Amazon’s cheapest new Alexa Tablet costs $229.99, and it no longer runs the company’s Fire OS. The Alexa Tablet 8, 11 and 12 Pro replace the Fire line with a standard Android build and full access to the Google Play Store, the first time an Amazon tablet has shipped that way. All three go on sale Oct. 14 in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The price also marks a step up. Amazon’s previous base model, the Fire HD 10, sold for $155, so the entry point for Amazon’s tablets has moved roughly $75 higher.
Android and Google Play replace Fire OS
Amazon announced the lineup in an Oct. 8 post from Kevin Keith, its vice president of devices, saying the tablets run Android with full Google Play access for apps such as YouTube, Netflix, Gmail and Google Docs, alongside Amazon’s own apps including Prime Video, Kindle, Audible, Amazon Music and Luna. TechCrunch quoted an Amazon spokesperson as saying the line is a new product with new hardware and a new operating system, not a rebrand of Fire tablets.
Fire tablets ran an Android-derived Fire OS with a curated Amazon app store, a curated model that Thurrott describes as the store buyers were limited to. Thurrott’s report on the launch notes that the new tablets drop that model, and that buyers can install their preferred apps from the Play Store even if they use none of Amazon’s services. Engadget, which pins the software to Android 16 with a custom Amazon layer, quotes devices chief Panos Panay on last year’s lineup: “last year was a fine moment, but it turns out only two products really got any attention and everything else was just there.” Amazon’s own page does not name an Android version.
Three tablets and their prices
Amazon’s announcement lists the Alexa Tablet 8 from $229.99 with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, an 8.7-inch screen and up to 14 hours of video playback. The Alexa Tablet 11 starts at $329.99 with 8GB of RAM, an 11-inch 2.5K display at 276 pixels per inch, a 90Hz refresh rate and up to 15 hours of video. The Alexa Tablet 12 Pro starts at $499.99 with 8GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, a 12-inch 280 pixel-per-inch display at 120Hz and 16 hours of video; a Nanomatte anti-glare version costs $549.99.
Amazon’s page adds that the Alexa Tablet 8 weighs 329 grams and comes in Graphite, Rosette or Teal, the Alexa Tablet 11 in Graphite, Amethyst or Matcha, and the 12 Pro in Graphite only. The Nanomatte 12 Pro can be configured with up to 16GB of RAM. Alexa+, the assistant built into every model, also supports live sessions, which allow hands-free conversation without repeating the wake word, and a dedicated Ask Alexa button on the screen.
The Pro Keyboard is $149.99 and the Pro Pen is $89.99. Kids editions of the 8 and 11 add a protective case and a year of Amazon Kids+, per Engadget’s roundup of the announcements, and The Next Web adds that on the kids models Google Play access is approved by parents app by app.
Fire production, memory costs and Alexa+
Amazon told CNBC that it has ended production of new Fire tablets while continuing to support existing ones, according to a syndicated report on the CNBC story. The Next Web, citing CNBC, puts the support window at four years after the final shipment, and that detail does not appear in Amazon’s own announcement.
Amazon disputed that the higher prices trace to rising memory costs. Panay said the component shortage made it “quite tricky” to build a premium product without compromising specifications. Whether a $229.99 entry point keeps the low-cost buyers that made Fire tablets a volume product is the open commercial question, and Amazon has not published sales targets for the new line.
Panay called the 12 Pro the fastest tablet Amazon has ever built, and described the hardware as world-class with Amazon services integrated out of the box, per Thurrott. Opening the Kindle app switches on a reading mode that silences notifications, reduces blue light and stretches battery life to as much as 20 hours, according to Amazon’s figures relayed by The Next Web. Alexa+ is built into every model, and its On-Screen Intelligence feature, which lets the assistant read what is on the display, is off by default and requires opt-in, with a visual indicator shown whenever Alexa can see the screen. Keith called the lineup a start rather than a finished product. Kids editions of the tablets also launch in Japan on Oct. 14. The UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain follow on Oct. 19, with the tablets sold through Amazon.com, Best Buy and Target.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
More from Morning Overview
- Seven of Earth’s nine planetary boundaries are breached, and all seven are worsening
- The NSA says three phone features should be off whenever you aren’t using them
- Hurricane Hunter radar shows four warning signs that a tropical cyclone is about to strengthen, a University of Miami study found
- Tropical Storm Rachel is dumping up to 12 inches on four Mexican states on its way to major hurricane strength
