For students, life is all about obtaining information. At the end of the day, grades will be determined by how successful a student is at retaining the information in textbooks, lectures, and other methods employed by teachers.

As we rapidly progress into a digital world, paper feels like a clunky medium of transforming knowledge and ideas. Still, for students, and people in all walks of life, using paper is a reality. That's where scanners can become incredibly useful, as they allow you to turn those pesky, wasteful papers into digital files that can be stored on a computer, tablet or smartphone.

doxie go scanner review

Today, we are going to put two of the most popular portable scanners in a head-to-head battle – the Doxie Go and the Xerox Mobile Wi-Fi Scanner. Each is packed with features, and each makes scanning documents on the go incredibly easy, but only one can truly be the best. Which will it be? Keep reading to find out!

doxie go scanner review

Best of all, we are going to be giving away both scanners to one lucky winner, so keep reading all the way to the bottom to find out how you can take one / them home for yourself.

Introducing the Doxie Go and Xerox Mobile Wi-Fi Scanner

We are going to look at two very comparable portable scanners, each battery-powered and designed to let you scan your favorite documents anywhere you are. Hanging out in the student lounge? Sure, you can scan there. Missed a day of class and need to copy a friend's notes? Just pull out your portable scanner and you will have them.

So here are two products with the explicit goal of allowing you to scan documents on the go. What differentiates them? Well first, we have the price. The Doxie Go with an Eye-Fi card for transmitting scans wirelessly will set you back $230 (also offered for $199 without the Eye-Fi card). The Xerox Mobile Wi-Fi Scanner, with the same 4GB card, retails for $250. So right away we have a small, but notable, $20 price difference.

Are these the only portable document scanners on the market? Of course not, there is the $229 NeatReceipts Mobile Scanner, but it isn't exactly portable as it needs to be connected to a computer to scan. There is also the $200 Visioneer Mobility, which could be an option to consider as well.

The key features to look for when shopping for any portable scanner is the resolution, the number of scans it's able to perform with a single charge (battery life), bundled software, file output formats, portability, and ease of use.

Packaging and Initial Impressions

Both portable scanners come in moderately small boxes. The box which houses the Doxie is flatter and wider, whereas the Xerox comes with a skinnier, taller box. Both make good first impressions, which is always nice when spending over $200 on any kind of product.

xerox mobile scanner review

Upon opening the boxes, the Xerox immediately caught my attention. First of all, it has a lot more accessories than the Doxie. The first thing you will appreciate is the padded carrying case. Since this is a portable scanner, having a case to keep it protected while in transit is a nice touch. It also includes a power brick and USB cable for charging in a wall outlet. Doxie, however, only packs a USB cable. If you want a case for your Doxie, it's an optional $30 extra.

Looking at both scanners, I can't help but feel like the Xerox is going to be a little easier to use. The Doxie features a minimalist look, and the only button you'll find is the power button. The Xerox, on the other hand, features a power button, a mode selection button, and a paper release button, should it get stuck. Of course, this is only the first impression, and that perception can change.

xerox mobile scanner review

The next thing you'll notice about these scanners is the size difference. The Doxie Go is definitely a little smaller, and you can see it right away. Just how much smaller? We'll get to that when we talk about their portability a little later.

Design

We will get to the functionality of the devices in just a second, but before we do, we need to take a good look at how the devices. After all, you are going to be carrying this scanner around with you, and as such, you are going to want it to look good, or decent, at the very least.

The Xerox Mobile Wi-Fi scanner is a subdued grey, and as mentioned earlier, it features a few extra buttons. The Doxie Go is much more conspicious with a high-gloss white paint on the top, sides and bottom, and black on the front and back. From a pure style standpoint, the Doxie looks much more modern, and quite a bit better. The Doxie Go is like a slick sports car; whereas the Xerox is more of a family sedan. Sure, the family sedan looks nice, but your eye is always going to be drawn to the sports car.

doxie go scanner review

Specifications

Since both portable scanners are so comparably priced, their specs can be the key deciding factor. We will get to actually using the scanners later, but for now, it's all about crunching the numbers.

The first, and depending on what you are scanning, most important thing to look at is the resolution. There is no sugar-coating it, as the Doxie Go wins this easily. It supports up to 600 dpi versus the Xerox's 300 dpi. The difference is noticeable, as the Doxie's output looks quite a bit better. However, you will tend to use the lower 300 dpi scanning resolution on either device to save time. Still, having the option to crank up the scanning resolution for certain demanding jobs is good to have.

xerox mobile scanner review

Another important number to look at is the scanning speed. The Xerox Mobile Wi-Fi scanner scans a standard 8.5 x 11 inch page in ten seconds, and Doxie Go is able to do it in eight. While two seconds might seem like a negligible difference, it does add up if you are scanning a large number of documents.

With respect to maximum document sizes, the Doxie Go gets a small edge here; as it can handle pages up to 8.5 x 15 inches, while the Xerox Mobile Scanner can only take documents up to 8.5 x 14 inches in size.

xerox mobile scanner review

Battery life goes the way of Xerox, and that's a big one. Xerox is able to scan up to 300 pages on a single charge, wheres the Doxie Go is only capable of about 100 pages. In actual practice, the Doxie Go got just about what it advertises; the Xerox was close, coming in the high two hundred scans.

Ease of Use

The process of setting up both scanners is almost identical. First charge them up, install the required software, scan a calibration page, and finally start scanning whatever you want. With the Eye-Fi card, you will need to set it up as well by plugging it into your computer, installing the required software and connecting it to your wireless network. I found the process to be incredibly easy on both models, so I really can't give an edge to one.

portable scanner review

As far as actual scanning goes, both will require a little practice, as you might find it grabs the paper before you have the chance to set it in place just right. This leads to a horribly crooked scan that needs to be redone. The Doxie Go includes a convenient sliding tab that help guide papers of different sizes into place. Although it helps a little, in the end, it will just come down to getting comfortable with sliding documents in the correct way. After about 15 scans, I had it down.

Once the scan is performed, if you are using the Eye-Fi wireless SD card, it will automatically be copied to your computer. If not, you will need to connect the scanner or SD card to your PC and copy the files overs. This works in much the same way you would import photos from a digital camera.

portable scanner review

Bundled Software

Each of the scanners has its own software designed to help you optimize your scans. They both go a long way towards making the devices a little easier to use.

With Xerox's offering, you get Nuance PaperPort, OmniPage, and NewSoft Presto! BizCard. With Doxie Go, the software included is its own proprietary application. Doxie's software is a little better at adjusting crooked scans automatically, and with the software bundled with the Xerox Mobile Wi-Fi scanner, you get more accurate PDF conversion and extra functionality when scanning business cards. It's a trade-off, but all in all, both do a fantastic job of making the process as easy as possible.

Whichever one you choose, you will find it hard to be disappointed with the bundled software. While Xerox offers more software, I actually found Doxie's to be a little bit easier to use. In the end, for these two models, the software is probably not going to be a major factor in your decision, as they are both do their job well.

File Output Formats

When scanning, an important thing to have in mind is the type of files you wish to get. With the Doxie Go, your scans will be available as PDF, JPEG, and PNG files. However, with the Xerox Mobile Wi-Fi scanner, PNGs are off the table, so you will be able to choose between JPG and PDF only.

Nevertheless, both are able to create searchable PDF files, which is incredibly useful for scanning text documents like notes for school. You can also scan documents without making them searchable, if you should so choose.

Portability

As I mentioned before, the Doxie Go is notably smaller at 10.5 inches long, 1.7 inches tall, and 2.2 inches deep. The Xerox is a little bigger at 11.5 x 2.75 x 2 inches. Not a huge difference, but when these go into a backpack, it can be a factor. The Doxie Go is also lighter at just 14.2 oz compared to Xerox's 24 oz. So judging purely on size, the Doxie gets the edge. It's not so much because of the actual dimensions, as an extra inch here and there doesn't really make much difference, it's the weight that's the key factor, as it's truly perceivable when picking these scanners up.

The Xerox Mobile Wi-Fi scanner does get some bonus points because it includes the aforementioned padded bag. Doxie offers a carrying bag for its model, but it comes at an additional cost. It was a pleasant surprise seeing it in the package from Xerox. Still, I think the extra weight holds the Xerox Mobile Wi-Fi scanner back a bit.

doxie go scanner review

In the end, in spite of how heavy it is, I would have to give the edge in portability to Xerox just because of the extra battery life. Being able to scan more without needing a charger is a key part of making a truly portable device, and I think it's worth lugging around a few extra ounces in exchange for the luxury of scanning more documents when needed. This is especially important for students who will likely be bringing this device around with them from class to class.

Should you buy the Doxie Go or Xerox Mobile Wi-Fi scanner?

So which scanner should you invest your hard-earned money on? Both have some awesome features, and both are a little better in certain areas. Xerox gets a big edge in terms of battery life, but Doxie is able to create higher resolution scans. In the end, I think the extra battery offered by the Xerox Mobile Scanner is enough to give it the edge. After all, these are scanners that are designed to be portable, and the longer you're able to scan documents without needing to connect to a power source, the better your experience is going to be. That's not to say the Doxie Go is a bad device, because it's also fantastic, the Xerox is just a bit better.

[recommend]MakeUseOf recommends: Buy the Xerox Mobile Scanner unless you need the higher scanning resolution, in which case, go with the Doxie Go.[/recommend]

How do I win the Doxie Go And Xerox Mobile Wi-Fi portable scanners?

You may enter by submitting your name and email address. You'll receive one entry simply by doing so.

After that, you'll also be offered various methods to earn additional entries. They range from sharing a link to this giveaway on social networks; to commenting or visiting a specific page. The more you participate, the higher your chances of winning! You will receive 5 additional entries into the giveaway for every successful referral via your shared links.

This giveaway begins now and ends Friday, September 13. The winner will be selected at random and informed via email.

The Winner

Congratulations, Melissa Tippie! You would have received an email from jackson@makeuseof.com. Please respond before October 13 to claim your prize. Enquires beyond this date will not be entertained.

Send your products to be reviewed. Contact Jackson Chung for further details.