Google's Nexus 9 is now officially out and about in the market, and the tablet is bound to draw comparisons to Apple's iPads. Google, however, insists that they didn't intend for the Nexus 9 to be an "iPad killer."

Speaking in an interview with Engadget, head of the Nexus 9's industrial design, Alberto Villarreal said that the Nexus 9's design, price and specs weren't chosen simply to compete with the iPad.

"We wanted to accelerate the premium market for Android tablets," Villarreal said. "[The Nexus 9] has a lot of attributes and definitely will bring the quality for other companies to do better."

Villarreal also added that Google chose HTC to manufacture the Nexus 9 because of the Taiwan-based company's aesthetic direction.

"We saw the One and really liked how their designs were very simple, focused on usability and removed things that didn't need to be there," Villarreal said. "They have nice craft and precision details and materials. ... We're moving away from technology-driven black and silver, which is very common in the industry, and trying to bring more of a fashion look to the portfolio."

So why exactly is the Nexus 9 drawing so many comparisons to the larger iPad Air series (including the recently released iPad Air 2)? For starters, the Nexus 9 has an 8.9-inch IPS LCD display that isn't too far off from the iPad Air 2's 9.7-inch Retina display with IPS technology. Both screens sport a 2048X1536 resolution, brand new powerful 64-bit processors and 8-megapixel rear-facing cameras. The Nexus 9's front shooter, however, comes in at 1.6 megapixels, while the iPad Air 2's front-facing camera takes pictures at 1.2-megapixels.  

It's mainly the size and the price points (the Nexus 9 starts at $399 while the iPad Air 2 starts at $499) that will have most consumers comparing the two side by side. It's important to remember, however, that both deliver different experiences.

The Nexus 9 uses the latest version of Google's Android mobile operating system, Android 5.0 Lollipop and the iPad Air 2 runs Apple's iOS 8. There are many differences between the two, and buyers deciding between the Nexus 9 and iPad would do well to test out which OS they prefer.

If you've had a chance to test out both tablets, let us know whether you prefer the Nexus 9 or iPad Air 2 in the comments section below.

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