Asus MeMO Pad vs Nexus 7: Will You Wait for the Former or Buy Google 7 Inch Android 4.2 Tablet?

In 2012, Asus made and Google-branded Nexus 7 was launched at Google I/O, an annual developer conference in San Francisco and it became available for pre-order on the same day with price starting at $199.

Since launched, the tablet has been leading the 7 inch market category giving high competition to the hottest selling Apple iPads, due to its competitive price strategy and debut in the tablet battleground enthrusted with the latest Jelly Bean OS.

Following the trend, many major manufacturers are foraying into the same 7-inch tablet category market trying to secure sales and lure the budget sensitive consumer market across the globe.

The latest to join the queue is Asus again, but this time alone! After standing tall at Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2013 with the launch of several interesting tablets hybrids based on Windows 8 including Asus VivoTab Smart and Transformer Book, the Taiwan based tech vendor has now come up with a new entry level Android tablet - MeMO Pad ME172V on January 14, 2013.

Asus Memo Pad looks to be a decent budget tablet with high end specs and is informed by the manufacturer to be available starting this January in selected markets from authorized Asus resellers at a price of around $149.

When compared with Nexus 7, both the tablets are bold and beautiful, fall under the same 7-inch display category carrying similar price tags and a product from the same manufacturer. While, Nexus 7 has already been rolled out for pre order in India, Asus Memo Pad will still take some time to enter the market.

Hence, when the former debuts in India, which one out of the two slates will you prefer to hold - Google Nexus 7 or Asus Memo Pad. Read on the specs comparison between the duo and decide.

Form Factor: Both the tablets boast the same 7 inch display size, but they are different when it comes touchscreens. While, Google Nexus 7 boasts, TFT Display with 720 X 1280 Pixels and 216 PPI. Memo Pad flaunts LED-backlit Display with almost the same 1024 X 600 Pixels, but lower 170 PPI.

Further, Nexus 7 carries a dimension of 198.5 x 120 x 10.5 mm and weighs at 340 grams, on the other hand, Asus Memo Pad boasts a dimension of 196.2 x 119.2 x 11.2 mm and weighs heavier, that is around
370 Grams.

Processor: Google Nexus 7 scores high in this section as it is equipped with a Nvidia Tegra 3 chipset, quad core 1.3 GHz Cortex A9 processor and ULP GeForce GPU. Against that, Asus Memo Pad has a 1GHz VIA WM8950 Processor with a Mali-400 GPU.

Operating System: Well, of course both the tablets are equipped with the latest Android Jelly Bean OS including outstanding features like Project Butter, richer notifications, a new Voice Search feature, re-sizable widgets, Android Beam, Google Now, improved camera and more. But there's a slight difference between the duo, while Asus Memo Pad will come packed running on Android 4.1, at the same time, Nexus 7 has got upgraded with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean update.

Camera: Asus Memo Pad will house a 1MP rear facing camera and lacks a front camera, on the other hand Nexus 7 sports a better 1.2MP front camera, but lacks a rear camera.

Storage: On the storage front both Asus Memo Pad and Nexus 7 comes in 8GB and 16GB versions, both with 1 GB RAM. However, the former scores over here with the presence of external micro SD card slot supporting up to 32 GB expandable memory, which is missing in Nexus 7. Above all, the Asus offering will also come with 5GB of free ASUS online storage.
Connectivity: On the connectivity front, Nexus 7 and Asus Memo Pad have features including Bluetooth, Wi-Fi features and micro USB 2.0. However, Google's tablet offering scores more as it has the NFC (near field communication) technology and 3G on board that Asus's device lacks which will Nexus 7 owners share data wirelessly over short distances.

Battery: Nexus 7 packs a 4,325 mAh Li-ion battery, which will offer 300 hours of standby time while Asus Memo Pad is loaded with a 4,270mAh Li-ion battery, which the company claims will provide 7 hours of backup to the tablet.

Verdict

Both being budget tablets from major manufacturers - to decide on which tablet to buy would be tough for many. However one can settle with either buying Nexus 7 or Asus Memo Pad based on the following factors. New Asus slate will come with bigger storage options than the Nexus 7, and also Asus claims better video capabilities supporting 720p HD Video Recording @ 30fps, which is available on Google-branded slate only by hacking.

In contrast, Nexus 7 has a GPS (and other sensors), and the biggest selling point - it runs on the latest version of Android 4.2. On the other hand, Asus Memo Pad features some preinstalled apps like SuperNote Lite, Online Office, MyPainter, ASUS WebStorage, BuddyBuzz, ASUS Studio, MyBitCast and ASUS WebStorage. Asus MeMO Pad ME172V supports a keyboard dock unlike Asus Transformer Pad.
Hence, for those of you who love the Asus devices, and require a 32GB of storage, Memo Pad tablet would be the right choice for you, for all others Nexus 7 tablet will completely serve your purpose.