I’ve opined in the past about my Nexus 7 and my less than stellar experience with it, so I was interested to see Adrian Kingsley-Hughes explain “Why the Nexus 7 is winning my heart and replacing my iPad”.

Earlier this year I took possession of a Google Nexus 7 tablet…

What, it fell off the back of a truck? Its acrobat parents were killed by nefarious circus mobsters and you took it on as your faithful ward?

First, I like Android. In fact, I really like Android.

And when a man loves an operating system very much he…

It’s smooth, it’s fast, and it’s fluid…

WHOA. Very much.

…and, to borrow an Appleism, it “just works.”

On a Nexus 7?! Seriously? OK, I don’t know for sure what’s different about Kingsley-Hughes’ experience and mine, but I find Android unbelievably slow and clunky on the Nexus 7. Touches are often unresponsive and actions take too long to complete. As I said previously, my first generation iPad isn’t as responsive as it was originally, either, but overall I find it substantially smoother than the Nexus 7 (although, it should be noted it doesn’t run the latest version of the operating system). And my third generation iPad and my wife’s iPad mini… fuggetaboutit.

Kingsley-Hughes never says in this piece which iPad he’s using, but based on his comments it appears it’s a 10-inch model, which is not really a perfect comparison. I think there’s a definite case to be made for the utility of a smaller device depending on the usage but then an iPad mini would be more useful as well.

I especially like the way that the operating system automatically takes care of updates, both operating system updates, and updates for my apps.

This, definitely. Really looking forward to that in iOS 7 (although I don’t think it adds automatic operating system updates).

Another factor of the Android experience I like is the way it integrates with Google services.

Obviously this is going to be a big deal for a lot of people. I completely get that, it just isn’t that important for me.

I also love the form factor of the Nexus 7.

It is pretty good. I like how easy it is to hold in one hand which is a little easier than the iPad mini. On the other hand, you get a larger screen with the mini, it’s lighter and the build quality is significantly better.

I also like the hardware aspect of the form factor, specifically the lack of a physical home button such as that used by Apple on the iPhone and iPad.

Personally, I like the hardware button but I can see how the mileage of others may vary.

Anyone who tells you that you can’t create content on the Nexus 7 hasn’t tried to, hasn’t tried hard enough to do so, is some edge case, or is lying.

Also true of the iPad.

The Google Play Store might not have as many apps as Apple has in its App Store, I don’t find this to be much of a problem.

I find the App Store apps to be of superior quality but I do believe you can find enough apps on Google Play to make it a solid experience.

I’m also impressed with the build quality of the Nexus 7. There’s no doubt that the iPad is a sexier device, it is also a lot more fragile.

I think durability is different than build quality. The iPad has superior build quality. The Nexus 7 may have superior durability but I haven’t bashed the devices around enough to test that.

Finally, battery life is not shabby…

Another place we’ll have to disagree. For a year old device, I’ve found the battery life to be sub-standard.

If Apple doesn’t raise its game with respect to the iPad, my next full-size tablet could be a Nexus.

Well, isn’t that always the way? Apple will certainly raise its game. But it really depends on what’s important to you. If you’re a big fan of Google’s ecosystem, an Android device is always going to have an advantage there.

I simply do not understand how he could find Android smooth on the Nexus 7, however. Other than automatic updating, I’d say my first generation iPad beats my Nexus 7 on any interaction. Most of the taps I make in the Netflix app on my Nexus 7 don’t get registered the first time and video frequently stutters when I experience no stuttering on my iOS device. It is possible our experiences are different because he’s using his as a work device and I’m using mine for media, so maybe that explains the difference.

For $200 I don’t think the Nexus 7 is a completely terrible devices, but if I were in the market for another Android tablet I’d certainly look to the Kindle Fire or Samsung Galaxy for my next purchase.

I’m not, of course, I’m going to get an iPad mini, but that’s what I’d do if I were.

Which I’m not.