Amazon has retired the Fire name. Its new Alexa Tablets run full Android with Google Play, start at $229.99 and are aimed straight at the iPad.
Amazon has replaced its Fire tablets with three Alexa Tablets, and they finally run full Android with the Google Play Store. That means the apps you use on an Android phone now work on Amazon's tablets.
The 12 Pro is aimed at the iPad, with a sharp 120Hz screen, an optional keyboard and pen, and glass etched with Corning to cut glare. Early reviews love the screen but say the chip is modest and Amazon's apps and Alexa+ are pushed hard. In the UK, prices start at £200. Kids versions cost $230 and $330, much more than old Fire Kids tablets.
After 15 years, Amazon has stopped making Fire tablets. Its replacements are called Alexa Tablets, and the biggest change is one buyers have wanted for a decade: they run full Android with the Google Play Store, so the apps you use on an Android phone now work on an Amazon tablet.
That matters if you have ever bought a cheap Fire tablet and found YouTube, Google Docs or your bank’s app missing. The new Alexa Tablets lineup has three sizes, starts at $229.99 in the US and puts Amazon’s upgraded Alexa+ assistant at the center. The top model, the Alexa Tablet 12 Pro, is Amazon’s first serious attempt at an iPad rival.
There are three Alexa Tablets, all built with an aluminum unibody shell like Amazon’s latest Kindles. US prices are:
In the UK, the 8.7-inch model starts at £200, the 11-inch at £290 and the 12 Pro at £449.99, with the Nanomatte 12 Pro at £500. All three went on sale in the US on October 14. Amazon has also launched kids versions, covered below.
The 12 Pro is built around its screen. It is a 2800 x 1840 display with a 120Hz refresh rate (how many times a second the picture updates, which makes scrolling look smoother) and a 3:2 shape that suits running two apps side by side. Amazon’s hardware chief, Panos Panay, said the team’s one non-negotiable goal was to make the perfect screen.
The headline option is Nanomatte. Amazon worked with Corning, the company behind Gorilla Glass, to etch a fine texture directly into the glass to cut glare without blurring the picture. It is Amazon’s answer to the nano-texture glass on Apple’s iPad Pro, which Apple only offers on expensive models.
The rest of the hardware is solid but not flashy. The 12 Pro is 6.5mm thick, weighs 550 grams and runs a MediaTek Dimensity 8400 chip, a processor similar to what high-end phones used a year or two ago. It comes with 8GB or 16GB of RAM and 128GB or 256GB of storage. Amazon sells a Pro Keyboard for $149.99 and a Pro Pen for $89.99, and the pen supports 4,096 levels of pressure for handwriting and sketching.
Fire tablets ran Fire OS, Amazon’s own version of Android without Google’s services, which locked out many popular apps. Panay put it bluntly: having Google Play was a necessity. Alexa Tablets give you the full Play Store, including Google’s Gemini assistant if you prefer it.
Alexa+ is still everywhere, though. You can ask it about anything on the screen and get recommendations or answers, and of course it will happily help you shop on Amazon. A Dynamic Tab in the corner surfaces photos, weather, your current books and suggestions.
Reading gets special treatment. When you open the Kindle app, the tablet silences notifications, cuts blue light and adjusts colors for a calmer, paper-like look. Comics get a glossier look instead.
Early reviews of the 12 Pro have been mixed in a useful way. One US reviewer called the Nanomatte screen gorgeous, said it reflected only a faint sheen outdoors where an iPad acts like a mirror, and preferred it to any iPad they had used, while noting the iPad’s OLED screen still shows deeper blacks.
The tradeoffs are elsewhere. That reviewer found the chip far slower than current iPads in benchmarks, though fine for everyday games, work and video. Battery life came in at about eight hours of screen time, lower than Amazon claims. The biggest complaint was software: plenty of preloaded Amazon apps and promotions you cannot avoid, and an Alexa+ assistant that did not impress.
If you want a well-built, cheap Android tablet, these fill a real gap. The Alexa Tablet 8 suits reading, the 11 suits streaming, and the 12 Pro is a sensible pick if glare bothers you or you read outdoors. The 12 Pro starts at $499.99, less than half the $1,199 starting price of Apple’s iPad Pro, though it is far less powerful.
Parents should note the end of the bargain kids tablet. The new Amazon Kids Tablet 8 and Kids Tablet 11 cost $230 and $330, well above the roughly $100 that Fire Kids tablets often started at. They come with a protective case (a soft bumper with a handle for ages three and up, or a slim case with a kickstand for ages six and up), one year of Amazon Kids+, and up to 14 or 15 hours of video playback respectively.
Before buying, ask yourself whether you mind Amazon’s apps and suggestions on your home screen. If you do, a standard Android tablet may suit you better.
Yes. All three Alexa Tablets run full Android with Google Play, unlike the old Fire tablets.
It starts at $499.99 in the US, $549.99 with the Nanomatte screen and up to $679.99 with more RAM and storage. UK pricing starts at £449.99.
Amazon is moving away from the Fire name, and the Alexa Tablets are its new lineup in their place.
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