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Telstra The new iPad 3 vs Motorola Xoom 2 | Speed, Performance and Features Reviewed | Full Specs Compared
 

Telstra Australia has added Apple’s The new iPad to its shelves from today (16 March 2012). With this new addition Telstra broadband customers have wider range of tablets to choose, which includes Motorola Xoom 2, Samsung Galaxy Tab and Apple iPad 2. Here, we are going to compare Apple’s 3rd generation iPad named as The new iPad with the most recent Motorola Tablet, Motorola Xoom 2, which falls into the category of the same screen size.

Apple The new iPad (iPad 3

There have been many speculations about Apple’s new iPad because it had such a pull from customer’s end. In fact, the Giant is trying to revolutionize the market again. Many of those features in the new iPad seem to add up to a consistent and revolutionary device that is going to blow your mind. As rumored, Apple iPad 3 comes with a 9.7 inches HD IPS retina display that features a resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels at a pixel density of 264ppi. This is a huge barrier that Apple has broken, and they have introduced 1 million more pixels to the generic 1920 x 1080 pixels display which used to be the best resolution a mobile device provides. The total number of pixel adds up to 3.1 million, which is actually a monster resolution that hasn’t been matched by any tablet currently available in the market. Apple guarantees that iPad 3 has 44% more color saturation compared to previous models, and they have shown us some amazing photos and texts which looked wonderful on the big screen. They even cracked a joke about the difficulty of displaying the screens from iPad 3 because it has more resolution than the backdrop they were using at the auditorium.

That’s not all about it, the new iPad has a dual core Apple A5X processor at an unknown clock rate with quad core GPU. Apple claims A5X to offer four-times the performance of a Tegra 3; however, it has to be tested to confirm their statement but, needless to say, that this processor will make everything work smooth and seamlessly. It has three variations for internal storage, which is enough to stuff all of your favorite TV shows. The new iPad runs on Apple iOS 5.1, which seems like a great operating system with a very intuitive user interface.

There is a physical home button available at the bottom of the device, as usual. The next big feature Apple introduces is iSight camera, which is 5MP with autofocus and auto-exposure using a backside illuminated sensor. It has an IR filter built into it which is really great. The camera can also capture 1080p HD videos, and they have smart video stabilization software integrated with the camera which is a good move. This slate also supports the best digital assistant in the world, Siri, which was supported by iPhone 4S only.

Though the new iPad 3 boasts of 4G LTE connectivity apart from EV-DO, HSDPA, HSPA+21Mbps, DC-HSDPA+42Mbps, it does not support Telstra’s 4G LTE network, which is in 1800MHz band. Currently 4G LTE is supported only on AT&T network (700/2100MHz) and Verizon network (700MHz) in the U.S. and Bell, Rogers, and Telus networks in Canada. LTE supports speed up to 73Mbps and during the launch, the demo was on AT&T’s LTE network, and the device loaded everything super-fast and handled the load very well. Apple claims the new iPad is the device that supports most number of bands ever, but they didn’t say what bands exactly. However, for Telstra, it has Dual Channel HSPA+ connectivity. Telstra claims that due to dual channel connectivity, their download speeds are up to twice as fast as speeds available on other Australian 3G networks, and it assures typical download speeds of 1.1Mbps – 20Mbps. The new iPad also has Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n for continuous connectivity, which was expected by default. Fortunately, you can let your new iPad share your internet connection with your friends by making it a wi-fi hotspot.

The new iPad is 9.4mm thick and has a weight of 1.44-1.46lbs, which is rather comforting, though it is slightly thicker and heftier than iPad 2. It promises a battery life of 10 hours on normal usage and 9 hours on 3G/4G usage, which is another game changer for the new iPad. The new iPad is available in either Black or White, and the 16GB variant is offered at A$539, which is rather low. The 3G version of the same storage capacity is offered at A$679, which is still a good deal. There are two other variants, 32GB and 64GB which comes at A$649 / A$759 and A$789 / A$899 respectively with Wi-Fi only and with 3G/4G (only DC-HSPA+ in Australia). The preorders has already started, and the slate will be released to the market on the 16th of March 2012.

Motorola Xoom 2

Motorola Xoom 2 is a very competitive Tablet available in the market. It comes with a 1.2GHz Cortex A9 processor on top of Nvidia Tegra 2 chipset with a ULP Geforce GPU and 1GB of RAM. This is a very solid combination that performs without the slightest lag in any benchmark. It comes with the Android v3.2 Honeycomb while Motorola promises an upgrade to v4.0 IceCreamSandwich soon in the future. The OS uses the resources very efficiently and generates an amazing user experience.

Motorola has included a 32GB internal storage and comes with a 10.1 inches TFT capacitive touchscreen with 16M colors featuring a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels and a pixel density of 149ppi. The 10.1 inches screen is larger than that of the iPad and also features a higher pixel density and a resolution. But the Retina display of the new iPad compensates any differences created by the size of the screen. The tablet weighs 603g and is 8.8mm thick. This is a radical improvement compared to its predecessor, which used to weigh around 750g. Xoom 2 also feels good in the hand and emanates a glow of superiority and expensive looks. For connectivity, Xoom 2 has Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and supports 3G HSDPA (14.4Mbps).

Motorola Xoom 2 has a 5MP camera with autofocus and LED flash with Geo-tagging and 720p HD video capturing @ 30 frames per second, and a 1.3MP camera in the front for video conferencing. This is of course a pretty decent cameras. Xoom 2 comes with the usual aspects of an Android Tablet along with a HDMI port and Gyro Sensor. The Gorilla Glass coating on the screen ensures it’s scratch resistant and smooth. It also has a water repellent coating, guarding against spills and rain showers. Motorola has also included a 3D virtual surround sound setup which is a pleasant surprise. Xoom 2 promises an effective battery time of 10 hours which is fair compared to the screen size and the processor.

Conclusion

Apple products have always been survivors because they are built to be followed and to take hits. The new iPad is not so different. It has an industrial standard retina display that features such a high resolution that hasn’t been replicated to a mobile device before. For this reason, it’s even recorded as the mobile device with the highest number of active pixels. iPad 3 (The new iPad) may also have a better processor compared to Motorola Xoom 2 but we can be sure that the GPU in iPad 3 (new iPad) is better than that of Motorola Xoom 2. Additionally, it offers the super-fast dual channel HSPA+ connectivity which can be an added advantage when you’re surfing with a slate. The only thing we would worry about is the thickness and weight of the iPad 3 (new iPad). We can neglect the thickness at 9.4mm compared to 8.8mm of Xoom 2, but you would feel the weight of 662g in your hands if you keep the slate in your hands for a long time. So think about whether you’re going to use the device for prolonged periods of times and whether you would need faster connectivity. If the answer is yes and no respectively, Motorola Xoom 2 may be a worthwhile option. If the case is otherwise, then you have to invest in Apple iPad 3 (The new iPad).