Google Nexus 10 review

With all those pixels to shunt about, you might be worried that the Nexus 10’s dual-core 1.7GHz Cortex-A15 processor wouldn’t be able to cope, but the tablet performed admirably out of the box thanks to its top-end Mali T604 graphics core and 2GB of RAM. Android 4.2 Jelly Bean was smooth and responsive. Critically, all the games we threw at it, from Asphalt 7 to Shadowgun, barely skipped a beat. The only problem is the screen is so good that it’s easy to spot where the developers have taken shortcuts.

However, as Google has released subsequent updates, the Nexus 10 has begun to feel rather sluggish. It will be interesting to see whether Android 5.0’s reportedly lower requirements can speed up things, but right now 4.4 KitKat is a little choppy and nowhere near as smooth as we would like from a flagship tablet. If you want blistering performance, now might be the time to look elsewhere.

The Nexus 10 coped with both local and online 1080p video files, and notwithstanding the slightly below-par contrast, they looked stunning. This makes the Nexus 10 a far better device for mobile video fans than the iPad, given its huge range of available video players and easy drag-and-drop file transfer from a PC – no syncing problems or Dropbox workarounds here.

Incredibly, the display on the Nexus 10 has an even higher pixel density than even the latest iPad. Its 10in screen uses an IPS panel with a resolution of 2,560×1,600, giving a pixel density of 300ppi, some 14 per cent higher than the iPad’s 264ppi. The result is a screen with stunningly crisp graphics and super-sharp text.

It’s also a good-quality screen. We measured its maximum brightness as 436cd/m2 and contrast as 807:1, so brightness is similar to that of the iPad but contrast isn’t quite as high. In our subjective tests, we felt colours weren’t quite as vibrant as on Apple’s tablet, so images didn’t have quite as much punch.

The tablet has recently had an upgrade to Android 5.0 Lollipop. The new operating system provides a fresh visual overhaul and a completely new backend so apps should run quicker. There aren’t a huge number of new features, and even fewer applicable to tablet use, but the new notification system with Google Now style cards is good, as is the settings shortcut menu. You also get a better, tablet-specific layout for Gmail (which now incorporates all your email accounts) and there’s an improved Calendar.