Tablet face-off: New slimmer Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 vs Motorola Xoom

The star of CES 2011 Motorola Xoom has ushered in the age of Android 3.0 or Honeycomb and brought about super specifications like killer camera's and dual-core processors to the limelight.

However, Xoom could bask in the glory only for two months as Apple jolted its roost with an ergonomically enhanced rendition of its iPad launched under the moniker iPad 2.

Apple introduced a new yardstick to measure tablet success called thin-ness factor. The iPad 2 came all slender and slim, boasting 0.34-inch in thickness and weighing a mere 1.33 pounds.

But, even Apple iPad 2 could boast of its slender figure for only a month before Samsung launched its slimmer version of Galaxy Tab 10.1 and an 8.9-inch tablet. Samsung bettered Apple's record as the new Galaxy Tabs are 8.6mm (0.33 inch) thick and the Galaxy Tab 10.1 weighs a mere 1.31 pounds.

Motorola Xoom now faces stiff competition not just from Apple iPad 2 but also from within the rank and file of Android tablets in the form of the new Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Here is a comparison of the new slimmer Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 with Motorola Xoom:

Thickness and Weight:

Samsung Galaxy's new 10.1 tablet scores in this department as it is half the size of Xoom when it comes to thickness. Xoom is 12.9mm (0.50 inch) thick while Galaxy Tab is a mere 8.6 (0.33 inch). Also Galaxy Tab weighs 1.31 pounds compared to Xoom's 1.6 pounds. Thus Galaxy Tab would be lighter on hands and will serve better as an eReader compared to Motorola Xoom.

OS

Both Motorola Xoom and Galaxy Tab 10.1 run on Android 3.0 or Honeycomb juice. However, Galaxy Tab uses customized software TouchWiz which runs atop Honeycomb. Engadget reported that the software is well integrated with Android 3.0. It retains the multi-tasking flexibility which Android 3.0 offers and enables a user to further customize the widgets.

Processor

Both Xoom and Galaxy Tab 10.1 are pretty fast courtesy the dual-core processors humming at 1GHz under their hood. Xoom is powered by a Nvidia Tegra 2 chip while Samsung has not revealed the brand of its chip. It is surmised that the chip could be Samsung's new dual-core line of processors called Exynos. While some reports also claim that Samsung would go in for the Tegra 2 chip which is currently the preferred chip in Android 3.0 tablets.

Display:

Both Xoom and Galaxy Tab come in 10.1-inch form factor. Samsung also unveiled a tablet with an 8.9-inch form factor which weighs a mere 1 pound and is 8.6mm thick. Both Xoom and Galaxy Tab offer the same screen resolution of 1280x800 pixels. However, the Galaxy Tab scores better as it offers a similar experience as Xoom but on a lighter frame. Also Galaxy Tab 10.1 offers 1080p in video playback capacity while Xoom only offers 720p. This tilts the balance in favor of Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Memory:

Galaxy Tab 10.1 comes in 16/32 /64 GB options while Xoom comes only in 32GB internal memory format. Xoom sports 1GB in RAM while Samsung has not released the RAM configuration. Galaxy Tab 10.1 is also competitively priced at $499 for 16GB model and $599 for 32 GB version while Xoom's Wi-Fi only model will be available at $599 with a contract and at $799 without a contract.

Camera:

Motorola Xoom trumps Galaxy Tab in this facet. Xoom sports a 5MP rear-facing camera compared to Galaxy Tab's 3 MP cameras. However, both Xoom and Galaxy Tab offer a 2MP front-facing camera. They both offer 720p video capture capability.

Sensors:

When it comes to sensors, Xoom throws in the works as it offers a barometer and a magnetometer, besides the regulars sensors. Galaxy Tab comes sans a magnetometer and barometer but offers a gyroscope, accelerometer, digital compass and ambient light sensor, which are also available in Xoom. Thus, developers have more room to play with in Xoom.

The key area where Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 scores is in the weight and thin-ness factors which make it more appealing as a hand-held device compared to Xoom.

Here is a comparison between the thinner Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Motorola Xoom: