This past week, we had the chance to cover TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2013, and I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to bust out my Nexus 7 and see how the tablet holds up in the field.
And what a field! TechCrunch is a frantic, hyperkinetic onslaught of panels, pitches, product announcements and more, in a venue custom-designed for a constant barrage of everything and anything all at once.
If my Nexus 7 could get me through this three-day event, I knew it could go with me anywhere.
At one point early on, in fact, one of my colleagues who had to head back to the office early asked if I wanted to keep his laptop "just in case," and I let him go on his way, saying I needed to go the whole way with the Nexus 7 (and, I'm not going to lie, my Galaxy S3) only.
Turns out the Nexus 7 is a prime device for anything and everything one would need to properly cover a tech event with stories spilling out of it every nanosecond. Here's why:
Battery
The best thing about working with tablets is battery power. No doubt.
To be able to actively work on your tablet for hours on end without worrying your machine is going to conk out is absolute heaven. I love my laptop back home, but by this point, the battery is at a level at which I almost always have to have it plugged in — and this after having bought a new one maybe a year ago.
The Nexus 7 was on almost all day (and night) and was used constantly for probably half that time. I never had to charge it over the day (but of course would plug it in every time it got down to 88 percent or lower "just in case" and out of habit from my laptop ... and from my S3 that has a surprisingly poor battery life, it turns out. But that's for another story).
There were even times where I would be working on a story on my Nexus 7 and would need to run off to a meeting or interview and would just leave the damn thing on in my ample army jacket pocket.
I could quickly pull it back out when finished with the meeting or interview and start right back in on the story, without having to wait to turn it back on or open up the document or anything like that. It was perfect. Probably saved me at least an hour a day with just that aspect alone.
Apps
One of the reasons I went with an Android device is Google's obvious superiority in the app world. As some might recall, I was a Lumia boy for a minute there, and though Microsoft has some amazing apps, it just doesn't have enough of them to fit the bill.
There were times between speakers (perhaps five seconds or so; TechCrunch moves fast) in which I would just fart around in the Google Play Store, checking out whatever apps I might not have even dreamt of when it comes to word processing, voice recording, alternative keyboards and more.
I was never disappointed with the number of apps I could find, and with the Nexus 7's super speedy quad-core processor, I was able to download each app almost instantly and start playing with it before the next TechCruncher was up on stage.
Admittedly, I'm still a little daunted by the lack of Google's getting together something that can beat out Microsoft when it comes to word processors. I used Evernote and Google Keep, and they are both decent (I prefer Keep; there's more functionality there), but they're simply not Office.
I tried creating a doc via Google Drive, but for whatever reason I kept getting kicked off the network, and when I brought this up to a few people next to me, they all agreed that Google Drive is great but can be unreliable. I had no other problems getting on or staying on the network using my Nexus 7 the rest of the conference.
Hopefully Google can get it together with a word processor that can beat out Microsoft Office, but for now, I'll stick to Keep.
Keyboard
The Nexus 7 was amazing when it came to keyboard usability in the field. I was able to whip up stories quicker than ever.
I wasn't sure if using a smaller keyboard at such a frantic pace would be a problem, but it wasn't. And using Swype was a dream. The intuitive autocorrect was also sensational. At one point, I typed in "Indiana" ... and the Nexus 7 knew I would be writing "Jones" next! That's the kind of intuition I need from my tablet on the road.
I hardly ever fumbled over words or phrases — which is incredibly important when covering any event, as you just don't have time to go back and check every single word — and it was all thanks to the amazing Nexus 7 keyboard.
I may mess around a bit with more apps when it comes to the keyboard itself and am checking out alternative Bluetooth keyboards just to see what that would be like, but frankly, I think it would be unnecessary and with this sucker fitting in my pocket, why would I want to lug around a damn traditional keyboard?
Updates
The Nexus 7 works so fast and runs so smoothly that updates were happening constantly throughout my days at TechCrunch without ever interfering one iota with my work online or in Keep. "Oh, looky there, it just updated to Android 4.2.2 Jellybean all by itself! Goody!"
Even larger updates such as that weren't a problem and the fact that it all happens automatically made life so much easier for me. It's almost like having a new surprise Christmas present throughout the day while you're toiling away.
Network
Often throughout my day, I would be using my Nexus 7 and Galaxy S3 concurrently, just to have multiple screens in order to work a little faster when need be. The two devices worked marvelously together, and it seems this is true with any of Google's fine products. They're just born for each other.
At one point, I even found that when I was kicked out of TechCrunch (had to leave the basement while transcribing an interview and when it's time to go at the end of the night, it's time to go), I was able to use my S3 as a hotspot for my Nexus 7 (right there on the curb in the middle of busy Manhattan), and that was actually superior to the network speed in the building itself.
I also found that if I was chatting with someone online, my Nexus 7 would always receive the messages faster than the Galaxy S3, which says a lot right there, considering the S3 is still thought of as one of the best phones on the market (aside from the S4, of course).
Mobile
You may have noticed already that I've mentioned a few times that the Nexus 7 fit perfectly into my army jacket pocket.
This was an invaluable factor of the Nexus 7 that, yes, makes it in my mind even beat out other tablets on the market such as the iPad. Those things are just too darn big! Why not lug around a laptop at those sizes?
Sure, we're all looking forward to the iPad mini 2, and I've heard amazing things about the original iPad mini, but for now, I'll keep my Nexus 7 with its 7-inch display that was large enough to do everything I needed, while still remaining portable as a device that fits in my pocket. Super light-weight, too.
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