Amazon Kindle Fire HDX
Amazon
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Wired
Sturdy but lightweight, terrific screen, Slimmed down UI, fast processor
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Tired
No Google Play, no expandable memory
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Price
£ 199
With such a plethora of Android tablets around it takes a lot to stand out. But is a revamped version of Amazon’s Kindle operating system and a few extra offerings enough to beat the likes of the Google Nexus 7?
The Kindle Fire HDX 7 is on sale now for £ 199
Design
The Kindle HDX is a very well built device – solid but lightweight, with a sturdy rubberised plastic backing. There’s a single power button on the back along with a volume rocker but that’s it for the hard controls.
The screen is a bit of a stunner, offering a pin-sharp resolution of 1,920 x1, 200 pixels, Which boils down to 323ppi – equal to the Nexus 7′s justly praised display. It’s gloriously sharp and detailed Whether you’re watching HD movies or browsing detail-heavy websites and colors are rich and vibrant without seeming OTT.
The quad-core processor clocked at 2.2GHz is and backed by 2GB of RAM. It looks good on paper and it feels good too, zipping through apps with exceptional speed. We’d have loved to use our AnTuTu benchmark test on it, but although we found it in the Amazon Marketplace, we could not get it to run on Amazon’s customized Android incarnation.
Amazon Kindle Fire HDX
Amazon
Android and features
Amazon has tweaked the standard Android interface considerably and made it look much more, well, iOS-like. There’s a series of big, rounded icons along the bottom and a scrolling lists of apps across the main screen. At the top there’s also a bar of text links for books, movies, apps, games, etc.. The simplified layout adds to the overall impression of slickness and ease of use – this is a tablet that’s very comfortable to use.
Something you will not find on other tablets (at least not yet) is the Mayday button. Pressing it gives you instant access is an Amazon support desk person via an in-screen video link (you can see them, but all they can see is your screen) who’ll talk you through any problems you might have. It’s a pretty slick service and we never had to wait longer than 30 seconds to be put in touch with someone – very handy for tablet newbies.
Amazon Kindle Fire HDX
Amazon
Apps, Wi-Fi and camera
The lack of access to the standard Google Play app store will frustrate some, though many of the big name apps are available from the Amazon store, including Facebook, Spotify and Skype. You also get £ 4 to go towards your first magazine purchases (cough cough – issues of Wired only costs £ 2.99, by the way – cough cough).
‘ll pay another 70 quid to get the 4G version Which could come in handy if you’re Likely to be traveling far from Wi-Fi, and like to stream movies from LoveFilm on the go (you’re limited this streaming for now by the way, since there’s no option to download LoveFilm content for watching later).
There’s no camera on the back,: which is not necessarily a bad thing (does anyone really use their tablet for photography) but there is a 1.2-megapixel camera on the front for video calls (Skype’s already on there but you can add others from the Amazon store).
Conclusion
If you choose a Kindle tablet you probably do not want to bother with the sometimes confusing world of standard Android, and Amazon’s simplified, iOS-style interpretation of the interface delivers that. Yes, you can add the Kindle app is any other Android tablet, but with the Fire HDX you also get access is Amazon’s lending library and of course the Mayday button. It’s a good tablet, and a solid alternative to Google’s Nexus 7
Also consider: Amazon Kindle Fire 8.9-inch HDX edition
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