Nexus 7 vs. iPad Mini: How Does Google Tablet Stack Up Against Apple’s Masterpiece?

Nearly eight months after its global debut in June, Google's much awaited Nexus 7 tablet was finally launched in the Indian market on Monday. The late launch led many to believe that Google might have lost an opportunity to take on Apple's iPad mini.

Rival Apple had released its 7.9-inch iPad mini and the fourth-generation 9.7-inch iPad in December. The devices registered strong sales in India.

According to a recent market survey, Apple has emerged among the top three sellers (in terms of shipments) in the Indian tablet market which is lead by Samsung and Micromax.

Both Google Nexus 7 and Apple iPad mini are high-end tablets. Now, it remains to be seen if Nexus 7's late entry turns out to be a setback for Google.

Here is brief comparison of main specifications of Google Nexus 7 and Apple iPad mini:

Display:

Google Nexus 7's 1280x800p resolution display with 216 ppi (pixels per inch) pixel density scores points over iPad mini's 1024x768p (163 ppi ) display which lacks the retina display which are found in bigger iPads.

Processor:

Apple's iPad mini runs on the company's older A5 chipset with dual-core Cortex A9 processor, whereas Nexus 7 sports a faster and efficient quad-core processor (NVIDIA Tegra 3 series).

Camera:

Nexus 7 houses only a front facing 1.2-megapixel camera with 720p HD video recording capability with no rear side camera. On the other hand, iPad mini sports an impressive 5.0-megapixel main camera with five element lens and hybrid IR filter with back-side illumination. There is also a 1.2-megapixel front facing camera with HD video recording ability.

Operating System:

Nexus 7 comes with the latest Android mobile OS v4.2 Jelly Bean out-of-box, while iPad mini runs on Apple iOS 6.0. (Now, the Apple tablet has received the update iOS 6.1.3)

They both stand even in terms of platform popularity as they each boast more than 700,000 collections of applications and games in their respective app stores.

Price:

The prices of the 7.9-inch iPad Mini model prices vary according to storage and network connectivity. It is currently listed at Reliance Digital's subsidiary iStore . The first generation iPad mini with only Wi-Fi connectivity is priced ₹21,900 for 16GB, ₹27, 900 for 32GB and ₹33, 900 for the 64GB model. The cellular variant is priced ₹29, 900 for 16GB, ₹35,900 for 32GB and ₹41, 900 for the 64GB model.

Google Nexus 7 is currently available in a 16GB model and is priced ₹15,999 on Google Play Store.

The Nexus 7 tablet PC, co-developed by Google and the Taiwanese PC maker Asus, had received 'Tablet of the Year' award in 2012 from popular UK based technology magazine T3 (Tomorrow's Technology Today) beating rival tablets from Apple, Samsung and Sony.

But, it remains to be seen if Google Nexus 7 will be able to make good sales in the Indian market which is brimming with low-cost tablets.

Even its rival Apple has taken up more sales partners and has created a marketing strategy by offering EMI (Easy Monthly Installments) options to attract more consumers. 

Here is a Breakdown of Comparison Between Google Nexus 7 and Apple iPad Mini [Spec-Wise]: