Amazon Kindle Fire

Tech Specs

Hardware

Height	7.5 inches
Width	4.7 inches
Thickness	0.45 inches
Weight	0.91 pounds
Primary orientation	Portrait
Color	Black
Speakers	Stereo

Display

Screen size (diagonal)	7 inches
Technology	IPS LCD
Resolution (X)	600 px
Resolution (Y)	1024 px
Touchscreen type	Capacitive
Multitouch	Yes

Software

Operating system	Android
Skin	Kindle
Launch OS version	2.3.3

Processor

CPU brand	TI
CPU family	OMAP 4
CPU model	OMAP4430
Clock speed	1 GHz
Cores	2

GPU

Brand	Imagination Technologies
Model	PowerVR SGX540

Memory

RAM size	512 MB

Storage

Internal size	8 GB

Connectivity

Wi-Fi	Yes
Wi-Fi support	802.11n, 802.11g, 802.11b
Bluetooth	No

Ports

Headphone	3.5mm
Data connections	Micro USB

Sensors

Sensors	Ambient Light, Accelerometer

Battery

Capacity	4400 mAh
Removable	No
Quoted use time	7.5 hr

Benchmarks

Quadrant	2011
SunSpider	2541.9 ms
The Verge Battery Test	5 hour 47 minutes

Recent News

• 

  Amazon's Kindle deal with Waterstones deflates Nook's global balloon

  4 days ago   42 comments
• 

  Amazon reportedly offering ad space on Kindle Fire home screen for $600,000

  7 days ago   28 comments
• 

  Front-lit Kindle slated for July launch, according to Reuters source

  11 days ago   16 comments
• 

  HBO confirms Android Go and MAX Go apps for tablets coming this summer

  14 days ago   17 comments
• 

  Kindle Fire update adds password-protected purchases, parental controls

  22 days ago   15 comments
• 

  iPad still strong in first quarter of 2012, but Android tablet shipments dropped, says IDC

  22 days ago   133 comments
• 

  It's official: Target will phase out all Kindle-branded products this spring

  23 days ago   119 comments
• 

  Target to stop carrying Amazon Kindle hardware due to 'conflict of interest'?

  23 days ago   95 comments
• 

  Kindle Fire makes up over half of Android tablet market, says comScore

  29 days ago   122 comments
• 

  Amazon's Q1 revenue up 35 percent to $13.18 billion: 9 out of 10 bestsellers were digital

  29 days ago   50 comments
• 

  'Draw Something' now available for the Kindle Fire

  29 days ago   15 comments

view all

Recent Discussions

• Apple Core

  Is iPad Becoming the Next iPod?

  16 days ago by Vivekiyer87 41 comments

view all

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• 9.0

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  Reviewed by sonelone (Currently owns)

  March 20, 2012 03:25 pm

  While it is of course not as good as an iPad 2 or Transformer Prime, it is not competing with those. The price alone for this product gives it a higher score. Essentially, this is a Blackberry playbook running Android, which is not bad at all. CM9 on this thing is great.

  The Breakdown

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  • Design 6
  • Display 8
  • Speakers 7
  • Performance 9
  • Software 6
  • Battery life 8
  • Ecosystem 10

  Show the rest of this review and the breakdown
• 8.0

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  Reviewed by maryhb (Currently owns)

  December 28, 2011 08:15 pm

  The Kindle Fire is a very understated tablet. The design is sensible (with the exception of the placement of the power button on the bottom edge - what?), the software is fairly stark and utilitarian. Pretty much every element of the tablet is just enough. It's not much to write home about, but there's really nothing to complain about either. Strong points are the bright IPS display and the Amazon content library. Weaker are the speaker placement and the design of the tablet. There are two speakers on the top of the tablet. This is fine for listening to music, but when watching a movie in landscape format, the placement results in the sound coming from only one side. It's a small detail, but I found it to be fairly irritating. Finally, the design, while certainly not bad, is just boring. Everything is squared off, and it makes the Fire look and feel thicker than it needs to. A little bit of taper on the sides would make it sleeker in the hand. I like a lot of things about the hardware, don't get me wrong, but a little bit of the flash implied by the name would make it more lively. But the way the tablet looks doesn't really affect the experience a whole lot, and Amazon has definitely put together a tablet that is polished, that is pleasant to use, and that takes excellent advantage of Amazon's very healthy ecosystem.

  The Breakdown

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  • Design 6
  • Display 8
  • Speakers 6
  • Performance 7
  • Software 8
  • Battery life 7
  • Ecosystem 8

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• 7.0

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  Reviewed by thekitch (Currently owns)

  December 20, 2011 12:41 pm

  Love it! My first tablet and I couldn't ask for more, well maybe more performance and more battery life. Oh, and better apps. Then I would be done. Overall though it's awesome for consuming content. You must get the nook app for magazines though, far better than the native kindle stuff. Feedly is my go to for keeping up with the world. Best way ever to consume google reader. Also great for video. ESPN streaming works great for basketball games. UPnP for streaming my own content from my Mac. Amazon video is awesome.

  The Breakdown

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  • Design 8
  • Display 8
  • Speakers 4
  • Performance 7
  • Software 7
  • Battery life 7
  • Ecosystem 8

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• 7.0

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  Reviewed by coreyod (Currently owns)

  December 20, 2011 12:00 pm

  Primarily, the Kindle Fire is a device for personal content use; not for business, not for creatives, not for hackers, not for students…not exclusively anyway.
  Kids (though the device needs spending controls to prevent rampant purchasing), mom, dad, grandma, and non-geeks will love it.

  The Kindle Fire is a seamless, friction-free gateway into the world of Amazon, and will likely suck dollars from your wallet without you even noticing. The Amazon Prime membership ($79 per year) is nearly obligatory, as the selection of movies and TV shows rivals or bests Netflix and provides a great streaming experience. The Kindle Fire has a huge leg-up over most competitors with a movie-rental store as well, offering $3-$4 rentals of recent releases that can be viewed on the Kindle Fire (even when off-line) and on a myriad of TV-connected boxes (Roku, Tivo, DVD players, Smart TV’s etc.) The application market is nowhere near the size and quality of Apple’s App Store, nor as broad as the barely-curated Google Market, but the big name items are in there and more seem to be coming, based on developer interest in the platform.

  Welcome to the Post-PC era. The Kindle Fire is NOT an iPad competitor; for some (myself included), it actually offers a complimentary experience, focused more on reading and portability than unlimited-application capabilities; though time will tell if it can hold a spot in my usage patterns...

  Full Review here: http://paralleltech.wordpress.com/

  The Breakdown

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  • Design 5
  • Display 7
  • Speakers 5
  • Performance 4
  • Software 5
  • Battery life 5
  • Ecosystem 9

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• 7.0

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  Reviewed by Tuan X (Currently owns)

  December 20, 2011 09:42 am

  The Kindle Fire is a limited use device, especially when compared to a product like the iPad. If you aren't already engrained within the Amazon ecosystem, or don't plan/want/desire to be, I can't recommend it. But if you are, this is a pretty great product for it's price. Granted you have a smaller library of the same apps you'll find on your Android phone or iOS device, but if you're an Amazon Prime member, things are pretty sweet. This would make a great gift for anyone who doesn't want an iPad; but it would be a swift kick in the gonads to some who was looking forward to a brand new Apple tablet. Proceed with limited caution.

  @TuanX | http://www.tuanx.com
  http://www.crazydopetastic.com

  The Breakdown

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  • Design 7
  • Display 7
  • Speakers 7
  • Performance 7
  • Software 6
  • Battery life 8
  • Ecosystem 8

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• 7.0

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  Reviewed by kyle932 (Currently owns)

  December 20, 2011 02:42 am

  The Kindle Fire was given to me as an early Christmas gift, and I have been playing with it extensively for a week. The design is minimal at best, but I happen to like it. The soft touch/ rubbery back is comfortable to hold, and makes the Fire easy to grip. The display is crisp, bright, and easy to read but it is very glossy and I had trouble reading it in a lit room. It became almost impossible to view outside. The screen also collects smudges very easily, but fortunately they are easy to clean off. The real problem for me with the Kindle Fire is the skin that Amazon put on it. I personally find it very difficult to use the carousel and I constantly skip over the things I try to select. I often have to touch things several times to get them to open, and I have to hold down certain buttons (like the home button) for it to register my press. Battery life tends to be quite good, especially if you spend most of your time reading, however if the screen brightness is all the way up the battery life suffers severely (in my experience).

  The Breakdown

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  • Design 7
  • Display 7
  • Speakers 6
  • Performance 7
  • Software 4
  • Battery life 7
  • Ecosystem 8

  Show the rest of this review and the breakdown