WIFI XOOM Reviews

[LunchBB]

Just got the WIFI only XOOM from Staples this afternoon. After using it for a few hours, here's my quick review.

• Honeycomb is fancy, both in a good and bad way. There're lots of customization. But why there're soft controls in all 4 corners of the screen. Sometimes the settings on the top right, sometimes the settings is on bottom left. It was confusing.
• Auto brightness seems to be always on the dim side
• Force close on Chrome quite often
• The weight seem fine. But hand and arm got sore after a while. This happen to my 7" Galaxy Tab too.
• Screen quality is okay. Not as good as Galaxy Tab. Text is sharper than Ipad 1 but not Galaxy tab
• That ON/OFF button. I was wondering what the fuss why everybody said it's a bad design to put the on/off at the back. Now I know. I laid the Xoom on desk to touch type. If the screen time out, I have to lift it up, and blind locate the on/off button. Then put it back on the desk and drag to unlock. If would be much nicer if the ON/OFF button is on front or side.
• WHY NO USB CHARGING? Now I have to carry another charger.
• Market has no vertical mode. Annoying.
• Micro SD card slot still not working. I found out dummy card in the unit was jammed in by force in different orientation by factory. I have to use to tweezer to get it out.

Now the things I like

• I power the data through my phone tethering. No need to pay for another data plan.
• This 16:9 size is exactly the right size. Not as big as Ipad but much roomy than Galaxy tab
• Honeymoon tablet experience is great! Better than the feeling of an oversize Android phone-like Galaxy tab
• That 2 little speakers on the back are excellent. It delivers much better sound than my laptop too. However, having it facing away from you is odd.
• It's AWESOME to play Angry Bird with such big screen
• FLASH FLASH FLASH is working fine!
• GMAIL and EMAIL new interface for tablet makes the XOOM or Honeycomb a productivity tool. I can go to a business trip without bringing my laptop.

So far for now. I'm loving the Xoom.

 

[pflol]

Really? No usb charging? that's really weird. Are you able to use dolphin HD instead of chrome?

 

[llescaflownell]

Great review, I like how it's very unbiased. Some of the cons are a bit disturbing; I have known about them, but coming from an unbiased source, it kind of worries me (I shrugged most of the cons off from sites due to possible bias). I'm still going to get the Xoom because it is a pure honeycomb experience, but I really do wish I had other current options out there.

 

[LunchBB]

Thanks thanks.. and thanks for the thanks too =)

@pflol Just tried it again.. YES, NO USB CHARGING. Haven't tried Dolphine HD yet. Chrome will be my favorite choice anyway.

@llescaflownell, there are more honeycomb tablet coming out this year if you can wait. Both Samsung and LG's tablet seems promising. I'm just the kind of sucka can't wait to play with Xoom =)

 

[LunchBB]

Just plugged in the headphone from MyTouch 4G. There are "Rewind | Play/Pause | FF" buttons on the headphone wire. All 3 buttons can only play and pause with the music app.

 

[LunchBB]

Oh OH.. press and hold those buttons will skip to the next song. Good to know =)

 

[pflol]

Thanks thanks.. and thanks for the thanks too =)

@pflol Just tried it again.. YES, NO USB CHARGING. Haven't tried Dolphine HD yet. Chrome will be my favorite choice anyway.

@llescaflownell, there are more honeycomb tablet coming out this year if you can wait. Both Samsung and LG's tablet seems promising. I'm just the kind of sucka can't wait to play with Xoom =)

yeah, me too lol. If something ridiculous comes out I'll just flip this tablet. I'm not worried. I hope the honeycomb update is before summer.

 

[LunchBB]

Just tried plugged in an AC adapter with MicroUSB tip. Xoom prompts a dialog box saying "USB Charging is not supported. Please use the included AC adapter"... errrrr..

 

[howarmat]

Just got the WIFI only XOOM from Staples this afternoon. After using it for a few hours, here's my quick review.

• Honeycomb is fancy, both in a good and bad way. There're lots of customization. But why there're soft controls in all 4 corners of the screen. Sometimes the settings on the top right, sometimes the settings is on bottom left. It was confusing. if they are on the bottom left that is because the app is not for honeycomb basically. So you will have quite a few apps like this. If they are on the top right then its HC optimized. This will change as more apps get a HC treatment.

• Auto brightness seems to be always on the dim side agreed!
  
  
• Force close on Chrome quite often
• The weight seem fine. But hand and arm got sore after a while. This happen to my 7" Galaxy Tab too.
• Screen quality is okay. Not as good as Galaxy Tab. Text is sharper than Ipad 1 but not Galaxy tab
• That ON/OFF button. I was wondering what the fuss why everybody said it's a bad design to put the on/off at the back. Now I know. I laid the Xoom on desk to touch type. If the screen time out, I have to lift it up, and blind locate the on/off button. Then put it back on the desk and drag to unlock. If would be much nicer if the ON/OFF button is on front or side.
• WHY NO USB CHARGING? Now I have to carry another charger. This is because of the massive batteries. USB charging would be very slow and take a very long time. Your phone batteries are around 1500 mah while the xoom is over 6000. So you would be looking at maybe 12 hours or more to charge. be thankful moto did it the way they did
  
  
• Market has no vertical mode. Annoying.
• Micro SD card slot still not working. I found out dummy card in the unit was jammed in by force in different orientation by factory. I have to use to tweezer to get it out.

Now the things I like

• I power the data through my phone tethering. No need to pay for another data plan.
• This 16:9 size is exactly the right size. Not as big as Ipad but much roomy than Galaxy tab
• Honeymoon tablet experience is great! Better than the feeling of an oversize Android phone-like Galaxy tab
• That 2 little speakers on the back are excellent. It delivers much better sound than my laptop too. However, having it facing away from you is odd.
• It's AWESOME to play Angry Bird with such big screen
• FLASH FLASH FLASH is working fine!
• GMAIL and EMAIL new interface for tablet makes the XOOM or Honeycomb a productivity tool. I can go to a business trip without bringing my laptop.

So far for now. I'm loving the Xoom.

Really? No usb charging? that's really weird. Are you able to use dolphin HD instead of chrome?

dolphin works just fine

hopefully this will help a few of you out. HC and the Xoom are awesome. just got to get used to how it all works and you will agree

 

[pflol]

This is because of the massive batterys. USB charging would be very slow and take a very long time. Your phone batteries are around 1500 mah while the xoom is over 6000. So you would be looking at maybe 12 hours or more to charge. be thankful moto did it the way they did

makes sense, right on. takes long enough to charge my phone lol

 

[crazydog]

The iPad will charge via USB, although only when the screen is off - does the Xoom do this or does the USB port not even attempt to charge the device?

 

[howarmat]

it will not do it at all, well maybe with root and some custom hacking it might

 

[kennychaffin]

My main beef is the speakers on the back, they are very muffled and not very usable. Love most everything else.

 

[LunchBB]

This is because of the massive batteries. USB charging would bevery slow and take a very long time. Your phone batteries are around 1500 mah while the xoom is over 6000. So you would be looking at maybe 12 hours or more to charge. be thankful moto did it the way they did

Samsung Galaxy tab comes with microusb AC adapter. It charges much quicker. But i can also plug in to charge through computer. Its slower.

I also don't know why motorole don't include the USB mass storage class.

 

[timpdx]

I just got mine this morning, and agree with the OP on almost everything. I know USB charging wasn't supported going in. I thought the Micro SD was supposed to be working by now, and it isn't.

Button is in a stupid location, agree there.

also, why doesn't the Android Marketplace denote or separate the Honeycomb apps from the rest. Just d/l ed a weather app and its a phone screen size.

Anways, its fast, Flash works fine, camera is much better than the ipad 2 (office mate has one so I know)

 

[LunchBB]

I thought the first section of Market is apps for tablet.

The HDMI port is Mirco HDMI but not MINI HDMI. Need to get a cable for that.

 

[NCTurner]

Picked up yesterday, here are some of my thoughts on it - Motorola Xoom WiFi Version - Initial Impression and Additional Information | Mobile Technology Deals and Help

Nice review!

 

[pflol]

Revised 03/27/2011 - Using Samsung Galaxy S (Fascinate) record demo of Motorola Xoom playback of Apple's iPad format of M4V (converted using handbrake - see link above to handbrake xoom profile)


See full review @ Motorola Xoom WiFi Version - Initial Impression and Additional Information | Mobile Technology Deals and Help

Just read your review, it's excellent.

Also, the battery life is amazing. Unplugged for 4 hours and display on for 3 hours 42 mins playing games, watching movies and browsing, 72% still. INSANE.

 

[k0smo86]

Bought the Wifi model yesterday. Absolutely loving it. Only one force close (facebook app) The battery life is amazing. Tethering from my DX is as easy as it gets. Loving it!!

 

[clb2196]

Do you have the Facebook widget in use? When I have the Facebook widget on one of the screens, the FB app force closes every time. Remove the widget, it works fine, never had an issue. Would like a working widget though...

 

[Mitchrapp]

I think Chrome FC when too many things are open and it needs some memory (closes the app that's been open the longest, I think ). Mine has only closed 2-3 times and assume that's the reason.

 

[dvandam]

I got mine yesterday from Costco. Just some very early impressions:

Liking the screen and size of it. It isn't as easy to transport as say, a Kindle. For example I can carry my Kindle in 1 hand and my 13 month old in the other, but trying that with the Xoom started to feel like a 1-way ticket to a call from Child Services. Still, it's quite light and feels very sturdy.

I don't find the speakers to be as horrible as everyone else seems to. I mean they're not the best I ever heard, but they definitely sound better than my Nexus One. I also didn't find them to be very muffled when the speakers were covered when laid on it's back.

Speaking of the back, I'm not a big fan of the power button placement. I often found myself accidentally hitting the lens and flash controls. I suppose I'll get used to it eventually.

As far as the apps go, I was a little disappointed with the Youtube app. I found on HD videos that it would stutter often in the beginning, and these videos weren't even in HD quality. I understand not having full HD quality on a cell phone, but on a tablet I don't think it's wrong to expect HD especially since HD playback has been touted so much in the advertising.

I haven't had many issues with app compatibility. One that comes to mind that was really off was Diner Dash 2, which I only purchased because it was the Amazon app of the day. Also, Swiftkey needs a true tablet version to come out because the keys are so much smaller than the stock keyboard that it isn't even worth going to Swiftkey right now.

Still, games like Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja are SOOOO much better on the big tablet screen. The only personal complaint I have is that my data/progress didn't carry over from my phone, not that I was expecting it to, but it is annoying to start all the way from the beginning after having beaten at least 100 levels on my phone. Is there a way to transfer save data from my phone to the tablet?

Browser works pretty well. Again, many sites default to mobile version which is rather annoying at times. Couldn't find a way to change that setting. Flash seems to work okay, but I still haven't run it through the wringer yet. I may try a few other browsers.

Overall I am optimistic about the Xoom. Last night I found it was very handy when I wanted to get some quick information about stuff, like sports scores, googling information, etc. Normally I would use my N1, which would get the job done, but I found using the Tablet to be more intuitive and responsive. Once I learn how to customize it and learn all the ins and outs of Honeycomb I think I'll be able to give a better review. I got 90 days to sort it all out.

 

[Mitchrapp]

Fruit NINJA. I've never played this on another device but its a sweet game.

 

[ghodzilla5150]

Dvandam - To change the browser to Desktop mode you will have to do the following:

Open the Browser
In the address bar type about:debug
Hit the arrow at the end
Goto settings (top right of screen)
You will see Debug (tap it)
In there you can choose Desktop, Android, iPad etc. etc
Just select whatever view you want to use and then go back

You will have to do this everytime you Power Down the Xoom, as it does not remember the settings after a Power Cycle

OR

You can just download Dolphin HD Browser from the Marketplace (Free) and use the one of the best Android Browsers. Dolphin allows you to use Desktop agent all the time.

 

[commander24]

Browser works pretty well. Again, many sites default to mobile version which is rather annoying at times. Couldn't find a way to change that setting. Flash seems to work okay, but I still haven't run it through the wringer yet. I may try a few other browsers.

I had the same problem, check out this thread http://androidforums.com/xoom-tips-tricks/296237-xoom-stock-browser.html

It works for most of the sites I go to.