Motorola Xoom 2 10.1 inch 16GB Android Tablet (Wi-Fi Version)

Looks and feels good and is comfortable to hold for long periods of time. I just got this to check my messages and browse the internet while I was away from my computer. I watch a lot of YouTube videos and so was disappointed when this tablet couldn't play 1080p videos via the browser. Even 720p videos are laggy. When I updated to the latest Flash player (v11) it played a little better, but the video was tearing. And soon after the update, the video began to lag again to the extent where I could not watch the video.

A 720p MKV file played fine when copied to the internal memory, but a 1080p MKV file was extremely laggy. But a 1080p mp4 file (downloaded from YouTube) played very smoothly, so I suppose the file format will decide whether the Xoom 2 can handle the HD content.

Some resource intensive websites, like ebay, don't load correctly. They load but there are blank square areas on the page, which fill eventually, but sometimes not at all. Scrolling up and down the page can cause this to occur randomly.

The Motocast wireless file transfer program is useless. It will copy video files over from your computer if you tell it to, but it converts them to a lower resolution leading to extreme pixellation. You can stream songs over, but there is only the option to stream one at a time, which kind of defeats the purpose when you want to hear an entire album without interruption. This program also seems to block other wireless file transfer programs, like Pushdoc, so you will have to disable motocast before using such programs.

As far as tranferring data is concerned, you will be better off using a usb data cable to link to your computer. But this wire is not provided. Infact, even a manual is not provided. I paid £380.00 for this tablet and they couldn't even be bothered to throw in the basics.

There is some good news however. You can use a Micro-B USB HOST OTG Cable to connect a usb flash drive, which should resolve the limited internal capacity issue, as well as bypass the extremely annoying and useless Motocast program. Listen to all your songs and watch all your movies via the usb flash drive. Although for larger files, you may have to copy them over to internal memory. If it wasn't for the OTG cable, I would probably have returned this tablet.

In summary, I really do like this tablet and am willing to overlook its shortcomings, because apart from its inability to play HD videos via the browser on YouTube, it does exactly what I expected it to do. But after summarising all of it's flaws, I cannot in good conscience give this product five stars. Infact, while writing this review, I realised that the Xoom 2 only deserves three stars. Sorry Motorola, you will have to do better than this next time.

Really like this tablet. On it all the time. Took it on holiday, used it for films on the plane, games on the sunbed and free wi-fi in many places. Take HD video and pics with it. Very portable. Recommend it.

If you're sensible enough to do adequate product research before you buy (which you should be if you're buying something like this), you will find that this product has no SD card slot, and you have only the 16GB of internal memory supplied with the device. This is more than enough. Let's put that in context, assuming that you have 14GB available after the operating system and built-in apps:

You can store 6 high definition films at 2.3GB each (some can be much less)
You can store 20 standard definition films at 700MB each
You can store 3500 songs at 4MB each (Using Spotify takes no space if you're at home, and you can sync the playlists you want to take with you each time you go out)
You can store 4000 e-books at 3.5MB each
You can store 7000 pictures at 2MB each (taken with the 5 megapixel camera on the XOOM 2 ME)
You can store 280 magazines at 50MB each

Apps generally use a negligible amount of space, and any they do use is in utilising the aforementioned formats. For instance, on my Android phone with only 184MB internal memory and 2GB expansion, I have more apps than I could ever need. (Apps specifically designed for tablets will take up more memory, but not significantly so - games will use a bit more).

Let's face it; the only things you're likely to leave on there for any period of time after using them once, are the songs and the e-books. If you have a computer with a large hard-drive, any sensible user is going to regularly transfer images and videos between the two in order to refresh the content on their mobile device. Is 10 films not enough for a 10 hour flight? Even if you manage to watch them all, you will still have plenty of books to read or songs to listen to.

This is forgetting the possibility of using the MotoCast app where you can transfer files directly from your PC from any WiFi enabled location. Don't want to leave your computer running while you're out? Use a cloud storage solution. Amazon already gives you 5GB free.

I have personally never the seen the need for 3G in a tablet. If you have a 3G enabled smartphone with tethering capabilities, then just connect to it over WiFi with your tablet! If you don't have a 3G smartphone, then by all means buy a 3G tablet. If not, there is absolutely no reason to buy one.

Onto the other features of this tablet. The screen is stunning - with 1280x800 packed into an 8.2 inch screen, it has one of the highest pixel densities in its class at 184ppi. The colours are vivid and the text is crystal clear and sharp, even at the most obtuse viewing angles. There is a tiny bit of backlight bleed at the highest of viewing angles - but then no-one really looks at the screen from an angle of 178 degrees!

With 1GB of RAM (double the iPad 2) and 1.2GHz of processing power, this tablet is more than quick enough for the Honeycomb experience, and the interface is as smooth as any I've seen. That being said, Motorola have promised an upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich, which should also run perfectly (as the specs of this tablet are in fact designed for an ICS operating system).

At the moment, I would say theres's absolutely no better tablet in its class (medium-range, paperback sized tablets). The Samsung Galaxy 7.0+ is too small for a satisfying video experience. 10.1 inch tablets are too big for a satisfying e-reading experience. Sure, we have the Samsung Galaxy 8.9 and 7.7 coming out, but the 7.7 is far more expensive for a smaller screen and not much more processing power and the 8.9 has inferior specs ad I still more expensive. All that being said, it is a slight disappointment that this device does not include an SD card slot, but if this is something you really require, then wait for one of the other devices, or buy a 7.0+ for £20 more and a smaller screen size with a lower resolution. There is never a perfect device. You will always have to trade off on something over another. For me, the SD card was a small trade off, and I have tried to justify why, but overall it really doesn't detract from the awesomeness of the device.

If you are looking for a medium-size tablet that's portable, packed with power, has plenty of space for those who have lives outside their tablets, and is different from the same old iPad 2 (which it is far more powerful than, although the number of tablet oriented apps on the Android market is still inferior), then you should definitely buy the Xoom 2 Media Edition!

Additional point:
This runs Honeycomb. The only Android tablet that will run Ice-Cream Sandwich at launch is the Asus Transformer Prime (which will be an awesome device but is only comparable to the 10.1 inch version of the Xoom 2). No other tablet runs ICS 4.0. This will certainly be one of the first other than the Asus TP to do so.