£119 for an Amazon tablet with these specs is an amazing deal, however, this is a tablet running a heavily customised version of Android with restricted access to the Google Play App store. Read our review of the Amazon Kindle Fire HD (2013) tablet to find out whether paying £119 for this tablet is such a good deal.
When Amazon launched the original Kindle Fire tablet, there wasn’t a great deal of competition. Now, though, the budget tablet market is awash with high-quality models including Tesco’s Hudl, Asus’ Memo Pad HD7 and Barnes & Noble’s Nook HD+. There's also the old Kindle Fire HD, which you can still buy.
The “all-new” Kindle Fire HD costs exactly the same as the Hudl, making the supermarket tablet the most direct rival. We’ll look at the differences in a minute, but it’s important to understand where Amazon is pitching the Fire HD.
First, nothing has changed in terms of the walled garden. Unlike regular Android tablets such as the Hudl, the Fire HD has a highly customised version which has one clear aim: to let you get at (read: purchase) Amazon’s digital content. That means your apps, books, videos, music and magazines come from Amazon rather than Google. There’s no access to the Google Play store, just as you would expect.
This is still primarily a content consumption device, although the new Fire OS 3.0 does bring email and web browsing into the foreground more than the earlier Fire tablets.
There are no cameras (the old model had a front-facing webcam), no cellular capabilities and a fixed amount of internal storage that can’t be expanded via microSD cards. The base model has just 8GB of storage - the Hudl has 16GB - and offers on the lock screen (you can choose to pay an extra £10 when ordering to remove these). Bearing in mind that the 8GB model has less than 5GB of usable storage, you might want to spend the extra £20 on the 16GB version.
Unlike the old model, the new Fire HD has no HDMI output, nor support for Miracast. There’s just a microUSB port for charging and synching.
The new, angular design matches the new Fire HDX models but the Fire HD doesn’t get the ‘X’ suffix as its screen has a 1280x800 resolution, rather than Full HD. It also lacks the 100 percent sRGB gamut, meaning colours aren’t quite as accurate.
Honestly, though, the screen is perfectly good for reading, watching videos, playing games and browsing the web. You barely miss the extra pixels offered by the Hudl: the Fire HD’s screen is brighter and colours are a touch more vibrant; viewing angles are excellent as you would expect from an IPS panel.
The stereo speakers are decent, too, and we like the new button positions on the rear. They’re much easier to find without looking.
Weight-wise, the Fire HD is 50g lighter than before, making it fractionally lighter than the Hudl. It isn’t that slim at 10.6mm but you don’t notice because of the tapered edges.
Kindle Fire HD (2013) review: Fire OS 3.0
It might look similar, but Amazon has made big strides forward with the new version of Fire OS, which is based on Android Jelly Bean. It will be instantly familiar to existing users, but both small and large changes make it much nicer to use.
The home screen is now scrollable. Your recent content remains on a carousel but swipe upwards and your apps come into view. In portrait mode a list of suggested content appears, related to whichever item in the carousel is selected. This is a clever way to tempt you to buy more content.
At the top are text links to the different types of content. As before each has two views: ‘Cloud’ and ‘On device’. The default view is Cloud and so displays everything that you’ve purchased or downloaded, as well as the stuff that’s stored locally. A single tap downloads anything currently in the cloud so, as long as you have a Wi-Fi connection, it’s relatively quick to play a game or listen to some music on-demand.
The web browser is both faster and easier to use and has a handy reading view that strips pages of clutter so you can read a cleaner version of the article. The email app is better equipped for viewing attachments and sorting email threads. Plus, if you have a Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo! Or AOL account, you need only enter your username and password to get it working.
Twitter and Facebook are integrated so you can share photos and make posts easily enough. The Photos app has also been updated, and now includes your videos instead of having the separate (and confusing) Personal Videos app.
There are several ways to transfer photos to the Kindle Fire HD. One is to use Amazon’s Cloud Drive which gives you 5GB of online storage. You can also import photos from your Facebook account and use the Amazon Cloud Drive Photos app (for iOS and Android) to automatically upload photos you take on your smartphone. Finally, as with any Android tablet, you can drag and drop photos – and other content – via Windows explorer.
Swiping down from the top of the screen brings up the settings bar. There’s a lot on offer, including a new Quiet Time feature which is similar to Do Not Disturb in iOS. It mutes all sounds and pop-up notifications between times you specify or during certain activities.
Swipe in from the right and you’ll see a list of running apps so it’s easier to switch between them without returning to the home screen each time.
We were also happy to see that the confusing ‘back’ button has been removed when the keyboard is on-screen in landscape mode. Its placement meant it was easily mistaken for a Backspace key. Tap it and you lose what you just typed as you return to the previous page.
What you don’t get is the new Mayday button for customer support: that’s a feature exclusive to the two HDX tablets.
FreeTime
Since we initially reviewed the Fire HD, Amazon released an update which adds a new feature: FreeTime. this turns the Kindle into a great tablet for kids, allowing you to create separate user profiles and limit screen time. Usefully, you can set different limits for reading and everything else, so kids can't sit there playing games all day long.
You can choose which apps and other content is available in each profile, and customise the wallpaper. Text and icons are larger, helping kids to navigate around more easily.
Kindle Fire HD (2013) review: Performance
The screen may not have changed, but the new Fire HD has a beefier processor. Along with the updated operating system it makes Amazon’s tablet feel a bit speedier. Apps load faster and the annoying delay when loading and scrolling up and down web pages has gone.
The casual games we tried all played fine: there’s a decent boost in power compared to the old Fire HD. In GFXBench the Egypt HD test ran at 17fps, versus 8fps scored by the outgoing model.
The new Fire HD completed Sunspider 1.0.2 in 986ms, and scored 824 in Geekbench 3. In Geekbench 2 it produced 1376, which is only slightly ahead (not the 60 per cent Amazon claims) of the old tablet, which managed 1124.
Tesco’s Hudl, meanwhile, scored 1583 in the same test, and matched the Fire HD at 17fps in the 3D test.
Battery life, which is more important for most people, wasn’t quite as good as we were hoping. In our looping video test the new Fire HD lasted for 6 hours, 11 minutes. That’s worse than the old model which ran for an extra 90 minutes. Amazon says you can expect around 10 hours with mixed use.
Kindle Fire HD (2013) review: bottom line
Even with the clever storage optimisation which offloads little-used apps and content to the cloud, the 8GB Kindle Fire HD won’t have enough for most people. That leaves the 16GB model which, with the ‘offers’ removed will cost you £149.
Add to this the fact that Amazon’s Appstore still lacks many apps you’ll find on Google Play, particularly UK-specific ones such as ITV Player, 4oD and other TV catchup services (but also certain big names such as Dropbox), and the Fire HD is clearly not the best choice for everyone. Before you ask, no, you can’t watch programmes from ITV or Channel 4 through the web browser.
If, for some reason, you’re happy to be limited to using Amazon’s services for apps, games, books, music and videos, then you won’t be disappointed with the Fire HD.
For everyone else, it makes more sense to opt for the Tesco Hudl or Nook HD+. Those with a slightly bigger budget should look to the new Nexus 7.
Comments
Andrys said: I personally think Amazon should not sell the 8GB size that is the cheapest basic version in this multimedia age I always recommend that if you like videos great gamesetc you should have 32GB minimum Theyre cheaper than the Apples but most will want to go with the lower-storage devices not realizing how much space files take upGIVEN that Amazon has a feature they explain this way The 1-Tap Archive feature - Not enough space remaining Frees up space on your Kindle Fire by identifying items not used recently and provides a 1-tap option to store them in the Cloud for later retrievalSo it becomes a matter of switching onto or off of your device the games of most interest With WiFi the switching usually takes only seconds but its still a pain
Andrys said: Clarity if you still have the Kindle Fire and havent sent it back you can google How to install non-Amazon apps on the Kindle fire The most recommended Android appstore to get alternate web browsers for the Kindle Fire but most of us prefer Dolphin a great Android browser is1Mobile com appstore and the latest Kindle Fire Silk browser itself can do sites that the normal Android browsers cant when Flash videos are involved due to Adobes recent policy changes on supporting Flash players for Android devices 1Mobile has over 500000 apps But yes you can get cheaper Android devices that can do a lot but they too will be missing what many do want and thats the tablet market today Good luck on whatever you decide to do
Andrys said: Jim thanks for the reply You underestimate people who buy Kindle Fires especially now They are also far easier to use to find the media of interest than my Android devices which are a bit more random and require you to know how to find the apps that will do what you want The thing is reviewers will mention rooting which is extremely complex and can void a warranty and brick your device anyway but not just checking the extremely simple Android Setting to install apps from other sources Installing alternate store apps is as simple as it could possibly be You just use them as you do the Amazon store app or the GooglePlay store app if Google were willing to recognize a Kindle Fire tablet Thats all there is to it I think its more of a service to let people know what CAN be done so very easily actually rather than mention the much more complex rooting and how hard any alternate way to get apps is And this way international users can get those apps too For one thing Android users who are Amazon Prime members are upset because they cannot access the 20000 or so Prime instant videos many of which are even downloadable with the pure Android tablet They look for ways to change their systems so that they can All of this would be of interest to those considering tablets Thanks again for the reply
tama said: iT says u can download directly from screen but u cant unless u register n I dont have a payment plan any help
Jim Martin said: No it doesnt have a camera nor microphone It might be possible to use a headset with a built-in mic but you would need to check compatibility with Amazon before buying one
Jim Martin said: This is one of the problems with tablets that have a small amount of internal storage and no option to slot in a memory card You can see in the Kindle Fire settings which apps are using up storage space
Jim Martin said: Maybe I should have been clearer on this point Youre right - Amazon allows installation of apps from other sources on all Kindle Fires and its fairly easy to install Android apps which arent from Amazons Appstore However the kind of people at which the Kindle Fire HD is aimed wont have the technical knowledge to safely install such apps which is why its better to have the Google Play storeUsers who have the ability to sideload apps are typically better off with a vanilla Android tablet such as a Nexus 7 anyway
Angelica Thamson said: Now You Can Download Top Paid Apps Freehttpandroid2cloudin
Clarity said: I tried enabling 3rd party apps and every workaround Ive found on the net including the solutions offered in these comments and still cant get Chrome or Firefox on my daughters Kindle Fire With the price of 7 Android tablets as low as 40 over this holiday plus no camera and being Google restricted I dont see the purpose of purchasing a Kindle Fire at all Buy any other Android tablet for under 100 and install the Kindle App If my daughter hadnt gotten this as a gift from a family member Id be packing it up and sending it back
Jene' Cooper said: Getting the same message with just 8 Apps downloaded I hope Im missing something or I may have to send my daughters tablet back
Amy said: Does the 2013 kindle fire 16gb have a microphone
Jean said: My 10 year old just got the kindle fire hd 7 We downloaded 2 games and 1 movie and he is getting a message that he has 10 of space available What the We didnt set up email no books etc Is this all he can do or is there something we can do to clear space that Im not thinking of
Andrys said: If you have one of the Yr 2013 models you swipe down from top lines quick-settings tap Settings at far right and go to Language amp Keyboard options and should be able to change it under the top option of Language
John Harris said: Clicked on English language on my newly purchased Kindle fire and ended up with Portuguese how can I get back to factory settings to correct this Not a good start
Bill Reynolds said: theres an Android app called MyAppSharer which makes it incredibly easy to install android apps on your Kindle
Andrys said: You mentioned the lack of GooglePlay apps several times but Amazon enabled the Android feature to let the user decide whether or not to allow installation of apps from unknown sources and Googles app store is only one source of google Play apps 1mobilecom with over 500000 google play apps allows direct downloads and installs for Kindle Fire tablets as do several other Android app storesNo rooting or modifications are needed its just other app stores wqhen Amazon doesnt have an app you want but for some reason a lot of knowledgeable tech sites like this one dont realize it Its a normal Android setting that merely enables itBampNs Nook tablets did not allow it But Amazon does So its not walled Amazon just doesnt sell all those apps many of which are optimized for phones in their own store where all apps go through heavy vetting BUT unlke Apple Amazon allows you to put apps you want and get from other sources onto the devicesYou can google how to install non-Amazon apps It mainly involves checking a Settings box and then using other Android appstores
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Dalton said: You dont need a camera on every device that you get ur hands They r not as high as an iPad but is still a good resource