Motorola Xoom Android 3.1 Tablet Review

The Apple iPad may still reign supreme in the world of consumer tablets, but the Android side of the equation is quickly picking up steam. While early Android tablets only ran on blown-up versions of the smartphone OS, Android 3.0 Honeycomb introduced a tablet-centric version of the platform with several tablet-centric optimizations. And the first to take advantage of these optimizations was the Motorola Xoom.

Now that it’s been officially updated to Android 3.1 (some have even gotten up to 3.2) and it’s competing against several other Honeycomb tablets, how does the Xoom stack up? Let’s have a look.  

Key Features and Specifications

The version of the Motorola Xoom that I had to review as the Xoom MZ604. This comes with 32GB of internal storage capacity and Wi-Fi connectivity, but there is no 3G radio to be seen. The juice comes by way of an NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core 1GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor with a ULP GeForce GPU and 1GB of RAM.

As has become the norm for so many tablets in this range, the Motorola Xoom comes with a 10.1-inch TFT capacitive touchscreen with an effective resolution of 800×1280 pixels. That works out to 149 ppi pixel density, which is a touch higher than the 132ppi that you find on the current iPad 2. Other key specs include the 730 grams of weight, stereo speakers, gyroscope, accelerometer, microSD expansion, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP support, 5MP rear camera, 2MP front camera, mini-HDMI out, and microUSB port.

Overall Design and Usability

It won the award at CES 2011 and Motorola is quick to point that out on the packaging for the Xoom.

In terms of the device itself, you get a series of high quality plastics with a very smooth back. The screen is extremely glossy, so like so many other touchscreens, it gets riddled with greasy fingerprints very quickly. Since it is Honeycomb, most of what you’ll be doing is in landscape mode and everything has been laid out accordingly.

The (unlabeled) connection ports are on the bottom. Strangely, while there is a microUSB port, it cannot be used for charging; you have to use the provided wall charger to top up the internal battery. That takes away from a fair bit of versatility, especially when you’re on the road. The microSD card slot is on the top (which didn’t work until Android 3.1 update), as well as the 3.5mm headset jack. Volume buttons are along the left edge.

One thing that I didn’t like was the placement of the power button. It’s on the back of the Xoom, in the same part of the housing as the camera, flash, and one of the speakers. I suppose this makes for a more natural movement when holding the tablet, but I would have preferred they stuck to an edge like nearly everyone else.

General Performance and Battery Life

I can’t say that I was terribly displeased with the Xoom, but there really wasn’t much else going on that would make me choose the Xoom over the several other Honeycomb alternatives out there. It is on the heavier side of things at 730 grams, which is 50 grams more than the Asus Eee Pad Transformer (sans keyboard dock, of course) and nearly 200 grams more than the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. That’s some serious extra heft.

The orientation sensor seemed to be a bit on the laggy side, as it could take some time before the screen would switch between landscape and portrait modes. Similarly, swiping between the different homescreens wasn’t quite as smooth as I had hoped. This seems to be a common concern with several Android tablets and it’s something that I hope is addressed in future updates; maybe it’s just a software/firmware thing.

As far as battery life is concerned, your mileage will certainly vary. Under moderate usage, I was able to get a little more than a day out of the Xoom. This is with Wi-Fi turned on and a couple of apps constantly running in the background. Lighter usage could see about three days.  

Quadrant Benchmark Score

To test the performance of the Motorola Xoom, I ran the full benchmark on Quadrant Standard v1.1.7. This benchmark measures the performance of the CPU, memory, graphics, and other related areas. The overall score achieved by the Xoom on the first try was just 1593 (as pictured), but I ran the test again after rebooting the device and got a score of 1739.

Some people have argued that benchmarks for Android devices can be a little unreliable, but that’s what we have to go with. That range of scores puts the Xoom right in line with other Tegra2-powered Honeycomb tablets; I ran the benchmark on an LG Optimus Pad for comparison and got a score of 1700 even.

Conclusion

The Motorola Xoom is a solid product, but it is difficult to recommend it over similar Honeycomb tablets. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 is a lot lighter and the Eee Pad Transformer has that optional keyboard dock, for instance. I do like the slightly smaller footprint that the Xoom has (compared to the Eee Pad), but if you wanted smaller, you likely would be considering an 8.9 or even 7.0 inch tablet instead.

The placement of the power button will be hit and miss, depending on your preferences, but I really dislike the lack of support for USB charging. The speakers are reasonably loud, but because they are in the back, the directionality of the sound may not be ideal. I like Android tablets and I think they have a bright future, but the Xoom is very middle of the road for me right now… which is pretty much the story of most $399-$599 Honeycomb tablets these days.

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IFA 2011: Top 9 Things We'd Love to See But Won't

While Berlin's annual consumer electronics fair has previously been a showcase of home appliances from TVs to fridges, it has become a battleground for manufacturers of wireless gadgets, according to Bloomberg News.

At IFA 2011 this week, Sony Corp., LG Electronics Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co., among other device-makers, will unveil their new tablets/and or smartphones.

We've listed some things that we'd love to see at the tech show in Berlin, but wont:

9. Samsung Engineers Rubbing Elbows with Apple's.

Although Samsung has been producing chips for Apple's mobile devices, the two have been at a war that gets uglier each day. The maker of the iPhone, iPad and iMac has sued Samsung for patent infringement in every country mapped by Google. What's worse, Apple is asking the local courts to stop the sale of Galaxy S 2 and Galaxy S Tab on grounds that they're "slavishly" imitating Apple. What's even worse is that Samsung is running out of brilliant ideas, now saying that Stanley Kubrick's 1968 sci-fi film "2001: A Space Odyssey" invented the tablet.

8. Glasses-Free 3-D Devices That Actually Work.

Toshiba has already unveiled the world's first glasses-free 3D laptop, which uses a lenticular screen and integrated webcam. And LG Electronics has already released the LG Optimus 3D, which claims to offer "the world's first 3D experience on a smartphone." But the technology is still in its infancy. Like the LCD screens of laptops more than 10 years ago, these devices would likely show blurred pictures when viewed at the wrong angle or when exposed to sunlight. What could be more interesting is Sony's HMZ personal 3-D viewer, a futuristic little helmet that lets you watch 3-D movies. But would anybody actual sit alone with this $800 visor with an OLED screen? Nintendo released bulky Virtual Boy headgears for gaming 20 years ago, and the device flopped.

3D Movie Maker allows you to create Hollywood fabulous 3D Effects using any 2D movies like SD/HD Video or DVD movies or online videos, even the DRM-protected 2D videos.

Blu-ray 3D Ripper, the first software in the world which can independently manage the Blu-ray 3D to 3D video conversion.

7. Apple's Steve Jobs and His Turtleneck Shirt.

The man credited for propelling a company near bankruptcy to the world's most valuable tech company; at one point, richer than the U.S. government; and with zero long-term debt. Steve Jobs loves the stage and enjoys touting Apple's new devices. Jobs, the man who created the 21st century, would certainly steal the limelight from any devices exhibited at IFA 2011. Certainly, he resigned from Apple CEO because of poor health, it is reasonable he didn't show on the IFA.

6. The iPad Killer.

Even the world's biggest seller of desktops and laptops (Hewlett-Packard) gave up against the iPad. The tablet version of the BlackBerry (the PlayBook), Motorola's XOOM, and Samsung's Galaxy Tab, although cheaper than the iPad, have also failed to gain any ground. But Sony is releasing devices (one with a folded design, and another that looks like the Nintendo DS), which depart from the usual square, flat slab-style of the present tablets. Not only that, the devices are pre-loaded with games and have access to the PlayStation network. Talking about games, Nintendo is already unveiling the WiiU, its next generation gaming console that also works like an iPad. Amazon Inc., the world's largest online retailer, is also gearing up to sell its own tablet. But Apple's iPad has 75 percent of the tablet market. And few are buying the others because Jobs has created functional fashion statements (not the turtleneck shirts, but the sleek, easy-to-use products iPad, iPod and iPhone).

When it comes to iPad killer, it is so funny that some “Experts” predict Amazon will be the iPad killer: while Amazon entering the tablet market may give Apple a legitimate competitor in the space. LOL, Amazon has good sense of humor.

5. People Flocking Intel's Ultrabooks.

Apple has been providing us with brilliantly designed devices, but the problem with a single manufacturer is pricing power. Apple's devices are not cheap (the $3,000 MacBook Pro for example), and in the absence of competition, it can charge more for the iPad 3. One qualified challenger is the Ultrabook, a new class of mobile computer being promoted by Intel Corp. The Ultrabook will have the performance of today's laptops with tablet-like features. While the Intel device is expected to be more powerful than the iPad -- it is unlikely to take market share away from Apple. Although Intel has been bribing developers for more apps for the Ultrabook, Apple is already way ahead as more than available 100,000 applications optimized for the iPad that can be downloaded from the App Store, in addition to the more than 300,000 iPhone apps that can also work for the Apple tablet.

4. iPhone 5's Most Awaited Curtain Raising.

After Jobs decided to only talk about some cloud and updates to platforms for Apple devices at a developers' conference in June, there has been speculation that Apple won't be releasing the iPhone 5 this year. Apple has been unveiling a new iPhone every June for the past four years. Is it production problems, or is Apple still trying to add more features to the new iPhone?

3. A New HP Mobile Device (That Costs $99).

After Hewlett-Packard slashed the price of its HP TouchPad from $499 to $99, the HP tablet has suddenly become the hottest on the market. HP paid $1.2 billion for Palm Inc. in July last year, so it's unlikely the TouchPad is the only new webOS device in its pipeline. Since HP is killing its mobile devices business and is getting rid of the inventory, why not release other devices also at $99? It would not be surprising if HP makes an about-face, given that the webOS devices have now penetrated the market following the fire sales. Or it could wait until someone jail-breaks the HP TouchPad and gets it to run on Android.

2. Device That Shows the Glory That Was Nokia.

Finland's Nokia was previously the world's largest seller of smartphones. And including the $30 phones and other lower-end models, it is still the largest seller of mobile phones. After retiring the outdated Symbian and changing its mind with the Meego, Nokia is releasing its first batch of Windows-based phones. While Windows is the number one operating system for PCs, nobody -- except probably Bill Gates -- owns a smartphone running on Windows. With Microsoft still building apps for the Windows mobile ecosystem, it won't be at the IFA 2011 when Nokia will take back the crown from Apple and Samsung. Maybe next year.

1. Motorola Phones Designed by Geniuses at Google.

Google's search engine -- the world's most popular Web site -- is known for its classic, "less is more" design. Although Google has already developed the Android platform for mobile devices, it is interesting what aesthetics Google (minimalist like the Honeycomb?) will promote for future Motorola phones. After paying $12.5 billion for Motorola's mobile devices business, Google should needs more than the Droid to have a return on its investment.