Whenever anybody asks me what tablet to get, the Nexus 7 is always on the list - and yes, it is as good as you've herd...maybe even better.
For $200, you get a 16GB higher-than-720p resolution screen, a quad core processor, decent build quality, and an ultra-portable 7" size. What's not to like?
Design
The front of the Nexus 7 is almost bare (as per the usual Nexus design). You see the silver edge that looks somewhat like a 2-3rd generation iPod Touch, the 1.2MP front facing camera, and a vast black void. Around back it's almost as sleek: you see the prominent Nexus logo near the top, and at the bottom the smaller Asus logo just above the long, thing speaker grill. The back is made of plastic and is dimpled, but almost feels like cheap leather. Nice touch. The sides are almost non-existent, as they gently curve away helping it feel thinner than it really is. On the right side is the power button above the volume rocker, and centered on the bottom is the standard microUSB port.
Any minimalist would approve the design, and it looks great. Afterall, who wants to be distracted while on a mobile device?
Interface
It's a shame so few devices run stock android...it really is beautiful. You might not have all the bright colors of HTC's Sense UI, or the added functionality of all of Samsung's TouchWiz features, but there is enough pre-installed to get started with. If you do want to download a different email client, browser, keyboard or anything else, you still can on the Google Play Store.
Have you ever herd of "Holo design"? The Nexus 7 is all about that. All of the android settings and most of the default apps use the greyscale+light blue color theme, and it really does look quite sleek. Google has released holo as a guideline for apps, and it is slowly gaining traction. I know it sounds like blacks, greys and blues would get boring after a wile, but I can tell you that after using my Nexus 7 for 5 months, I've switched away from it only to come back, and embrace it further (this is my current homescreen). I might change my mind later though...but for now at least I really like the way it looks.
Multitasking is how it should be: in a vertically scrolling list, that opens apps right where you left off without any updating.
Notifications are great - scroll down from the top on the left side to get traditional notifications, or scroll down from the right to get the new quicksettings. Quicksettings is a group of settings that are the most useful and are displayed in tiles. You can a shortcut to brightness, the regular settings, wifi, battery, and bluetooth. You also have the screen orientation lock and airplane mode toggles. There is 1 empty space, which gets filled with whatever else is relevant (currently I have an alarm icon there).
Did I mention the Nexus 7 gets the fastest updates straight from Google? That might explain why it also supports multiple user accounts. Different users can download the same apps, and it has been coded so that you won't download the game twice - it recognizes that the app is already installed - yet different users can have different data (one account could have beaten Angry Birds, while another is stuck on the 3rd world).
The biggest upside to the interface is the updates: in 5 months of owning my Nexus 7, I've gotten the 4.2, and 4.2.1 updates. What other android device can say that they got 2 updates in 5 months? Only other Nexuses.
Usability
The Nexus 7 has been great in everyday use...the battery lasts a long time (I've gotten more than 5 hours of screen on time in a day: wifi was on the entire time, and total time was about 12 hours) which is better than average. the screen is pretty good overall (compared to other screens it appears slightly washed out, but by itself it looks find).
The Tegra 3 processor isn't all that some people have made it out to be. Don't get me wrong though - for a $200 your not going to find a more powerful processor, but compared to Qualcom's new upper-range dual core processors (found in the Nexus 10), the Tegra 3 doesn't do great. In all games it fared good, but did skip a few frames here and there. Overall a better gaming experience than either my Galaxy S 2 and HTC One X.
The main issue I found with the Nexus 7 was updates (ironically, it's my favorite features as well). When JB 4.2 came out for the N7, it was smoother than 4.1, but overall didn't work as good. For example, YouTube, Gmail, and a few other apps made from Google themselves were completely unresponsive. You could pull down the notification bar and press the bottom buttons, but the apps were locked up.
Conclusion
For any pricepoint, this is a great tablet. The $200 price tag is very nice, too. This has been rated very highly by users and reviewers alike, and sites like cnet and techradar have put it right up there as one of the best tech gifts this holiday season. If you get the Nexus 7 for yourself or someone special, you won't regret it.
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