New Nexus 7 launches in Japan on Wednesday

Wednesday, August 28th is the release date of the new Nexus 7 (2013) in Japan. It will be available through Google Play and various retailers around the country. Yodobashi Camera, one of the largest electronics store chains is now accepting pre-orders.

Prices in Japan are significantly higher than they are in the United States. The 16GB version goes for 27,800 Yen, 32GB is 33,800 Yen, and the LTE 32GB sim-unlocked model is marked at 39,800 Yen. These are about 25% more expensive than American models. This major hike in prices may have been influenced by the success of the original Nexus 7 in Japan. During the press conference for the US release of the latest Nexus 7 model, Google had (wrongfully) claimed that the 2012 device was the number one tablet in the Japanese market.

The new Nexus 7 has been touted by gadget review sites as the current king of the mini-tablet segment. The stellar performance of its processor, GPU, its relatively large RAM, and 323 ppi display makes it the perfect medium for tablet gaming. Google's latest 7-inch device has consistently topped benchmark comparisons with other competing slates.

However, the device is not without concerns. Critics have complained about its less than satisfactory 5 megapixel rear camera, and have expressed worry towards the question of durability over time (many users of the original Nexus 7 were met with various problems after a year). Also, issues with multi-touch and GPU sensitivity have propped up, though these were supposedly taken care of via a newly outed update for the 2013 Nexus 7.