First impressions of latest iPad rival

After spending a short amount of time handling Motorola's pre-release Xoom tablets at CES and Mobile World Congress, Electronista has finally received a production unit for a full in-depth review. Before we delve deeper into the details, however, we have posted our initial impressions and several unboxing photos.

Now that we had a chance to view the screen under normal lights, rather than the bright setting of a show floor, the screen at first appeared to be extremely dark. The issue seems to be related to the automatic adjustment, however, rather than the capabilities of the backlighting. Switching to manual control brought the brightness back up to a level that can be expected of most tablets and smartphones, but not noticeably brighter than the average.

The production model has a solid feel that reminds us of Motorola's Droid handsets, with extensive use of metal and seemingly robust construction. As we noted in the earlier previews, the 16:10 aspect ratio and housing ergonomics are clearly focused on landscape use. Switching to portrait orientation does not feel quite as natural as it does with the iPad, as the grip placement sits atop the apex of the curved housing and the balance feels a bit awkward.

Stay tuned for out full review, where we'll take a closer look at the Honeycomb interface, battery life and a long list of other features.

By Electronista Staff

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gadgets, Motorola, tablets, tablet, unboxing