So long iPad Air, Hello Nexus 9

[Jspring86]

Just picked mine up at Best Buy!

About to unbox it and get into the Lollipop action!

 

[jrswizzle]

I'm heading to BBY this afternoon. If they have them, I'll pick one up to try out for 45 days (length of my return window). Doubt I'll keep it, but why not check it out right?

 

[irnchriz]

Ok, shouldn't android stuff be at least half the price of iOS devices or even less? The OS is free whereas Apple invest countless millions in its OS and the customer has to pay for it?

Factor in the R&D costs Apple have to re-coop compared to the R&D spend of any Android device maker. So, all of these android devices should be no more than $250 max. If Samsung charge $600 for a phone they are ripping the piss out of you. Think about that when you buy your next Android device.

 

[AppleRobert]

I'm heading to BBY this afternoon. If they have them, I'll pick one up to try out for 45 days (length of my return window). Doubt I'll keep it, but why not check it out right?

The holiday extended period has kicked in at BB so you will have until January XX. It was posted on another forum as such.

As far as the price? Well I do not recall what the Nexus 10 rolled out at but I know what Samsung was charging for over saturation and TW on their latest.

This gives me 4:3 AR on this size android tablet, a shot at new Android OS on ground floor, no TW and pretty much vanilla apps from the get go.

 

[mclld]

Ok, shouldn't android stuff be at least half the price of iOS devices or even less? The OS is free whereas Apple invest countless millions in its OS and the customer has to pay for it?

Factor in the R&D costs Apple have to re-coop compared to the R&D spend of any Android device maker. So, all of these android devices should be no more than $250 max. If Samsung charge $600 for a phone they are ripping the piss out of you. Think about that when you buy your next Android device.

 

[Fanaticalism]

Ok, shouldn't android stuff be at least half the price of iOS devices or even less? The OS is free whereas Apple invest countless millions in its OS and the customer has to pay for it?

Factor in the R&D costs Apple have to re-coop compared to the R&D spend of any Android device maker. So, all of these android devices should be no more than $250 max. If Samsung charge $600 for a phone they are ripping the piss out of you. Think about that when you buy your next Android device.

Or maybe you can do some research as opposed to relying on others to do it for you so you can learn why devices cost what they do, specifically as it relates to Android.

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Image

Your response was better than mine.

 

[AppleRobert]

Me likes.

http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_nexus_9-review-1160.php

 

[RickTaylor]

The holiday extended period has kicked in at BB so you will have until January XX. It was posted on another forum as such.

Wow, that's a good point. I love my iPad mini retina, but I've been tempted to try an Android alternative to see what it's like. I guess now would be the time to do that.

 

[BlueGoldAce]

I'm heading to BBY this afternoon. If they have them, I'll pick one up to try out for 45 days (length of my return window). Doubt I'll keep it, but why not check it out right?

Best buy holiday return is in place now. You will have until early January for a return.

 

[Knowimagination]

I am really tempted to replace my iPad mini (1st gen) with a nexus 9 I really want to play with lollipop but my 6 Plus isn't going anywhere so I was thinking tablet might be just right. I just need to read more reviews I am not sold yet and if it was $100 cheaper I think I would have bought one already

 

[Jspring86]

So, not to be a negative nancy, but here are some first impressions I posted on another forum, after playing with it for 7-8 hours. Again, these comments are all with very little time with the device:

"I've been playing with the Nexus 9 for about 7 hours now, and I definitely have noticed some issues. As soon as I booted it up I received an update, which I assume is the one everyone referred to that should fix some of quirks people noticed in the video reviews. However, even after the update I have experienced a number of issues.

The tablet definitely gets hot when playing games and watching long videos, and it I've also noticed quite a bit of lag just when opening stock apps like Hangouts or Photos, which seems very weird to me. In fact, the Nexus 9 occasionally lags out for longer periods of time than even my Samsung Note Pro 12.2. I don't want to say these issues won't be ironed out, because this may just be a situation where Lollipop was not quite ready for primetime yet but got pushed out anyway. In any event, I normally hate The Verge reviews of Android products and I'm a hardcore Android user, but some of their points are valid in my experience so far."

 

[diamond.g]

So, not to be a negative nancy, but here are some first impressions I posted on another forum, after playing with it for 7-8 hours. Again, these comments are all with very little time with the device:

"I've been playing with the Nexus 9 for about 7 hours now, and I definitely have noticed some issues. As soon as I booted it up I received an update, which I assume is the one everyone referred to that should fix some of quirks people noticed in the video reviews. However, even after the update I have experienced a number of issues.

The tablet definitely gets hot when playing games and watching long videos, and it I've also noticed quite a bit of lag just when opening stock apps like Hangouts or Photos, which seems very weird to me. In fact, the Nexus 9 occasionally lags out for longer periods of time than even my Samsung Note Pro 12.2. I don't want to say these issues won't be ironed out, because this may just be a situation where Lollipop was not quite ready for primetime yet but got pushed out anyway. In any event, I normally hate The Verge reviews of Android products and I'm a hardcore Android user, but some of their points are valid in my experience so far."

You think it is a NAND issue or CPU issue?

 

[kevinof]

Good review on Forbes - Nexus 9 matches Ipad Air 2 on performance, slams it on price.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jaymcgr...-ipad-air-2-in-performance-slams-it-on-price/

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

I guess we'll all have different opinions on this. As long as the OP is convinced, that is all that matters.

http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2014/11/nexus-9-review-googles-flagship-tablet-is-nothing-special/

 

[BlueGoldAce]

I guess we'll all have different opinions on this. As long as the OP is convinced, that is all that matters.

http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2014/11/nexus-9-review-googles-flagship-tablet-is-nothing-special/

As noted by Android central and others, a major update roles out Sunday and Monday. Good chance other reviews didn't take this into consideration. No other reason for such opposing reviews.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

As noted by Android central and others, a major update roles out Sunday and Monday. Good chance other reviews didn't take this into consideration. No other reason for such opposing reviews.

Very true. I suppose reviewers will amend these reviews in light of this. At least it is consistent as iOS 8 got a grilling regardless of the expected updates that duly followed. I am sure it is the same here. It doesn't look a bad tablet.

 

[kevinof]

There is a reason I don't read Gizmodo. Struck it off my list years ago and I think their review is kind of the reason why. Almost every other review around rates the N9 on a par with the ipad air. Not better, but on a par. Yes there are differences and you either like Android on a tablet or you don't, or you prefer Ios or you dont.

The Gismodo review is so negative and so out of sync with all the other reviews that my advice to dismiss it as irrelevant.

I think you choose a tablet not on the hardware any more (they are all just about equal) but what OS you want on it. You're either more comfortable using one or the other so choose based on that. Either way it will work great as the h/w is all just about the same.

I guess we'll all have different opinions on this. As long as the OP is convinced, that is all that matters.

http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2014/11/nexus-9-review-googles-flagship-tablet-is-nothing-special/

 

[mercuryjones]

There is a reason I don't read Gizmodo. Struck it off my list years ago and I think their review is kind of the reason why. Almost every other review around rates the N9 on a par with the ipad air. Not better, but on a par. Yes there are differences and you either like Android on a tablet or you don't, or you prefer Ios or you dont.

The Gismodo review is so negative and so out of sync with all the other reviews that my advice to dismiss it as irrelevant.

I think you choose a tablet not on the hardware any more (they are all just about equal) but what OS you want on it. You're either more comfortable using one or the other so choose based on that. Either way it will work great as the h/w is all just about the same.

The Verge didn't much care for it either. You are always going to find pro/anti reviews on the web. Cherry picking the ones that support your view only don't really help in the long run. You have to keep an open mind, especially when dealing with tech.

 

[Razeus]

Good review on Forbes - Nexus 9 matches Ipad Air 2 on performance, slams it on price.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jaymcgr...-ipad-air-2-in-performance-slams-it-on-price/

I guess we'll all have different opinions on this. As long as the OP is convinced, that is all that matters.

http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2014/11/nexus-9-review-googles-flagship-tablet-is-nothing-special/

2 conflicting reviews.

 

[The-Real-Deal82]

There is a reason I don't read Gizmodo. Struck it off my list years ago and I think their review is kind of the reason why. Almost every other review around rates the N9 on a par with the ipad air. Not better, but on a par. Yes there are differences and you either like Android on a tablet or you don't, or you prefer Ios or you dont.

The Gismodo review is so negative and so out of sync with all the other reviews that my advice to dismiss it as irrelevant.

I think you choose a tablet not on the hardware any more (they are all just about equal) but what OS you want on it. You're either more comfortable using one or the other so choose based on that. Either way it will work great as the h/w is all just about the same.

I think if you look at Eric Limer's history for writing reviews he is pretty fair when reviewing all platforms. It is of course his personal opinion much like we have the freedom to express here. Until we individually have actually used a Nexus 9 it would be silly to dismiss any writers opinion whether it is positive or negative IMO.

One negative thing about Gizmodo is many of the users on there who lynch any article that is remotely positive of Apple. I find if they say one week an iOS product is rubbish, but are positive about another the next week, they still get accused of being biased. Having said that I am finding that is a growing trend on many of the leading tech sites. A snobbery has formed in recent times with opinions on tech, so its always nice to read honest reviews whether you agree with the conclusion or not. I don't doubt for the money the Nexus 9 will be very good and maybe on par with an iPad. As you also say it is mostly down to which OS you prefer, much the same with phones.

 

[SurferMan]

This totally had me interested till I read it would have bars above and below in landscape... ughh. That annoys the hell out of me especially when traveling and on a plane watching a movie etc. Otherwise it seems like Google finally gave the Nexus line a great device thats not gimped in some way (had a Nexus phone shortly and flipped it, battery life horrible stock or custom rom and the camera sucked balls vs the S5).

I won a Tab3 last year lol, so looking for something to replace it, like how the Nexus isn't full 10" either. Think I'm done with Samsung, stupid locked bootloaders and bs. Want devices that are easy to root and rom etc.

 

[bobenhaus]

Well, it would be pretty strange at this point if Google didn't make it happen on their own stock devices. But it probably is for a later update as they would likely have made sure to mention it for the Nexus 9 launch otherwise.

On the Note 4 it actually seems quite well developed and much more versatile than it has been so far. Now you can open apps in floating windows and minimise them into icons that float on top of whatever else you're doing. So you could for instance be playing a game and quickly open the camera to shoot something you happen to see, without having to exit the game and open the camera as separate steps.

I'm hoping for news from Google about this soon as currently this is one point that I hold in favour of the Note 4 over the Nexus 6. For the Nexus 9 though of course it would be even more useful. That would definitely be one point up for the N9 over the iPad. Unless of course Apple announces that they have this too, which could be any day really... (at least side by side apps, I'm guessing they wouldn't be able to do the floating window thing.)

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Definitely also one point up for the Nexus 9.

What are you guys talking about Touch wiz and Nexus devices?? Only Samsung devices get Touch Wiz. Hello!

 

[gotluck]

Just read the verge review. I need to stop going to that website.

 

[tbayrgs]

This totally had me interested till I read it would have bars above and below in landscape... ughh. That annoys the hell out of me especially when traveling and on a plane watching a movie etc. Otherwise it seems like Google finally gave the Nexus line a great device thats not gimped in some way (had a Nexus phone shortly and flipped it, battery life horrible stock or custom rom and the camera sucked balls vs the S5).

I won a Tab3 last year lol, so looking for something to replace it, like how the Nexus isn't full 10" either. Think I'm done with Samsung, stupid locked bootloaders and bs. Want devices that are easy to root and rom etc.

I'm always amused by this argument for not choosing a device that will be used for video. Excluding the iPad, Surface 3, and now the Nexus 9, most devices have a screen ration of 16:10 (tablets such as the Nexus 7, LG G Pad 8.4, Samsung Tab for a few examples) or 16:9 (nearly all smartphones). Do you realize that the vast majority of movies released now have an aspect ratio of 1.85 or 2.4? To avoid having black bars on the top and bottom of your tablet when playing video, it need to have an aspect ratio equal to or less than the display ratio (1.6 and 1.77, respectively, for the previous mentioned display ratios) or guess what, you'll have black bars. The only way to avoid these bars is to then zoom in, thus cutting off the left and right portions of the video.

Television is admittedly a different story as most of these shows are formatted for the native 16:9 display ratio of current televisions but again, unless your device also has a 16:9 ratio (and as mentioned, the vast majority of tablets don't), you're going to have black bars.

I personally will deal with some black bars if it means I see the entire picture, and get a whole bunch of extra screen real estate for other apps and web browsing.

 

[Shanghaichica]

I'm always amused by this argument for not choosing a device that will be used for video. Excluding the iPad, Surface 3, and now the Nexus 9, most devices have a screen ration of 16:10 (tablets such as the Nexus 7, LG G Pad 8.4, Samsung Tab for a few examples) or 16:9 (nearly all smartphones). Do you realize that the vast majority of movies released now have an aspect ratio of 1.85 or 2.4? To avoid having black bars on the top and bottom of your tablet when playing video, it need to have an aspect ratio equal to or less than the display ratio (1.6 and 1.77, respectively, for the previous mentioned display ratios) or guess what, you'll have black bars. The only way to avoid these bars is to then zoom in, thus cutting off the left and right portions of the video.

Television is admittedly a different story as most of these shows are formatted for the native 16:9 display ratio of current televisions but again, unless your device also has a 16:9 ratio (and as mentioned, the vast majority of tablets don't), you're going to have black bars.

I personally will deal with some black bars if it means I see the entire picture, and get a whole bunch of extra screen real estate for other apps and web browsing.

Well 16:10 is still better than 4:3 for watching movies AND TV shows.