Google Nexus 7 (2012) VS LG G Pad 8.3 Specs Comparison

Written by B Johnson February 26, 2016
Google Nexus 7 (2012) VS LG G Pad 8.3It has been widely known that iPad is one of the most premium tablets in the world for the past couple of years.

And that’s thanks to its great build quality and also premium aluminum materials that cover the whole side of this device.

(Google Nexus 7 (2012) VS LG G Pad 8.3 Specs Comparison)

Not to mention, the regular efforts from Apple to make iPads much thinner and lighter are also the other things that make iPads so untouchable by all competing tablets in terms of design.

But there’s actually one tablet that is not coming from Apple but it has a premium looking design and build quality.

And that is LG G Pad 8.3.

So similar just iPads, this Android tablet from LG also has premium aluminum materials covering the entire part of this tablet.

But amazingly, despite using the similar premium materials like iPad, this LG’s tablet still has its own unique design and characteristics especially compared to iPad.

This is the reason why today, I’m really interested to bring up again this LG G Pad 8.3 into my next comparison review. However, the opponent for this tablet in this review is actually not going to be from Apple.

But the other tablet that I want to put in the same ring with LG G Pad 8.3 is Google Nexus 7 (2012).

Google Nexus 7 (2012) VS LG G Pad 8.3 benchmarks and gaming performance

I know this Google’s tablet is an old-gen device. But in my opinion, I think Google Nexus 7 is still considered as an equal challenger for LG G Pad 8.3, especially given that this device was released a year before LG’s tablet arrived to the market.

Well, if you’re also interested as I am to see "The Battle of Tablets” between these 2 interesting devices, including my take on their gaming performances, then here you go, my comparison review between Google Nexus (2012) and LG G Pad 8.3.

Introduction

There’s one interesting fact about LG G Pad 8.3. This tablet doesn’t have any successor or sequel just like any other tablets.

I mean, even Google Nexus 7 (2012) has the sequel generation released in 2013, so do other tablets like Sony Xperia Tablets or iPads.

But I think it’s interesting to see how LG still doesn’t have any plan to release the next-gen LG G Pad until today.

However, despite not having any successor, LG G Pad 8.3 is actually already an impressive quality device.

I mean, from hardware standpoint, it’s still considered as good with its Snapdragon 600, 2GB of RAM and Adreno 320.

And then, in terms of design, this tablet is also really amazing with its premium aluminum materials all over the side. It also has an elegant and unique curved design, which has its own characteristic compared to iPad.

On the other hand, Google Nexus 7 has a sequel. And it was released in 2013.

But interestingly, the first-gen Google Nexus 7 is actually also impressive even as a gaming tablet.

It may not have the same premium build quality just like LG G Pad 8.3, but it’s still powerful enough to handle some of the graphics intense games on the market.

But the questions remain, with all of the great things found on these old-gen devices, which one between Google Nexus 7 and LG G Pad 8.3 that has what it takes to be a better gaming tablet?

Which one is a better tablet in the whole aspect?

Is it worth it to buy LG G Pad 8.3 instead of Google Nexus 7?

Well, hopefully we’re about to find out the answers of these questions at the end of this review. So be sure to stay tuned.

Design

From many Android tablets out there right now, I think LG G Pad 8.3 is one of the tablets on Android camp that in my opinion is the right equal challenger for iPad mini, of course when it comes to design and build quality.

And that’s totally true because just like Apple’s mini tablet, LG G Pad 8.3 interestingly is also made out of aluminum materials all over the place, which looks and feels really premium just like iPad.

And this really contradicts with many other regular Android tablets – including Google Nexus 7 – that mostly use some plastic polycarbonate or matte finish, although they still look good and better than glossy plastic finish.

So this is actually the thing that I’m really amazed at LG G Pad 8.3.

I mean, if compared with other Android flagship tablets, this LG G Pad 8.3 is definitely not that powerful.

But when it comes to design, I think this LG G Pad 8.3 is just way better than most of its counterparts.

However, it’s actually not just on the materials it uses, but in its design itself, this LG G Pad 8.3 also really excels in that department perfectly.

It has a nice curved looking design all over the side bezels, which impressively still look elegant and not as chubby as old-gen Samsung GALAXY tablets.

And the aluminum materials covering up the whole side of this tablet really makes it look and feel premium even more and in fact, on the same level with iPad mini Retina.

Meanwhile, Google Nexus 7 still inherits the design language of Nexus devices, which is why this tablet is the member of Nexus family, right?

So if you’re already familiar with the designs of LG Nexus 4 or Samsung GALAXY Nexus S, then you will notice right away how Google Nexus 7 has some similarities with its 2 siblings.

I’m actually a big fan of this design.

I mean, despite not being as premium as iPad or LG G Pad 8.3, I still think that Google Nexus 7 still has that sophisticated looks and feel on its design.

However, if I have to choose between the 2, of course, I will side on LG G Pad especially because this tablet is just on the higher level than Google's tablet, either in build quality and design. It's just a top notch device.

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Google Nexus 7 (2012)LG G Pad 8.3
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 cellular connectivity
Released 2013, October
338 g Weight
No SIM
8.3 inch IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 1200 x 1920 pixels (~273 ppi pixel density) 16M colors
Android OS, v4.2.2 (Jelly Bean), upgradable to v4.4.2 (KitKat), planned upgrade to v5.0 (Lollipop)
Quad-core 1.7 GHz Krait 300 Qualcomm APQ8064 Pro Snapdragon 600 Chipset
Adreno 320 GPU
microSD card slot for up to 64 GB
16 GB Internal storage
2 GB RAM
5 MP rear-facing camera
1.3 MP front-facing camerea (720p video recording)
Infrared No Radio
microUSB v2.0 (SlimPort)
Accelerometer, gyro, compass Sensors
Java MIDP emulator
Non-removable Li-Po 4600 mAh battery

As far as the specs goes, it’s pretty obvious that Google Nexus 7 and LG G Pad 8.3 are on the different levels of hardware.

That shows perfectly when looking at the display, processor, GPU, RAM, cameras and of course the design materials used on each of these devices.

And LG G Pad 8.3 is definitely the one that takes the crown here, thanks to its full HD 1080p resolution on its 8.3-inch display, a newer-gen quad-core Snapdragon 600 processor, Adreno 320 GPU, 2GB of RAM, its availability to upgrade to Android 5.0 Lollipop and its microSD card slot for up to 64GB plus a 5MP rear-facing camera.

Compare those with the specs that Google Nexus 7 comes with.

This Google's tablet is only equipped with the smaller 7-inch display sporting the 720p resolution, an old-gen Tegra 3 quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 12-core GPU, old Android firmware (Jelly Bean) out of the box and there’s no rear-facing camera nor microSD card slot on this tablet.

It’s clearly that Google Nexus 7 has no way to compete against the LG G Pad 8.3.

Not to mention, in design department, LG’s tablet definitely will blow Google Nexus 7 out of the water instantly. It has better build quality and everything about this tablet is just more awesome than Nexus 7.

Screen

As a more expensive tablet in this review, of course LG G Pad 8.3 puts itself on the higher level of sharpness on its screen.

And it’s because this tablet is sporting the full HD 1080p resolution (1920x1200 pixels) on its bigger 8.3-inch screen, as opposed to the smaller 7-inch display on Google Nexus 7 that only comes with 720p resolution.

So practically, LG G Pad 8.3 is just way more superior in terms of sharpness than Google’s tablet.

But of course, it’s not just on paper, but also in real-world quality.

So given LG’s years of experience in developing its own OLED display along with its technology, the full HD screen of LG G Pad 8.3 looks really gorgeous.

The colors look popping out, everything looks sharp and crisp, not to mention, the experience of enjoying contents on this tablet is definitely much better than on Google Nexus 7.

And the good thing is, this tablet is powered by Snapdragon 600 processor, which is sufficient enough to handle 1080p resolution without consuming a lot of power.

So even with so many pixels executed than on Google’s tablet, this LG G Pad 8.3 is still efficient in battery life.

But even so, the 720p display of Google Nexus 7 is actually not really bad compared to LG G Pad 8.3.

Okay, the resolution and especially sharpness of its display may not be on the same level as LG G Pad 8.3, but actually, having 720p display is already good enough for most of users.

It still looks pretty sharp, the texts are readable and the images still look nice.

And besides, by using this medium-resolution display, Google Nexus 7 is able to perform really fast and smooth without squeezing a lot of power from its battery, which is why this tablet has good reviews of its battery life.

But of course, you will still need to do a lot of pinch-to-zoom gestures especially when reading tiny texts in books or on the web pages.

User Interface

On software side, Google Nexus 7 is actually much lighter than LG G Pad 8.3.

And that’s clearly because this Google’s device only comes pre-installed with pure stock Android UI without any customizations from the manufacturer, or in this case, Asus.

Meanwhile, LG G Pad 8.3 is layered with LG’s own customized Android skins all over the place, along with many added features and cooler visual interface on its pre-loaded apps.

So LG’s tablet definitely has a lot going on inside the memory compared to Google Nexus 7 that doesn’t consume a lot of memory in the background.

The good news is, LG G Pad 8.3 is perfectly prepared for that job.

And that’s thanks to its Snapdragon 600 processor and especially 2GB of RAM that will be more than ready to execute many heavy tasks at once.

Speaking about features, there are actually many cool features found on LG G Pad 8.3.

Some of them are the ability to float some apps on the screen at the same time and then, there’s also this one feature that can be activated by using 3-finger gesture.

So everytime you slide the screen from right to the left with your 3 fingers, there will be new window open along with 3 apps that you’re recently using, which is pretty cool.

On the other hand, the UI of Google Nexus 7 is definitely on the other side of the road with LG G Pad 8.3.

It comes with pure stock Android UI right out of the box based on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

So there will be some features that you’re probably familiar to see on this software version, like Project Butter, offline Google Maps and also Google Now card, plus Google Voice Command.

The UI of Google Nexus 7 is of course not as cool or attractive as the UI of LG G Pad 8.3. However, having only stock Android UI is actually good for this device.

So by using this simple Android UI, not only does this tablet perform fast and smooth without any lag whatsoever, but it’s also more efficient with the use of memory and battery, which is why the battery life of this tablet is really good.

And besides, this Google's tablet is only equipped with 1GB of RAM, as opposed to the 2GB of RAM on LG G Pad. So it makes sense if Google doesn't add a lot of customizations on its UI.

Back to Top

As far as the gaming performance is concerned, both Google Nexus 7 and LG G Pad 8.3 are actually pretty equal in this department.

Okay, I’m not saying that Tegra 3 processor is as powerful as Snapdragon 600 chipset found inside LG G Pad 8.3.

But I’m trying to say is, even with that old-gen Tegra 3 processor, Google Nexus 7 is still more than capable to handle some of the graphically demanding games like Modern Combat 4, Horn, NOVA 3, NFS: Most Wanted, GTA Vice City, Dead Trigger and even Asphalt 8: Airborne.

And all of these games run perfectly even in highest graphics setting (although Asphalt 8: Airborne doesn’t run so smoothly).

The same thing also happens to LG G Pad 8.3.

This tablet has all the power to run some heavy 3D games like Modern Combat 4, NOVA 3, GTA Vice City, Dead Trigger, Need for Speed Most Wanted or Asphalt 8: Airborne – all run smoothly even in full graphics.

However, when thrown with one heavy game called GTA San Andreas, of course, both LG G Pad 8.3 and Google Nexus 7 will suffer a lot when playing this game in full highest graphics.

Between the 2, I think LG G Pad 8.3 is the one that should take the crown here because in my opinion, its Snapdragon 600 and Adreno 320 GPU are just more powerful than the Tegra 3 processor and 12-core GPU found inside Google Nexus 7.

Besides, LG G Pad 8.3 has microSD card slot – which Google Nexus 7 don’t.

So you’re able to download and install as many games as you want on this device without deleting the existing files or games on internal storage.

Plus, LG G Pad 8.3 has a much higher resolution display, which makes the gaming experience more fun and enjoyable to do because everything just looks sharper and more crisp than on Google's tablet.

Cameras

Besides Samsung and Apple, I think LG is also the other smartphone/tablet manufacturer that has great quality cameras on its devices.

LG G Pad 8.3 is no exception. This tablet is equipped with a 5MP rear-facing camera, while the 1.2MP camera on the front will enable you to do selfies or video calls.

So if you’re really into photography or you just love taking photos recording videos, then LG G Pad 8.3 is definitely the one to go.

Meanwhile, Google Nexus 7 doesn’t have a rear-facing camera, although its front-facing camera can still come in handy if you love taking selfies.

Battery Life

The use of stock Android UI on Google Nexus 7 definitely causes such a huge impact to the battery life of this tablet.

According to many sources, Google Nexus 7 was able to survive in 9 hours and 49 minutes in moderate use.

Compare that to LG G Pad 8.3 that could only last around 5 hours and 3 minutes, which is way too short for a media consumption device.

I believe its heavy UI is the one to blame (or its full HD display) for the poor battery life on LG G Pad 8.3.

And this really contradicts with Google Nexus 7 that only makes use of simply pure stock Android Jelly Bean, which doesn’t come with many added customizations or visualizations from the manufacturer (or in this case, Asus).

Not to mention, its medium 720p display and less-power-hungry Tegra 3 processor are also taken into account that really help make this tablet more efficient in energy department.

My Personal Opinions

So in conclusion, between these 2 tablets, I think I have to side on LG G Pad 8.3 as the winner in this tablet comparison review.

And It’s based on every aspect on these 2 devices.

I mean, if we just look at the battery life as the main parameter to decide the winner of this review, then Google Nexus 7 is definitely the one that comes out in the first place.

However, if we look at the entire aspect of these devices, I think it’s pretty obvious that LG G Pad 8.3 is just far better offering than Google Nexus 7.

So LG G Pad 8.3 has:
  • a gorgeous looking design and better premium build quality,
  • it also has a more powerful processor along with GPU,
  • it has bigger RAM,
  • it has rear-facing camera (that takes great shots by the way),
  • it has fully customized UI with many useful features,
  • it has a much sharper display
  • and everything about this tablet is just better than Google Nexus 7.
Not to mention, the fact that LG G Pad 8.3 comes with a rear-facing camera and microSD card slot is also the reason why this tablet is so much even better than Google’s Nexus tablet.

Google Nexus 7 is actually a darn good device, even for gaming.

It handles many heavy games perfectly and in full graphics, it has pretty sharp display, it has fast and smooth experience, its design is also not really bad at all and for the most part, it’s great for anything (gaming, watching movies, browsing the web, reading books, etc).

However, it’s worth noting that according to many users of this tablet, Google Nexus 7 suddenly started becoming laggy and buggy after a few months of use.

Many believed that its flash storage is not a good quality storage, so it caused the system to stutter, especially if you cram a lot of files on its internal storage.

So with all of the pros and cons on each of these tablets, I think it’s not that hard to make the final decision to buy LG G Pad 8.3 instead of Google Nexus 7 simply because it’s a much better tablet and gaming device than Google Nexus 7.

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

Which one between Google Nexus 7 and LG G Pad 8.3 that has what it takes to be a better gaming tablet?

Of course, it is LG G Pad 8.3. And there are many reasons to support that conclusion.

I mean, it packs a lot more punch than Google Nexus 7 and it has more powerful gaming performance than Google’s tablet.

Not to mention, LG G Pad 8.3 has microSD card slot for up to 64GB, which Google Nexus 7 doesn’t have it.

So with this LG’s tablet, you’re able to install as many games as you want without deleting your files or existing games.

Okay, Google Nexus 7 may also have great gaming performance. But the absence of microSD card slot really makes it less interesting for gamers.

Which one is a better tablet in the whole aspect?

Again, it’s definitely LG G Pad 8.3.

It has more gorgeous and premium looking design, plus better solid build quality, it has a much sharper display, it has a rear-facing camera (which takes great shots), it has microSD card slot and everything about this tablet is just better than Google Nexus 7.

Is it worth it to buy LG G Pad 8.3 instead of Google Nexus 7?

Yes, it’s really worth it to buy LG G Pad 8.3 because it has much better specs, it has more powerful gaming performance, it has more elegant design and it’s probably not expensive anymore to buy right now (It was $300 when it first came out 2 years ago).

So you'd get what you paid for.

Pros and Cons

Google Nexus 7 (2012)

Pros:
  • Good for playing heavy 3D games like NOVA 3, Modern Combat 4, Horn, Dead Trigger, GTA Vice City, etc
  • Solid battery life
  • Appealing design
  • It's probably cheap right now
  • Great for enjoying media contents
Cons:
  • NO microSD card slot
  • NO rear-facing camera
  • Becomes laggy if its storage crammed with a lot of files
  • Not so powerful anymore for gaming

LG G Pad 8.3

Pros
  • Premium build quality
  • Great and sexy curved looking design
  • Has a lot of great features
  • Great cameras
  • Gorgeous and sharp screen
  • Has microSD card slot and a rear-facing camera
Cons
  • Average battery life
  • Not so powerful for gaming
  • Older-gen hardware

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