then the price gap widens to a huge $230 difference in price.  You could buy a Nexus 10 AND a Nexus 7, and both of them would have GPS too, for less than the cost of a single iPad 4 with GPS.

As far as we are concerned, for full-sized tablets, there is no question but that the Nexus 10 is the better product to have.  The table immediately below summarizes the key points of both devices, so you can form your own impressions and opinions.