Launched in U.S in November 2012, as an updated form of 7 inch Amazon Kindle Fire HD, this Kindle fire HD 8.9" is a cheap, first large screen tablet with all qualities you look for to get you locked into Amazon's world.
$229.00
(Tripleclick's Price)
It has got great features undoubtedly confirming one of the
best tablet available in the market.
PRICE:
Amazon's starting price is $269 and costs $299 for other retailers online. E-bay- $230.
Design and User-Interface:
Though similar in design to the 7" model, screen is relatively larger. Thick black borders around the screen make it bigger than ipad-mini; Though ipad-mini is admittedly cheaper, lighter, smaller, higher in resolution, it is devoid of HD display, which is a huge setback. Further ipad-mini doesn't have a 16:9 display ratio, which is essential for proper viewing of movies, which means the viewer loses display area, as the screen turns letter-boxed. This is the biggest boon to Kindle Fire HD revolution.
Buttons and ports look alike the previous model with the same soft- touch rear and stereo speakers. Undoubtedly, you can use it for landscape orientation. Speakers deliver clear, loud sound better than other tablets I heard. Thanks to tablet's beveled bottom -don't sit flush with the desktop and actually send out sounds at an angle, reverberates off the desk, thus enhancing the quality.
Similar to laptop, webcam is located centrally above the screen and speakers are on the left and right towards the rear bottom. Based on your holding position, your hands act as a reflector, to direct audio forwards, cover the speakers and muffle the sound.
Kindle Fire HD 8.9" offers a single front facing camera,which uses a 1.3MP sensor to give you a reasonable video conferencing.
Amazon prime members hugely benefit with the purchase. Those who are new to prime will also have 1 month free prime after their purchase.
Micro-USB and micro HDMI-ports for synch/charge and TV output are seen on the bottom edge. Hence I suggest Kindle Fire HD 8.9" to others - avoided proprietary cables and adapters.
However the volume and power button on the right side sit flush with the body are hard to locate, especially power. Near the top you find headphone jack.
Quality of building is very impressive leave alone the weighing side- 567g. Credit to Amazon for its well-designed case.
Apps and files are automatically categorized by the user interface and placed in respective zones which enables users to eliminate app-hunting. The main home screen displays the most recently used applications in a carousal format.
Full HD Display:
A superb screen for the price. Has wide viewing angles, deep colors and good contrast.
The new Kindle version HD 8.9" is adorable for its stunning HD full view screen. The 1920* 1200 resolution makes everything nice and sharp. Pixel density is 254 ppi. Similar to its previous model, it has 10-point multi -touch capacitive screen which use IPS LCD panel.
Though we all expect a revised ipad-mini with a retina screen this year end, Fire HD 8.9" model beats other existing models for resolution. One of the compelling reason to buy Amazon is: awesome HD video as do photos and e-books.
Another advantage over ipad-mini 7" is the cheap 4G LTE package just $50/year. Other 4G LTE enabled tablets starts typically $15/month. So, an additional $130 savings from first year alone!
Watching videos together with Dolby audio engine -dual rear stereo speakers, a cherishing experience.
Kindle supports a range of file formats in all zones. I checked out the most commonly used documents such as text, word, excel, PDF etc. and it worked as expected. Then tried a few HD 720p and full HD 1080p videos to check video aspects. Full HD videos didn't fail/stutter anywhere.
Unsurprisingly, the same OS as the other two kindle fires. Say, slick and very easy to use. The only snag, although based on Android Ice-Cream Sandwich, it's pretty locked down. You can't access the Google play store. Instead you have to buy apps, games, videos, magazines and e-books from Amazon. Pretty understandable from its subsidized nature.
You can choose to install any third-party apps unlike Barnes & Noble Hook HD. If you know what to do, you can run apps other than Amazon too. Of course there is BBC iPlayer app. But you still can't find other catch-up apps such as ITV player and 4oD.
Amazon's kindle store gives access to 22 million movies, TV shows, songs, apps, games, audio-books and magazines with over 1.5 million kindlebooks and over 800,000 books priced cheap. This real strength makes me not to look for any other play store.
Amazon's kindle store gives access to 22 million movies, TV shows, songs, apps, games, audio-books and magazines with over 1.5 million kindlebooks and over 800,000 books priced cheap. This real strength makes me not to look for any other play store.
A tip for enthusiasts: the tablet can be rooted and custom Android ROM's installed, but you can void the warranty while doing so.
A simple payment of $15 to Amazon will make your tablet ad -free since the model is ad sponsored. It's the least intrusive ad method I've ever seen. Offers are seen only in lock screen and not anywhere. I appreciate coupon offers.
Amazon has Lovefilm instant for movies. You can access it via monthly subscription. There are also HD movies and TV shows which you can watch in Kindlefire HD. Great viewing experience on screen. You can download them for viewing only in online. So get an internet connection. If you wish, install the free Netflix app from Amazon's app store.
Reading e-books is a pleasure on the big screen ignoring the 'little weight'.
Connectivity and Storage:
It supports Wi-Fi and Bluetooth which is sufficient for many. Like Google's nexus7, we can't find GPS or NFC. Remember, Kindles are designed to consume contents mostly. With 16 GB model, you get 12.7 GB storage. Sadly, you can't add further via memory card. There are no expansion slots to install a microSD card for additional storage. It doesn't feature USB OTG options for additional data expansion too. You can use wireless storage/ network share either at home or office. Personal NAS on the web can also be availed. But high quality screen and fairly low price compensates its negative issues.
Performance:
Performance:
Comparing 7" fireHD, Kindle Fire HD 8.9" has faster dual-core processor,which virtually matched Nexus7. On an average it scored 1398 in Geekbench 2 and 12 fps in the Egypt HD test from GLBenchmark. Averaged 1376 ms Sunspider JavaScript test. Analyzing the scores it performs a little better than conventional dual-core tablets in the market.
Though loading delays happen when you scroll webpage for contents, webpages loaded by browser are fairly quick.
Battery Life:
Amazon's claim is "over 10 hours" of continuous use. However, it lasts for 7 hours and 15 minutes for playing back full brightness Wi-Fi video - still scores good and that too in big screen.
Charge with good 2A, like ipad, for faster charging. Conventional chargers from other smartphones doesn't yield any result. Charging from PC or laptop consumes 14 odd hours, very slow.
As brightness can't be reduced significantly because of the somewhat low brightness already, but disabling Wi-Fi could very well achieve 8 - 8.5 hours.
My friend set its brightness for 3 days he played with to 75%,constantly streaming videos, downloading apps, playing games, and navigating the interface. During which, he charged once in every 5 hours.
Battery performs admirably against both 7 inch and 10 inch android competitors.
| Tested spec | Kindle Fire HD 8.9 | Apple iPad (third generation) | Google Nexus 10 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum brightness | 413 cd/m2 | 455 cd/m2 | 368 cd/m2 |
| Maximum black level | 0.45 cd/m2 | 0.49 cd/m2 | 0.44 cd/m2 |
| Maximum contrast ratio | 917:1 | 939:1 | 836:1 |
Customer Review Collections From The Web
Review 1:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What a Machine, 24 May 2013
Ordered on Wednesday arrived Thursday well packaged arrived on time before 1'o clock as required. Unpacked the tablet and it looked the business, pressed the on button and hey pressto it was working a few instructions to follow but quite easy to set up.
I bought my Kindle Fire HD to replace a tablet that broke after just two months this was sent to be repaired under the warranty but was sent back with the expanation beyond repair unable to get a replacement from the company warranty took seven weeks without a tablet to finally get a refund so don't Go Clever go Kindle.
Using the Kindle is a dream it will do everything without any problems I have had it and used it now for a week First thing I noticed was the lack of things I wanted to use Like ITV player and 4 od they say that these are not available on the Kindle not the case after a little investigation both are up and running.
To get these working is quite easy.
Go to lovemyfire.com from the site you can download the two files you need the Flash player 11.1 and Dolphin browers.
You will need Flash player to make things work its very very simple to do from the site download the files open your ES file manager click on download files and you will see the two files from there install them.(The one thing you need to do is in your kindle settings click Allow instalation of Applications)
The reason for the Dolphin Browser is Google Bing and other browsers do not support Flash (this is Adobe not supporting these its not only Kindle but all tablets using these browsers)
Dolphin is a good browser and supports Flash but I went for Firefox Mobile Browser This can be installed from the Firefox web site to your computer and sideloaded to your kindle using your USB cable supplied this will be in your ES file manager for intallation install it and use it away you go.
when using Fire fox or Dolphin in the top right you will see three bar icone click select Request desktop site Enjoy ITV player 4od and 5 on demand (5 0ndemand can be used from the You tube only as there are copy write issues with on mobile devices)
I can state that the Kindle Fire Hd 8.9 ia a good looker a tablet that will please everyone.
The Kindle Fire will work everywhere inside outside and in the Garden shed the Wifi system is the best I have used it works in all rooms inside with out any boosters I would give this 10 out of 10 it works great no drop out.
If you like films it comes with Love film free for a month I use Netflix and just downloaded the app from Amazon app store free and it worked first time with no problems, you can get BBC iplayer Catch up Tv Film on tv Crackle all in the
Amazon app store for Free.
Buying the Kindle Fire Hd was the best thing I did it a tablet that does everything is says on the tin download Wifi transfer app fron the store and open up a new world of file sharing.
If theres a downside this is it you will need the Kindle Charger this will charge your tablet in less time if you want to use the kindle on your HDTV you will need a HDMI cable.
In closing don`t be put off by the kindle not having a ext sd slot you will not need one use the cloud it good and free.
Review 2:
Review 3:
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Average score based on 63reviews
My Verdict:
- If you like multitasking and demand a full sized tablet to run any android you like, prioritize Kindle fire HD 8.9" as a top list immediately for your holiday shopping spree.
- If you are a good reader of e-books, comics and magazines, definitely this is the golden deal you should never miss. Honestly, an unmatched resolution for its price.
- If you are budget conscious as well as looking for a premium tablet with a large display-high resolution, I recommend kindlefire HD 8.9 inch for sure.
- Great one-stop device for watching movies and films, digital music, browsing the web, sending and receiving mail and playing games to your heart's content.
- An excellent entertainment device which can be handled by even users with zero technical knowledge.
- Though you can get other still cheaper tablets, in my opinion, what defends Kindle HD 8.9" is the superior build quality, easy and swift user interface, above than average performance, full HD IPS display, comforting viewing angles, excellent speakers and a good battery life.
- Even as it lacks USB OTG for 3G dongles, non-expandable storage option, and an optional charger that has to be additionally paid for, currently, this is the only premium dual-core 9" tablet available in the market at cheap affordable price.
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