Motorola XOOM 2 Pro Reviews

Our verdict of the Xoom 2 is divided. On the one hand, the tablet has a flawless workmanship, a bright and well-reacting display and all the necessary communication modules. The fast 3G connection is a nice extra. The viewing angles are great thanks to the IPS panel of the Motorola tablet. On the other hand, the Xoom 2 did not work out all the kinks found in the predecessor. The tablet still stutters sometimes when commands are given. The performance leap is modest and in everyday use not noticeable. Quite the opposite: due to the direct comparison between the Xoom and Xoom 2, we found out that the "old" tablet might actually be faster. The 16 GB model of the Xoom 2 lacks a microSD card slot which hinders the user from easily extending the storage of the tablet. The multimedia capability is average. Although the camera has 5 megapixels, the long time it takes for the tablet to capture a picture and the poor quality when the lighting condition is bad, ruin the fun in photography. However, when the conditions are right, the camera can take good pictures. The videos are similar: the 720p format can be played fluidly on the Xoom 2. However, 1080p videos vary in playback quality depending on the player – stutters, freezing and out-of-sync audio and video are not avoidable. The sound of the integrated speakers is acceptable.

The Motorola Xoom 2 is a great tablet. Its slightly quirky design doesn’t hamper its use, and it has plenty of oomph under the bonnet. Without memory expansion, it feels slightly hampered and for that reason, it has lost a mark, in our books.

The Xoom 2 has an extremely tough fight on its hands to remain relevant in an increasingly crowded market. Motorola has made it thinner, lighter and faster than the original Xoom, but it is running outdated Android software and has sluggish performance. Sadly, the Xoom 2 does little to justify its expensive price tag.

One of the odder moments in that Super Bowl Xoom advert was the scene where the iconoclast with the Xoom tablet opted to walk up the stairs while all the conformists rode the escalator alongside him. Well, that's the experience of using a Honeycomb tablet in a nutshell. You're choosing effort over ease, grind over grace. Motorola doesn't help matters by shipping software with even worse performance than we're used to from Honeycomb, and its few nice additions are buried under a mountain of lag. The Xoom 2 is built very well, fitting within a set of dimensions that would have been market-altering at this time last year and remain right on par with the leaders today. Its new IPS display is a triumph and the improved 5-megapixel camera brings tablet photography a great deal closer in quality to its smartphone brethren. The trouble is that all those good things are for naught if the software isn't good enough and, regrettably, that's exactly where the Xoom 2 finds itself. Android 4.0 may rejuvenate this tablet in a spectacular fashion, but until it does, the Xoom 2 is not an advisable purchase. If you must have a 10-inch Android tablet today, the Eee Pad Transformer Prime would be our top choice, followed closely by the Galaxy Tab 10.1.

The Xoom 2 is a stylish successor to the original Honeycomb tablet. The build quality is much improved, and Motorola is on the right track with those oddly shaped corners and built-in IR emitter. There has been an explosion in Honeycomb tablets since the first Xoom launched, and while the sequel does plenty right, it isn't enough to claim the head seat at the Android tablet family table. Fortunately, the Xoom 2 has bypassed Moto's tendency to over-tinker with the core Android experience on its phones, resulting in a pretty reliable tablet, although it still behaved erratically with video content. While camera shortcomings on a tablet may not be a massive deal-breaker, lack of tap to focus and poor auto-focus on the video camera are frustrating. Because of a lack of expandable storage (and beefier models), users will be drawn into the world of cloud media management, whether they want to or not. It's telling that the Google Music app comes preinstalled on this UK review model -- somewhere the beta isn't yet available. While the Xoom was -- for a time -- the best Honeycomb tablet, it was also the only Honeycomb tablet. But competition's a lot tougher, and while Motorola's upped its game, it's not by enough to come out on top.

The Xoom 2 is a decent enough machine that looks great and feels good in the hand, but it’s no major leap forward from the original Xoom. The extra 200MHz of chip speed has little measurable impact on performance. And with Tegra 3-based offerings out early next year, Motorola is going to have to price the Xoom 2 very competitively.

The best Android tablet to date, well-built with a great screen, but it's not a ground-breaking product

A powerful, light and beautifully designed tablet with long battery life, although it lacks the usual expansion potential

Taken in isolation, the Xoom 2 isn't a bad tablet by any means. It's thin and light, it runs fairly smoothly and has decent battery life. But it's really hampered by the lack of storage options, and that inflexibility is its downfall when you consider the price. It doesn't quite match the best Android tablets or the iPad for quality, and many good Android tablets have it beaten for price. The Xoom 2 is an improvement over the original Xoom, but not over the competition.

The second Motorola Xoom 2 is much thinner and lighter than the original. The screen is better and the processor more powerful. However, there's an element of treading water to the design as it doesn't improve upon more recent rivals much. An IR transmitter, inbuilt printing function, MotoCast and a few secure business options make for some interesting potential uses but for the average consumer these aren't overly compelling. A relatively staid approach, when combined with the non-expandable memory and fairly high £380 price, ensures it can't topple the greats, and won't sway many iPad 2 owners-to-be.