Motorola XOOM Android Tablet (Verizon Wireless) Review

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(More customer reviews)I have been following the Motorola Xoom ever since it was codenamed "stingray," so when a date was announced for when I would be able to pick up this beauty of a tablet, I couldn't wait. I won't talk about the Verizon service (which as it stands right now does not compare to my T-Mobile speeds) all I will talk about is the hardware.
I've owned two iPads, and the Xoom is head and shoulders above it. First thing's first: it has a Tegra2 DualCore processor which means this thing is blazing fast. The 10.1 HD screen means beautiful videos and pictures. The micro-HDMI out plug means you can hook your Xoom up to a TV. Android 3.0 "Honeycomb" is amazing (though don't kid yourself, even hardcore Android users will have an adapting period in terms of navigating the device and carrying out tasks)
I bought this for 799.99 off-contract, but you can purchase it for 599.99 at Verizon Wireless, with a 2-year contract. Also, (rumored in May) you will be able to send in your Xoom to receive a free hardware upgrade to 4g. You won't pay anything at all, and Verizon has stated you won't have to change your plan in order to access the 4g speeds (assuming your city is LTE-enabled).
Flash 10.2 will be available in a few short weeks as will support for microSD cards, so don't let that keep you from purchasing the Xoom.
Also, you cannot charge this via USB like you would with your phone. This isn't because Motorola wants to sell you another charger, but rather the max amount of voltage that a USB puts out and how much a micro-USB port can handle. A Xoom will go from 0 to 100 percent battery life in about 3 hours, and that's incredible when you think about the batteries inside (Two 3250 mAH batteries, though it reads as one)
The Xoom's screen is made from Gorilla Glass which means you won't be neeeding a screen protector anytime soon (unless you don't like a glassy feel). I've always been paranoid about my phones and other electronics with screens and thus have always put a screen protector on them. Having said that, I HAVE NOT put one on the Xoom, because Gorilla Glass is THAT good.
Now for the negatives:
The volume rocker is too flush with the Xoom, and thus it can be incredibly hard to push the buttons sometimes. You'll have your finger on the volume up or down button and swear you're pressing it, but you're not pressing it in the right spot.
The speakers are good, not great.All in all, I give the Xoom 5 stars. Sure I could knock off a star for the volume rocker or the lack of flash and microSD card support on launch, but the fact is that the latter two will be fixed with a software update, and the volume rocker you learn to live with.
A lot of people will complain about price and how the iPad is only 500. What you have to remember is that when you take a comparable iPad model the Xoom is only 70.00 more expensive, and with that 70.00 you get more RAM, a faster processor, bigger screen, microSD support (via software update) thus enabling your storage up to 64GB, Flash (again via software update), and an operating system designed for a tablet.
If you don't feel like spending the money, a wi-fi only tablet will be out at some point for 599.99. What's nice about the wi-fi model is that the only thing different from the Verizon model, is the 3g/4g, as opposed to the iPad which takes out the GPS as well if you only buy the wi-fi version.


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Redefining the tablet by providing more ways to have fun, connect with friends and stay productive on the go, the Motorola XOOM for Verizon Wireless boasts a dual core processor with each core running at 1 GHz, 10.1-inch widescreen HD display, and 3G connectivity (which can be upgraded to 4G in coming months). Winner of the Best of Show award at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the XOOM also offers support for Adobe Flash Player--enabling you to view the web without compromise.

It runs Google's Android 3.0 Honeycomb operating system, which offers a multi-touch, holographic user interface that improves on Android favorites such as widgets, multi-tasking, browsing, notifications and customization. It also offers the latest Google Mobile innovations, including Google Maps 5.0 with 3D interaction, access to over 3 million Google eBooks and Google Talk with video and voice chat.

The Motorola XOOM features a front-facing 2-megapixel camera for video chats over Wi-Fi or 3G/4G LTE via Google Talk, as well as a rear-facing 5-megapixel camera that captures video in 720p HD. The 10.1-inch display delivers console-like gaming performance on its 1280 x 800-pixel display, and it features a built-in gyroscope, barometer, e-compass, accelerometer, and adaptive lighting for new types of applications.

Other features include a 32 GB internal memory, memory expansion via optional microSD cards (with future software upgrade), Wireless-N Wi-Fi networking with Mobile Hotspot capabilities, Bluetooth for hands-free devices and stereo music streaming, access to personal and corporate e-mail, HD 1080p video playback, HDMI output for connecting to a compatible HDTV or monitor, and a 3250 mAh battery for up to 10 hours of Wi-Fi internet browsing.

Upgradeable to 4G LTE Mobile Broadband
The Motorola XOOM will offer 3G/Wi-Fi-enabled connectivity at launch. Verizon Wireless will offer a free upgrade to its 4G LTE Mobile Broadband network in the coming months (learn more about 4G below). When upgraded, the XOOM's 4G LTE connectivity will enjoy speeds up to 10 times faster than Verizon Wireless' 3G network. Verizon Wireless' 4G LTE Mobile Broadband network currently reaches one-third of all Americans, with plans to expand the network to the company's entire 3G coverage area over the next three years.

Android 3.0 Honeycomb
Specifically optimized for devices with larger screen sizes such as tablets, the Android 3.0 platform (dubbed Honeycomb) introduces a brand new, truly virtual and "holographic" UI design. Five customizable Home screens give you instant access to all parts of the system--no matter what screen or app you're in--and each Home screen offers a familiar launcher for access to all installed applications, as well as a Search box for universal search of apps, contacts, media files, web content, and more.

Multitasking in Android 3.0 is easier than ever, and you can use the Recent Apps list in the System Bar to see the tasks underway and quickly jump from one application context to another. You'll even see a snapshot of the last screen viewed in that app as a visual reminder. The Android onscreen keyboard has also been redesigned to make entering text fast and accurate on larger screen sizes.

Other features in Android 3.0 Honeycomb include:

Scrollable and stacked widgets let you scroll or flick through content within the widget itself, on the home page, without opening the application.
Unobtrusive notification system displays icons for different notifications (messages, downloads, system updates, etc.) in the lower right corner. Just touch the digital time display to open the entire notification panel.
Redesigned YouTube application with a cool 3D gallery.
Android Market for Android 3.0 is your one-stop-shop for eBooks, games, and applications.
A Complete Web Experience, with Support for Adobe Flash
With Android 3.0, the Motorola XOOM provides support for Adobe Flash, delivering a complete web experience to help you explore, discover, and interact. You'll enjoy more satisfying social networking, games, streaming video and more, with all the animations you expect.

On-The-Go Productivity
For working on the go, the Motorola XOOM provides constant connectivity--including connecting to Gmail or Exchange email; opening and editing documents, spreadsheets and presentations; and viewing calendars and sending out appointments or meeting notices--with mobile broadband speeds. Its mobile hotspot capability provides an online connection for up to 5 other Wi-Fi-enabled devices. Open documents, spreadsheets and presentations, edit them on a virtual QWERTY or optional Motorola Bluetooth Wireless keyboard, and send them back lightning fast.

Power Accessories beyond the Charger
The Motorola XOOM has a wide range of optional accessories to expand its power and capabilities. The "smart docks" are no longer just a place to charge your device; they make Motorola XOOM a portable play and work station that fits your lifestyle. The Standard Dock can be used for watching video content or listening to music through external speakers as the device charges. The Speaker HD Dock allows you to send HD content directly to your TV or blast your tunes without attaching external speakers.

Connectivity
Fast 3G connectivity thanks to the reliable Verizon Wireless EV-DO, Rev A network.
Upgradeable to ultra-fast 4G LTE connectivity via the Verizon Wireless 4G Mobile Broadband network, with expected download speeds of 5 to 12 Mbps and upload speeds of 2 to 5 Mbps. See more about 4G LTE below.
Onboard GPS for navigation and location services.
Integrated Google Maps with turn-by-turn navigation, street and satellite views.
Ultra-fast Wireless-N Wi-Fi networking (802.11b/g/n) for accessing home and corporate networks as well as hotspots while on the go.
Mobile Hotspot capability allows you to create a Wi-Fi hotspot using your Verizon Wireless 3G/4G LTE connection, which can then be shared among up to 5 Wi-Fi-capable devices.
Bluetooth connectivity (version 2.1) includes profiles for communication headset, hands-free car kits, and the A2DP audio streaming Bluetooth profiles.

Vital Statistics
The Motorola XOOM weighs 25 ounces and measures 9.81 x 6.61 x 0.51 inches. Its 3250 mAh lithium-ion battery is rated at up to 10 hours of video playback, up to 10 hours of Wi-Fi web browsing, up to 90 hours of 3G web browsing, and up to 3.3 days of MP3 playback. It has a standby time of up to 14 days (336 hours) and an approximate 3.5-hour charge time. It runs on the CDMA 800/1900 frequencies as well as EV-DO, Rev A 3G frequencies. This device can also be upgraded to the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network in the coming months.
What's in the Box
Motorola XOOM handset, charger, data cable, quick start guide, user manual

Verizon Wireless Mobile Broadband Network
3G Network With support for the 3G EV-DO high-speed data standard, you'll enjoy fast access to the Internet and Verizon Wireless multimedia services (additional charges applicable), with average download speeds ranging from 400 to 700 Kbps and peak rates up to 2 Mbps.

Note: The Motorola XOOM runs on the Verizon Wireless 3G network right out of the box.
4G LTE Network
The Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network allows you to download photos, apps, and games in seconds and entire movies in minutes. LTE (or Long Term Evolution provides significantly increased upload and download speeds over 3G networks, as well as significantly reduced latency (or lag time). Verizon Wireless expects 4G LTE average data rates to be 5-12 megabits per second (Mbps) on the downlink and 2-5 Mbps on the uplink in real-world, loaded network environments.

With these blazing fast speeds, you'll be able to stream HD movies without the annoyance of constant pauses to buffer the video stream--as well as quickly download HD-quality movies right to your phone in minutes. Additionally, you'll be able to download a new song file in about 4 seconds or upload a photo to your favorite social networking site in about 6 seconds.

The Verizon Wireless 4G LTE mobile broadband network will also redefine the mobile office for business users. Business applications that used to require wired networks will be untethered forever, allowing you maximized productivity and efficiency while you're out of the confines of your office. Enhanced security lets you tap into most VPN networks with less waiting, and faster responsiveness enables you to upload 10 MB presentations back to your team in less than 25 seconds.

Note: The Motorola XOOM is not compatible with the 4G LTE network out of the box, but it will receive a free 4G LTE upgrade in the coming months.



Also Available for This Android Device

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MOTOROLA XOOM Android Tablet (Wi-Fi) Review

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(More customer reviews)When I first got the Xoom about a week ago I turned it on and I really wasn't blown away. I use lots of devices, and my first impression of the Xoom just wasn't stellar. However, I could see the potential, and so I kept using it, I got some apps, I started to learn the interface and the depth of the features.
Sometime during day 2 of using the Xoom it really hit me. The Xoom and the iPad are like chess and checkers. When you first start playing chess (or trying to use the Xoom, in my amazing analogy) you feel overwhelmed and confused. You can't really do things smoothly, you don't understand the options, it just is not a great first impression. On the other hand, your first game of checkers (or using the iPad) is probably going to be pretty smooth. It isn't complex, most all the options and concepts are obvious and easy to understand and your first game is going to be pretty similar to your hundredth.
However, as you start to understand the Xoom (or chess) it really starts to grow on you. You understand what you can do, how to do it, the amazing depth and possibility in the device. While the iPad (or checkers) players are still having roughly the same experience time after time, with the Xoom every day of experience with the device makes it more powerful and enjoyable to use. In the end, the Xoom becomes a much better device than any of the competition; it just takes some time for you to learn what it is capable of and how to make the most of it.
As you can tell from the last three paragraphs I wasn't exactly impressed with the Xoom to start. I wasn't even sure it would replace my current device for most things. However, by day two I started to really "get" the device.
This first happened when I needed to look over and annotate a PDF someone had sent me. I downloaded it from my email, and was able to actually put it in the Xoom memory where-ever I wanted in whatever folder I wanted. Wow, that is kind of cool, can't do that on the competition. Next, I was able to open it in a PDF reader, using this fancy program (which I easily found on the marketplace). I went through and did what I needed (with an amazing free hand drawing tool, it was a snap!), then I jumped back over to email, attached the newly edited PDF and sent it away. Now maybe I just never tried hard enough, but I don't think that is possible on some of the competition. That freedom to download files, do what you need, and then send them away again. On the iPad apps I have used it always requires the files to be in something like Dropbox, which is fine, except it would have made what I did impossible without using a computer.
Another "WOW" moment came when I wanted to get some ebooks onto the device. Now, on my Apple products this is generally a pain, you hook the device to the computer, go open itunes, you go to a certain tab, and a certain area, and a certain feature, and if you do it all right you can drag your ebooks over to the reader. It was rather simpler on the Xoom. For the ebooks I had on my computer I just dropped them in Dropbox, then I downloaded them on the Xoom, and using the Xoom file manager I easily moved them into a new "Books" folder I made in the Documents folder. Fast, quick, and simple and done on the device, rather than on the PC.
However, what really blew me away was when I wanted some ebooks off the web. Using the regular browser I was able to just download them directly from the internet onto the device. I then used the file manager again and simply moved them to the right folder. This really did impress me, my tablet was uncoupled from the PC, I could browse the full web, download things, and then make use of them all without ever needing to tether to my computer. I was hooked.
With my new excitement at not requiring my computer to use my tablet I headed over to an Android App development forum. Here developers had posted lots of cool apps that were in beta or that they wanted to promote. On competing devices the only way to get an app is through the sanctioned and controlled portal, not so on Android (and thus Xoom). Using the Xoom browser I bounced around the forum, I downloaded beta apps, and then I was able to easily install them. Again, this is all on the device, and these were not approved apps, awesome.
Another example of something that impressed me came on my third day with the device. I was using the CNN app (which is free and tablet optimized, go check it out) and I watched a video of a story that I thought was really interesting, but it was one of those that is only a teaser, and the rest is on another site. When I hit these videos on my iPad I just have to try to remember to watch them later on a computer, because they are inevitably flash based. Not so on the Xoom, I typed in the address, the flash loaded up perfectly, and I was watching the video in full screen with no trouble.
This process of growing more comfortable with the device and learning what it could do continued over the last few days. At every turn I would find something amazing that just wasn't possible on competing tablets. I discovered the glory of widgets (custom little desktop things to show you the weather, or news, or whatever). I found some live wallpaper (moving animated wallpaper, that can change and adapt to things, such as the weather). I just kept finding new awesome features and uses.
One thing I want to touch on that is perhaps more technical than the rest of my review is the screen. I use my tablets to read, I started using ebooks a while back and I found tablets to work pretty well for that. I do most of my reading at night before bed, so the backlit screen is actually helpful versus a traditional reader. Anyway, one of the things that has always bothered me about the iPad as an ereader is that the pixel density (that is the number of pixels (or square blocks of color) in each inch of screen space) is very low. The iPad has somewhere around 130PPI (pixels per inch). It was so low that it really did give me noticeable eye strain to read on the device, I could see the pixels, and it really just wasn't a great reading experience. This was so pronounced that for the last few months I had actually been doing most of my reading on a 4th generation iPod Touch. It had a smaller screen, but a higher pixel density.
Anyway, the Xoom has a very noticeable increase in resolution and pixel density. With its higher resolution it has roughly 33% more pixels than the iPad, roughly 300,000 additional pixels. This is something you can see immediately when looking at any text. It is a lot smoother and easier to read on the Xoom. However, the other side of this is that the iPad has a different display type, that does have better viewing angles and color/contrast. In my case I don't really care, I find the pixel density to be 1000 times more important than small color improvements or viewing angles but I feel I should mention it.
My point in these last two paragraphs is that the Xoom is a much better device for displaying text than any of the lower resolution competition. If you are looking for a tablet to read your newspaper and books and websites on, then you definitely should give the Xoom or other higher resolution tablets a look. In my opinion the resolution on the iPad/iPad 2 just does not cut it for text.
Welp, this is really starting to get long, so I guess I should wrap it up. I know this isn't like the usual review you read, but I really wanted to give people an idea of the experience of using the Xoom versus just giving the facts and the breakdown and the comparisons. The Xoom is a device that improves exponentially the more you use it. After a few days of use I really can't imagine returning to the constraints and frustrations of the competition. However, on my first day I wasn't that impressed, so be sure to stick with it and get used to it. Now I am off to make dinner, and to accompany me I am going to take my Xoom, which is streaming live video thanks to the wonderful inclusion of flash, the competition is going to stay sitting on the shelf (probably for the foreseeable future).
I just want to mention that I am giving the Xoom four stars because it is not perfect. As a reference after using the Xoom I would probably give the iPad / iPad 2 three stars. There are still improvements that can be made to tablets. I really feel like Android and Xoom are on the right track, but this is still not what I would call a perfect tablet, it is just the best that is available right now (for my uses).
I hope someone finds my review helpful, feel free to ask any questions you may have in the comments.


Click Here to see more reviews about: MOTOROLA XOOM Android Tablet (Wi-Fi)


Redefining the tablet by providing more ways to have fun, connect with friends and stay productive on the go, the Motorola XOOM boasts a dual core processor with each core running at 1 GHz, 10.1-inch widescreen HD display, and ultra-fast Wireless-N Wi-Fi networking. Winner of the Best of Show award at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the XOOM also offers support for Adobe Flash Player--enabling you to view the web without compromise.
Dual-core processing, Android 3.0 Honeycomb platform, and 10.1-inch HD multi-touch display (see larger image).

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