It's Prime Week. It used to be a day, but now it's a week. That means instead of a day of savings, we now have a week. Or well, it was previously a week+ long anyway, but they're not pretending it's just a day anymore.
Which brings me to my first deal of the festivities, Amazon's own Fire HD 10 tablet, which is down to its lowest price ever for the week.
When Panos Panay left Microsoft to join Amazon, I knew he would bring the same fire and tenacity to Amazon's product range. Looking across the latest versions of Amazon's Fire tablets, which I honestly haven't checked out for years, you can see Panos' and other Surface alumni Ralf Groene's thought processes all over them.
Both devices now support inking, with Surface-like 4096 levels of pressure sensitivity. The Fire Max 11 also rocks an aluminium, Surface-like chassis, and comes complete with optional keyboard and stylus accessories, much like the Surface we (used to) love.
A spec breakdown between the two tablets is as follows.
Specification | Fire HD 10 | Fire Max 11 |
|---|---|---|
Operating System | Fire OS 8 (based on Android 11) | Fire OS 8 (Android 11) |
Display | 10.1″ IPS, 1920 × 1200 (224 ppi) | 11.0″ IPS, 2000 × 1200 (212 ppi) |
Processor (SoC) | MediaTek MT8186 | MediaTek MT8188J |
CPU | Octa-core (4×2.0 GHz Cortex-A73 + 4×2.0 GHz A53) | Octa-core (2×2.2 GHz Cortex-A78 + 6×2.0 GHz A55) |
RAM | 3 GB | 4 GB |
Storage | 32 / 64 GB; microSD up to 1 TB | 64 / 128 GB; microSD up to 1 TB |
Rear Camera | 5 MP | 8 MP, autofocus |
Front Camera | 2 MP | 8 MP |
Battery Life | ≈10 hr video playback | Up to 14 hr mixed use |
Charging | USB-C (standard) | USB-C, 15 W wired |
Audio | Stereo speakers + 3.5 mm jack | Stereo speakers (no headphone jack) |
Connectivity | Wi-Fi 5 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac); Bluetooth 5.0 | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6); Bluetooth 5.3 |
Biometrics & Sensors | Accelerometer | Side-mounted fingerprint; accelerometer |
Dimensions | 247 × 166 × 8.6 mm | 259.1 × 163.7 × 7.5 mm |
Weight | 433 g | 490 g |
Stylus Support | USI 2.0 stylus compatible | USI 2.0 stylus compatible (stylus included) |
RRP | $139.99 | $229.99 |
The spec sheet on these things is a lot more impressive than the Fire tablets I used back in the day, which were barely stable enough to run a heavy website, letalone run things like Roblox. Indeed, the Max 11 showcases its gaming chops on Amazon's store pages, running games like Minecraft natively with consummate ease.
One thing to note about these tablets, they come with lock screen ads that can't be disabled in the normal way. You can opt-in to receive ads, giving you the maximum savings on the tablets. If you opt-out of ads, it adds a bit of $ to the checkout fee. Head over to the store pages linked above to see which option is the best for you.
Another downside of these tablets is that Google Play isn't on them natively. There are ways to "hack" it onto the tablet, but if you didn't want to fiddle around with those things, you'll be pretty much restricted to whatever is in the Amazon App Store.
Thankfully, for missing services there are a lot of web apps available to inject some of that functionality. Things like Instagram, and so on, can be obtained this way. For apps like Xbox Cloud Gaming, there's no native experience anyway, sending you to Xbox.com/play to gain access. Both tablets support Xbox controllers via Bluetooth or USB-C, although the placement of the ports makes them a bit awkward to use with Xbox Cloud Gaming controllers like the Razer Kishi, and so on.
And sure, they're by no means the "best" tablets in the world, owing to the app gap more than anything. But, their price point makes them a compelling option for basic entertainment, socials, gaming, and other things. They're far cheaper than equivalent options from Samsung and Apple, and if all you're interested in is Kindle, Netflix, and maybe a spot of browsing, I'd argue that this Prime Day deal is your best bet.
It could be a great gift for a loved one, or indeed yourself, if you're big into books or comics.
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