Wireless Performance: Cellular & WiFi

The Xoom ships by default with an EV-DO baseband for use on the Verizon network in the US. In practice I saw download speeds of anywhere from 0.35Mbps all the way up to 1.89Mbps and 0.10 to 1.09Mbps upstream. On average I got ~900Kbps down and ~600Kbps up, which is pretty typical for Verizon in North Raleigh.

By comparison the iPad 3G averaged 1.3Mbps down in the same locations as I tested the Xoom, but only 0.2Mbps up. Remember the iPad 3G has the same modem as the iPhone 3GS - it has HSDPA but not HSUPA so the theoretical max upload is only 384Kbps.

Motorola and Verizon will be offering a free upgrade to an LTE modem later this year. The modem will have to be physically soldered onto the motherboard so it’s not an end-user upgrade. There’s already an LTE SIM slot and tray built into the Xoom for use post-upgrade.

The Xoom also features an integrated 2.4GHz 802.11n WiFi radio supporting a single spatial stream at up to 72Mbps. In practice I measured a peak transfer rate of 36Mbps, which makes the Xoom the fastest device we’ve ever tested over WiFi (the original iPad was the previous king at 30Mbps).

WiFi Performance

Like all other Android 2.2 or later devices, you can create a personal hotspot with the Xoom and share your cellular data connection with other devices over WiFi.

Performance Battery Life
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  • GotThumbs - Friday, March 18, 2011 - link

    Hold out a little longer...599 WIFI only coming March 27th. Hope you didn't buy the Archos yet. Early adopters always pay more $$$. If you just wait a little while...the prices always adjust after buying slows down at higher price. Thats just the economics of it. Apple is able to sell at higher prices, so why would they lower them.
  • GotThumbs - Friday, March 18, 2011 - link

    Coming out Mrch 27th. Hold on a little longer for a better tablet. My boss offered to buy me the new IPAD2 the other day. I told him 'no thanks, its either an ADAM or a Xoom or nothing" The ADAM is still developing their production and having growing pains.....the product is excellent and will be a great addition to the tablet market when it arrives in stores...for now...its Xoom. Now with the WIFI version coming out...it will boost sales for those consumers who did not want the 3g option and high cost.
  • Android_Blogger - Monday, March 21, 2011 - link

    Apparantly, the 3G version costs 600 GBP in the UK at least. Source: <a href="http://www.motorola-xoom.co.uk/">UK Xoom Tablet blog</a>
  • Android_Blogger - Monday, March 21, 2011 - link

    Source:www.motorola-xoom.co.uk
  • spambonk - Sunday, April 10, 2011 - link

    What I don't get are the specs on Amazon which says this device also has a 2.1 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Mobile inside??? What, it has both a tegra and a intel core 2??? What is this madness.
  • fentleson - Friday, April 15, 2011 - link

    Better screens. Resolution isnt as important as screen quality.
  • vtx1300 - Friday, April 15, 2011 - link

    HD front and rear cameras - USB2/3, GigE and E-SATA connections and a Free (commercial sponsored?) Data Plan
  • Dixon Butz - Sunday, April 17, 2011 - link

    I want to see a slide out keyboard. Or a mini removable keyboard.
  • 911dude - Wednesday, April 20, 2011 - link

    I'm wondering about the effect that the pending ATT buyout of T-Mobile will have on the future of Xoom.
  • ANDROCELES - Friday, April 22, 2011 - link

    I HOPE 2 TRY ONE

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