Amazon Aims Low With $50 Fire Tablet, Ups Its Game With $229 10-inch Fire HD
We were tipped that Amazon would be introducing a $50 tablet earlier this month, but we were left to speculate as to how exactly the online retail giant would be able to hit that price point. Well, today we’re finding out all the gory details on Amazon’s latest effort to push its services into the hands of more customers.
The new entry-level Fire tablet, as we previously surmised, comes with a 1024x600 IPS display, hence why it doesn’t have the “HD” moniker attached to its name. You’ll also find a 1.3GHz quad-core processor with 1GB of RAM (Amazon claims that the Fire’s processor is twice as powerful as the unit found in Samsung’s competing Tab 3 Lite), 8GB of internal storage, and a microSD slot which expands storage up to 128GB. You’ll also be thankful to learn that Amazon has included front- and rear-facing cameras — they’re basic, but they’ll work in a pinch. Besides, if we catch you taking pictures in a crowded area with a tablet in the first place, we’re going to have words with you…
Amazon's $50 Fire tablet
Wrapping things up, the Fire brings with it Amazon’s new Fire OS 5, support for Mayday screen sharing, Amazon Underground, and will operate for up to seven hours on a charge.
“Today, we’re taking another step in our mission to deliver premium products at non-premium prices,” said Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. “Fire sets a new bar for what customers should expect from a low cost tablet.”
The all-new Fire tablet will be available starting September 30th, and Amazon will offer the tablet in a discounted six-pack for $249 (which represents a $50 savings).
Amazon Fire HD 10
Moving on to other Fire tablet news, Amazon has introduced new 8-inch and 10-inch Fire HD tablets. The new tablets are available in an array of vibrant colors and are Amazon’s thinnest tablets yet, coming in at just 7.7mm thick. The 8-inch and 10-inch tablets both feature a 16:10 aspect ratio which offers 15 percent and 22 percent more viewing area than its competitors with 4:3 aspect ratios. Like the new $50 Fire, the larger Fire HD tablets include a microSD slot and Fire OS 5, but bump up the processing power with a 1.5GHz quad-core MediaTek SoC.
The Fire HD 8 and Fire HD 10 will both be available on September 30th priced from $149.99 and $229.99 respectively. The smaller of the two tablets will be available in 8GB an 16GB configurations, while the larger will be available in 16GB and 32GB configurations.
