The Box with Zoom: A Hands-On Review

We're taking a closer look at the Zoom tablet, a device that promises to change the way we watch and interact with movies on our mobile devices. With a built-in movie studio app, it's clear that the creators of this device are aiming to make video editing and creation more accessible to everyone.

One of the standout features of the Zoom is its ability to edit video on the fly. We recently attempted to create a short film using the device's built-in camera and editing software, with surprisingly good results. The app may not be as polished or feature-rich as some other options available, but it's certainly more than capable of producing decent results – even if our final product was a bit rough around the edges.

Of course, no review of the Zoom would be complete without mentioning its technical specifications. At its heart is a 1 GHz Tegra 2 dual-core processor, which should provide a noticeable boost in performance compared to many other tablets on the market. We also saw some impressive gaming demos at Mobile World Congress, where games optimized for the Tegra 2 chip ran smoothly and seamlessly – although we can't help but wonder what kind of impact this will have on the average user's gaming experience.

In terms of memory and storage, the Zoom comes equipped with a respectable 256 megabytes of RAM and 1 gigabyte of storage. This should be more than enough to handle most users' needs, although those looking for more advanced features may find themselves wishing for more space. On the other hand, the device's video playback capabilities are somewhat limited – it can only play back content in 720p, whereas some other tablets on the market can handle 1080p with ease.

The Zoom also boasts a range of connectivity options, including a USB 2.0 port and an SD card slot (although this is currently disabled). While we would have liked to see more ports or better connectivity options overall, these should be sufficient for most users' needs. And as always, Apple fans will appreciate the inclusion of Google Maps on this device – although they may find themselves disappointed by the lack of HDMI output.

In terms of comparisons with other devices, it's worth noting that the Zoom is currently set apart from the iPad in a few key areas. For one, the latter boasts twice as much storage (256 megabytes vs 1 gigabyte), as well as better video playback capabilities and more ports overall. However, we must wait and see what Apple has in store for its next-generation tablet – rumors of a possible dual-core A9 processor are certainly intriguing.

One final note on connectivity: while the Zoom does come with a micro HDMI port, this is only accessible via a special adapter that's not included with the device itself. This may be frustrating for some users, although it's worth noting that Apple fans have been accustomed to relying on proprietary connectors for their devices – and the camera connection kit provided with the Zoom is certainly more convenient than nothing.

Overall, our experience with the Zoom tablet has left us feeling cautiously optimistic about its potential. While there are certainly areas where this device falls short of expectations, it's clear that the creators have made a concerted effort to bring video editing and creation into the mainstream – and we can only hope that future updates will address some of the device's limitations.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhi I'm Noah from technobuffalo.com and I'm Noah from technobuffalo.com I'm on a Motorola Zoom the new Google Android 3.0 power tablet for Motorola and Verizon and I'm on an Apple iPad the first iOS power tablet from Apple and this and this is tablet Wars all right so on the left we've got the motor rol is Zoom for Verizon just released and uh let's get me off of that video off there already saw that so there you go Motorola Zoom for Verizon on the right the Apple iPad again as mentioned at the top uh we're all expecting a new iPad to be unveiled at the event on March 2nd which is uh just about a day and a half from now so you know we're going to we're going to talk about things as they are kind of mentioned a few things we'll expect from the new iPad but basically the big difference is uh you know obviously the first main difference is you got the operating system uh Google Android 3.0 honeycomb uh kind of the first tablet optimized operating system uh but based off of Android and so the things that you know and love or know and hate or don't know about Android um all the widgets and the notifications and uh the multiple home screens and the ability to uh you know get your notifications down there at the bottom um that pop up when things are going on and uh your ability to connect with all the Google services and here you can add the shortcuts and the widgets and the live wallpapers and all that kind of stuff um and then all the Google services built in as mentioned um you know the voice search and the maps functionality and uh you know all that good business uh the integration with Google accounts email you know Gmail system and calendars and contacts and everything and then on the iPad you've got the Apple iOS um I'm probably going to see a new version of iOS coming at the uh event later this week as well but basically kind of a more simplified uh way of doing things you you have the multiple home screens but you're limited just to to icons and folders uh no widgets no live wallpapers and all that kind of stuff the notification system is really uh you know just the same as on iPhone you've got that that dialogue box that'll pop up and sort of stop everything you don't have the little pop-up widgets on the bottom or the the notifiers on the uh the bottom status bar there that let you know when you have you know new messages and that kind of thing you'll get um you know if you have new new mail or a new uh you know App Store update or something like that you'll get a little number little circle with the number that's about it um beyond the uh you know the the operating system differences which you know we could and and people have talked at length and and fought over as though it was the uh the Spanish Civil War or something you know uh we're not going to go too in depth with that right now but those are the basic differences Google honeycom 3.0 and uh iOS running here on the iPad uh physically you've got um a 10.1 in widescreen form factor screen so a 169 aspect ratio 1 12200 by 800 resolution gives you about 160 dots per inch and then on the iPad you've got a 9.7 in display 1024x 768 so it's a 4x3 resolution not or 4x3 aspect ratio not uh WID screen like the Zoom and that's good for about 132 pixels per inch so a larger higher res and higher pixel density display on the zoom uh in my using I've had the zoom for only about 4 days now so don't take this as a fullon you know total review but I've had it long enough to have a pretty good sense of what I think about it uh in my in my using it I prefer the zooms form factor I prefer the widescreen aspect ratio but I think the iPhone the iPhone the iPad actually has a better screen and the touch screen is more sensitive uh the iPad's been out for a while the operating system has been refined a little bit they both work pretty well but I've just found that the uh the iPad just is more sensitive and uh the screen just pops a little bit more we'll get into that a little more uh in a minute here um both you know both phones both phones both tablets work in um both landscape and horizontal orientation um and I find that with the form factors the zoom is actually a little bit better uh both when when you're looking at it in portrait mode it's better for both two-handed typing and also for ebook reading uh it's a little little large for ebook reading in terms of you know one-handed use or you kind of holding it uh for a long period of time but for two two thumb typing a little bit easier here and I'll show you the virtual keyboards in a minute the iPad a little more Awkward uh with the um 4x3 standard aspect ratio uh form factor a little bit more Awkward um to do two you know a little wide for two thund typing and not really wide enough in uh landscape mode for me to do kind of full-on touch typing I find myself hunting and pecking with two index fingers instead of regular touch typing the zoom's a little bit better for that but uh again I'm going to stop myself CU I'm not talking about the keyword just yet we'll show you those in a minute but uh form factor wise I prefer the zoom build quality wise uh the iPad for sure it is heavier one thing that's nice about the zoom a little bit lighter but the materials in the iPad are just nicer it's better balanced it feels like a more luxurious object like I said the display is higher quality the touchscreen is uh more sensitive and accurate to me and then kind of a weird thing with the zoom with the zoom uh depending on how you're holding it um even though it is uh it is you know kind of a symmetrical design here with the kind of similar to the ad with the curved back panel kind of wider in the middle and then it tapers out towards the ends uh because the the zoom has this separate panel up top where the camera and the speakers are and everything it actually it feels a little odd to me sometimes when I hold it this way because I've got you know one one hand my left hand the fingers are resting on that seam right there where uh the seam is not perfectly flush and then also the um you know kind of affects the uh the taper and the materials are slightly different uh whereas on the iPad you know it it's continuous it's that one piece metal back and and it's pretty much perfectly symmetrical no matter which way you hold it so uh just a little bit sometimes when I'm holding the zoom in um you know the the portrait mode uh it just feels a little bit odd to me on the back it's not at all deal breaker just something that I've noticed but uh you just build quality again overall the iPad to me has the advantage but the zoom is actually I think a better form factor and then also for widescreen video watching you're you're natively intense 9 mode here or 169 mode rather so I if I go back to this video you know this is a a high def video uh 720p and so it naturally fills the screen whereas on the iPad if I go into videos here go back to this video and I know if we don't need to hear me again but naturally we're not filling it naturally you've got letter boxing at the top and bottom and then you can stretch but you're stretching and so you're you're cropping out some of the side content so you know Apple kind of explained why they did what they did but still kind of you know it's uh I don't know I just for both high def video watching and for um uh holding the phone the long way the phone I keep saying the phone the tablet the long way uh I think an advantage to the zoom in terms of form factor uh we mentioned I showed you briefly in this back panel where the cameras are you know one thing that the zoom's got going for that iPad doesn't No cameras on the current iPad had uh the zoom has a front-facing camera and then also a rear 5 megapixel cam dual LED flash and HD video capture uh not the greatest cameras in the world on the zoom honestly Motorola uh their cameras are always kind of you know okay but not amazing and um you know similar uh story here with the zoom but you can use it you know right out of the box you can use it for Gchat uh Google chat with video G Talk rather Google talk with video which is great now we're anticipating that the new iPad will have at least a front-facing camera for FaceTime if not a rear-facing camera as well uh but at least for the next day or two you know advantage to the zoom for sure when it comes to cameras I don't personally think that a lot of people are going to be using this as a as a camera a lot because it's kind of unwieldy to hold this thing up to your face and take pictures you know with the rear camera but uh it's cool that it has it the front faceing camera I think more important because I think video chat could just become a killer app in the next year or so and tablets are perfect for video chat and then you know uh if if you are kind of on the go and and you're in a pinch you have a camera with you and it's always nice to have that as opposed to not being able to capture the shot um also what I really like um seeing as I do so much video work for a living is that there's a video app uh built in you know right out of the box with uh the zoom hopefully something that um Apple will counter the with the ver version of iMovie for iPad I'm fully expecting that with the new iPad myself we'll see but I built right in we've got this movie studio app and pretty easy I did kind of a goofy video there the other day but pretty easy to uh let's go new project now whoops we'll go back new project uh Untitled is fine I don't care and we'll import some footage and here's that movie I shot earlier Oh wrong file format oh well so we'll go back and this old one that I did the other day and you've got you know you've got a video editor built right in uh pretty basic but it works fairly well it's got like a virtual you know these controls uh Google's metaphor is a little bit different than Apple's but you know you can edit you can add uh I don't think I have any music on the device here oh yeah there's something that came with it so we'll put in we'll put in put in BO there going back a couple years does it have to render out yeah it has to render out before I let me do it but uh anyway there's a camera shot we'll use that one you can only do one one thing at a time but you've got the ability to edit video on the Fly which is really kind of cool uh at least you know in uh there we go and there I made a terrible movie but again you know just kind of neat that it has it um because video editing you know for me personally is something I do a lot and something I can't do on an iPad so at least not yet so that was kind of neat to see uh otherwise get back to specs for a minute uh we've got a 1 GHz Tegra 2 dual core processor in the zoom uh Tegra 2 all over the place at CES and Mobile World Congress all these dual core phones and tablets running Android and then Android 3.0 honeycomb optimized for too so you know not a lot out of the box except for the uh the 3D elements on the UI some graphic acceleration in the UI that kind of thing uh we'll show you Google Maps real quick because Google Maps on Zoom is pretty neat search for Empire State Building and so you've got um oh Tate building what well I don't know whatever doesn't matter and the new 3D View kind of Neato on the zoom you know how much are you really going to use it I don't know but it's kind of cool and again with Google you know these Technologies you never know where they're going to wind up um I have to get kind of used to you can you can kind of pan and tilt and stuff and so a few things you know that take advantage of the dual core processor now I saw some gaming demos at Mobile World Congress of uh games that were optimized for the Tegra 2 chip running on a zoom actually that looked very impressive so we should see some stuff coming soon that takes advantage more advantage of the dual core processor uh and then you've got you know the iPad it's a single core one g gz processor uh we're expecting the next iPad to have you know to to get a bump uh right now it's the single core Apple A4 rumors kicking around about a possible dual core A9 and the iPad 2 nobody knows for sure yet um but you know again Advantage Hardware wise to the zoom right now we'll see what Apple does um to you know kind of bump things up in the next iPad it's obviously not all about specs but if you want to get into specs a little bit more uh one G gigabyte of ram in the zoom 256 Megs in the iPad uh video playback on the zoom it can do 1080p the teger chip can do 1080p on the uh iPad you're limited to 720p uh video out you can get the dock adapter for the iPad VGA out whereas the uh Zoom has a mini HDMI built right in or or micro HDMI whatever they call it you have to have a special cable which is kind of annoying too bad they didn't put a full HDMI cable on there but you know that that's just kind of how these things go I guess uh and then you've also got may as well mention with the ports you've got um a USB 2.0 port and then you've got a Micro SD port or SD card slot but the slot is uh disabled right now which is kind of weak uh on the iPad you know typical Apple you have nothing besides that one do connector you can get the camera connection kit that lets you use an SD card uh you it's got an SD card reader to to import videos and and photos but uh not you know straight up USB connectivity umhi I'm Noah from technobuffalo.com and I'm Noah from technobuffalo.com I'm on a Motorola Zoom the new Google Android 3.0 power tablet for Motorola and Verizon and I'm on an Apple iPad the first iOS power tablet from Apple and this and this is tablet Wars all right so on the left we've got the motor rol is Zoom for Verizon just released and uh let's get me off of that video off there already saw that so there you go Motorola Zoom for Verizon on the right the Apple iPad again as mentioned at the top uh we're all expecting a new iPad to be unveiled at the event on March 2nd which is uh just about a day and a half from now so you know we're going to we're going to talk about things as they are kind of mentioned a few things we'll expect from the new iPad but basically the big difference is uh you know obviously the first main difference is you got the operating system uh Google Android 3.0 honeycomb uh kind of the first tablet optimized operating system uh but based off of Android and so the things that you know and love or know and hate or don't know about Android um all the widgets and the notifications and uh the multiple home screens and the ability to uh you know get your notifications down there at the bottom um that pop up when things are going on and uh your ability to connect with all the Google services and here you can add the shortcuts and the widgets and the live wallpapers and all that kind of stuff um and then all the Google services built in as mentioned um you know the voice search and the maps functionality and uh you know all that good business uh the integration with Google accounts email you know Gmail system and calendars and contacts and everything and then on the iPad you've got the Apple iOS um I'm probably going to see a new version of iOS coming at the uh event later this week as well but basically kind of a more simplified uh way of doing things you you have the multiple home screens but you're limited just to to icons and folders uh no widgets no live wallpapers and all that kind of stuff the notification system is really uh you know just the same as on iPhone you've got that that dialogue box that'll pop up and sort of stop everything you don't have the little pop-up widgets on the bottom or the the notifiers on the uh the bottom status bar there that let you know when you have you know new messages and that kind of thing you'll get um you know if you have new new mail or a new uh you know App Store update or something like that you'll get a little number little circle with the number that's about it um beyond the uh you know the the operating system differences which you know we could and and people have talked at length and and fought over as though it was the uh the Spanish Civil War or something you know uh we're not going to go too in depth with that right now but those are the basic differences Google honeycom 3.0 and uh iOS running here on the iPad uh physically you've got um a 10.1 in widescreen form factor screen so a 169 aspect ratio 1 12200 by 800 resolution gives you about 160 dots per inch and then on the iPad you've got a 9.7 in display 1024x 768 so it's a 4x3 resolution not or 4x3 aspect ratio not uh WID screen like the Zoom and that's good for about 132 pixels per inch so a larger higher res and higher pixel density display on the zoom uh in my using I've had the zoom for only about 4 days now so don't take this as a fullon you know total review but I've had it long enough to have a pretty good sense of what I think about it uh in my in my using it I prefer the zooms form factor I prefer the widescreen aspect ratio but I think the iPhone the iPhone the iPad actually has a better screen and the touch screen is more sensitive uh the iPad's been out for a while the operating system has been refined a little bit they both work pretty well but I've just found that the uh the iPad just is more sensitive and uh the screen just pops a little bit more we'll get into that a little more uh in a minute here um both you know both phones both phones both tablets work in um both landscape and horizontal orientation um and I find that with the form factors the zoom is actually a little bit better uh both when when you're looking at it in portrait mode it's better for both two-handed typing and also for ebook reading uh it's a little little large for ebook reading in terms of you know one-handed use or you kind of holding it uh for a long period of time but for two two thumb typing a little bit easier here and I'll show you the virtual keyboards in a minute the iPad a little more Awkward uh with the um 4x3 standard aspect ratio uh form factor a little bit more Awkward um to do two you know a little wide for two thund typing and not really wide enough in uh landscape mode for me to do kind of full-on touch typing I find myself hunting and pecking with two index fingers instead of regular touch typing the zoom's a little bit better for that but uh again I'm going to stop myself CU I'm not talking about the keyword just yet we'll show you those in a minute but uh form factor wise I prefer the zoom build quality wise uh the iPad for sure it is heavier one thing that's nice about the zoom a little bit lighter but the materials in the iPad are just nicer it's better balanced it feels like a more luxurious object like I said the display is higher quality the touchscreen is uh more sensitive and accurate to me and then kind of a weird thing with the zoom with the zoom uh depending on how you're holding it um even though it is uh it is you know kind of a symmetrical design here with the kind of similar to the ad with the curved back panel kind of wider in the middle and then it tapers out towards the ends uh because the the zoom has this separate panel up top where the camera and the speakers are and everything it actually it feels a little odd to me sometimes when I hold it this way because I've got you know one one hand my left hand the fingers are resting on that seam right there where uh the seam is not perfectly flush and then also the um you know kind of affects the uh the taper and the materials are slightly different uh whereas on the iPad you know it it's continuous it's that one piece metal back and and it's pretty much perfectly symmetrical no matter which way you hold it so uh just a little bit sometimes when I'm holding the zoom in um you know the the portrait mode uh it just feels a little bit odd to me on the back it's not at all deal breaker just something that I've noticed but uh you just build quality again overall the iPad to me has the advantage but the zoom is actually I think a better form factor and then also for widescreen video watching you're you're natively intense 9 mode here or 169 mode rather so I if I go back to this video you know this is a a high def video uh 720p and so it naturally fills the screen whereas on the iPad if I go into videos here go back to this video and I know if we don't need to hear me again but naturally we're not filling it naturally you've got letter boxing at the top and bottom and then you can stretch but you're stretching and so you're you're cropping out some of the side content so you know Apple kind of explained why they did what they did but still kind of you know it's uh I don't know I just for both high def video watching and for um uh holding the phone the long way the phone I keep saying the phone the tablet the long way uh I think an advantage to the zoom in terms of form factor uh we mentioned I showed you briefly in this back panel where the cameras are you know one thing that the zoom's got going for that iPad doesn't No cameras on the current iPad had uh the zoom has a front-facing camera and then also a rear 5 megapixel cam dual LED flash and HD video capture uh not the greatest cameras in the world on the zoom honestly Motorola uh their cameras are always kind of you know okay but not amazing and um you know similar uh story here with the zoom but you can use it you know right out of the box you can use it for Gchat uh Google chat with video G Talk rather Google talk with video which is great now we're anticipating that the new iPad will have at least a front-facing camera for FaceTime if not a rear-facing camera as well uh but at least for the next day or two you know advantage to the zoom for sure when it comes to cameras I don't personally think that a lot of people are going to be using this as a as a camera a lot because it's kind of unwieldy to hold this thing up to your face and take pictures you know with the rear camera but uh it's cool that it has it the front faceing camera I think more important because I think video chat could just become a killer app in the next year or so and tablets are perfect for video chat and then you know uh if if you are kind of on the go and and you're in a pinch you have a camera with you and it's always nice to have that as opposed to not being able to capture the shot um also what I really like um seeing as I do so much video work for a living is that there's a video app uh built in you know right out of the box with uh the zoom hopefully something that um Apple will counter the with the ver version of iMovie for iPad I'm fully expecting that with the new iPad myself we'll see but I built right in we've got this movie studio app and pretty easy I did kind of a goofy video there the other day but pretty easy to uh let's go new project now whoops we'll go back new project uh Untitled is fine I don't care and we'll import some footage and here's that movie I shot earlier Oh wrong file format oh well so we'll go back and this old one that I did the other day and you've got you know you've got a video editor built right in uh pretty basic but it works fairly well it's got like a virtual you know these controls uh Google's metaphor is a little bit different than Apple's but you know you can edit you can add uh I don't think I have any music on the device here oh yeah there's something that came with it so we'll put in we'll put in put in BO there going back a couple years does it have to render out yeah it has to render out before I let me do it but uh anyway there's a camera shot we'll use that one you can only do one one thing at a time but you've got the ability to edit video on the Fly which is really kind of cool uh at least you know in uh there we go and there I made a terrible movie but again you know just kind of neat that it has it um because video editing you know for me personally is something I do a lot and something I can't do on an iPad so at least not yet so that was kind of neat to see uh otherwise get back to specs for a minute uh we've got a 1 GHz Tegra 2 dual core processor in the zoom uh Tegra 2 all over the place at CES and Mobile World Congress all these dual core phones and tablets running Android and then Android 3.0 honeycomb optimized for too so you know not a lot out of the box except for the uh the 3D elements on the UI some graphic acceleration in the UI that kind of thing uh we'll show you Google Maps real quick because Google Maps on Zoom is pretty neat search for Empire State Building and so you've got um oh Tate building what well I don't know whatever doesn't matter and the new 3D View kind of Neato on the zoom you know how much are you really going to use it I don't know but it's kind of cool and again with Google you know these Technologies you never know where they're going to wind up um I have to get kind of used to you can you can kind of pan and tilt and stuff and so a few things you know that take advantage of the dual core processor now I saw some gaming demos at Mobile World Congress of uh games that were optimized for the Tegra 2 chip running on a zoom actually that looked very impressive so we should see some stuff coming soon that takes advantage more advantage of the dual core processor uh and then you've got you know the iPad it's a single core one g gz processor uh we're expecting the next iPad to have you know to to get a bump uh right now it's the single core Apple A4 rumors kicking around about a possible dual core A9 and the iPad 2 nobody knows for sure yet um but you know again Advantage Hardware wise to the zoom right now we'll see what Apple does um to you know kind of bump things up in the next iPad it's obviously not all about specs but if you want to get into specs a little bit more uh one G gigabyte of ram in the zoom 256 Megs in the iPad uh video playback on the zoom it can do 1080p the teger chip can do 1080p on the uh iPad you're limited to 720p uh video out you can get the dock adapter for the iPad VGA out whereas the uh Zoom has a mini HDMI built right in or or micro HDMI whatever they call it you have to have a special cable which is kind of annoying too bad they didn't put a full HDMI cable on there but you know that that's just kind of how these things go I guess uh and then you've also got may as well mention with the ports you've got um a USB 2.0 port and then you've got a Micro SD port or SD card slot but the slot is uh disabled right now which is kind of weak uh on the iPad you know typical Apple you have nothing besides that one do connector you can get the camera connection kit that lets you use an SD card uh you it's got an SD card reader to to import videos and and photos but uh not you know straight up USB connectivity um\n"