Fire tablets have been coming out in some form for over a decade now. It all began in 2011 with The Kindle Fire tablet. The line of tablets has slowly evolved and improved over time. The latest version in the Fire brand, the Fire HD10, is bringing the best of the Amazon ecosystem to your hands at a great price, but with a few limitations. With a variety of different models within this line to choose from, is the Fire HD10 the right tablet for you? Let’s take a look at both the standard Amazon Fire HD10 tablet, as well as the Fire HD10 Kids tablet (Ages 3+).
Out of the Box
Regardless of which Fire HD10 tablet you purchase, what comes in the box is fairly standard. You will get the tablet itself, an Amazon Power Adapter, and a USB-C charge cord. Also included in the HD10 Kids tablet is the kid-proof case (already on the tablet), a 1-year subscription to Amazon Kids+, and a 2 Year Worry Free Guarantee warranty, which we will talk about later in this review.
You might have concerns that Amazon created a less powerful tablet for the kids. While it might have been tempting to do so, Amazon is delivering the same specifications regardless of which Tablet you choose to purchase. Both tablets have a 10.1 1080p full HD display, 3 GB of RAM, and a microSD slot for increasing the unboard storage up to 1 TB.
Tablet Specifications
Out of the box, you will appreciate how light the Fire HD10 tablet is, even with the protective kids case attached. Understandably, this tablet isn’t packing a ton of necessary electronics inside as it is not meant to be a high powered tablet. On the left side of the tablet you will find two speakers, which are OK for watching movies and YouTube, but won’t produce a great experience for music. Thankfully, both tablets include the 3.5mm headphone jack, which is becoming less and less common across tablets and mobile devices in 2024.
The upper left corner of the tablet houses the volume buttons, as well as the microSD port for increased storage, if desired. All of this is nicely packed into a plastic shell, with rounded corners which make holding the tablet much more comfortable.
Power Isn’t Everything
The electronics and tech world has convinced us to want the best in every product we purchase. While having extremely powerful tablets and mobile devices isn’t bad, it’s also wildly unnecessary for the vast majority of society. It is why I find the pricing on the Amazon Fire HD10 compared to what you get in the tablet is very strong. This isn’t the most powerful tablet on the market, but it also doesn’t need to be. I find that the Amazon Fire HD10 tablet is very versatile and works in almost all home situations.
Amazon built their tablet line through Kindle, and even in 2024, their tablets are fantastic for reading. Much of the praise from my wife and I was how nice the display was for reading ebooks, websites, and more. Honestly, basic web scrolling on the couch was one of the primary ways we used the tablet. Any potential video watching was generally done by our oldest. Looking over his shoulder, you could tell the quality wasn’t super impressive, but again at the price, it was perfectly fine for the odd video you might want to watch.
Things to consider before buying
There are a few downsides to the tablet that should be considered before making the purchase. I don’t know many people who do use tablets to take pictures and videos. That is a good thing because the front and back 5MP cameras are not going to impress. Sure, they are fine for a quick snap of something for Facebook Marketplace. However, if you are capturing family memories it is going to leave you a bit disappointed. Photos were a bit grainy in my opinion and lacked the colourful pop. Thankfully, most people who would use this tablet likely also own a mobile device. Those devices most likely take better photos and video.
The other downside is the tablets being locked to the Amazon App store. There is significantly less available here when compared to Apple App store or Google Play. Again, for all your basic functions, there will be the app you want, or a similar equivalent. However, there were situations where there were apps I had on my other Android tablets that I couldn’t get here.
When it comes to gaming, the Amazon Fire HD10 can handle basic games, but nothing that requires solid processing capabilities. Simple match three games are easy enough, but larger simulation or tycoon titles tend to struggle. This is especially true where you are building up a civilization or town, which will cause crashes. Again, all of these issues should be viewed within the scope of the tablet price. This is very affordable in my opinion, so there are necessary cuts.
Conclusion
As we noted before, this is not the most powerful tablet on the market. However, the features you get for the price you pay are second to none, making this one of the better low-to-mid ranged tablets available. For doing everyday tasks like reading articles, using social media, browsing Amazon, and more, the Amazon Fire HD10 is the perfect purchase for any family. For those with younger kids, the kid friendly version is phenomenal. We’ve been using the child friendly Amazon tablets for 3 or 4 years now, and it has been excellent. The hassle-free exchange policy is as easy as advertised. With kids, this peace-of-mind is amazing. For your dollar, there isn’t a much better value-for-money device that will match this.
