The Nexus 7 (2013) has a ROM for every Android version since the version it first launched with. Even when support for it was discontinued when Android 7.0 Nougat was released, the development community were quick to make ports of it. A port of Android 10 has recently been released.
The year older Nexus 7 (2012) only had ROMs going up to Android 7.1.2 until recently where a LineageOS 15.1 ROM was released. How come the Nexus 7 (2012) has a lot less ROM treatment than the one year newer model?
First of all, let’s start with hardware. The Nexus 7 (2012) has 1GB RAM and a Nvidia Tegra3 CPU, whilst the 2013 variant has 2GB RAM and a Snapdragon S4 Pro. That’s a noticeable difference in speed and performance just there. The Nexus 7 (2012) was good back in its day, and even now, if you choose the correct ROM, can make a good tablet, but Android 9 and 10 just won’t run very well on it. On LineageOS 15.1 and Unlegacy Android 7.1.2, I experienced lag but on stock 4.3, 4.4, and Unlegacy Android 6.0, it was perfectly acceptable for every day use.
Android Go was announced by Google a while back providing an optimised Android version for low end devices such as the Galaxy J2 Core. LineageOS 15.1 appears to use Go’s optimisation for the Nexus 7 (2012) but a 2019 low end smartphone may just be that little bit faster than a mid-range tablet from 2012.
Let’s not forget the system partition. When I tried Unlegacy Android 6.0, 7.1.2, and LineageOS 15.1, I had to use the minimal GAPPS package (pico) only including the Play Store and basic Google functionality. The Nexus 7 (2013) has a resize method available but it appears to be hard to use and you risk messing up the partition table resulting in an unrecoverable device. There is no such method for the Nexus 7 (2012). Recent Android versions take up more space and on the Nexus 7 (2013), the only currently available Android 10 ROM requires a resize before it can be installed.
Can we expect Android 9 or 10 ROMs for the Nexus 7 (2012)? Probably not. Unless a resize method is found for the system partition, there’s little chance of it and even if it was made, it probably wouldn’t run very well. Luckily, Android 6.0 or 7.1 is still adequate and a great majority of apps still work fine on it so if you’re looking for a good ROM to revive your tablet, look there instead of hoping for a ROM which could put the tablet past its limits.
What ROM do you have on your Nexus 7 and how does it run? Tell me down below in the comments section!
-Chas 😎
