How many times have you ordered a newly announced device to have it ship to you mid-week but miss the Friday cutoff time for delivery by a mere couple of hours? For me that has happened every single time I have purchased from Google, except today. The out for delivery notification I received from Package Tracker Pro was only topped by the Hangouts message from my wife letting me know it had just been delivered. My 4:30pm knock-off time could not come fast enough.
Upon opening the box I was presented with a clean and classy white Nexus 9 box, a nice departure from the boxes of the last couple of years. Upon opening the box you are presented with the back of the Nexus 9 (white in my case). The usual plastic around the tablet didn’t last very long. My first impression of the tablet was a good one. I was surprised by the colour of it, expecting it to be white. To me it is more “whiteish”. The white is maybe more of an off-white, a dirty white. Maybe our esteemed editor, aka Pigpen may regret not getting the white version in case he got it dirty.
I have seen some people complain about how flush the buttons are but I don’t see this at all. The buttons are easily pressable and in my opinion should not stick out too far for aesthetic purposes. HTC have done a great job designing this tablet with it being a thing of beauty. The front facing speakers are becoming a HTC signature in their devices.
The back does seem to have a bit of flex in it, although I am not testing that too hard for fear of breaking a brand new, expensive device. I think it is more of a function of the back cover being soft but I don’t see it as a problem going forward.
The screen is just amazing. The colours are really vibrant as to be expected by a display from HTC. The size of it will take some getting used to. It is a lot bigger than the Nexus 7 screen but I expect that will just take a bit of getting used to, just as stepping up from a 5in phone display to a 5.5in display did.
The camera is just a camera. It’s a tablet camera, so don’t expect much. The indoor photos I took were not the sharpest, nor the best lit photos I have ever taken. I never expect much from a tablet camera so not overly disappointed here. People who do expect to take decent photos with a tablet are living in lala land in my opinion.
Lollipop runs amazingly well on it, as you would expect, being the first new device to run a full version of Lollipop out of the box. There was an update of around 280MB before I could even sign in so I would suggest not attempting to set it up before you have wifi access.
All in all, my first impressions of the Nexus 9 are all good. Purchasing it is something I do not regret a single bit. My only issue now is to whom do I pass my Nexus 7 on to.
When can we read a full review? I am so close buying one but the mixed reviews are stopping me. Ausdroid’s opinion will swing me one way or the other… No pressure!
I want to know why mine says “out for delivery” in Melbourne when I am in Perth!
Switch to Toll from Aramex and you’ll get local shipping
Meh, arrived yesterday anyway. Thanks for the tip though.
after having read Android Police’s review, I will stay away from this tablet.
Or you know, be cautious but try and get your own first-hand impression of it…
If that’s the case, it’ll be an expensive exercise just to get the device I want. An in store look doesn’t really give you the full picture. It must be used extensively
There is a returns policy on Google Play…just saying.
didn’t know. I’ll probably lose around $50 just for postage? so still not acceptable. I tend to buy things that has been recommended. 🙂
different strokes for different people. that’s allowed. right?
It’s actually rather nice. Yes there is some minor backlight bleed at the top, but you have to look for it. Also I don’t see the problem with the buttons on the side, I found them easy to use.
The tablets screen is really nice, its very fast and I am really enjoying Lollipop. Its quite different!
Does the white version have soft touch plastic same as the black one? Or is the white hard plastic like on the nexus 5?
I remember seeing a video that said the white is a harder plastic, might of been MKBHD
you keep the nexus 7 so you can continue to make legacy nexus family reference photos like the one above.
plus i see folks ingressing on the n7 quite a lot, not so much a possibility on the n9
Well, I’m convinced… Could be time to retire the Nexus 7 2012 from Foxtel Go duties though.
I had a mate use his nexus 10 at times.
I so should have bought a white one. It looks so nice. I was also worried that the white one would get dirty. I am a bit OCD about that sort of thing.
yeah, me too but the white is not a bright white. glad i bought the Moon white or whatever they are calling it.
Has made me think about getting a Nexus 6 in the white as well if it is a similar colour..
Chalk white?
Scott does your screen have light bleed at the top a lot of what I see on you tube seems to? Thanks
yes, there is a itny bit of that. Damn you for making me notice an error in an otherwise beautifully manufactured tablet 😀 😉
Sorry
Scott, if you do PC gaming, then don’t pass on your N7. Use it as the screen for a Logitech G910 Orion Spark keyboard. The keyboard uses the Logitech Arx app which is available for Android.
I’ve read there are delays with things like the multitasking button if, say, you’ve been browsing Chrome for 10-15 minutes. Does the update fix this?
haven’t experienced this yet but it is early days. there was no mention what the update was for.
Fair enough. Look forward to hearing more.
Using mine right now as I type this. The design is absolutely spot on, sold as don’t be fooled by what others have said. It’s incredibly quick, I just need a case for it now.
i agree. it is once again very disappointing that Google did not have cases ready to go when a device was released.
Not fair 🙁 Mine says “Received at Origin Facility” on 6/11 and I am trying to work out why they sent it back to there rather than to Australia
Yeah 4/11/14 it left and then 6/11/14 it arrived. From Hong Kong to Kowloon… I fucking hope they’re not shipping it to us. I ordered it as soon as it was announced as well.
Yeah reckon they sent it on foot
My order status says the same thing. Did they just have a typhoon or something? Kowloon is in Hong Kong. Two days to send it a few kilometres Down the road? I bet the tablet arrives Tuesday while I am at work and I have to request it to be resent the following week when I actually have a day off. Arghhh!!!
Once it leaves the delivery area, you can continue to track with Toll. Will probably get to me on Monday. Live in Tas.
How do you get the toll tracking number?? Mine still says it’s in hong kong witht he details google gave me.
Tracking number shouldn’t change for Toll
How do you get the toll tracking number?? Mine still says it’s in hong kong witht he details google gave me.
Have you got yours yet?
Have you got yours yet? Mine hasn’t updated, the shipping status is the same.
Nope nothing has changed since the 6/11 update
Delivered today
Mine left the Kowloon Office on 4 Nov. It finally arrived in Sydney at 8:30am today.
Delivered trouble is I am at work 🙁
Nice. I am being very restrained and am waiting for the LTE version. Is there any slow down that you can notice or is it just as smooth as the N5?
animations are slow but i normally speed mine up artificially. I think they have deliberately made them slower to appear smoother- i noticed that on a friend’s ipad last weekend. it was slooow on animations..
but so far it is really smooth. very happy with it.