![\"\"](\"http:\/\/betanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Nexus-7-with-ASUS-dock-600x450.jpg\" "\\"Nexus")
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Accessories can make a portable device better. If you own the ASUS-manufactured, Google-branded Nexus 7 tablet, surely there is a case protecting it; sometimes, anyway. Some can prop the tablet, but there’s another option. Can a dock improve<\/i> the user experience and even extend the utility? That’s what this quickie review seeks to answer.<\/p>\n
The Nexus 7 dock is the official issue, made by ASUS, and sold from Google Play for $29.99. I ordered mine in late January, for $39.99, from B&H Photo, back when only third parties carried the accessory. Since then, the retailer dropped the price by five bucks. B&H took my order when the dock was out of stock, but shipped 8 days later. If you want this thing, don’t be deterred by availability elsewhere but forget Google Play, which isn’t taking orders as I write. Expect to spend more elsewhere. By the way, I would have waited and paid less, had I known better.<\/p>\n
Unlike Nexus 10, Google’s smaller tablet is meant to be used more-often in portrait mode (there’s a reason why most product shots show the orientation). The dock flips things around, and as such should be seen as entertainment extension, particularly for music and videos — even displaying photo slideshows. The accessory also makes placing Nexus 7 convenient in a kitchen area for, say, looking at recipes while cooking. There is potentially good utility here, depending on needs.<\/p>\n
The dock feels fairly hefty, weighing 280 grams and measuring 220 x 65 x 30 mm. The thing is sturdy, quite solidly-built. There’s quality here. The dock comes with standard audio jack, Micro-USB connector and built-in speakers. The speakers are functional, but produce tinny sound. You’ll want to plug in your own. But, strangely, on my device, there is no through-sound unpowered, which surprises me. I have the Bose Companion 3, which only work when the dock is plugged into electricity.<\/p>\n
The tablet snuggly fits horizontally into the dock, but there is too much movement otherwise. Extended lip supports Nexus 7 firmly in the back, but frontways is rocky. You could easily knock over the tablet onto the glass front. Additionally, I find that when touching music controls, the tablet’s pins sometimes lose contact with the connectors on the dock. This can interrupt playback or, worse, if charging, stop the activity. I am surprised by how easily even slight jostling of the surface the dock sits on can break the connection and stop charging.<\/p>\n
While I use the dock several ways, the most common is work-day companion. I set the peripheral and Nexus 7 behind my computer plugged into power and speakers to play music. I generally stream from my own library stored in the Google Music cloud. On the PC, Chrome sometimes closes down tabs, stopping playback. Nexus 7 is great alternative, providing continuous play, and there is a graphic equalizer.<\/p>\n
But I don’t need<\/i> the dock to do this. I can just as easily lay down the tablet, or use a case with built-in prop, connected directly to the speakers. From this perspective, the add-on is more convenience than necessity.<\/p>\n
Something else: Google I\/O starts in mid-May, and there is massive speculation (and quite reasonable, I should say) across the InterWebs about a new model with higher-resolution display. If ASUS and Google modify the design, the current dock becomes obsolete for use with next-generation Nexus 7. Of course, the enclosure might stay the same, which is better for dock dalliers. <\/p>\n
Bottom line: I\/O is good reason to wait, and anything over $30 is too much (right, I overpaid). The accessory doesn’t add enough value for the price. Nexus 7 already has headphone and power jacks. The case you might already own can prop the tablet.<\/p>\n
Don’t get me wrong. I personally like the dock and find it both functional and useful. But I don’t need<\/i> it and certainly wouldn’t have spent $40 if knowing then what I do now. Nexus 7 dock is great kit, but in many ways redundant.<\/p>\n
Photo Credit:<\/strong> Joe Wilcox<\/p>\n Accessories can make a portable device better. If you own the ASUS-manufactured, Google-branded Nexus 7 tablet, surely there is a case protecting it; sometimes, anyway. Some can prop the tablet, but there’s another option. Can a dock improve the user experience and even extend the utility? That’s what this quickie review seeks to answer. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-654912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654912","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=654912"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654912\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=654912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=654912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=654912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n<\/img><\/a>
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