Amazon has killed off its Fire range of tablets and replaced them with a new trio of Alexa-branded slates, including the first true high-end tablet from the brand. Ahead of the launch, I got the chance to try the new tablets, and first impressions are good.
Amazon has sold Fire tablets for years, and they are, Amazon tell me, very popular. I’m sure that is the case, although I’d be surprised if anyone longed for a Fire tablet over an iPad or one of the best Android tablets. The selling point has always been the low price and frequent discounts during Prime Day and Black Friday.
Previous Fire tablets have run Android, but a forked version that forced users to ditch Google apps completely and either sideload or use only what was available on the meagre Amazon App Store.
Nothing signals the change in how Amazon is thinking about tablets with the launch of these Alexa slates than its completely new software. All three Alexa tablets have full access to Google Play, so all the apps are now available. If that was all that was new, I’d be already far more inclined to recommend these over any previous Fire device.
But there’s more here than just more apps.
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Amazon Alexa Tablet 12 Pro
There’s an obvious flagship in the new tablet range, and it’s easily the most interesting tablet Amazon has ever made.
The aluminium-clad Alexa Tablet 12 Pro has more in common with iPads and the Samsung Galaxy Tab range than the plasticky Fire tablets, and considering it’s also the most expensive Amazon has ever released, that’s a good thing.
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The standout feature that impressed me the most during my hour with the device was the 3:2, 120Hz display.
While there is a version of the tablet with a standard glossy panel, the more interesting one comes with a Nanomatte display – similar to the inside screen on the iPhone Duo. This screen has etched anti-glare tech that drastically reduces glare and reflections, while trying to avoid ruining the contrast.
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The choice of display fits perfectly with an Amazon, as it makes it miles better for reading Kindle books than a traditional glossy panel. Text is very crisp, and even though I wasn’t using it in a room with lots of glare, the panel did a fantastic job of reducing what glare there was.
Amazon is really touting this as a great tablet for Kindle fans, and there’s a whole new reading experience that tries to mirror the e-reader as much as possible.
Open a book, for example, and notifications are turned off, blue light filters are introduced, and background processes are reduced to extend battery life to a reported 20 hours. Kindle Scribe features like the ability to highlight key passages, underline text, take notes and annotate pages are also included.
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As the tablet’s name suggests, Alexa Plus is a big part of the experience, and Amazon has integrated the voice assistant deeply into the software.
There’s a new widget on the home screen that cycles through suggested content, while a swipe in from the right lets Alexa see and interact with whatever is on your screen. An example that was shown during the demo showed Alexa adding a bunch of dates from a running schedule to a calendar.
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As it now has a more productive operating system, the old Fire tablet has mostly been ditched. The homescreen represents a typical Android tablet UI, although swiping to the left does take you to a dedicated area for Amazon ‘content’.
This is where Kindle books, Audible audiobooks and more live, and it’s always easily accessible. The OS is simple, but it looks nice and is certainly deeper than the basic old UI.
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Like any good ‘Pro’ tablet worth its salt, there are numerous accessories available. There’s a keyboard that feels great to type on, and a pen that attaches to the tablet’s top to charge.
Specs look decent too, with 8- or 16GB RAM, up to 256GB of storage and an 8-core CPU and 7-core GPU chip inside. Amazon wouldn’t confirm which chip this was, although gaming performance was continually touted as a key selling point.
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There are a couple of more basic options too
Alongside the Tablet Pro, there are some standard models too. There’s an 11-inch version that comes in some slick colours, but lacks the clever screen tech, and a smaller 8-inch model too.
I only spent a short time with these, and while they have the same software as the Pro and better hardware than Fire Tablets, they didn’t really stand out. The 8-inch model particularly looked to have a very grainy display. There are also all-new Amazon Kids Tablets in 8.7-inch and 11-inch sizes, each coming with a kid-proof case, a one-year Kids+ subscription packed with age-appropriate apps, games, videos, and books.
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The Amazon Alexa Tablet 12 Pro starts at £449.99 for a glossy screen, and the Nanomatte starts at £499.99 in Graphite, with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage. That’s a surprisingly great price for what looks like a very complete product.
Accessories include the Amazon Alexa Tablet Pro Keyboard for £129.99, Amazon Alexa Tablet Pro Pen for £79.99, and a range of protective folios. There will be some bundles available too, that’ll be much better value if you want the whole set.
Amazon Alexa Tablet 11 starts at £289.99 in Graphite, Amethyst, and Matcha, with 8GB RAM and 64GB storage. Amazon Alexa Tablet 8 starts at £199.99 in Graphite, Rosette, and Teal, with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage.
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All the new Amazon Alexa Tablets are available to pre-order now and will begin shipping on October 19. We’ll bring you a full review once we have tested all the new models.