eternal struggle between iPad, Android and Windows can not forget another important protagonist: Kindle Fire. The Amazon tablet probably did not score in Italy the same numbers made at home, but month after month come more and more applications and services and soon, in 2014, the movie will also come.
Last year, with version 8.9 “it was understood that Amazon would want to get serious, and this year with the HDX series of tablet, the giant e-commerce really wants to leave their mark. The series consists of two tablets, one 7 “and one 8.9″ , with the first one that is positioned in the Nexus 7 while the second goes to undermine the new iPad Mini Retina focusing on a slightly larger screen. The operating system is Android, but it’s really hard to find tracks and similarities with the Google operating system: Amazon has created a true ‘fork’ holding the heart but changing everything the rest , from the interface to the store.
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changes, but we shall see in detail, mainly concern the usability and the target : While Android is a more open and (at first glance) it more difficult for those who have never used a tablet, Fire OS looks now very instant, with a very fast learning curve. Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 “is sold at 369 € , a very competitive price when you consider what this tablet offers in terms of hardware: the screen of excellent quality, powerful processor and a featherweight beating Also the iPad Air.
Magnesium to feel light
Amazon has studied the ergonomics really well when he designed the HDX Kindle Fire, and you notice the small details. The design has changed compared to the previous generation , and the most striking thing is the featherweight.
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With his cabinet in magnesium thin, the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 “weighs 20% less than an iPad Air , and the weight reduction is even higher (35%) if you take it as a yardstick the last year’s model. Hold the new Fire is not very different from hold a Kindle ebook Series : you can grab with one hand to keep it in the frame and the reading position for a long time without getting tired.
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The grip is good, ease of grip thanks to the generous frame, rear housing has a soft finish feels great and fairly fingerprint-resistant finish that hides the frame magnesium. In terms of the special design of the new HDX is given also by lines drawn by designers: , seen from behind, with the protrusion at the top for the camera and flash and the plastic strip that hides the speaker the Fire HDX some ways recalls a military aircraft invisible.
Amazon has also revolutionized the layout of the keys: volume and power are located on the back-to-flow index. The game works perfectly if we hold the tablet in landscape mode, but if you orient mode reading, volume and power are quite uncomfortable. The trick, however, is: using the case that turns your tablet, you avoid having all times seek the release button.
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The case is a bit ‘blessing for this tablet: attention to detail, sturdy, foldable in order to place the tablet on a table in the reading position but also incredibly heavy . Without exaggeration, it seems that the housing weights most of the tablet, and the tablet together custody more often lose all the advantage that the featherweight HDX offered in terms of practicality and comfort.
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case, however, was designed really well: engaging the tablet is magnetic, the buttons are on the back and, above all, by sliding the tablet upward with thumbs extracting room and speaker activating the application for taking photos. The weight, however, remains a problem.
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Never seen a screen so nice on a tablet
power-up, you can not fail to be impressed by ‘ excellent screen used from the Kindle HDX. Amazon had already done a great job last year but this’ year has further improved: in a diagonal of 8.9 “has managed to insert a LCD panel 2560 x 1600 pixels, 339 dpi resolution for a compact image that looks like a photo sublimation. But the resolution is not so much to impress as the same quality: the color rendition is flawless, the pictures are reproduced with a fidelity and detail superb and the same thing can be said for blacks and low lights. The display of the Kindle Fire HDX seems to have no weaknesses, the angle of vision to shine even in difficult conditions: we do not remember to have found a screen on a tablet that can compete with this.
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What
Air iPad it’s pretty close, but the Kindle Fire HDX has something more, probably due to the absence of the gap between the screen and touch (gap instead penalizes the Air ). Wanting to be a little fussy this screen defect has it: high resolution is really difficult to manage, and browsing a web page you can see a long light effect “ wobbling ” , or lines of text instead of being straight bend slightly in the direction of flow. This problem is also present in many other hi-res screens, but maybe on the Kindle Fire is a bit ‘more pronounced.
side of the screen to complete the experience, we point out the presence of two rear speakers that will not only fail to produce a good sound pressure but so do without appreciable distortion. Who is looking for to use as a tablet media player to watch movies and listen to music should really consider the Fire HDX placing it in the top of the list of preferences.
power and autonomy and connections
Amazon has worked hard in terms of hardware, and to better manage its screen “super” has decided to equip the Fire HDX SoC Snapdragon 800. An obvious choice, because Android is evolving more and more under the aegis of Qualcomm and Mediatek : get out of this combination could really be problematic. In addition to the Snapdragon 800, under the body there is a Wi-Fi connectivity with dual antenna (no LTE), 2 GB of RAM , a memory 16 GB for apps and a couple of cameras, the classical Skype for front and rear 8-megapixel camera with LED flash for shots and augmented reality. This is not the camera of a smartphone recently, but its decent job.
lacks the internal GPS module , that this element might be important for many users. Finally, a note regarding the memory: for many, the ability is important, especially if, like this one, which lacks a microSD slot for expansion, however, wants to push heavily on the Amazon cloud and the Kindle Fire HDX is perhaps the only tablet where this concept “cloud / device ” is implemented so radically in the operating system that will be enough easy to exploit. In any case we recommend to invest in higher capacity version: our version has about 11 GB of free space on the 16GB base, and 11 GB for a tablet like this (set on the content) are not many.
Moving to independence, even here Amazon has done a sublime job: reading books and watching movies without problems spent the 14 hours of battery life , and probably without movies also go up to 18 hours. A little ‘less if you play, but hard to really get under 10 hours.
A note regarding connectivity: there is only the micro USB port (and this time Amazon has included in the box the charger) and disappeared HDMI. Probably just connect the tablet to the TV, but this possibility is often useful. Amazon has entered at least the connection Miracast, but it is not the same thing, also because the range of TV Miracast is reduced to the models last year and high-end.
Half operating system half shop
Amazon has further improved its operating system Kindle Fire OS switching to the 3.0 release based on the core of Android 4.2. The improvements you see everyone, especially in terms of speed and fluidity of the interface. The work of Amazon, however, has not stopped to change “behind the scenes”, but has also affected the ‘ User Interface that gets fuller without sacrificing its key points. Amazon is an online e-commerce, and its operating system is deeply affected by this: on the one hand, in fact, focuses on the use of content purchased from the portal of e-commerce, on the other hand allows the user to purchase such new ones.
It exaggerates saying that Fire OS is a shop rather than an operating system , but the logic of the store is definitely well integrated. Among the changes to the interface we appreciate the opportunity to browse in the app grid configuration, immediately below the typical carousel of the most used app.
There is a handy sidebar to move between open apps, an excellent notifications bar which also adds mode “ not Disturb ” and many others small improvements that will surely be appreciated. The video that we made, and we publish below, it shows you the best interface and several new features.
Kindle Fire OS is easy to use and also keeps some aspects of Android itself: the transfer of documents, for example, is done simply by drag & drop After you have connected the tablet via USB, which can not be done with other tablets.
Among the things to improve are definitely the Silk browser and the section of productivity : the browser is fast and responsive as a Mobile Safari or Chrome on Android tablet , especially with sites very heavy. Amazon leverages its Cloud to optimize the required pages before sending them to the tablet , and sometimes slow page rendering is due precisely to this. Unfortunately you can not download so “simple” a different browser on the Kindle, but the geek will do it and it can also load Google Play with Google services and the App The Heart of Fire OS is Android, there are no grounds for Play as a Google apps should not work. disabling protection on loading third-party applications you can also load without passing through the app store, but this is an option for advanced user and definitely off target for this tablet.
Instead, go to the official store, we can say that it is well stocked , and one of the good things is certainly remembered the ability to download free premium app per day (choose Amazon, though). The most interesting applications are there, but many are still missing: Considering the display super defined, we happened to install some applications still not optimized for this resolution and ugly enough to see. If we talk about ecosystem, Apple is still ahead, and the gap in quality and quantity of apps is still very high : Amazon defends itself very well in terms of content, however, in Italy many functions are not available.
There is another situation to consider that perhaps does not turn very much in favor of the Kindle: Amazon has made available its app for iOS ( Kindle, CloudPlayer ) and for Android (Kindle , and CloudPlayer AppStore ) and this means that users who have purchased many ebooks can choose other products to enjoy their purchases. Similarly, those who buy a tablet like the Nexus 7 and it installs the store of Amazon and the Kindle app is in the hands of a product that has the same apps and the same content as the Fire HDX.
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Many might wonder then what sense buy this tablet if you can do the same thing with an Android , but here the Kindle can show off not only his unmatched talents hardware (autonomy, weight, display, audio) but also an interface which, as already mentioned, you will learn in a few minutes and can be used by everyone, including children and grandmothers.
final consideration productivity appearance: Kindle Fire HDX also looks in this direction by providing a calendar, a mail client and a satisfactory document management with ability to send print files to printers wireless . Unfortunately there is a seamless integration with the cloud app Microsoft and Google, who then uses SkyDrive or Google Drive to handle documents will in difficulty.
Superior hardware for a tablet simple, perhaps too
The Kindle Fire is a tablet HDX powerful in terms of hardware but overly simple in terms of the interface. It is true that special care must be ease of use, but the closed system of Amazon , especially for us, is a bit ‘too closed. For those who want a tablet to be exploited for the use of content, Fire HDX is perfect , but those who want a product a little ‘more “all round” then you might consider another tablet and load the app to Amazon. Amazon is fond of Fire OS and is good , because the interface is simple and really for everyone, but it should also consider a more “Android” with Google App on board, perhaps by paying a premium.
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