Motorola XOOM 2 and XOOM 2 Media Edition

Available now
3rd November 2011

The original Motorola XOOM launched earlier this year, and it gained a reputation as being one of the very best tablets on the market. Even so, XOOM sales never reached anything like the levels of the iPad 2, but Motorola is not deterred and has come out with an even better second generation tablet.

We have a pair of tablets here, the Motorola XOOM 2 and Motorola XOOM 2 Media Edition. The XOOM 2 is a straight replacement for the original XOOM, and is a powerful 10.1" screen tablet. The XOOM 2 Media Edition has a smaller 8.2" display.

At the time of going to press, Motorola have not confirmed the screen resolutions of the devices, although it looks likely that the XOOM 2's 10.1" panel is probably the same 1280 x 800 pixel resolution as the original. It isn't clear what the resolution of the XOOM 2 Media Edition is, but as it is still an HD panel then it must be at least 720p capable.

Both the XOOM 2 and XOOM 2 Media Edition have dual-core 1.2GHz processors, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal flash memory and the latest version of Honeycomb, Android 3.2. On the back of both is a 5 megapixel camera with a secondary 1.3 megapixel camera on the front for video calling. Both tablets feature MotoCast streaming of content from a PC, and the Gorilla Glass coated display can be used with an optional stylus.

The XOOM 2 is slightly more business oriented than its sibling. It comes preloaded with VPN and encryption software and other enterprise offerings. It measures 254 x 174 x 8.8mm and weighs 599 grams, and the battery is quoted as giving up to 10 hours of web usage. The XOOM 2 is also Splash-guard protected against accidental spillages.

The smaller Motorola XOOM 2 Media Edition appears to have better audio and comes without the enterprise apps preloaded (although you could add some of them later). Although the display is still quite large, the Media Edition is about two thirds of the size and weight of the bigger XOOM 2.

At the moment, only WiFi versions of these tablets have been announced with no indication as to whether we'll see 3G capable ones. There is no indication of price either, but at the moment the base model XOOM retails for about €400 (compared to €480 for the iPad 2), so expect the XOOM 2 to be priced at a similar point. At a guess, the Media Edition will be about €100 cheaper.

In the UK and Ireland, both XOOM 2 handsets will be available from mid-November at Carphone Warehouse, Best Buy, Currys, Dixons and PC World. Availability for other regions has not yet been announced.