One of the best reviews I have seen with regard the Kindle Fire HDX, no fluff and no attempt at comparing against other tablets just pure information on Amazon's latest tablet.
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Amazon Kindle Fire HDX Review
The
latest generation Amazon Kindle Fire HDX has just been released and packs
quite the punch with its new hardware and software. All of the internals have
seen a massive upgrade and the new Mojito software takes Android to a new
level. How does this tablet compare to prior Fire offerings and is it a viable
investment with so many new devices coming out?
Hardware
The
Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 7 features a seven inch capacitive multi-touch
screen with a resolution of 1920×1200 pixels. The resolution is a huge
upgrade from the previous generation which only had 1280 x 800. HD
videos on Netflix and HD comics from Comixology are the most noticeable
improvements. Magazines actually don’t see any improvements as the ones
purchased from Amazon seem to be scaled down to be functional on their entire
line of devices. In a direct comparison to the 3rd generation Kindle Fire, they looked exactly the same.
Underneath
the hood is a quad-core 2.2 GHZ processor and 2 GB of RAM. You have
different models for storage and the entry level model has 16 GB of internal
memory. When you take it out of the box for the first time there is only 8.8 GB
of memory to play with and there is no expandable memory via SD.
There are
two stereo speakers on the rear of the tablet and they are placed at the top.
The sound quality is fairly solid, but they pale in comparison to the Kindle
Fire HD. There is also a power button and volume buttons also on the
rear.
This is
simply the best seven inch tablet Amazon has ever produced. The hardware makes
everything load up super quickly and you tend to never notice any LAG or
sluggish performance.
Software
Amazon
has upgraded their Android OS to version 4.2.2 and has skinned it with a new
version of their proprietary entitled Mojito. What has really changed
with the older model vs the newer iteration?
There is
an upgraded carousal that has higher resolution book covers, app icons and
short cuts to your apps, videos and music files. Underneath that by swiping
down is a new tray of icons that look very much akin to the vanilla Android
experience. You can initiate Quiet Time, which eliminates the
distractions and app notifications when you are reading. Finally, there is
Mayday, which allows you to talk via the 720 P camera and duel-microphones to
talk to a dedicated Amazon rep. They can walk you through anything you need to
do, which is good for first time tablet users. Aside from all of these
new enhancements, most things remain the same.
Some of
the most noticeable software elements include Kindle Freetime. Parents can make
a dedicated profile for their child and establish books, apps, videos and music
they have access to. They can also establish specific parameters of usage and
configure the amount of time they can read, use apps and surf the internet.
There is also a Freetime subscription platform to download a ton of kid apps
and use them as much as they want for around $9.99 a month.
One of
the things I really liked was the way Amazon now handles pictures. In the past
you could load pictures on your device via the USB cable that came with your
device and then load in your own galleries. Now, you can connect up to
your Facebook account and every single picture you have on your profile will be
automatically added. If you have a smartphone, such an iPhone, you can enter
your telephone number and click on a confirmation text. You can then sync over
every single photo on your phone and store them. All photos once on your device
are then stored in the Amazon cloud, and if you have other Kindle Fire tablets,
everything will automatically be synced.
The Fire
HDX has a few drawbacks that center around its content and ecosystem. If you
live outside the US and UK, you will be unable to watch any movies. You can buy
them and download them to your unit, but you will get a pop-up saying that it
is not available in your geographical region. You will need to purchase a VPN
and an American Credit Card to bypass this, and Shop e-Readers offers them for a fairly affordable rate.
Another
drawback is the Amazon App Store. They don’t really offer many of their
competitors apps, so if you want to download comics you have to do it from the
Kindle bookstore. Otherwise you will have to either side-load in your own apps or
download an alternative app store like Good e-Reader.
Still,
the Amazon ecosystem on their tablets is super deep. You can shop for
audiobooks, eBooks, music, video, and a slew of other content. They developed
their hardware to work perfectly in conjunction with everything else they sell.
The only other company to successfully pull this off is Apple, and they tend to
do quite well.
Reading
Experience
The Kindle Fire HDX is a tablet that is primarily built for e-reading. Whether
you are reading a standard eBook, listening to an audiobook, checking out the
latest issue of Rolling Stone magazine or keeping abreast of the latest news
with the New York Times.
Reading
an eBook is fairly standard and Amazon has not broke any new ground in the way
books show up or the type of options you have to augment the reading
experience. You can change the font size quite easily or change the font
entirely from a list of eight built in ones. The one new change i like the grey
background that almost mirrors the standard background in a physical book. The
Kindle Fire HD 3rd generation which also just came out as a bright white
background, which hurts the eyes after long reading duration’s. I actually
found it easier to read on this model than any of the other Fire tablets.
One
feature I dig is the translation function which will automatically translate
words in 12 different languages. You can hit the audio button and have a robot
sounding voice translate a specific word or entire body of text that you have
highlighted.
One of
the more popular aspects of dealing with Amazon is the synergy between Audible
and Kindle. You can buy both the eBook and audiobook at once and have a slew of
functionality that is available. You can listen to the audio edition while you
are reading the book and the text is highlighted as the audio plays back. If
you are reading the Kindle edition and turn the tablet off on the 3rd chapter,
you can pick up where you left off on the audio edition on your phone while you
are commuting. Not all eBooks and audiobooks work with Whispersync for
Voice and Whispersync for Text, but the ones that do offer cool features.
Amazon
sells a copious amounts of magazines by major publishers and you can pinch and
zoom to read the text if its too small, but little else. As stated earlier in
the review magazines seem to be down scaled. They look exactly the same on a
high resolution tablet like the HDX as they do on the 3rd generation Kindle
Fire HD. I suggest if you are really into Magazines to install a 3rd party app
like Zinio.
Newspapers
for the most part are either dedicated apps or Kindle editions. The former
don’t have any design consistency and tend to all look completely different.
You will have different options and a UI with the USA Today then you would with
The Onion. The New York Times is a Kindle edition, which means you can have
full control over your experience just like an eBook.
Overall,
Amazon offers one of the deepest ecosystems for quality content anywhere in the
world. You can get Singles, Serialized Fiction, Indie Titles, fan-fiction or
hundreds of thousands of books written by major publishers. Amazon may not have
the sheer amount of titles that Kobo has, but it is presented very well and no
one can match their selection.
Wrap Up
The
Kindle Fire HDX 7 is the best tablet they have ever produced. The software side
of things is very slick and refined over a few generations of constant refinement.
The hardware makes everything hum along very quickly. If you are looking for a
dedicated tablet just for reading and multimedia consumption this is one of
the best.
When you
purchase the HDX you are buying exclusively into the Amazon ecosystem. If they
don’t have a particular app you want, you will have to jump through numerous
hoops to load in your own. If you want to borrow books from the library you
need access to a PC to send them to your Amazon account. Suffice to say,
there is a learning curve involved if Amazon does not have what you want.
Still,
the upsides destroy any of the possible downsides. At least you can
install 3rd party apps, something Barnes and Noble still does not allow you to
do with their entire line of tablets.
PROS
Robust
Hardware
Tremendous Resolution
Deep Ecosystem
One of the best eBook experiences
Front facing 720 P camera with duel microphones
Mayday and Quiet Time
Tremendous Resolution
Deep Ecosystem
One of the best eBook experiences
Front facing 720 P camera with duel microphones
Mayday and Quiet Time
CONS
Speaker quality is not as good as prior modelsMagazines are down scaled and don’t look as vibrant as they do on the iPad
Single
Issue Comics and Manga is non-existent, you need 3rd party apps
Does not support Live Wallpapers or Widgets
Does not support Live Wallpapers or Widgets
Rating: 8.5/10
All in all if you add to the above review the fact that the Amazon Kindle Fire HDX is the cheaper tablet compared to other new releases you are onto a winner and don't you think it would make a wonderful Christmas present for some one you hold dear. Launch in the UK is this month and judging by the demand you need to secure YOURS NOW!
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