Tech Talk: It’s neck and Nexus

Google’s Nexus 7 and Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD are both 30 per cent smaller than the iPad but they’re also much cheaper and, unlike earlier clones, every bit as intuitive. The Nexus is already a best-seller and the Kindle Fire took America by storm last year.

They are now set to go head-to-head in the run-up to Christmas – but which is better? If you really can’t hang on to your money for a second longer, the short answer is the £199 Google Nexus. But in fairness, it depends on what you want to use it for, and if your plan is to read books and perhaps buy the odd album or movie, the Kindle Fire HD, at £40 less, will do very nicely.

The first question to ask yourself is whether a seven-inch screen is big enough for you, and the only way to find out is to pop down to Currys and play with one. It doesn’t matter which; just make sure the smaller screen doesn’t make your eyes or fingers bleed.

Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD, which appears in the UK on October 25, is a colour version of the simple Kindle e-reader and which can now be had for just £69. It does more than just display books; you can watch videos, play music, games and surf the internet.

But you can’t do as much as you can with other tablets, because Amazon has “locked down” the system to try to make it a shop-front for its own products. This is fine if you want a souped-up Kindle but less so it you’d like a general-purpose entertainment device.

Google’s Nexus tablet has no such limitations, and indeed comes with extras like a built-in sat-nav and digital compass. It also gives you unrestricted access to the Google Play app store, which has a range second only to Apple’s.

The Kindle Fire HD claims the edge when it comes to reading books. It has a polarising filter and an anti-glare screen to make it visible even in bright sunlight. A Kindle Fire with a lower resolution screen is available for £20 less.

Variants of both come with different storage capacities, but you’re stuck with what you buy; neither will let you use an SD data card for extra space.

The one fly in the ointment is the persistent speculation – and at the moment it’s no more than that – that Apple is about to launch an “iPad mini” with a lower price and a Kindle-size screen. That may yet emerge as a better buy but for the moment, my money’s on Google.