The Nexus 7 Review: Google's First Tablet Gets Benchmarked

Nexus 7 Performance: Consistent With Other Tegra 3-Based Tablets

The Nexus 7 employs a slightly slower version of Nvidia's Tegra 3 called T30L, which is also found in Asus' Transformer Pad (TF300T).

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GeekBenchTransformer Pad (TF300T)Transformer Prime (TF201)Nexus 7
SoCTegra 3 (T30L)Tegra 3 (T30)Tegra 3 (T30L)
Android4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), Performance Profile4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), Performance Profile4.1 (Jelly Bean)
Overall153416321527
Integer138013991298
Floating Point223125542288
Memory121411001222

Really, the CPU performance difference between T30L and T30 is negligible. Compared to dual-core SoCs, Tegra 3 still wins easily.

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GLBenchmark 2.1.4Transformer Pad (TF300T)Transformer Prime (TF201)Nexus 7
Egypt Standard5752 frames (51 FPS)5720 frames (51 FPS)5968 frames (53 FPS)
Egypt Fixed62.768 s (45 FPS)65.250 s (45 FPS)59.279 s (48 FPS)
Egypt Offscreen (720p)7178 frames (64 FPS)7122 frames (63 FPS)7073 frames (63 FPS)
Pro Standard2796 frames (56 FPS)2744 frames (55 FPS)2830 frames (57 FPS)
Pro Fixed22.982 s (54 FPS)23.599 s (53 FPS)22.515 s (56 FPS)
Pro Offscreen (720p)4006 frames (80 FPS)3827 frames (76 FPS)4095 frames (82 FPS)
Fill Rate469.066688 Mtexels/sec415.326944 Mtexels/s467.571264 Mtexels/s

The Nexus 7’s GPU delivers benchmark scores similar to the Transformer Pad T300T. The Transformer Prime falls slightly behind the Nexus because it is handicapped with 1066 MT/s LP-DDR2. The Nexus 7 and TF300T employ faster 1333 MT/s LP-DDR3, helping illustrate the impact that memory bandwidth can have on performance.

Of course, in the real world, memory throughput and capacity are rarely bottlenecks on their own. According to the benchmarks, the Nexus 7 keeps right up with the Transformer Pad (TF300T). So, if anything, we'd come to expect a consistent experience gaming on one Tegra 3-based device compared to some of the others. Ultimately, that's what we have to imagine developers really want.

  • joytech22
    I've had mine for about a week now, picked it up in JB Hi-Fi for $317 (AUSD 16GB version).

    Extremely impressed, blows my Iconia A500 out of the water.
    I just wish they had cases for the Nexus 7 in stock. :(
    Reply
  • killerclick
    No thanks, I'll wait for Surface Pro. It will only be 5 times more expensive, three times heavier, and I simply must run Photoshop and AutoCAD on a tablet, because... just because.

    Microsoft FTW
    Reply
  • EzioAs
    Wow, it seems that the nexus 7 is a really great product. Every reviewers seems to be very pleased with it's performance, portability and low price. This really is what every tablet should be :). The only issue I heard was that the speakers are quite terrible although I didn't see that mentioned in this review
    Reply
  • mayankleoboy1
    if it had a fruity logo, it would be $400more
    Reply
  • matter37
    Well, I have the Nexus 7 and I love it, I really dont like the 10" screen size on other tablets, I think 7" is great, but speaking of the Surface Pro, depending on how that thing performs it could easily replace my current notebook since it could have the capabilities of a ultrabook
    Reply
  • bin1127
    I was reading the specs and was really impressed with the screen pixel density but missed reading the price first time around. Then when I saw the price that just blew me away.

    This isn't some left field tablet with no supporting software and apps. This is android and all that is attached to the OS. Google is going to blow apple out of the water. I'm looking forward to the lowered earnings guidance from apple any day now.
    Reply
  • aznshinobi
    Love what they've done with the the Nexus lineup. All pretty affordable now and now with Jelly Bean, I'm sure even Apple lovers will like Android honestly. Project Butter and the new Voice Command is much better. Voice is better than Siri now too, pretty awesome.
    Reply
  • darkchazz
    Hope they don't take long to release a nexus 10 tablet. Me want a bigger screen :)
    + Getting all updates first straight from google + best dev support FTW.
    Reply
  • Great review, love how Toms always goes a little further while most other gadget sites only present an opinion.

    Any numbers on internal storage and wifi throughput performance?
    Have one on order and it would be interesting to know how long it would take to copy for example a movie onto the device.
    Reply
  • hardcore_gamer
    On the other news, Apple is releasing a smaller version of iPad to compete with nexus 7 at a "compelling price" of $400.
    Reply