[rwp-review id=”0″]
One of the most eagerly anticipated tablets (and the most anticipated in my opinion in the android world) is finally here: The Nexus 9. Nexus devices have always been about big leaps in the android platform even if the devices themselves are not as powerful as the other flagships that come after them. Make no mistake, though: The Nexus 9 is a powerful device that has many things going well for it, but developers need to now up their game.
The best way to describe the Nexus 9 experience is to imagine iOS 7 (in terms of graphical overhaul) launching together with the bigger iPhone 6. There will be inconsistencies, apps will be buggy, but there is no doubt that this is a milestone for better things to come.
Design & Hardware
The Nexus 9 fits nicely between the other tablet ranges that border on either too small or too big. Its 8.9-inch screen is uncompromising (to a degree), giving you great real estate to work in without wasting too much space or over-cluttering.
Nexus devices have always been subtle. Taking big cues from the Nexus 5 phone, the Nexus 9 tablet is absolutely minimal in its design. The back is a lovely matte finish that gives a solid grip and feels good. The white unit I got tended to attract some smudges from dirty fingers though, and the somehow porous matte made it a bit difficult (but not impossible) to clean – a few wipes with a cloth remedied all problems.
Surrounding the tablet is an all-metal band that also houses the power and volume buttons. It’s brushed and the textures can be felt, so whether this is a good thing is to your personal taste. You won’t find any heart rate monitors, finger print scanners, or some other form of wizardry that manufacturer adorn their own tablets and devices with. What you get here is a simple, clean, and elegant tablet, that’s only slightly thicker and heavier than an iPad.
The speaker grills have been borrowed from the HTC flagship phones and the Nexus 9 sports similar front-facing speakers. It makes a huge difference while consuming media on YouTube or gaming.
The design is not perfect, though. The unit have I received had some light leaks in the upper part of the screen in portrait mode. It isn’t overwhelming nor is it distracting in the days I’ve used it, but it is there and it is noticeable. It somehow disappears in landscape mode, though, something which puzzles me still. Another problem I have faced is a “clicky” sound at certain pressure points. At times I felt as though I have broken the Nexus or squished one of its internals, but thankfully nothing seemed to malfunction. The way the speakers are designed also make them effective dust sinks.
Display & Camera
The Nexus sports an 8.9-inch IPS display with a resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels (288ppi). I never faced any problems with it not being crisp enough for every day use, although from the software’s perspective, the folder “circles” are not sharp and seem to be of a much lower resolution than the rest of the UI stencils. Oddly, the aspect ratio is 4:3.
The colours are just beautiful, partly because of the nature of IPS screens being more natural (albeit the blacks are not as deep) and partly because Android L is just a festival of delights (more on that later). Aside from the light leaks mentioned earlier, I noticed that the auto brightness goes out of whack in certain situations causing the screen to flicker. This is easily remedied by manually adjusting the brightness and it’s a software bug and/or sensor bug rather than a faulty screen.
Does it take beautiful pictures though? Nexus devices aren’t known to have the best camera and this still holds true for the Nexus 9. Cameras on tablets tend to be generally of a lower quality than phone cameras and the Nexus 9 is no exception. The photos are usable but I wouldn’t consider using it on a regular basis. It’s fine for Skype or taking a random photo every now and then, and that’s the extent of its use.
Software & Performance
It’s impossible to discuss the Nexus 9 without discussing Android L. After all, this is probably the main unique selling point of the device unless you’re opting for the Nexus 6. Android L is the latest, freshest, and most awesome android software I have used in years and it dwarfs the still beautiful Holo design by a large degree.
Built from the ground up, Android L’s main focus from the user’s perspective is what Google calls the Material Design. Given android’s inherent portability to many different screen sizes, Google realised the problem in rendering the OS and apps and came up with a one-fits-all solution in building the software, where the design elements reshape and re-adjust to fit whatever screen size the OS is running on.
And from what I have seen, it is absolutely beautiful. While iOS looks neat in its flat look, compared to Android L it looks rather sterile. Design is always a subjective matter, and I personally prefer the Android L’s use of beautiful colours and accents. I touched on this when I reviewed the HTC M8, and now I am happy to see that these colours are native to android. Colours also change depending on time of day. In the clock app for example, during the day it is blue and at night it is much darker. I’m a sucker for colours and toggles and Android L absolutely has done a wonderful job there.
Animation is also greatly improved. Transitions are fluid and cute and how buttons respond to your touch through visual cues never ceases to impress. Whether you are in landscape or portrait mode, the apps adjust accordingly to fit in comfortable even if they need to waste some space from the side as long as they provide you with a coherent look and feel and usability.
That is for the native apps though or those built with Material Design in mind. Existing apps and popular ones still need to be optimised for Android L or be updated with Material Design. Some apps are slow (Facebook and Facebook Messenger in particular) and other apps don’t run at all. They have to be updated to support Android L, and would really love to see big apps like twitter, Facebook, and Instagram update to Material Design. This will give Android L a distinct look over iOS apps just like Windows Phone apps have their own unique look thanks to the Windows Phone design guidelines.
I’ve tried a few games and the results were mixed – mostly due to optimisations for Android L are still to be implemented. Dead Trigger 2 was awesome; Robot Unicorn Attack 2 was choppy and a couple of games didn’t even run. Again, software optimisations to the new OS should remedy the issues. The Nexus 9 uses a dual core Nvidia Tegra K1 CPU so in terms of performance it is powerful and is more advanced than the Nvidia Shield Tablet.
It is early at this stage to judge the experience of the software since most apps have to be updated. While native apps are beautiful, smooth, and fast, other apps will be buggy or might not run.
Conclusion
Is it a good idea to buy the Nexus 9 now? Hard to tell. If you want a taste of Android L then the Nexus 9 is your only choice on a tablet. However, if you recall how iOS 7 and iPhone 6 broke apps then you’ll experience the same inconsistencies here until developers update their apps to support Android L and/or Material Design. That said, the Nexus 9 has a lot of potential. It just needs more time.
