Splitting the tablet scene with a screen size unique to itself is the confusingly named Motorola Xoom 2 Media Edition tablet is considerably smaller than its 10.1-inch Motorola Xoom 2 sibling but in terms of potential and user friendliness far exceeds its more illustrious counterpart.

Motorola Xoom 2 Media Edition: Build

Falling between the two standards of the tablet sector the Xoom 2 Media Edition lines up with an 8.2-inch form factor that is well styled with a combination of a metal back panel and angular and slightly raised black plastic edging that importantly provides a comfortable and secure fit in a single hand.

Lining up at just 388g in weight the Motorola Xoom 2 Media Edition is considerably lighter than the original Motorola Xoom. It's also lighter than  the Apple iPad 2’s 601g left with the weight well balanced across the device's 8.2-inch form factor. At just 8.9mm thick the sub-sized Motorola tablet is only 0.1mm chunkier than the market-leading Apple iPad 2 with the device constructed in a sturdy, reassuring, flex-free manner.

Motorola Xoom 2 Media Edition: Screen

Boasting a 1280 x 800p resolution, the Motorola Xoom 2 Media Edition’s 8.2-inch TFT display is one of the best seen on a sub 10-inch tablet with fast refresh rates eliminating motion blur whilst vibrant colours and a deep spectrum of blacks providing impeccable image quality.

Supporting multitouch features the Media Edition’s display makes content navigation a breeze with the hardware combining well with the Android innards to ensure smooth, jilt free transitions between homescreens, menus and desired content.

Motorola Xoom 2 Media Edition: Usability

Thanks to Google’s Android 3.2 Honeycomb mobile operating system and Motorola’s stylish skin the 8.2-inch tablet stands out from the usual flurry of Android tabs with a well arranged UI ensuring quick, functional access to key applications as well as the standard array of Android programmes.

Living up to its Media Edition branding the smaller of the Xoom 2 devices is perfectly attuned for media playback with the screen’s widescreen aspect ratio making it perfect for movie playback and its comfortable portability making it as easy to tout and carry about as a Kindle eReader.

Motorola Xoom 2 Media Edition: Performance

Strong all-round, the tablet’s rear-mounted 5-megapixiel camera provides surprisingly sharp and detailed images with the accompanying LED flash helping ensure strong colour management for an overall impressive outcome.

Thanks to the 1.2GHz dual-core processor the Xoom 2 Media Edition is able to zip through most tasks with ease opening and running applications with little fuss. Hitting the mark with its browser as well, Wi-Fi connectivity is easy to set up, quick to recognise and with fast load times, helping to make this one of the best tablets around.

Motorola Xoom 2 Media Edition: Verdict

Excelling where its 10.1-inch sibling faltered, the Motorola Xoom 2 Media Edition is a premium product that combines a strong specs offering with a well styled, comfortable and reassuring form factor and a strong user experience.

This is easily one of, if not the best, sub 10-inch Android tablet on the market and had Motorola been able to bring this level of quality to its 10.1-inch Xoom 2 we can’t help but think the iPad might finally have had some decent competition.

Motorola Xoom 2 Media Edition availability: Available now

Motorola Xoom 2 Media Edition price: £329.99