The Nexus 7 is essentially Google's answer the the Amazon Kindle Fire -- a 7-inch tablet priced at $199 that's based around media consumption. In almost every respect, the Nexus destroys the Fire.

The Library widget on the home screen shows the media stored on the device. If you've interacted with any of it lately, those titles will be prominent.

Here's what the your app screen looks like on the Nexus 7.

All the Google-made apps are accessible from a folder on the home screen.

The video player is very responsive, and videos look good on the 1,280 x 800 display.

Here's what browsing movies is like in Google Play

The information you see when you select a particular title.

The magazine browser is fast and fluid.

Landscape mode allows for a few more titles to fit on the screen.

You navigate by pairs of pages, not single ones, an odd choice — until you realize it forces you to look at more ads.

Here's how a typical magazine looks on the Nexus 7. Although layouts look great, they lack some of the interactive features that some magazines on the iPad have.

If the layout of a magazine is bothering you or it's too unwieldy, you can switch to Text View.

Here's a magazine rendered in landscape mode.

The books on the device appear against a white background, with no shelves in sight.

Here are the options you see while reading a book. They disappear quickly if you don't touch the screen, leaving only the text.

This is how a book looks when you're reading in landscape.

The Google Music player isn't nearly as intuitive as iTunes, but it's passable.

You launch Google Now by sliding your finger up through the app-page icon.

The Google app automatically brings you local information and weather.

Google Now fits a little more on the screen in landscape.

This is how the Chrome browser looks on the Nexus 7.

Chrome helpfully lets you zoom in big on hard-to-tap menu items.

The Nexus 7 renders those 3D Google Maps just fine.

The execution here is very slick.

The leather-like back of the tablet makes it easy to hold.

The Power and Volume buttons are the only hard buttons on the device.

On the bottom, the Nexus 7 has a USB port for charging and data I/O.

Not much here, except for those four metallic dots, which could be used for future accessories.

Also very clean

Here's the Nexus 7 alongside a retina iPad.

The colors on the package are vibrant.

Asus' branding is smaller than Google's on the device, but the charging plug makes it clear who made the Nexus 7.