The Kindle Fire is quite an achievement at $200. It's a perfectly usable tablet that feels good in the hand and has a respectably good looking display up front.
Read the full review →Heads up! A newer version of this product is out!
74
Conclusion: We're mixed
Amazon deserves a lot of credit for coming up with the first sub-$200 tablet that may actually be worth buying. However, while the Kindle Fire does a great job of connecting to the Amazon media ecosystem, it's limited by a paltry 8GB of storage, a so-so web browser, and a poky processor. It's edged by Barnes & Noble's Nook Tablet, which offers expandable storage and a sharper display for the same price.
Critic reviews
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The Kindle Fire is one of a kind, at least this week. It's the first affordable, easy-to-use general-purpose tablet. It doesn't replace the Apple iPad: It complements the iPad, which is bigger, more powerful, more expensive, and has far more apps.
Read the full review →If you like what Amazon Prime has going on in the kitchen, the Fire is a terrific seat. It's not as powerful or capable as an iPad, but it's also a sliver of the price—and that $200 will let you jack into the Prime catalog (and the rest of your media collection) easily and comfortably.
Read the full review →The Kindle Fire isn't an iPad killer, but it is a killer deal. At $199, it's really hard to beat the package Amazon has put together. Assuming you're willing to carry a smaller 7-inch device, it combines an easy-to-use interface and one-tap access to loads of content in a well-built design.
Read the full review →The Fire deserves to be a disruptive, gigantic force — it's a cross between a Kindle and an iPad, a more compact Internet and video viewer at a great price. But at the moment, it needs a lot more polish; if you're used to an iPad or "real" Android tablet, its software gremlins will drive you nuts.
Read the full review →In the world of tablets, there are great products and there are cheap products, but very few great, cheap products. ... for those of you unwilling to shell out $500 for an Apple iPad 2, and wary of buying a piece of junk, Amazon's $199 Kindle Fire tablet should be at the top of your wish list.
Read the full review →The best way to think of the Kindle Fire is as a decent e-reader that can do some extra stuff—namely, play videos and browse the Internet. For $200, that's not a bad deal—but just make sure that it's one you're willing to make.
Read the full review →iPad killer? No, the Kindle Fire is not. And it doesn't even match the iPad in web browsing, the one area in which its hardware should have sufficient performance to compete.
Read the full review →The Fire is a terrific media device, particularly for $199. Is it a halfway decent tablet computer as well? Mmm...probably not. Its user interface makes a clear statement about Amazon’s intentions. That said, it has a bunch of added features that makes it into much more than a reader.
Read the full review →You’ll have to pry the iPad 2 out of our cold dead hands, but we like the Kindle Fire enough to keep it around as an alternate option, which is more than we can say for almost all the other tablets we’ve used.
Read the full review →Now that it's approaching one year old, we struggle to recommend it over the new Google Nexus 7, which is a sexier tablet with a greater selection of apps, better screen and with greatly improved specs for the same price.
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marcdryan
I just finished packing up my Kindle Fire to return to Amazon. Let me say in advance I'm a huge fan of Amazon and everything they do (first gen Kindle owner, Prime for 5 years, Cloud Music User, etc.). However, I'm disappointed in the Fire. As a current iPad owner perhaps I set the bar too high...
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rmcvey
I am growing to really like this device. It's obvious that Amazon designed this as a store front, but with that said, it contains every feature that the majority of consumers will need and find they want. The Amazon Carousel will even start to grow on you after a bit, even if you are an avid...
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idolatrare
In general, especially considering the price point, this is a good device. It's tougher than it looks and can handle what my 2 year old dishes out when I'm not looking. However, we had to put on a new OS because the out of the box one was way too oriented to buying things, which is dangerous...
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falleninsea
It’s strange that I keep finding myself saying “for the price” when I describe the Fire to people. It’s always something like “For the price it’s a great device.” or “For the price the screen is large enough.” The device is well integrated into the Amazon ecosystem. Right out of the box when...
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tatsumaki
Perfectly priced, a great content library and a good industrial design all team up to make the Fire a real contender in the 7 inch tablet market. You get a lot of bang for your buck here. And with future firmware updates, I only expect it to get even better.
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backbeatcat
The un-boxing was over before it began. It came in a simple box with a 2-sentence getting started card. I plugged it in to charge and it almost immediately turned green (full charge). I turned it on and immediately began a system update which took about 2 minutes. It was pre-loaded with several...
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steveboland
As a media consumption device, the Fire is great. Really good speakers for a small unit, fast performance, great libraries. The Kindle features rock, but the machine is by no means limited to them. Video is nice, apps do well. I love Plants v. Zombies and the graphics look really good in...
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AckbarsFist
The Kindle Fire won't do everything the iPad 2 can do, or even the original iPad. That's not the point though. What the Fire does do, it does very well. The integration with Amazon's services, which many use anyway, is top-notch. The browser is quick, and the dual-core 1 GHz processor can handle...
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juuanimo
For half the price of other top tablet, its an awesome tablet. Even though it has it flaw, like unable to buy or stream content outside of USA such as video, songs, magazine, app. But for app there is always a few way to bypass it. For video, songs and magazine its not really a huge deal for me...
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Pdqkevin
Pros: The best book reading device I have used, better than my iPad. I like the lighted screen more than e-ink. Very good movie watching, the amazon and netflix sources work very nicely. Could be used as a computer replacement for kids or tech challenged adults so long as they don't need to...
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saxeine
Just unboxed 12 hrs ago blatantly clear that the installed launcher will have to go...its fine if you are 3yrs old but even my 6yr old expects more....so first stop definitely must be to root the device. That carousel already grating on me. Video reasonably good and it sounds better than most...
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How it stacks up
Instantly compare the Amazon Kindle Fire side by side with some of the top devices on gdgt!
Compare these-
Amazon Kindle Fire 74 -
Apple iPad mini 93 from $329 -
ASUS Nexus 7 (Nexus Tablet) 88 from $223 -
Apple iPad 4th-gen 97 from $499 -
Allerta Pebble 77 from $300
Other Amazon tablets
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Amazon Kindle Fire HD 7-inch 79 from $199 -
Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8.9-inch 79 from $269 -
Amazon Kindle Fire 2nd-gen 69 from $159
Don't forget to check out these other devices by Amazon, you might find something good!