It's been nearly five years since Google released its very first Nexus device, and by now we all basically get what the Nexus name stands for. It's all about building devices to show off the bleeding-edge version of Android, to give us a better sense of Google's vision of our collective mobile future. That future isn't just phones, either: It's about screens of all sizes, and that's why Google and HTC teamed up to build the new Nexus 9. Now that ancestors like the Nexus 7 and 10 have been forcibly shuffled off this mortal coil, the 9 stands alone as the sole tablet in Google's Nexus hardware lineup. So, does it live up to the standard geeks expect from the Nexus name? And more importantly, is it actually worth the asking price?
Nexus 9
Pros
- Android 5.0 Lollipop runs like a dream
- Material Design face-lift is warm, welcoming
- K1 chipset is plenty powerful, despite benchmark oddities
Cons
- Screen is solid, not jaw-dropping
- BoomSound speakers not as good as M8's
- No expandable memory
The Nexus 9 is the first tablet to run Google's Android 5.0 Lollipop, and it shines because of it. Its design might not be worth writing home about and the speakers up front leave a bit to be desired, but the combination of Lollipop and NVIDIA's powerful K1 chipset make it a serious contender (and a no-brainer if you're into fast and frequent software updates).
Display and sound
The Nexus 9's namesake 9-inch display, with its bright colors and respectable viewing angles, is more pleasant than it is jaw-dropping. Consider it another example of HTC and Google not worrying about pushing an envelope.
HTC went with a screen that runs at 2,048 x 1,536, which means it squeezes 281 pixels into each linear inch. In case you're keeping tabs, that isn't quite as densely crisp as the panels in Samsung's 8.4-inch Galaxy Tab S (359 ppi) or the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 (339 ppi), but you're still not going to pick out individual pixels without a magnifying glass and a persnickety personality. By nature, the Nexus 9's IPS LCD also isn't as sumptuous (or as easy on the battery) as the typically gorgeous AMOLED screens that grace some of its competitors, but that's no dealbreaker. All told, the Nexus 9's LCD is really a good screen, just not an outstanding one. Google sure knows it, too -- the search giant carefully avoids crowing about the display quality on the Nexus 9's product page, noting only that its size makes it both portable and immersive. You won't hear any arguments against that logic.
Performance
Google claims that the Nexus 9's battery will hang in there for about 9.5 hours on a charge if you're surfing the web or watching videos, and my initial spin with the slate fell just short of that mark. It was nothing if not an able companion as I plowed through my daily routine, sticking with me through about 12 hours of mixed usage (you know, web browsing, shooting off emails, the odd gaming break in the bathroom, with plenty of standby time mixed in between). The first few times through our standard video rundown test (with an HD video set to loop indefinitely while screen brightness is locked at 50 percent), the Nexus 9 usually managed to hang in there for about 9 hours and 10 minutes before giving up the ghost. Here's the thing, though: Google dropped one last big software update on us yesterday -- it's the version that's shipping on the Nexus 9s you'll get -- and right now I'm retesting the battery to see if we can squeeze even more out of it.
