Amazon retires Fire Tablet line as Alexa Tablets gain Play Store

There are three Alexa Tablets, all with aluminum bodies, Alexa+ built in and the Google Play Store preinstalled:

• Alexa Tablet 8: from $229.99. An 8.7-inch screen at 1340 x 800 pixels, a MediaTek MT8189 processor and Wi-Fi 6. Best for reading, browsing and streaming on the go.
• Alexa Tablet 11: from $330. A 2.5K screen (2560 x 1600) at 90Hz, the same MT8189 chip, 8GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, dual Dolby Atmos speakers and up to 15 hours of battery life. It works with a Bluetooth keyboard and a USI 2.0 stylus.
• Alexa Tablet 12 Pro: from $500. A 2.8K, 120Hz screen in a taller 3:2 shape, a faster MediaTek Dimensity 8400 chip, 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage in the base model, up to 16GB of RAM in top versions, quad Dolby Atmos speakers and up to 16 hours of battery life.

A Nanomatte anti-glare version of the 12 Pro costs $549.99. Amazon also sells a Pro Keyboard for $149.99 and a Pro Pen for $89.99 that snap onto the 12 Pro’s pogo pin connector, turning it into a small laptop. With both, the base 12 Pro comes to $739.97 before tax.

Watch for one hidden cost. The base Alexa Tablet 8 and 11 show ads on the lock screen, and removing them reportedly costs $20 more, bringing them to $249.99 and $349.99.

Orders opened on Oct. 8. Shipping began Oct. 14 in the United States, Canada and Mexico, and Oct. 19 in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Amazon also announced Kids bundles in 8.7-inch and 11-inch sizes that include protective cases.

Fire tablets always ran Android underneath, but Amazon hid it behind its own version, called Fire OS, and its own Amazon Appstore. There was no official Google Play, so many popular apps were missing or had to be sideloaded with mixed results. Amazon shut its Appstore down last year, which left Fire OS with even less to offer.

The new tablets are Google-certified Android devices. They launch on Android 16 and are due to get Android 17 in early 2027. Amazon says it will provide at least four years of software updates, including security fixes. That isn’t the same as promising four years of major Android upgrades, so check the details if long-term support matters to you.

Interestingly, Amazon is going the opposite way on its TV sticks. Newer Fire TV Sticks have moved off Android to Vega OS, Amazon’s own Linux-based system.

Amazon’s pitch is that these are entertainment hubs tied to your Amazon account. A home screen tab picks up movies, shows, books and games where you left off on other devices, and a “For You” section recommends more. Kindle and Audible libraries sit together, and a new Kindle mode silences notifications, cuts blue light and stretches battery life to up to 20 hours.

Alexa+, Amazon’s newer AI assistant, is built into every model. You can talk to it or tap an on-screen button. An opt-in feature called On-Screen Intelligence lets Alexa see what’s on your display, so you can ask about an image in the browser or have it add dates from an event page to your calendar. A visual indicator shows when Alexa can see your screen, and you can turn the feature off in Settings. In early demos, complex requests sometimes took close to half a minute.

If you own a Fire tablet, it keeps working. Amazon plans to wind down production over the next few months while remaining stock sells, and it has said existing Fire tablets will get four years of support after the final shipment.

If you’re shopping now, the choice has changed:

• You want the cheapest tablet possible: remaining Fire stock may be the last of Amazon’s sub-$100 tablets, and some models have already sold out.
• You want Google apps without the hassle: any Alexa Tablet now does that out of the box.
• You’re comparing with a Samsung Galaxy Tab or iPad: the Alexa Tablets are mid-range. The entry model’s screen is low resolution and the cameras are basic, so compare specs carefully.

The biggest open question is whether shoppers who loved Fire tablets for being cheap will pay roughly twice as much for a better one.