The bad news is that in addition to a seemingly red-eyed front-facing camera and a nigh-invisible notification light, the front side of the XOOM also contains a pair of landscape-oriented logos one for Motorola, the other belonging to Verizon. The front camera and the notification light aren't problems at all, as they do a great job of getting out of the way to let you focus on what's most important - namely, the onscreen content - but I did find the logos to be slightly annoying.
Their existence definitely isn't a deal breaker, but they are undeniably a nuisance when the tablet is being used in the portrait orientation - just take a look at the following photo:.
Alas, the bigwigs on Motorola's design team decided the branding simply couldn't be restricted to the device's backside, and since the XOOM was obviously meant for landscape use, that's where the logos ended up. And speaking of the XOOM's backside, it's a mixed bag if there ever was one. In terms of build quality, there's nothing to worry about here - as I mentioned previously, all but the very top portion of the XOOM's rear is made of premium metals, so you can rest assured that the tablet feels great to the touch if a bit heavy after prolonged use.
And even that very top section, which is constructed of plastic rather than metal, feels solid - so if you're looking for a well-built tablet, the XOOM absolutely fits the bill. Unfortunately, the XOOM's battery cover doesn't look nearly as good as it feels.
While the iPad's silver aluminum back is nice and smooth, the XOOM's hindquarters are kind of just all over the place in terms of aesthetics. The machined metals that make up the bottom part of the rear look splendid on their own, but Motorola has seen fit to detract from their appearance by emblazoning them with three separate relatively large logos Google, Verizon, and Motorola branding, for those keeping count in addition to some FCC materials. But all that is forgivable - after all, rare is the Android device that isn't covered in branding.
The real disaster is the way the plastic and the metal meet each other - not only are they split by a seam as apparent as the Grand Canyon, but the materials don't align with each other properly, meaning that the plastic sits about a millimeter or so above the metal. Worse yet, the back of the XOOM is very easy to scratch, and those scratches are painfully visible against the black background.
Attractiveness and build quality aside, the back of the tablet includes two speaker grilles, a 5MP camera, a dual-LED flash, and a power button in addition to the aforementioned logos. Having it in this position took some getting used to, but after some time, I actually quite liked the placement - something about having the power button on the back makes a tablet feel a lot more like a full-fledged computer.
That said, the placement means there is no way to turn the tablet on without picking it up - very inconvenient if you're eating, lying down, or working at a desk. The rest of the buttons and ports can be found on the attractively curved sides. The volume rocker - which is unpleasantly stiff - is located on the left edge, while the top is home to the 3.
The last of these items is a minor annoyance, especially since the charger Motorola provides is practically the size of a brick, but it's still a small issue at best. As can be seen from the photo above, the I'd argue that the real story with the XOOM's display isn't its quality, however; what's most important here is the aspect ratio.
And I, for one, found the widescreen form factor much more comfortable to use as opposed to the ratio found on tablets like the iPad - as a result of this ratio, the keyboard is a lot broader, allowing for a much more pleasant typing experience. Similarly, HD movies look marvelous on the XOOM - unlike Apple's slate, the bars across the top and bottom of the screen are nearly nonexistent.
And games? Well, have a look:. The one downside of the super-wide shape is that it makes the XOOM look even worse in portrait mode. I suspect this is why Steve Jobs and co. Aspect ratios aside, I think the XOOM's display is among the best you'll find on any tablet, and I wouldn't hesitate to call 10 inches the perfect size for a tablet though I'm sure some of you will beg to differ.
After extended use especially in direct sunlight , I noticed that the display is made up of a pattern of checkered squares - I'm guessing this is a result of the screen technology Motorola has chosen. The pattern is only visible when the device is turned off and subjected to bright light, but it's worth noting nonetheless. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of images captured by the XOOM's 5MP rear camera - of course, you'll look like a complete moron taking photos with a giant 10" viewfinder, but hey - at least the resulting shots will be fairly decent in almost all lighting conditions.
From left to right: excellent lighting, average lighting, and poor lighting. The front facing 1. And besides, it wasn't that bad:. Video recording is also fairly decent, but that will be covered in our upcoming review of Movie Studio. There's a reason Verizon and Motorola are able to claim that the XOOM is more than just a big smartphone , and that reason is Android 3.
Granted, the number of tablets running Honeycomb will soon be more numerous than the number of stars in the sky, but at least for now, the XOOM has a huge - and I mean huge - leg up on the competition.
Yes, Android 3. You'll notice the differences between Honeycomb and the mobile version of Android right away - a press of the power button will suffice:. I can't say the circle-style lock adds functionality, but it sure is pretty! However, Honeycomb's homescreens should be a bit more familiar to seasoned Android users - just as on your smartphone, there are five of them, and they can be populated by any widgets, apps, or other shortcuts of your choosing.
In mobile Android, you long press a free area on the homescreen to access a rather plain white menu. From there, you can either tap an item to add it to the last homescreen you visited or drag it to any screen you desire. Granted, Google's own YouTube, Books, and Market widgets are the only ones to utilize the new APIs so far, but they really spice up the user experience, and I hope devs will jump onboard some time soon. Tapping the 'Apps' button will bring you to, well, a list of all your applications.
It's pretty standard stuff - nothing truly eye-opening here - but there are a few items of interest. For one, you scroll sideways to see more apps rather than downwards, as you might do on your phone. For another, there is now a 'My apps' option which allows you to focus on the apps you've downloaded, in the order you downloaded them. It's not particularly useful, especially since the XOOM doesn't ship with any bloatware apps you might want to ignore, but it's a nice option to have nonetheless.
As you've probably already noticed, Honeycomb abandons physical home, menu, back, and search buttons and instead aims for an all-touchscreen experience. So how does this work out? For the most part, it's perfect. The biggest benefit of the virtual buttons found on Honeycomb's system bar - the black bar across the bottom of the screen - is that no matter which way you hold the tablet, the buttons will rotate with you.
This is insanely convenient, but it's only one of several advantages. Rather than including all four Android buttons home, menu, back, and search in the system bar, Google has integrated the latter two into individual applications. This makes for a slightly more intuitive experience overall, and it also makes room for another UI element: the multitasking button the one symbolized by an icon of two windows.
While multitasking has always been one of Android's greatest strengths, it's never been done in a very attractive fashion. No longer - as can be seen from the picture above, clicking the 'multitasking button' not only brings up a list of your six most recently used apps; it brings up a list complete with thumbnail-sized screenshots of the apps and a cool Tron-like background effect.
I do wish the list were scrollable - that way, you could switch between more than just six apps. Nonetheless, I'm more than satisfied with the way Honeycomb handles multitasking - it's attractive, user-friendly, and even a little fun.
I mentioned that Google has integrated the menu and search functions into individual applications, and I truly believe this makes for a less complicated and more seamless experience.
I've heard many a reviewer call the menu button Android's "skeleton key," simply because you never know what will happen when you press it its functions vary heavily from app to app. Honeycomb sidesteps this issue by replacing the menu key with additional virtual buttons whose purposes are much more obvious. For example, the Google Body app seen below features a series of buttons in the top right corner which strip away different body layers - much more intuitive than pressing a menu key to access a list of options, no?
Other apps, like the browser and the music player, do not completely forgo the menu button - it's still there, albeit in the upper right corner. Unlike the menu button on Android mobiles, however, it's a drop-down menu that brings up nothing more than a list of settings. Of course, there are plenty of existing Android apps that require the menu button, and Google has thought those through as well - when you open an application built for any version of Android older than Honeycomb, a menu button will appear in the system bar and will function just like the menu key on your Android phone s.
As for the Search button's disappearance, there isn't much to say other than that Notifications are another key point in Android 3. Learn more. The Xoom is a first of its kind and will forever be known as the tablet that kick started the Android tablet revolution. Unfortunately the Xoom launched in February to a bare list of compatible Honeycomb tablet apps.
Android really dropped the ball by not opening up the honeycomb platform to developers at an earlier date. When the Xoom did launch, there were just 16 tablet apps. This is the tablet optimized version of TouchDown. TouchDown gets your Email, Contacts, Calendar and Tasks from your corporate Exchange server, and gives you a single tabbed view. TouchDown lets you interact with your exchange account on a tablet device in a unique and integrated way, allowing you to manipulate your emails, contacts, calendar, tasks and Notes from a single application, allowing you to switch between them using tabs on the top of the screen.
Be sure to let us know your experiences with these apps on your Xoom and let the world know your favorite Xoom apps. So far, it's been a great experience, and the developer perks for this device make it worthwhile for many people still. January 22, January 19, I love my Motorola Xoom.
While it was initially slow and cumbersome, after upgrading it to the new ICS Android 4 rom its flying. Widgits on the screen and ability to side-load any apk's you want count for a lot.
January 12, December 22, I have a xoom and my Dad has a ipad 2, My Xoom is way better at a lot , with my Dads ipad 2 i notice with out flash most web pages suxs even facebook. December 17, December 2, November 24, November 17, November 8, I love my Xoom Wifi, some may say its chunky and the screen is lacking. Well the latter may be true compared to an IPS, but the design is amazing. It is sturdy, and I feel like I won't break it if I hold it a wrong way cough galaxy tab Other than that, it is the first tablet to get OS updates.
Love the sleep button placement. It makes sense to be where your index finger is likely to be, compared to an edge location where it wont be.
November 7, The screen does not match that of the Samsung which is tough when this thing is all screen and the same price. I'm not as into Honeycomb and don't think it is as polished as the iPad but because of its ability to run flash websites I will use this product over the iPad any day. September 25, September 24, Definitely a good starter tablet and a good launch to Android tablets.
It probably looks as old and archaic as the iPad 1 when compared to the newer offerings from Samsung, but it's still a great tablet. September 16, August 11, August 1, June 29, I am really pleased with the Motorola Xoom so far. I love the native Honeycomb. The screen is big and the widescreen layout is perfect for watching movies and playing games. The materials on the back are smooth and feel good, but they seem like it will scratch easily.
Even though there are not a lot of apps specifically tailored to tablets, the ones that are are really nice. June 24, I've had this device for approximately two months and adore it. The one problem is the selection of apps available, it's increasing but will soon catch up with apple.
Remember this device is a pioneer android honeycomb tablet and will take some time to remove kinks and bugs. But if your like me, and like having the most interesting and different device on the block buy this device. It has all the specs and different features you could possibly need. June 21, June 19, June 15, All in all I am happy with the Xoom. My only complaints are the lack of tablet-friendly apps and the fact that updates are slow to become available outside of the US.
As a 1st-gen Honeycomb tablet, I think this has a lot of potential and room to grow. Definitely a good device to get my feet while I wait for Icecream Sandwich tablets. June 8, I very pleased with the XOOM, I really like it, but I am an early adopter willing to put up with a not ready for prime time experience.
Google did a great tablet focused experience. The applications are starting to trickle out. June 3, June 1, It's heavy, laggy, and the micro sd card slot doesn't work.
The promised fix for micro sd is way past due and Motorola told me that they have "no plans" to fix it. The device is heavier than the iPad 2 and the screen does not look as good. Finally, in the end it's it all about apps and the iPad has way more apps. I wanted to like this device, because I love my Android phone, but it just feels slow and incomplete.
May 30, May 27, May 25, I've been testing this out for the past few days for potential use at where I work and I just don't think it's ready to compete with the iPad. First and foremost it's really heavy making it really awkward to hold with one hand in portrait mode. The second big issues is the lack of tablet optimized apps.
The SDK has been out for a while now and we're still yet to see a real solid offering of apps aimed at Android tablets. While this is a great all around tablet, it is not for the faint of heart.
Be ready for app crashes and memory usage monitoring. For me, it is now on par with my iPad short of a few games that are not yet ported to Android. May 24, Overall this is a great product. I love the fact that I now have Android in tablet form with Honeycomb.
My only complaints would be that when an app crashes, the whole device seems to crash hard in my experience.
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