The tablet market has begun to be filled with several competitors, especially in the past year, after Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) introduced its iPad. Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) put forth its Kindle Fire, and Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) unveiled its Nexus 7 (pictured above). With these three procuts getting a lot of attention (and scrutiny) since their release, it might be high time to look at these objectively and figure out which of these tablets is the better value for the consumer dollar.
There is an argument in favor of the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPad over the Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Nexus tablet, and there seems to be 10 arguments (in this case) for the iPad as the better buy. A couple of the top reasons stated include the larger screen on the iPad (9.7 inches vs. 7 inches) and that it enables both 3G and 4G LTE networks, while the Nexus needs a WiFi signal in order for users to browse the Internet.
However, the Nexus is a little cheaper as a tablet mainly because it was to be more direct competition for the Kindle Fire by Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN), which lists for about $200. This comparison of these two devices includes what is on the inside, not just the outside, that determines the better value. As this is the closer apples-to-apples comparison than either of these against the iPad, this is a fiarer look. For the same price, Nexus 7 provides twice as much memory and a faster processor – plus, it has both 8GB and 15GB options, while the Kindle Fire is available only in 8GB (for now).
The iPad is bigger and more expensive, but it does have more features that the Nexus just doesn’t have (or couldn’t in order to keep its $200 price point). The iPad has iOS, while Google has Android – that leads to security issues, as hackers have decimated Android systems, which makes the Nexus a security risk that is more pronounced than with the iOS system. Plus, the iPad has more applications that are more responsive than what Nexus offers, which seems to make it more attractive for the enterprise (entrepreneur) set. While Google has a 16GB option for its Nexus, Apple can go to 64GB, and has a track record for durability.
As with most things, this debate seems to hinge on the consumers’ tastes and values. You may pay more for the iPad (though Apple INc. is due to come out with a smaller version that would be a more direct competitor with Nexus and Fire), but you may likely get more bang for the buck in terms of how much more you can use it and how long it can last. Once the baby iPad comes out, there might be a more reasonable comparison between these three. But these analyses seem to give the impression that for a smaller tablet, the Nexus 7 by Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is superior to the Kindle Fire by Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), but in its current small-ish size it is little match for the bigger iPad by Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL).
By the way, billionaire Robert Karr is betting on the overall success of Nexus, as nearly a quarter of his portfolio is invested in Google stock (see his stock picks here), while fellow billionaire Robert Raiff has about the same percentage of his portfolio in Apple stock (see his stock picks here).
