Introduction
The Google Nexus 9 will be curiously gazed upon by both Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 owners, as HTC gets back on the roster to take over from Asus and Samsung. The 8.9" beauty is a return for HTC to both the Nexus family and the tablet realm in general. Almost five-years passed since HTC made the Google Nexus One, while its last tablet dates back to 2011.
The HTC Nexus 9, like the Motorola Nexus 6, also marks a major shift in product strategy for Google. Unlike past Nexus tablets, which cut a few corners in order to keep the price super attractive, the latest iteration makes no compromises. The Nexus 9 is a bona fide powerhouse with highly capable hardware, premium build, and a brand new Android version to boot.
Key features
- Optional quad-band GSM, CDMA, penta-band HSPA, 4G LTE
- 64-bit Nvidia Tegra K1 chipset; 2.3GHz dual-core Denver CPU; Kepler DX1 GPU
- 8.9" QXGA (2048x1536 pixels) IPS display with 4:3 aspect ratio; Corning Gorilla Glass 3
- Android 5.0 Lollipop with material design; brand new ART runtime for improved performance and responsiveness
- 8MP f/2.4 camera with auto-focus and single LED flash; 1080p @30fps video capture
- 1.6MP f/2.4 front-facing unit with 720p video capture
- 16/32GB of built-in memory
- Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac; Bluetooth 4.1 with aptX; NFC; A-GPS; GLONASS; microUSB 2.0
- BoomSound front-facing stereo speakers; dual microphones
- 6,700mAh Li-Po battery
- Premium design and build; three available color options
Main disadvantages
- No memory card slot , doubling the built-in memory is Apple-like expensive , no 64GB memory option
- 3GB of RAM would have fitted the chipset better
- Some might find the new display ratio a tad awkward
Design and build quality have been taken up a notch as well. The Nexus 9 looks and feels as premium as its specs suggest. Its three available colors, like the 4:3 display, are another subtle swing at Cupertino.
However, powerful hardware and premium design are only one part of the picture. The brand new Android 5.0 Lollipop is arguably the biggest piece of news about the Nexus 9. The latest OS build from the search giant brings fresh design, coupled with brand new ART runtime, which promises improved performance and responsiveness.
As always, we will kick the review off with unboxing of the Nexus 9, followed by design and build quality inspection. Flip to the next page for a closer look at the tablet.
Photos
Google Photos is the default gallery app in Android 5.0 Lollipop. Upon opening the app you'll see two tabs - one for all photos and another one for highlights. Above those two tabs you will find shortcuts for settings and bulk selection.
You can view photos synced to your Google cloud, or images stored only on your device. Local photos are separated depending on their source (e.g. camera or screenshots).
Viewing a single photo gives you a number of options. You can share it, set it as wallpaper or contact photo, or edit it. The built-in Photos editor is incredibly powerful - it gives you limitless options and filters to tweak your images.
Overall, Photos is an incredibly capable app to handle all your images. It is well laid-out and easy to use.
Video player remains basic
The video player in the Android 5.0 Lollipop is somewhat of an afterthought - there is no dedicated app, so you will have to seek out you videos via the Photos app.Supported codecs include H.263, H.264 AVC, MPEG-4 SP, and VP8. The app will play most major file formats, though serious video fans should certainly seek out a more capable solution from the Google Play store.
Google Play Music
Google Play Music is the default player for your tunes out of the box. The app has been treated to the new material design, though it functionality remains unchanged - it can play your local files, as well as stream music from the cloud.
Google Play Music
You can tweak the sound via the built-in equalizer. There are dedicated toggles for surround sound and bass.
EQ settings
The Now Playing screen uses the song album art and gives you a quick shortcut to the rest of the artist's songs along with the play controls. While the player is working, the entire lockscreen features the album art and track info for the current song along with dedicated playback controls. The notification area also lets you control the playback via an expandable notification.
Google will give you three months of free subscription to its music streaming service. The latter is one of the most capable around and certainly worth a try.
Best-in-class audio output
If there's one thing you can trust HTC with, it's creating devices with excellent audio output. The Nexus 9 made the active external amplifier part of our test look like a piece of cake, matching perfectly clean output with the loudest volume we've seen for a few years now.The stereo crosstalk degradation when you plug in a pair of headphones is minor and it's the only affected reading, meaning we get an equally impressive performance here. There's no shortage of tablets to deliver audiophile-grade audio output, but if you want the best you will have to side with the Nexus 9.
Check out the table and see for yourself.
| Test | Frequency response | Noise level | Dynamic range | THD | IMD + Noise | Stereo crosstalk |
| +0.06, -0.01 | -94.7 | 92.7 | 0.0054 | 0.015 | -93.7 | |
| +0.04, -0.04 | -94.9 | 92.8 | 0.015 | 0.053 | -71.1 | |
| +0.09, -0.29 | -93.9 | 93.9 | 0.0016 | 0.0067 | -89.9 | |
| +0.05, -0.32 | -94.0 | 94.0 | 0.0040 | 0.015 | -66.2 | |
| +0.05, -0.01 | -95.8 | 92.8 | 0.0030 | 0.0092 | -96.4 | |
| +0.04, -0.02 | -95.8 | 92.7 | 0.0098 | 0.013 | -43.6 | |
| +0.03, -0.04 | -82.3 | 82.2 | 0.011 | 0.022 | -81.4 | |
| +0.09, -0.24 | -82.7 | 82.7 | 0.067 | 0.204 | -77.9 |
HTC Nexus 9 review: Game on