Google Nexus 7 (2012) VS HP Slate7 Plus Specs Comparison

Google has never been a major player in tablet market before the first Nexus tablet came out.

But amazingly, when this tech giant released Google Nexus 7 in 2012, many people and especially tech geeks were really impressed a lot at how great this tablet really was in the whole aspect.

(Google Nexus 7 (2012) VS HP Slate7 Plus Specs Comparison)

Not only was Google Nexus 7 capable to deliver a fast and smooth performance, but this device was also powerful for gaming.

This is actually not quite surprising because Google Nexus 7 is powered by no other than Tegra 3 processor, which is marketed heavily by NVIDIA as a gaming processor.

To be honest, I was actually one of the people in 2012 that was really impressed a lot with this tablet.

I mean, I’ve already seen many times how powerful this device in handling some graphically demanding 3D games like Modern Combat 4, NOVA 3, Dead Trigger, GTA Vice City and even Asphalt 8: Airborne, all in full graphics.


This is why today I’m so excited to bring up this amazing gaming tablet (again) in my next comparison review.

And given that Nexus 7 is armed with Tegra 3 processor, then I would also like to pit this tablet with another device with the same processor, to see how they go in gaming performance.

This one is coming from HP and I think this HP tablet deserves more recognition because it’s still pretty rare to hear this device on many major tech sites.

Anyway, the HP tablet I’m talking about is HP Slate7 Plus, which comes with almost identical specs just like Nexus 7.

Well, if you are interested to learn more and see how these 2 powerful tablets fare against each other in my review, as well as my take on their gaming performances, then here you go, my comparison review between Google Nexus 7 and HP Slate7 Plus.

Enjoy!


Ever since Google unveiled Nexus 7 in at I/O conference, many people there were amazed at how powerful this tablet in terms of performance, especially for gaming.

At that conference, not only did Google brag the hardware specs of this device, but it also showed off the gaming performance of this tablet when deployed with one impressive 3D game called “Horn” – which is an amazing medieval RPG game.

In my opinion, I think that was so obvious that Google wanted people to know that its Nexus 7 was a great tablet specifically for gaming.

And that’s true because Google Nexus 7 was a really great gaming tablet, of course back in the days of 2012.

Besides Google Nexus 7 with its Tegra 3 gaming processor, there are actually many other tablets that also make use of this powerful chipset along with its 12-core GPU.

One of them is HP Slate7 Plus.

What makes this tablet so interesting for me is actually its price tag.

I mean, can you believe that by paying only $150, you’ll get a great gaming tablet from HP that has the same class of hardware and software.

But the questions remain. With all of the great things found on each of these 2 devices, which one between Google Nexus 7 and HP Slate7 Plus that has what it takes to be a great gaming tablet?

Which one is a better tablet in the whole aspect?

Is it worth it to buy Google Nexus 7 over HP Slate7 Plus?


If you’re already familiar with some of Nexus smartphones like Samsung GALAXY Nexus or LG Nexus 4, then you can totally see how these devices have the same characteristic of design, with rounded shape all over the side.

It actually goes the same with Google Nexus 7. Given that this tablet is also a part of Nexus family, of course there are some similarities found on its design.

This really contradicts with HP Slate7 Plus that looks really generic with many other regular Android tablets out there, with no unique characteristic on it.

I think design is not the main thing that HP wants to brag on this tablet, but it’s more of its hardware, which in my opinion are slightly better than the ones found on Nexus 7.

Besides, HP Slate7 Plus only costs $150 when it first came out – compared to $199 of Google Nexus 7 -, so you just cannot complaint anything on its design or build quality.

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Google Nexus 7 (2012)

Asus MemoPad 7 HD

Released in July 2012 7.0 inch LED-backlit IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 800 x 1280 pixels, (~216 ppi pixel density) 1.2 MP front-facing camera Quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 1.2 GHz Cortex-A9 CPU ULP GeForce GPU 1GB RAM Android OS 4.1 (Jelly Bean), upgradable to 4.4.2 Android KitKat 8/16GB/32GB Internal No microSD card slot Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n Bluetooth NFC USB Infrared GPS No GPRS No EDGE No Radio No Java Non-removable Li-Ion 4325 mAh battery

No SIM Released December 2013 7.0 inch Capacitive touchscreen, 800 x 1280 pixels, (~216 ppi pixel density) Android OS, v4.2.2 (Jelly Bean) Nvidia Tegra 3 Quad-core 1.3 GHz Cortex-A9 CPU 1 GB RAM 5 MP rear-facing camera, autofocus VGA front-facing camera microSD, up to 32 GB 8 GB Internal storage No GPRS No EDGE Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n Bluetooth USB No Radio GPS Java Non-removable Li-Po 4000 mAh battery Up to 7 hours 30 min (multimedia) Talk time

One of the things that makes me really interested to compare from these 2 tablets is actually their spec sheets.

Both tablets are equipped with almost identical specs, from a quad-core Tegra 3 processor, 1GB of RAM, 12-core of GeForce ULP GPU, a 720p display, 8GB of internal storage and stock Android Jelly Bean out of the box.

However, if we look a little bit closer at their spec sheets, we finally find out which one of these tablets that comes out as the winner here in the whole aspect.

And it’s definitely HP Slate7 Plus.

Okay, they both have some identical specs one to another. But there are some parts that totally make this HP tablet a better offering than Google’s device.

It has a microSD card slot for up to 32GB and a 5MP rear-facing camera – compared to Google Nexus 7 that doesn’t have them.

And these 2 elements are really vital for most of today’s media-consumption tablets.

So this is the reason why it’s not that hard for me to recommend you HP Slate7 Plus instead of Google Nexus 7 especially when knowing that both of these 2 tablets have the same processors, display and GPU.


As 2 affordable tablets released in 2012 and 2013, of course having 720p resolution on a 7-inch display is still acceptable.

Their screens may not look as sharp as on other tablets with 1080p display out there like Kindle Fire HDX 7 or the second-gen Google Nexus 7.

But they are still enjoyable to use for most of users out there.

They are great for reading books, watching HD movies, browsing the web or even playing games.

Besides, their Tegra 3 processors are optimized only for 720p display.

So by using this medium resolution display, not only do these 2 tablets perform much smoother and faster, but they are also more efficient with the use of battery life.

Not to mention, thanks to this 720p screen, they can deliver a much smoother gaming performance.

I mean, you can look at Kobo Arc 7 HD.

This device performs really laggy for gaming (even when playing NFS: Most Wanted), despite the fact that it uses the same exact Tegra 3 processor. just like Google Nexus 7 or HP Slate7 Plus.

And the culprit of that problem is definitely its 1080p display, which gives a lot of burden to its processor, especially when doing some heavy stuff like gaming.

So I think it’s a great decision by Asus and HP to go with 720p resolution on these 2 devices.

It already looks pretty sharp, the gaming performance is great and they are more efficient with battery life and memory-management (RAM).


Google has always been really consistent with its decision to use pure stock Android UI on all of its Nexus devices.

Actually, so does HP with its tablets.

And that’s great because by using the standard Android UI without any customizations from the manufacturers, any Android tablet will perform much smoother and faster, plus more efficient with memory (RAM) and battery life.

That’s what exactly happens to Google Nexus 7 and HP Slate7 Plus. Both of these tablets come pre-installed with pure stock Android UI.

So right out of the box, you can enjoy the smoothness of Android Jelly Bean with all of the standard apps and features provided directly from Android team of Google.

However, on HP Slate7 Plus, there are still some added apps and features from HP like printer app and other HP related apps.

But don’t worry, they are not going to consume a lot of memory from this device. So you can still expect to see it fly in performance.

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As far as the gaming performance in concerned, no doubt that any tablet with Tegra 3 processor and 720p display, plus stock Android UI, will be amazing for playing games.

And I’ve already seen (probably gazillion times) how Google Nexus 7 is really strong in handling 3D games like Modern Combat 4, NOVA 3, NFS: Most Wanted, GTA Vice City, Dead Trigger and one great 3D role playing medieval-themed game called Horn.

All of these games run smoothly and the most importantly, in full highest graphics.

It probably goes the same with HP Slate7 Plus.

Even though I’ve never seen this tablet perform for playing games (because there’s still no gaming performance reviews of HP Slate7 Plus found on YouTube), you can totally expect the same thing on this tablet.

It has a powerful quad-core Tegra 3 processor just like Google Nexus 7, it uses 720p display and it comes with stock Android UI just like Google Nexus 7.

So I believe this tablet is also capable to perform well when handling the aforementioned games above.


Besides microSD card slot, the other thing that makes HP Slate7 Plus a much better tablet than Google Nexus 7 is definitely its rear-facing camera.

HP Slate7 Plus is equipped with a 5MP rear-facing camera along with VGA camera on the front, with the absence of LED flash.

Meanwhile, Google Nexus 7 has no rear-facing camera (as well as microSD card slot), although it still has a front-facing camera to do selfies or video calls.

So if you’re into photography or maybe you just love taking photos in your spare time, then HP Slate7 Plus is definitely the one you should pick up here.

The rear camera of this tablet may be as great as the cameras of other flagship devices like iPad mini or Samsung GALAXY tablets, but it still gets the job done and I believe the photos are still worth sharing to your Instagram or Twitter followers out there.


If we talk about battery life, both Google Nexus 7 and HP Slate7 Plus can be considered as good in that department.

And that’s mostly thanks to the use of 720p resolution display on each of these 2 devices. Not to mention, having pure stock Android UI also gives a lot of benefits to these tablets.

They are able to perform much smoother and faster, and they are also more efficient in terms of battery life.

And that’s shown perfectly by how powerful the battery life of Google Nexus 7.

According to various sources, this device is capable to last around 9 hours and 49 minutes for moderate use, which is good for a media-consumption tablet.

I don’t know quite sure about the battery life of HP Slate7 Plus.

But I believe its battery life could also be pretty neat just like Google Nexus 7 especially because this tablet comes with the same processor, 720p display and the same stock Android UI.

But it’s probably not going to be exactly as great as Google Nexus 7 because HP Slate7 Plus is powered by 4000mAh battery, which is smaller than the one found inside Google Nexus 7 (4325mAh).


So in conclusion, I think it’s not that hard for me to recommend HP Slate7 Plus instead of Google Nexus 7. I mean, it’s very obvious that this HP tablet is a much better offering than Google Nexus 7.

First of all, it comes with almost identical hardware specs like: a quad-core Tegra 3 processor, 1GB of RAM, 720p resolution on a 7-inch display and not to mention, it also comes pre-installed with pure stock Android UI.

So that already tells us that these 2 tablets are on the same level of performance, especially for gaming.

However, HP Slate7 Plus has something that Google Nexus 7 is lacking.

And they are microSD card slot and a rear-facing camera, which are really important for today's media-consumption tablets.

HP Slate7 Plus is equipped with microSD card slot for up to 32GB and a 5MP rear-facing camera, while Google Nexus 7 doesn’t have these 2 features.

So that makes it really easy for me to just recommend you HP Slate7 Plus instead of Google Nexus 7 for that reason.

I mean, it’s very obvious that they both will be great for gaming, watching HD movies, browsing the web or anything.

But with HP Slate7 Plus, you’ll get 2 extra bonuses: microSD card slot and a rear-facing camera.

Not to mention, the fact that HP Slate7 Plus only costs $150 is also the reason why you must buy this HP tablet instead of Google Nexus 7.

So to sum this up, I’ll try to answer some of the questions I’ve asked previously above:

Which one between Google Nexus 7 and HP Slate7 Plus that has what it takes to be a great gaming tablet?

It’s definitely HP Slate7 Plus.

Okay, they both may perform similarly for playing games. However, HP Slate7 Plus comes with microSD card slot for up to 32GB.

So you can install as many games as you want on this device without deleting any existing files or your favorite games in internal storage.

Meanwhile, Google Nexus 7 doesn’t have microSD card slot. Not to mention, I’ve also heard several times that many users of Google Nexus 7 experience sluggish performance after using this tablet for a few months.

So I suggest you to pick up HP Slate7 Plus instead.

Which one is a better tablet in the whole aspect?

Of course, it’s HP Slate7 Plus. It has almost identical hardware specs just like Google Nexus 7. But it comes with microSD card slot and a 5MP rear-facing camera, 2 things that cannot be found on Google Nexus 7.

Is it worth it to buy Google Nexus 7 over HP Slate7 Plus?

No, it’s not worth it. Besides the problem i’ve mentioned above, Google Nexus 7 also is not equipped with microSD card slot and rear-facing camera.

So if you want the better version of Nexus 7 tablet, go with HP Slate7 Plus instead.

However, I also have other alternatives if you want to get a much better tablet than these 2 at low price.

You can try HP Slate8 Pro as it's now priced at just $125. And it is way more powerful than Google Nexus 7 or HP Slate7 Plus, thanks to its Tegra 4 processor.

Or you can also pick up Nvidia Shield Tablet with Tegra K1 instead as it only costs at $199 right now but if offers the best gaming performance on the market today. So you're not gonna regret it if you decide to buy this Nvidia's tablet.


Google Nexus 7 (2012) 

Pros:

• Regular software updates from Google
• Powerful gaming performance
• Super smooth experience with stock Android UI
• Great battery life
• Good build quality

Cons:

• NO microSD card slot
• NO rear-facing camera
• Some users experienced that this Nexus 7 tablet became laggy over the time especially when the internal storage is loaded with many files
• For today’s standards, it’s not so powerful anymore for playing heavy games

HP Slate7 Plus

Pros:

• Great gaming performance thanks to Tegra 3 processor
• Cheap to buy (probably less than $150 right now)
• 5MP rear-facing camera
• microSD card slot
• Stock Android UI

Cons:

• Smaller battery capacity than Google Nexus 7
• Average battery life
• Unattractive design
• Not sure about the quality of its rear-facing camera

Have any question? Leave your comment here!