Verizon Droid Xyboard 8.2 and 10.1 review

The Xyboard 8.2 and 10.1 look exactly like the Xoom 2 and Xoom 2 Media Edition, meaning they’ve both got an octagonal shape (thanks to the chopped corners) and solid anodized aluminum backs with rubber edges. Overall, I’m a big fan of the reworked physical materials and design, and I have found the rubber edges more comfortable to hold than the original Xoom and even the iPad 2 in some ways. However, as Vlad mentioned in the Xoom 2 review, Motorola just can’t seem to get the placement of the power button right, and it really is a major hardware blunder. Like the original, it is still on the back, but now it is even harder to find since the small rubber button is hidden behind the right edges. The volume rocker, which is placed right next to it, isn’t any easier to locate and press. The small nubs on the buttons are somewhat helpful, but they don’t help you differentiate between the two set of controls, which means you’ll ultimately be turning around the tablet to see what button you’re pressing. As you can probably tell, I think it’s more than just a small gripe.

The biggest difference between the Xyboards and the original Xoom is really size and weight. Motorola has significantly — by 33 percent, in fact — trimmed down the tablet. The 10.1 and 8.2 measure 0.35 inches, which make them both quite lightweight for their size. Naturally, the 1.32-pound 10.1 is the heftier of the two; the 8.2 weighs just 0.86 pounds, which is more comparable to a 7-inch tablet. I actually really like the size of the 8.2; it’s just the right form factor for one-handed use but has a slightly larger screen than something like the HTC Flyer or Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7.

Obviously, the 8.2 and the 10.1 are easy to tell apart by their sizes, but it’s worth noting some small design differences; the 8.2 has exposed screws on its back and is meant more for portrait positioning given the button location. However, both tablets have the same selection of ports, and because of the thin edges the selection is rather slim. Along the bottom of both tablets are Micro USB and Micro HDMI ports and a small, very flimsy latch hiding the LTE SIM card. The top edges house a 3.5mm headphone jack and IR blaster, which interacts with the pre-loaded Dijit app to control your TV — more on that below. What is left off of both of these tablets is a microSD card slot, which means you’re stuck with just the on-board memory (there are 16GB and 32GB versions). On a whole, Motorola did a nice job redesigning these tablets, but the problematic power button and missing microSD card slot are glaring, and likely unforgivable, issues to some.

SCREEN

As you might expect, both the Xyboards have the same Gorilla Glass, IPS LCD panels as the Xoom 2, and in comparison to the original Xoom the quality improvement is drastic. Colors are brighter and more accurate, and viewing angles are drastically better. However, I will repeat what was said in our Xoom 2 review: the IPS screen is not quite on a par with the IPS display of the iPad (first or second generation) or the SuperIPS+ you'll find on the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime. It's good, just not that good. A more fitting comparison for the Xyboards would be Asus's older-generation Eee Pad Transformer, which is equipped with another of these slightly less-than-sublime IPS panels. Obviously, the 8.2 has a smaller panel, but it actually keeps the same 1280 x 800 resolution as the 10.1, which makes for some crisp text and some pleasing pixel density.

Touchscreen performance is quite good, and Motorola’s Intelligent Grip Suppression (IGP) technology lets you grip the tablet while keeping a thumb on the bezel or on the display without interfering with your other hand's swipes and taps on the screen. Unfortunately, however, that "intelligence" doesn't transfer over with the stylus input, which is available on only the 10.1.

STYLUS

In an odd move, just the 10.1 has an active digitizer and supports stylus input. The battery-powered stylus itself is included in the box, and if you're one who thinks the pen is mightier than the finger, then it’s a very nice add-on. Unlike the HTC Flyer, you can use the pen to navigate throughout the whole OS, which means swiping through menus or selecting apps will with the utensil works. Additionally, thanks to the packaged MyScript Stylus software, you can convert handwriting to text in text fields. Motorola also packages the tablet with Evernote and Floating Note software for taking notes of doodling. Writing on the tablet is very smooth and lightly inking theverge.com in the MyScript window converted the URL to text quickly. It’s all very handy and nice, but the palm rejection is quite bad. When I rested the side of my hand on the screen, I couldn’t get the pen to leave a trace of ink. (I should also note here that Motorola says the stylus here will work with the Xoom 2 sold in the UK, though oddly the stylus isn't included in that package.)

Speakers

The Xyboard 10.1 has a pair of stereo speakers on its back, while the 8.2 has a single opening on the bottom edge. That means that the 10.1 emits louder volume and a fuller sound, and it’s actually reasonably high for such a thin tablet. Quality wasn’t as good as the iPad 2, but both tablets are loud enough to watch a movie or quick YouTube video comfortably. Of course, that sound is somewhat ruined by that highly-annoying volume rocker.

The Xyboards (what a great last name!) have been given a camera overhaul as well. The 5-megapixel rear cameras may appear the same on the spec sheets as the original Xoom, but the quality of pictures is noticeably better. They’re not as good as those taken with the Transformer Prime’s 8-megapixel camera, but they are decently lit and not all that grainy, at least in well-lit environments. Still, they lack a certain crispness that I’ve come to expect from most of today’s smartphones. Video capture is similarly respectable, though it maxes out at 720p and 30fps. As Vlad mentioned, shooting moving objects caused a bit of blur, but overall footage was decent.

The 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera takes the usual blurry and unimpressive shots, though it provides a solid video calling experience. Making a call from the 10.1 to the 8.2, while incredibly meta, was a smooth process and video looked clear on both ends, though it was a bit choppy over LTE.

The original Xoom was the first tablet to ever ship with Google’s Honeycomb OS for tablets, and unfortunately, the new version of the tablet still suffers from many of the original shortcomings of the OS. While Motorola and Verizon are promising Ice Cream Sandwich updates for both Xyboards, out-of-the-box customers will be getting the Android 3.2 experience.

As I mentioned in the Transformer Prime review, I still have a few issues with Honeycomb at the OS level, and it really is nowhere near as polished as what we have seen from ICS. However, my biggest concerns come at the app level. Tablet-friendly apps are still few and far between — even the big Twitter web and app overhaul didn't include any optimizations for larger form factors — and it does seem like everyone's waiting for ICS to arrive before investing too heavily in redeveloping software.

As we mentioned in the Xoom 2 review, Motorola does add a couple of nice apps. Motocast allows you to hook your tablet up to your PC (Windows or Mac) at home and stream and sideload files over the air. It worked quite well over the LTE connection, and while I was across town, I was able to access the media library on my new MacBook Pro. The software is quick and stable and lives up to its promise of a seamless connection. However, I’m not sure it completely makes up for the lack of expandable storage since you must have a reliable connection and that 4G data is expensive.

Motorola also includes Dijit's universal remote app for controling your TV with a tablet. I was able to change the channels on both Samsung and Toshiba TVs using the app, though it really is a very basic experience. Other than that, Motorola and Verizon package the tablet with Citrix, Blockbuster, Slingbox, Let’s Golf 2, Madden NFL 12, and the usual Verizon bloatware you know and love, including VCAST Media and VCAST Apps.

Having just spent the last two weeks with the quad-core, Tegra 3-powered Transformer Prime, I could absolutely notice the difference in processor power. While the 1.2GHz TI OMAP 4430 processor and 1GB of RAM in the Xyboards provide decent performance, there are some noticeable hiccups and lag when navigating around the OS, especially when you have multiple apps open. That said, I found the browser performance on the Xyboards to be snappier than the Prime and I didn’t see the same sort of Gmail lag that Vlad experienced. Basically, I'd say, you get the average Honeycomb experience here, which even a year after the original Xoom launch, is mediocre at best.

On The Verge Battery Test, which loops a series of 100 websites and downloads images at 65 percent brightness, the 10.1's 7000mAh battery lasted six hours and 7 minutes. That test taxes the processor significantly — in fact, the back of the tablet got quite warm during the test — but in heavy everyday use (testing the camera, browsing, apps, etc.) I got about seven hours. The 8.2 got significantly less juice on The Verge Battery Test; it ran for only three hours and 31 minutes. That's significantly shorter than other 7-inch tablets (the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus ran for 7 hours and 7 minutes). The battery life of both of these aren't superb, but what is even more troubling is how long it takes to charge them up. Both tablets are charged via an included Micro USB AC cord, however, it took over four hours to top off the Xyboard. The 8.2 took about two hours.