Nexus 7 LTE Release Nears As Device Appears In China

Unless what we're seeing this morning is a test model not meant for public consumption, it would appear quite likely that the Nexus 7 LTE is coming to stores imminently. This multi-carrier 4G LTE iteration of the 2013 reboot of the Nexus 7 works with a solution created by Qualcomm to connect with a massive cross-section of 4G LTE bands both in the USA and internationally, making it possible to deliver a single SKU – a single model, that is – that will accept SIM cards from any one of a number of carriers. This model is the one showing up in hands-on photos in China today.

The technology-friendly web community known as Baidu appears today as the first location for these images to have appeared, posted by a fellow known only as CrazyFreely. As expected, this user reports that WCDMA 3G data does not connect with this machine, only LTE and – in his case – 2G wireless data bands work. It would also appear that this user purchased the device from a shady seller, one he has no intention of naming.

That could mean that the device isn't quite so close to shipping internationally as we'd otherwise expect, but the fact remains: there is at least one single Nexus 7 LTE out there in the wild.

The Google Nexus 7 (2013) is a second generation of the original ASUS-made tablet which carried an NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor inside. This 2013 edition works with a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro clocked at 1.5GHz. Based on synthetic benchmark tests we've run in our full Nexus 7 (2013) review, this newer version of the device does quite a bit better than its predecessor for processing power.

Remember also that the models shown at Google's special event for the Nexus 7 (2013) were 4G LTE models – so they're certainly out there, somewhere!

This newer Nexus 7 works with a Full HD Plus display, meaning you're rolling with 1920 x 1200 pixels across a 7.02-inch panel. This rings in at 323 PPI, one of the highest-density panels on a smart device today.

The original Wi-fi-only edition is out on the market today in 16 and 32GB internal storage editions, while this LTE version has no official launch date save a very general "soon" from Google.

VIA: Android Police