[Nexus 7 (2013) Q&A] Linuxslate:
Well, I usually do not do reviews of mainstream devices, since that is well covered by the "big boys",

But I was secretly waiting for an opportunity to make some comments:

In short, it is an incredible tablet.

Much nicer to hold than any other tablet I've owned/tried. I really like how thin it is, and the texture of the back.

I handed it to my son, and he loaded one of these games where you control something using the accelerometers. He has a Nook Color (With CM7), so he has a similar device to compare it too. He immediately commented how nice it was to hold and play the game.

The screen is incredible too. Way more resolution than my old eyes need, but even with my glasses things look great.

Web pages look more Desktop-like than any other tablet, including 10 inchers. Page rendering is also desktop fast. (Actually faster than this 10+ year old AMD machine I am typing on now, even with lots of RAM, and Xubuntu 12.04, which I credit with prolonging it's life this long).

WiFi, Works great with solid connections, great speed and lots of (indicated) signal. (As compared to other devices).

An iDM5 combination bluetooth speaker, and keyboard paired over BT with no problem at all. I am also using an Apple magic mouse. All re-connect quickly too.

Works (as one would expect) seemlessly with my Chromecast.

Another big plus for me was Standard USB charging. Pretty much anything charges it with no problem.

Now the complaints:

Yes, it has stereo speakers, but they are not that loud or great sounding. Using the EQ in Google Music does not help. Attempting to add Bass only causes it to sound muffled.

I have a Huawei u9508 with 2 speakers on the back, near the bottom (close together). It gives me more volume, more bass, and more stereo effect (OK, that last one may just be a perception thing).

Take the stereo speakers out of your purchasing decision. As of right now, it effectively does not have any better audio than a (than some) single speaker tablet(s).

To be clear (pun) The sound is by no means bad, it's just disapointing considering all the Fraunhofer hype.

Lack of an SD slot almost made me not buy the Nexus. I really miss it. I have a lot of things that use those cards, and not being able to just slot them in the Nexus is a big hit.

I also wish Google would stop "Apple-izing" things. Android had USB Storage mode for most of it's life. I wish it still did. Yes, there are work-arounds, and perhaps it is "safer" not to have it, but it is a clear case of "Defective by Design", in my opinion.

I miss the standard Android (AOSP) Browser and Music Player. (See these forums for installing the AOSP browser, and recommendations for other audio players.)

I do like the fact that it is (except for the Google Stuff) bloat-ware free. It is a very clean, fast, and good-looking factory ROM (I'm an Android purist.)

Also, you know that the community will support the device for years to come, whether or not Google does.

I have not tried Qi charging or NFC.

Should you buy one?

Well, you should not buy any other 7 inch tablet over this one -- I think that is pretty clear.

It is just a question if you need a (another) 7 inch tablet. In my case, I really needed a new tablet. My Archos 80 G9 was (something I cannot describe here with out getting banned) on the day it was made, and I had dissasembled it many times to fix broken USB connections, etc. Lately it would reboot everytime I squeezed the case a bit too hard.

Alternatives I concidered:

Acer A700 -- Same True HD resolution on a 10" screen -- SD card slot -- Dolby Stereo Speakers -- NVIDIA Tegra 3.

Chinese iFive X2 -- Same True HD resolution on an 8.9" screen -- SD card slot -- Front facing stereo speakers -- USB charging.

Say what you want about Chinese tablets, but the iFive X2 was the only one that really met my requirements (desirements). If you believe the iFive website, and some of the reviews, it actually looks like the build quality is pretty good. I may still buy one.