Verizon branded Motorola Droid Xyboard pair is now finally in the game competing with other powerful tablets like Asus Eee Pad Transformer Transformer Prime, Samsung Galaxy tab 10.1 and etc. The Asus Transformer Prime has been one of the most spoken about Android tablets since its launch because it was the first device launched with quad-core tablet, while the Motorola Droid Xyboard 10.1 and Droid Xyboard 8.2 tablets from Motorola are having a plenty of credible alternatives, which are also known as Motorola Xoom 2 and Motorola Xoom 2 Media Edition respectively. Asus Transformer Prime packs lots of features and comes with a very slim design, you should be thankful to the amazing power it offers and the keyboard dock which turns as a laptop at times too.
We wanted to see how does the Asus Transformer Prime stack up against the new Motorola Droid Xyboard 10.1 , Droid Xyboard 8.2 tablets, when it comes to specifications?
OS
Both the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime and the Motorola Droid Xyboard 10.1/8.2 tablets run the tablet based operating system, Android 3.2 Honeycomb OS. This Android platform brings the powerful, effortless multitasking and easily customizable widgets for the tablets. Both manufacturers have confirmed that they will roll out the newly unveiled Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS update for the Asus Transformer Prime, Motorola Droid Xyboard 10.1 and Droid Xyboard 8.2 tablets in the near future.
Display, Size & Weight
Both the Asus Transformer Prime and the Motorola Xyboard 10.1 tablets are having the same 10.1-inch displays with 1280 X 800 resolution. The Moto Droid Xyboard 10.1′s screen uses HD-IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen technology for better viewing angles and increased brightness, while the Transformer Prime is carrying the LED backlit touchscreen with Super IPS+ technology with 600nits, which brings 1.5X brighter than the competitors, claiming by Asus. The screen responsiveness has also been increased by more than 100%, which means that the screen reacts in 50ms, instead of 110+ms. Motorola Droid Xyboard 8.2 comes with 8.2-inch HD display with 1280 X 800 pixels. The displays of these devices are also scratch resistant.
Asus Transformer Prime is just 8.3mm, which is ever so marginally thinner than the 8.8mm thick Motorola Droid Xyboard 10.1, while the Motorola Droid Xyboard 8.2 measures 9mm thickness. Motorola Droid Xyboard is weighing just 390 grams of size, while the Transformer Prime weighing 586 grams of size and Motorola Dorid Xyboard 10.1 weighs 599 grams of size. The lightweight design of the tablet makes it easy to use it and very comfortable to hold for long time periods. Hence, size & weight wise there isn’t much of a difference between the Droid Xyboard 10.1 and Transformer Prime.
Processor
All the three tablets are powered by ARM Cortex-A9 processors running NVidia chipsets but they’re quite different configurations.
The Transformer Prime houses the most powerful quad core type NVidia Tegra 3 chipset and clocked at 1.4GHz with 1GB of RAM and and 12-core GPU for quick Web browsing and HD Gaming. Motorola Droid Xyboard 10.1 and Droid Xyboard 8.2 have similar 1.2GHz Dual-core NVidia’s Tegra 2 processor with 1GB of DDR2 RAM. NVidia claims that Tegra 3 has 5X the raw horsepower of Tegra 2, bringing the graphics boost and the processing boost, consuming less energy than Tegra 2 under most circumstances.
Camera
Motorola Droid Xyboard 10.1/8.2 pair has got a 5 megapixel rear camera on rear side that also doubles as a 720p HD video recorder, and a 1.3 megapixel front camera to make video chats.
Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime has a higher quality 8 megapixel rear-facing camera with a larger F2.4 aperture, a back-illuminated sensor, LED Flash, dynamic auto-focusing capabilities and a faster shutter speed. It can also record 1080p HD videos.
Memory
The Asus Eee pad Transformer Prime offers a choice of 32GB and 64GB internal memory. The Motorola Droid Xyboard 10.1, on the other hand, also offers three choices of 16GB, 32GB and 64GB. But, you won’t be seeing the 64GB variant of the Motorola Droid Xyboard 8.2 unit. Each of these three tablets will come with a microSD card slot form memory expansion support up to 32GB.
Connectivity
Motorola Droid Xyboard 10.1 and Droid Xyboard 8.2 tablets are having 4G LTE Connectivity on board. Asus Transformer Prime’s 4G LTE versions have yet to be confirmed by the manufacturer, but it will be available in Wi-Fi variants. All these tablets have got Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, micro USB 2.0, 3.5mm headset jack.
Other Features
Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime and Motorola Droid Xyboard 10.1/8.2 tablets have got HDMI ports,
Following the tradition of the original Eee Pad Transformer tablet, the exclusive keyboard dock has been retooled to feature a thinner design of the Asus Transformer Prime, making it as a Super Computer Tablet. The Motorola Droid Xyboard 10.1 and Droid Xyboard 8.2 tablets are not having keyboard docking option. Droid Xyboard 10.1 comes with high-precision stylus.
Battery
The Motorola Droid Xyboard 10.1 offers 10 hours of video playback time and the Droid Xyboard 8.2 provides 6 hours of usage time , while the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime can run for about 12 hours, and if you use the optional keyboard dock, that would extend to 18 hours.
Motorola Droid Xyboard 10.1 Full Specifications.
Motorola Droid Xyboard 8.2 Full Specifications.
Asus Transformer Prime Full Specifications.
Motorola Droid Xyboard 10.1 Vs. Motorola Droid Xyboard 8.2 vS. Asus Transformer Prime
| Motorola Droid XYBOARD 10.1 | ||
OS | Android 3.2 Honeycomb | Android 3.2 Honeycomb | Android 3.2 Honeycomb |
Android Skin | — | — | Asus Waveshare UI |
Display | 10.1” HD-IPS LCD | 8.2” HD-IPS LCD | 10.1” LED Backlit |
Processor | 1.2GHz NVidia Tegra 2 Dual-Core | 1.2GHz NVidia Tegra 2 Dual-Core | 1.4GHz NVidia Tegra 3 Quad-Core |
RAM | 1GB | 1GB | 1GB |
Rear Camera | 5MP + LED Flash | 5MP + LED Flash | 8MP + LED Flash, |
Front Camera | 1.3MP | 1.3MP | 1.2MP |
Video Recording Capability | 720p HD Video Recording Capability @ 30fps | 720p HD Video Recording Capability @ 30fps | 1080p HD Video Recording Capability @ 30fps |
Memory Storage | 16GB, 32GB, 64GB Internal Storage | 16GB, 32GB Internal Storage | 16GB, 32GB, 64GB Internal Storage |
Micro USB 2.0 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
HDMI Port | Yes | Yes | Micro HDMI |
WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n | Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n |
3G | Capable | Capable | TBD |
4G LTE | Capable | Capable | TBD |
Apps Availability | Android Market | Android Market | Android Market |
Integrated Streaming Media | MotoCast | MotoCast | No |
Accelerometer | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Adobe Flash | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Battery | Li-Ion 7000mAH | Li-Ion 3960mAh | Li-Po 25Wh |
Sound | 3D Virtual Surround Sound | 2.1 Virtual Surround Sound | SonicMaster Technology |
Dimensions & Weight | 259.9 x 173.6 x 8.8 mm | 139 x 216 x 9 mm | 263 x 180.8 x 8.3mm |
Carrier | Verizon | Verizon | TBD |
Price | $529.99 (16GB), $629.99 (32GB), and $729.99 (64GB) – 4G LTE Variants | $429.99 (16GB), $529.99 (32GB) – 4G LTE Variants | $499.99 (32GB), $599.99 (64GB) – WiFi Variants |
Verdict
The Asus Transformer Prime won in more rounds (see colored areas), which is lighter, slimmer, more stylish, metal-clad, better screen and most significantly its world’s first quad-core chipset equipped tablet. Moreover, the price tag is also reasonable. Both the Motorola Droid Xyboard 10.1 and Droid Xyboard 8.2 are also worth the buck as they are having 4G LTE capability.
We have also compared the Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime with some other Android tablets. Don’t forget to check out the following articles:
Asus Transformer Prime Vs. Apple iPad 2.
Asus Transformer Prime Vs. Motorola Xoom 2.
Asus Transformer Prime Vs. Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1.
Acer Iconia Tab A200 Vs. Asus Transformer Prime.
The integrated streaming media… Does Android Market movies and Music not count? Both have it and that put the Transformer even further ahead…