For people who have been thinking of getting Google's latest tablet, there is no better place and time to do it than at Expansys right now.
Online gadgets retailer Expansys is selling a 32 GB version of Google's Nexus 9 equipped with LTE for only $379. That is a whopping $220 discount on the $599 that Google itself is charging for the device on Google Play Store.
Amazon is selling the same version of the Nexus 9 for a lower price than Google at $449, but Expansys undercuts Amazon by as much as $70. The price is even a little bit cheaper than the $400 the 16 GB Nexus 9 is being sold for at most locations.
Customers will only be able to find the black version of the 8.9-inch Nexus 9. The white and sand versions are not available from the site. And even if they were available, only the black version is equipped with an LTE radio.
Shipping is free for all customers in the United States. It is unclear if the deal is part of a limited-time sale by Expansys, or if the retailer is permanently dropping the price of the Nexus 9 to empty its stocks. Still, people who are intent on getting a Nexus 9 had better get one right away in case Expansys increases the price again.
There are quite a few LTE-equipped tablets at the size range of the Nexus 9, notably a couple of 10-inch devices offered by Samsung. However, users who want a large-screen, LTE-capable tablet running on bloatware-less pure Android would do well to get the Nexus 9.
The Nexus 9 being sold on Expansys is compatible with LTE bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 20, which means it will work perfectly fine with Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and U.S. Cellular. Customers who plan on using the tablet on another network should contact their preferred wireless carrier to make sure the Nexus 9 is compatible with their LTE bands before laying down their money for it.
The Nexus 9 runs on Android Lollipop 5.0 out of the box, but users will be able to receive the over-the-air updates to Android Lollipop 5.1.1 upon startup. Powered by a 2.3 GHz quad-core NVIDIA Tegra K1 chipset with a Kepler DX1 GPU and 2 GB of RAM, the Nexus 9 is unsurprisingly one of the most powerful tablets on the market, according to various benchmark scores.
Its display features a resolution of 2,048 x 1,536, which translates to a more than decent 281 ppi. At the back of the device is an eight-megapixel camera, which isn't as good as what one would find on other devices, but it's clear Google knows a tablet is not for taking pictures. The front camera is a 1.6-megapixel shooter capable of taking 1,080p videos at 30 fps.
Photo: Maurizio Pesce | Flickr