We’ve seen a lot of tablets since IFA, but most Android tablets have been, shall we say poor, lumbered with a slow OS and poor app choice. Even the best – the Samsung Galaxy Tab – seems like a phone trying to be a tablet. Because Honeycomb has been built from the ground up for tablets, we’re expecting a much more streamlined experience from the Xoom.
First impressions are impressive. Thanks to a magnesium chassis and aluminium casing, the Xoom feels really substantial. The front screen is composed of a single sheet of glass, but without the customary Android buttons, which gives it a far more streamlined and stylish look.
Mini HDMI and micro USB connections are along the bottom, while around the back are stereo speakers and a dual LED flash. Motorola’s included dedicated volume buttons on the side. Alongside 32Gb internal memory, there’s a dual MicroSD/Sim card slot on the top and although it’s launching on 3G, it will be upgradable to 4G (which isn’t currently much use to us in the UK).
The interface has been totally revamped, yes it’s still unmistakably Google, but the icons are much cleaner and more intuitive.
On the bottom left of the screen are Home, Menu and Multitasking icons: a tap of the latter bringing up thumbnails of open applications, which you can quickly swap between. The Google Search button is on the top left of the screen.
In the top right corner are App and customisation button icons. This last feature is particularly interesting. Currently on Android phones and tablets, if you want to add a feature to the homescreen you press down and select: Widget, App, Shortcut and Folder. Instead here, you’re presented with an overview of the five homescreens and you simply drag what you want where.
Motorola’s equipped the Xoom with a dual core Tegra processor comprising of two 1Ghz processors, along with 1GB DDR2 RAM. Certainly from the demo videos running on it that we saw, it appears to be very quick, smoothly moving between applications. It should also mean better gaming performance and a gyro sensor is built in.
The 10.1-inch 16:10 screen has a resolution of 1280×800, providing a 16:10 aspect ratio. Video playback looks crisp and clear, with punchy colours.
Other than the primary 5-megapixel camera, there’s a 2-megapixel camera for video calls via Google Talk over N WiFi, you get support for Exchange email and the mobile hotspot lets you connect five devices
So far the Xoom is one of the most impressive tablets we’ve seen at CES The hardware is top-notch – and certainly the closest thing to the iPad yet, and from what we’ve seen of Honeycomb, the OS is more intuitive and looks slicker.
Launching in Q1, Motorola has yet to confirm a UK operator. We’ll bring you a full review as soon as possible.
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