Asus explains why the Nexus 7 doesn’t have a rear camera

Despite the number of rave reviews since the Nexus 7′s release, Asus still felt it was necessary to explain a few things. They’ve recently sent out a Q&A that answers a number of questions regarding the new Google tablet, including one that’s particularly interesting: why does it lack a rear camera?

The short answer? To keep the price down, which makes a lot of sense. The Nexus 7’s $199 price tag, coupled with the updated Android 4.1 experience is a big reason why it’s so popular after all. The longer version is that they decided to skip it altogether because they didn’t want to ruin the experience by stuffing a cheap, low-quality cam in the flagship tablet.

“Why is there no rear camera?

To make this device accessible to the widest possible market, price is very important. ASUS believes that for this device a good rear camera is important. Adding a high quality rear facing camera will increase the price point and many users would not have a use for it. Adding a lower quality rear facing camera would compromise on the overall user experience so the decision was made not to include a front facing camera therefore keeping the price down and user experience extremely high.” – ASUS

Basically, they’re saying that just because you can stuff a cheap camera in something, it doesn’t mean you should. We happen to agree. Personally, I can’t remember the last time I turned on the rear camera on my iPad (just use the one on your phone. It’s always in your pocket, after all). And if Apple ever decides to drop this feature for a cheaper next-gen iPad, or replace it with something a bit more useful for the average tablet-owner, I wouldn’t mind at all.

If you haven’t had the chance to try out the Nexus 7, it should be noted that it does have a front-facing cam for video chats. And while the Nexus 7 itself doesn’t ship with a built-in camera app, the camera can be enabled using certain apps such as Skype or Instagram.

[via SlashGear]