For 15 years, Amazon’s Fire tablets served as affordable options for anyone who liked to read books, surf the web, watch videos, and shop for products on Amazon. That’s why it’s a surprise that Amazon just killed off Fire tablets for a new, more expensive option that you’ll either love or hate.
Amazon Fire tablets were cheap, both in quality and affordability. They were made of plastic, they ran a forked version of Android that cut out the Google Play Store in favor of the Amazon App Store, and they cost anywhere between $50 and $200, depending on the model. This made them easy to give to kids, throw in a bag, or keep around the house without much concern.
Premium devices require premium price tags, and Alexa Tablets deliver in spades.
Amazon Fire tablets were useful in their category, but compared to Apple’s iPad or the Samsung Galaxy Tab series, they weren’t nearly as capable. For this reason, Amazon officially killed the Fire tablet in early October in favor of something else — a new product crafted for the personal intelligence era of society.
Dubbed Alexa Tablets, these new devices come in three distinct sizes: the largest 12-inch Amazon Alexa Tablet 12 Pro, the middle 11-inch Amazon Alexa Tablet 11, and the smallest 8.7-inch Amazon Alexa Tablet 8.
They’re premium in both look and feel, featuring aluminum frames, 60Hz-120Hz refresh rate displays for smooth performance, and refined designs.
Unlike the Fire tablets of the past, Alexa Tablets run a full version of Android 16. That means users can access the Google Play Store and download all their favorite apps, including Google services like YouTube, video games like Genshin Impact and Roblox, and Amazon apps, including Kindle, Amazon store, and Prime Video.
As their names suggest, Alexa Tablets are built around the premium version of Amazon’s personal assistant, Alexa+. Although it may not generate as much buzz as ChatGPT, Claude, or even the new Siri, Alexa+ is a generative AI chatbot that can field questions, make reservations, and more.
Under the hood, some of Alexa Tablets’ appeal starts to wane. The 8-inch version comes with 4GB of RAM (upgradable to 8GB) and up to 128GB of storage — pretty small metrics by today’s standards, and the RAM shortage over AI isn’t helping. As for the 11-inch Pro tablet, it comes with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, upgradable to 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.
All three tablets feature MediaTek chips in lieu of Qualcomm — 8189 8-core on the smaller versions and Dimensity 8400 on the larger Pro. MediaTek is usually considered the cheaper and less performant option than the Qualcomm Snapdragon series found in most flagship Android devices today. These were likely chosen to cut costs.
RELATED: Google is killing its popular Chromebook. Here’s what’s next — and how to prepare.
John Moore/Staff/Getty Images
As a whole, Alexa Tablets seem like decent devices — not groundbreaking but not bad either. They look good, they should feel premium in the hand, and the overall quality exceeds anything that Fire tablets delivered in a decade and a half.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise. Amazon’s device division is headed up by Senior Vice President Panos Panay. Panay, who joined Amazon in 2023, previously worked as the chief product officer at Microsoft, meticulously building and refining the Surface product series for 15 years.
If you’ve never listened to Panay wax poetic over new hardware, it’s something to watch. His adoration for tech is infectious. He clearly loves what he does. Any of us would be lucky to have a spouse that fawns over us like Panay does his tech. But I digress.
The biggest problem with Alexa Tablets is the price.
Premium devices require premium price tags, and Alexa Tablets deliver in spades. The cheapest Alexa Tablet 8 starts at $279.99, a far cry from the $50 Fire tablet days. Continuing the climb up the price chart, Alexa Tablet 11 clocks in at $379.99. Then at the top, reigning as the most premium option on the list, the Alexa Tablet 12 Pro can be yours for $499.99.
Now, it’s important to look at these prices in context. While they’re worlds more expensive than the Fire tablets of yesteryear, and while these new versions may be too pricey to hand off to a child or throw around like their predecessors, Alexa tablets are still surprisingly affordable compared to iPad and Galaxy Tab.
The base model iPad Mini and iPad start at $599 and $449, respectively, while the high-end iPad Pro will cost you $1,199 or more. At the same time, Samsung will sell you the cheapest Galaxy Tab S10 Lite for $399.99, up to the Galaxy Tab S12 Ultra for $1,399.99. This makes Alexa Tablets one of the most affordable “Pro” tablets money can buy, even if they are a sticker shock compared to the outgoing Fire series.
Alexa Tablets are available for purchase now from Amazon, Target, Best Buy, and other retailers.
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Amazon, Tablet, Tech