Google Nexus 7 (2012) vs HP Slate6 VoiceTab Specs Comparison

Ever since Samsung debuted its Samsung GALAXY Note to the world, the era of phablets began.

More and more manufacturers were starting to follow the trend by creating the phablets of their own.

(Google Nexus 7 (2012) vs HP Slate6 VoiceTab Specs Comparison)

HP is actually one of those companies. This manufacturer may not be such a huge player around the market of tablet, but I think Android devices from HP are still worth checking out and even worth buying.

Anyway, one phablet made by HP is known as HP Slate6 VoiceTab.

As its “VoiceTab” name applies, this device is really a phone that is also a tablet and it has cellular functionality of a smartphone just like Samsung GALAXY Note.

However, today, I’m not going to compare this HP's phablet against Samsung GALAXY Note or any other phablet devices out there.

But I’m actually more interested to pit this 6-inch phone tablet with a pure gaming tablet from Google – Google Nexus 7, made by Asus.


Okay, I know that these 2 devices are entirely different category tablets. But I’m still curious to see the comparison of these tablets in the whole aspect, especially their gaming performances.

So if you’re also interested to see how these 2 tablets fare against each other in this review, as well as my take on their gaming performances, then here you go, my comparison review between Google Nexus 7 (2012) and HP Slate6 VoiceTab.

N-joy!


As I mentioned above, I know that both Google Nexus 7 and HP Slate6 VoiceTab completely fall in 2 different categories, with Nexus 7 being a regular 7-inch tablet, while HP Slate6 VoiceTab is more on phablet side, just like Samsung Note.

But I think, there are some parts that make these 2 devices interesting to explore and compare side-by-side. For example is their designs.

Despite being mid-to-low-end tablets, both Google Nexus 7 and especially HP Slate6 VoiceTab actually have great looking designs.

Okay, they may not be as premium as iPads, especially in build quality, but in my opinion, I think these tablets still have much to say in that area.

Besides their design, there are also many other things that are still worth checking out on each of these devices, like their gaming performances, their hardware and some other more.

But the questions remain, with all of the good stuff found on each of these tablets:

Which one between Google Nexus 7 and HP Slate6 VoiceTab that has what it takes to be a great gaming device?

Which one that deserves to be better tablet in the whole aspect?

Is it worth it to buy HP Slate6 VoiceTab over Google Nexus 7?

Well, if you’re interested to know more about the answers of these questions, be sure to read the rest of this review.


When it comes to hardware, Google Nexus 7 may be a bit superior with its Tegra 3 processor compared to HP Slate6 VoiceTab, however, in terms of design, it’s actually HP Slate6 VoiceTab that looks more prominent in this comparison review.

So if you’re already familiar with the design of HP's other tablet called HP Slate7 Extreme, then you will see that these both HP slates share some similarities in designs.

It has the dual-front-firing speaker grilles on the left and right areas (landscape mode) and there are some pretty huge bezels on every side of the tablet.

However, there is one other thing that probably puts HP Slate6 VoiceTab on a higher level than its sibling. And that is rear-cover design.

So on the rear side, HP decides to use some interesting textured pattern finish all over the rear-cover of this 6-inch tablet.

It actually kind of reminds me with the rear-side of LG Nexus 4, which also has interesting textured pattern finish on the back.

To be honest, I actually think this is really cool and makes it look elegant and unique, especially compared to other regular Android tablets out there.

Back to Top

Google Nexus 7 (2012)

HP Slate6 VoiceTab

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

Dual SIM Released in February 2014 6.0 inch IPS capacitive touchscreen 720 x 1280 pixels (~245 ppi pixel density) 16M colors microSD card slot for up to 64 GB Quad-core 1.2 GHz Marvell PXA1088 Chipset Android OS, v4.3 (Jelly Bean) 1 GB RAM 16 GB Internal storage 5 MP with autofocus and LED flash 2 MP GPRS Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot Bluetooth v3.0 microUSB v2.0 GPS Stereo FM radio Java Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic 3000 mAh battery (Li-Ion)

In my opinion, I think HP doesn’t have any intention to make HP Slate6 VoiceTab a great gaming tablet.

And that’s true because this device is not equipped with some powerful processor nor GPU, especially compared to Google Nexus 7 with its powerful Tegra 3 processor.

And by looking at how this device comes with cellular support, I believe HP Slate6 VoiceTab is made specifically as a phone tablet for users who are looking for a media-consumption device (not gaming tablet) with cellular connectivity.

HP Slate6 VoiceTab comes with a quad-core Marvell PXA1088 processor, along with 1GB of RAM (and probably Vivante G1000 GPU, if i'm not mistaken).

Its display is 6-inches and sporting the 1280x720 pixel resolution (almost in 720p territory), while its photography department is handled by 5MP and 2MP cameras back and front with LED flash.

It has microSD card slot for up to 64GB , as opposed to Google Nexus 7 that has no microSD card slot.

And if you want to make phone call, Yes – you can do it on this device, in fact you can put 2 SIM cards on this device and let them turned on at the same time.

In the battery department, HP Slate6 VoiceTab is powered by 3000mAh battery, which I think is big enough to keep the lights on for many hours, even for doing heavy tasks.

Meanwhile, if HP Slate6 VoiceTab falls into phone-tablet category, then Google Nexus 7 definitely falls on a pure media-consumption device and gaming tablet categories.

And that’s thanks to its Tegra 3 processor along with 12-core GPU and 1GB of RAM, which are more than sufficient to handle some latest heavy 3D games perfectly.

Its display is 720p screen (1280x800 pixels), it only has 1.2MP front-facing camera (without rear-facing snapper), it’s powered by 4325mAH battery and you can get it either in 8/16/32GB flavor but it’s not equipped with microSD card slot though.

So if you decide to get the smallest one (8GB it is), then you will not have a lot of space to keep all of your favorite media contents inside this tablet.

Besides, I heard that many users of Google Nexus 7 experienced that this device became really laggy after a few months especially if its internal storage is loaded with many files.


When it comes to sharpness, HP Slate6 VoiceTab is definitely a bit superior than Google Nexus 7.

And that’s because all of the pixels on its 720p resolution are being pushed to a smaller 6-inch screen size, as opposed to Google’s tablet that comes with a 7-inch display sporting the same 720p resolution.

As a result, the ppi is higher on HP Slate6 VoiceTab and the screen looks more crisp on this device.

However, there’s probably not much difference of sharpness between the 2, especially given how HP Slate6 Voice Tab is sporting a slightly lower resolution display than the one found on Google Nexus 7 (1280x720 pixels vs 1280x800 pixels).

So basically, they are still great for reading books, watching HD movies, browsing the web or playing games.

Text is still readable, images look sharp and everything on the screen just looks good for most of users. But of course, you will still need to do the pinch-to-zoom gesture especially when reading tiny text in web pages or digital books.


Similar just like Google Nexus devices, HP with its Android tablets is also a big fan of pure stock Android UI.

And that’s great because as I’ve mentioned a lot in my previous reviews, by using stock Android UI without any customizations whatsoever (especially bloatware), it makes any tablet perform faster and smoother, plus more efficient with the use of memory (RAM) and battery life.

So you can totally expect the same thing on either Google Nexus 7 and HP Slate6 VoiceTab.

But of course, given that HP tablet is not equipped with some powerful processor just like Google Nexus 7, its performance may not be as smooth and fast as Google tablet, especially when doing some heavy tasks at the same time.

But overall, they both are still efficient with RAM and battery life.

Back to Top

As far as the gaming performance is concerned, I think it’s quite obvious that Google Nexus 7 will just blow HP Slate6 VoiceTab out of the water in that area.

And that’s true because this device is only powered by a quad-core Marvell PX1088 processor, which hasn’t been proved its quality and especially its graphics performance.

So for gaming, I totally recommend you to stay away from this HP tablet because it’s not gonna impress you at all.

As a matter of fact, I’ve already seen its gaming performance when handling some graphics intense games like GTA Vice City, NOVA 3 and Beach Buggy Blitz (an awesome arcade racing game).

And these games run really laggy even in medium graphics.

But weirdly, when thrown with a much heavier game called Asphalt 8: Airborne, this device is amazingly able to perform smoothly even in high graphics (not the highest graphics), with all the sun glare and reflection effects being shown on the cars and roads/asphalts.

But even so, I still doubt regarding its capability in playing games.

The reason why it handles Asphalt 8 smoothly in full graphics is probably because the developer of this game – which is Gameloft – has already fully optimized this game specifically for this tablet.

But I don’t think it happens as well on many other heavy games out there like GTA San Andreas or Modern Combat 4.

On the other hand, if you’re looking for a cheap gaming tablet with good gaming performance, Google Nexus 7 is probably the one you should consider.

It’s powered by a quad-core Tegra 3 processor, accompanied by 1GB of RAM and 12-core GeForce ULP GPU.

And I know exactly how this device is more than capable to handle games like Modern Combat 4, GTA Vice City, NOVA 3, NFS: Most Wanted, Dead Trigger, ShadowGun Deadzone, Horn and even Asphalt 8: Airborne - all smoothly in full highest graphics.

However, it's worth mentioning that Asphalt 8: Airborne doesn't run perfectly smooth on this device, compared to the second-gen Google Nexus 7 (2013) that has no problem at all in running this game in highest graphics.

But the good thing is, this game is still playable in full highest graphics.

Meanwhile, for a much much heavier game called GTA San Andreas, it’s very obvious this device won’t be able to perform smoothly in highest graphics (because even the second-gen Nexus 7 is also not powerful enough to handle this game in full graphics).

So if you love this game, you may want to set its graphics to low in order to play smoothly.


Despite not having a powerful gaming performance, HP Slate6 VoiceTab actually excels on one sector that Google Nexus 7 don’t.

And that is in camera department.

So HP Slate6 VoiceTab is equipped with a 5MP rear-facing camera along with 2MP camera on the front.

The great thing is, this elegant looking tablet already comes with LED flash, which will come in handy if you love taking photos in low light condition.

So if you’re looking for a phone tablet and you’re also into photography, then HP Slate6 VoiceTab is definitely the one you should pick up instead of Google Nexus 7.

However, you cannot expect this tablet to have some mind-blowing quality cameras just like on other flagship devices like Samsung GALAXY note or iPhone 6s Plus.

But at least, it gets the job done and the photos are still worth showing off to your Instagram or Twitter followers.


As mentioned above, one of the great benefits of having stock Android UI is definitely its efficiency with the use of memory (RAM) and the most importantly, battery life.

And that’s what exactly happens on both Google Nexus 7 and HP Slate6 VoiceTab. Not only do these tablets have smooth performance, but they are also good in terms of battery life.

HP Slate6 VoiceTab is capable to survive in 7 hours in 56 minutes for browsing with WiFi in minimum brightness.

Meanwhile, when tasked with some heavy load and set in maximum brightness, this tablet still survives around 3 hours and 31 minutes, which is pretty neat given that normal users normally won’t set the brightness to the max inside the house or building.

So if set in medium brightness, you can expect its battery life to last longer than 4 hours.

Meanwhile, Google Nexus 7 is also considered as good when it comes to battery life.

It's able to survive around 9 hours and 49 minutes when thrown with some normal daily tasks in moderate use.

But of course, if you use any of these tablets to do some heavy serious activities without resting the screen at all - like playing games in the row or watching movies in marathon -, their battery life could easily drop drastically to probably just around 3 to 5 hours, probably less.


So in conclusion, after looking at every aspect of each of these 2 devices, I think the decision to buy Google Nexus 7 or HP Slate6 VoiceTab will totally come down to personal preference and personal needs.

I mean, if you’re looking for an affordable tablet to play some heavy games, then Google Nexus 7 is definitely the one to go.

It has powerful processor and GPU, it performs smoothly on almost heavy 3D games on Google Play Store and it has some decent battery life, thanks to medium 720p resolution and stock Android UI.

However, if you’re not into gaming abd you’re only looking for a media-consumption tablet with phone functionality and connectivity supports, then HP Slate6 VoiceTab is probably the one you should pick up instead of Google Nexus 7.

It may not have the same great gaming performance as Google Nexus 7, but I'm actually amazed at how this HP tablet is still capable to handle Asphalt 8: Airborne smoothly in high graphics, although I don’t recommend this device for gaming.

But it's worth noting that according to many uses of Google Nexus 7, many of them experienced that this tablet suddenly became laggy and buggy after a few months of use.

Many believed that its flash storage is the one to blame because apparently, it's not a great quality flash memory.

So to sum this up, let me answer some of the questions I’ve already asked previously above:

Which one between Google Nexus 7 and HP Slate6 VoiceTab that has what it takes to be a great gaming tablet?

It’s definitely Google Nexus 7. It has a powerful chipset along with 12-core GPU and it’s more than capable to swallow most of heavy graphics intense games like Modern Combat 4, NOVA 3, GTA Vice City, Asphalt 8: Airborne, Horn or Dead Trigger in full highest graphics.

Which one between them that deserves to be better tablet in the whole aspect?

I think HP Slate6 VoiceTab could be a better tablet than Google Nexus 7 in the whole aspect.

Okay, I know that this device may not have the same impressive gaming power as Google Nexus 7. But I still think this device still deserves to get in the hearts of many Android users out there because it actually has a lot to offer than Google Nexus 7.

It has microSD card slot, it has a rear-facing camera along with LED flash, it has dual-front speaker grills, it has more elegant and premium looking design, it has connectivity supports and many other great things that cannot be found on Google Nexus 7.

Is it worth it to buy HP Slate6 VoiceTab over Google Nexus 7?

I’ve gotta say, YES, but only if you’re looking for a media-consumption device with phone functionality, not a pure gaming tablet.

But if you’re looking for a great gaming tablet, but you also want to get microSD card slot and rear-facing camera, I recommend you to get either HP Slate7 Extreme, HP Slate7 Plus, HP Slate8 Pro or NVIDIA Shield Tablet.

These guys are powerful for gaming and they are fully equipped with microSD card slot and a rear-facing camera.

Not to mention, 2 of them (HP Slate7 Extreme and NVIDIA Shield Tablet) have an amazing digital pen out of the box.

The great news is, Nvidia Shield Tablet with Tegra K1 is now really cheap to get for just $199 for the 16GB model. So I STRONGLY recommend you to go with this tablet if you're looking for a powerful gaming tablet.


Google Nexus 7 (2012)

Pros:

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

Cons:

• NO rear-facing camera
• NO microSD card slot
• 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 Slate6 VoiceTab

Pros:

• Great design and build quality
• Dual front-firing speaker grilles
• Cellular support
• Stock Android UI
• It has microSD card slot and a rear-facing camera with LED flash

Cons:

• Less powerful for playing games
• Average battery life

Have any question? Leave your comment here!