Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 review: Unapologetically content-driven - TechHive

• Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 8.9-inch $ 379.00

  Amazon makes the best content-oriented tablet better with a stunning display, new features That Enhance movies and music, and a decent camera.

the handset marketplace, the iPhone is simply one of at least a half a dozen Equally capable options. There’s less competition among compact tablets, but many consumers only desire Those Things axis ultra-portable entertainment devices or “wicked big phones” instead of as real, powerful computers.

And so, despite the superior build materials and productivity potential of the forthcoming new iPad mini, a 7-inch Android tablet That costs nearly half as much as a mini, fits smaller pockets inside, and runs all of the same media apps and most of the same games is still a compelling option for many.

But

full-size tablets are a different story. The difference in price between an iPad Air and a full-size Android tablet is much narrower, sometimes, it’s equally negligible. And the difference in power and capabilities is immense. I travel with my iPad as my sole computer. I’d only attempt to do the same with a Galaxy Note 10.1 to win a bet.

All of this is by way of putting the new third-generation 8.9-inch Kindle Fire HDX in context. Despite being one of the cheapest full-size tablets from a name-brand manufacturer, $ 379 (for the Wi-Fi-only model with 16GB of storage) does not feel like a small amount of money. Nor does it seem that much less expensive than a $ 499 iPad Air kitted out the same way. By the way, if you do not want your Fire HDX to present “Special Offers” on the lockscreen, the gap narrows by another $ 15.

The Kindle Fire HDX 8.9-inch tablet Is not as pocket-sized as the 7-inch version, but it weighs just 13.2 ounces, Which is 34 percent lighter than the last generation and even lighter than the iPad Air.

The math still seems to be in the iPad’s favor, and the final verdict must be an answer to the question: “Is there a type of full-size tablet user who Is not being well-served by the iPad?” After about a week with the 8.9-inch HDX, I have a few ideas.

Easy on the arms

The 8.9-inch HDX shares two of the iPad’s Air superlatives: thinness and lightweight. It’s only 0.02 thicker, and at just 13 ounces, it’s just about 20 percent lighter than the Air.

Disappointingly, the HDX did not float, but it was still easy to hold one-handed during long reading sessions.

And it feels good, too. The casing is plastic, not metal, but it’s a bit grippier than the iPad.

Superb display, rich sound

The 2560-by-1600-pixel screen features the by-now-customary “better than the human eye” 339-ppi density, and the image quality is enhanced further Top with what Amazon promises is “100 percent sRGB color accuracy. “

The improvement is hard to fully appreciate the HDX Unless You lay side-by-side with the Air, but it’s a gorgeous display with rich contrast, and the improvement is noticeable. This is probably the best I own screen for watching movies.

The screen is great, but its widescreen aspect ratio makes reading in portrait mode feel like you’re holding a legal pad.My

casual impressions have been validated by the experts at DisplayMate, who Compared the screens of the iPad Air, the 8.9-inch HDX, and the Google Nexus 10 tablets and declared the Kindle as the “most impressive.”

I was more impressed by the screen’s performance outdoors. The HDX is super-bright and it reacts to sunlight by goosing shadow areas. As a result, I was able to enjoy a movie outside, or at a table near a window, Which I’ve always found impossible on an iPad.

The sole disappointments of the HDX’s 8.9-inch display are about its very shape and size. The Air iPad’s 2048-by-1536 pixels screen Offers Fewer than the HDX, but it covers about 10 additional square inches. Often I use a tablet with a keyboard for hours at a time, and the iPad’s larger screen is easier on my eyes despite the lower pixel density.

Both the HDX and the iPad are too large to carry in a pocket. If you’re stuck carrying a bag, why not have a larger display?

The HDX’s widescreen aspect ratio makes it usefull favor the landscape orientation. That’s fab when watching widescreen movies, less fab when reading a book. It feels a bit like reading a legal document (though the effect Is not nearly as intense as it is on a Microsoft Surface tablet).

I’m pleased That makers are putting more effort into high-quality on-device sound systems. The HDX features stereo speakers That Are That powerful and rich enough for desk-side movie watching in a hotel room I did not feel the need to break out my travel Bluetooth speakers.

Hardware

The greater amount of pixels Has not done anything to hurt the 8.9-inch HDX’s graphics performance. Axis with the 7-inch model, the lagginess and stuttering That were the signature faults or previous Fire tablets are nowhere to be seen here. This is due to a floor-to-ceiling rewrite of Fire OS graphics pipeline as well as the inherent power of its 2.2GHz quad-core CPU Snapdradon 800. Overall, this is a peppy tablet and I never felt any hesitation.

There’s plenty of battery life for long sessions of gaming or streaming video.

Battery life is excellent, though something just south of what I’ve come to expect from the iPad. I was able to run down a fully charged battery to 50 percent in a little less than five hours of aggressive use.

Wi-Fi speeds are usefull solid, performing just as well through my AirPort Extreme base station as the Air. Like the iPad, it features dual band and MIMO.

The HDX gets a new rear-facing camera with flash That takes phone-quality, if unspectacular, 8-megapixel images. This legacy to complement its front-facing 720p HD camera chat.

Is it a real computer?

You can probably guess from the intro to this review That my expectations of a full-size Android tablet as a for-real productivity device Are not high.

That said, the HDX is at least a credible working computer, thanks mostly to what it inherits as an Android 4.2-based device. While it’s still not the sort of device That a company would likely choose to buy for its employees, at least the HDX has new enterprise features (VPN, Kerberos, ability to use mobile device management tools) That allow an IT department to support it, after an expected amount of grumbling.

Polaris Office Ably can edit Office files on the Kindle HDX, but you will not find as many tablet-size productivity apps in the Amazon Appstore as you’ll find for the iPad.

The HDX’s chief limitations as a productivity device are same problems any Android tablet owner would encounter. I bought Polaris Office from the Amazon Appstore, and it’s a fine mobile edition of an Office-type app suite. It certainly served its intended purpose.

But Android has a lack of depth to its productivity catalog, and when you ask That a productivity app be written to take advantage of the full potential of a full-size tablet, options are thin on the ground and your best salvation are Web-based apps.

That said, the built-in email client is strong enough to help me keep up with my inbox, and the HDX works well with my Bluetooth keyboard. Wireless printing is coming soon via a software update. Alas, the HDX can not connect to an external wired display, so it’s not a safe choice as a presentation device for travelers.

Please be

Kindle Kindle

But the best features of the HDX are the ones that’ll make it a kindle. No other tablet-the iPad included-is so keenly tuned to the needs of content consumption.

The central feature of the Fire launcher is a “history” of the carousel videos, books, music, and apps you’ve been using. The advantage of this approach Immediately makes the iPad Springboard launcher look even more primitive. It takes you right to the thing for you and makes app management and organization mostly unnecessary.

And there’s so much content to experience. A $ 79 annual Amazon Prime membership delivers tens of thousands of videos and hundreds of thou sands of books at no extra charge;. The HDX can just download Prime videos one at a time for offline viewing

Lest all

Of Those books and movies and games and comic books become a distraction to your kids, the rich HDX includes parental controls That Allows you to set daily “allowances” for usage, by content type.

I loved the live help feature in Mayday my 7-inch Kindle Fire HDX review, and I still use it with the 8.9-inch HDX .

I wrote in depth about the HDX’s new X-Ray for Video and Music Mayday and features in my review of the 7-inch HDX last month. The first set of features answers all of the questions you have about the media you’re enjoying (“What song is tat in the background?” “Who’s that actor?”) As it plays, the second offers live, on-device video technical support with real humans. I continue to use both of Those features;. They’re the real deal and I wish I could use them on my iPad

I think the HDX is the best tablet on the market for content consumption. The drawback? Those advantages you will not see unless you’re buying your digital content through Amazon. The same could be said of the iPad, Which is geared toward iTunes purchases. But let’s not overlook the fact that “controlling the whole widget” is intensely profitable for both Amazon and Apple.

Buying advice

I still think the iPad is the default choice for anyone interested in a full-size tablet. It might not be the best fit for absolutely everybody. Nonetheless, the conversation always begins with the question: “Well, why would not this person be happiest with an iPad?”

The operative question for the HDX is: “Do you regard productivity to be a key feature, or just a desirable bonus?” If you’re Primarily motivated by content and Apple’s Genius Bar terrific customer service holds no great allure then the Fire HDX is a compelling choice. Perhaps even a superior option, if you use the money you save to buy an Amazon Prime membership and get all of That valuable no-additional-charge content.

The 8.9-inch HDX is available in capacities from 16GB to 64GB, with LTE (via AT & T or Verizon) or without, and with “Special Offers” (lockscreen ads) or without. I recommend getting at least 32GB of storage (HD movies really sing on this device and they take up beaucoup space), as well as popping the extra $ 15 to get rid of the ads.

Amazon’s Origami Cover is a worthy purchase. It comes in polyurethane or leather (shown here) for $ 55 and $ 70, respectively.

I’m less bullish on the $ 100 LTE option. It’s hard to imagine using an iPad without mobile broadband. But Given That the Fire HDX is better used as a passive reader, viewer, and player than as a day-long email and online browsing tool, the extra money is probably better applied toward the coffees and snacks you’ll enjoy at Wi-Fi -equipped coffeehouses.

Definitely pick up one or Amazon’s $ 55 Origami Covers, However. It completely encases and protects the Kindle and usefull magnetically folds into a stand with four different portrait and landscape configurations easel. (A leather version is available for $ 70 if you’re fancy.)

Bottom line

With the HDX Fire, the Kindle acquires the early first pangs of an identity crisis. If it has the form or a full sized productivity device, try to Should not it be one? Naw. It has its own identity and it has a valuable role to play.

Apple described the case of the iPhone 5c as not just “plastic,” but “unapologetically plastic.” Amazon should do the same with the Kindle. It’s unapologetically content-driven. They’ve improved the screen and the sound and the OS features to make this the most pleasant Device for enjoying other people’s creativity.

It’s definitely not the best full-size tablet for sweating through a full day of work. But it might be the best tablet for recovering from one.

Andy Ihnatko Senior Contributor, TechHive

Andy Ihnatko is a Noted author, columnist at The Chicago Sun Times and Macworld, a regular on Mac Break Weekly, host of The Ihnatko Almanac on 5by5.tv, frequent speaker, Apple guru, geek extraordinaire, and an Internationally Beloved Industry Personality.
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