Google Nexus 10 review

Apple blew pretty much any other device, be it tablets or desktop monitors, completely out of the water when the famed Retina display was first introduced to the iPad 3 in early 2012. Since then, it’s been a story of companies competing for the biggest and best screens to date. In fact, it took almost a year for a proper competitor to rear its head, with Google and Samsung teaming up to introduce the Google Nexus 10 to the world.

Coming up to its fourth birthday, the Google Nexus 10 has definitely stood the test of time and still holds its own, even for a tablet launched way back in November 2012. A lot has happened in the time since, we now live in a post-Brexit world and superhero movies are now getting a bit stale, yet the Nexus 10 is still almost as reliable as ever. Even if it has since been superseded by the Nexus 9, thanks to a partnership with HTC and has been removed from the Play Store altogether, it’s still a great purchase if you can pick it up for cheap.

Although you’ll have to shop around to find one, Nexus 10 prices have fallen considerably since launch and if you can find one new you can pick it up for around £200. Otherwise, it could still be worth hunting one down second hand or refurbished if you want to see what Android Lollipop feels like without buying a high-end smartphone or tablet.

We simply can’t do the screen justice here, it’s really quite astoundingly sharp

The Nexus 10 isn’t as lovely to behold as the iPad, but we still like it. Instead of metal, the Nexus 10’s chassis is built entirely from grippy rubber-coated plastic. The black chassis is curvier than the iPad’s, and the bezel around the display is broader as well. At 603g, it’s 49g lighter than the iPad, which makes it very comfortable to hold. We’ve no problems with build quality, and the fact the glass on the front is Corning’s tough, scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass is another big bonus. The Nexus 10 feels like it would survive a drop better than the iPad.

Not as classy as the iPad but better than Samsung’s recent own-brand efforts

It isn’t short on features, either. Around the edges you’ll find Micro HDMI, a 3.5mm headphone output and a Micro USB port. You can only charge the Nexus from scratch with the included charger, but it can be topped up via USB if you leave the charger at home. Wireless connections, meanwhile, can be made via Bluetooth, NFC or dual-band 802.11n Wi-Fi. There’s GPS, a 5-megapixel camera with flash on the rear and a 720p webcam on the front. The main camera takes pretty impressive pictures, but composing shots using an unwieldy tablet is never easy. The only thing missing is a memory expansion slot to add to the Nexus’ 16GB (or 32GB) of storage.