From Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony (post):
The 2013 model was not only one of the best tablets available at the time, it is actually better – should you find one that still works – than any small Android tablet available in 2023, with the sole exception of the China-only Lenovo Y700.
Naturally Google never made a newer model.
I have featured the Nexus 7 twice at The New Leaf Journal. I installed Ubuntu Touch and LineageOS on Nexus 7s back in 2021. While Ubuntu Touch no longer supports the legacy tablet, my LineageOS Nexus 7 still works (albeit with some slow charging issues). I agree with the review. The 2013 Nexus 7 has a nice screen and the performance compared decently well with my previous Teracube 2e phone (admittedly a budget device). This review reminded me that I have not turned my still-in-use Nexus 7 on a bit. I am updating it now. For those who are interested, you can find them for about $50 on Ebay and the LineageOS install process is not too difficult, albeit much easier if you have some familiarity with ADB.
(Note: 2013 was a good year for tablets. Amazon’s Kindle Fire HDX 7 also has an excellent screen. I featured it once for a visual novel review. However, I still have not quite figured out how to unlock its bootloader so I can try installing a different OS on it…)