Last Updated on December 20, 2020
Design
There are several reasons why the Amazon Fire HD 10 is considered to be plain. Being covered in thick, plastic body and having big bezels around the screen, it isn’t exactly the stylish kind of tablet that you usually see in today’s ranks. It has a total size of 262 x 159 x 9.8mm and it weighs 500g. It is lightweight and medium-sized. So far, so good. More importantly, it feels sturdy, comfortable to hold and easy to store and transport. It isn’t the sleekest, but it won’t occupy a lot of space either. However, due to the fact that it is a bit bulkier and heavier than these top-notch tablets of 2019, it could be a little hard on your wrists, especially if you hold them all day long.
Due to the fact that it has curved plastic edges, it slides and slips every time you try to prop it against something. This can become annoying, especially if you don’t use a special stand for e-book readers. It has a main camera lens on the back, next to the Amazon logo. If you want to hold it oriented in landscape, you will notice that the volume controls sits at the top with the power button at the bottom of the right spine. You’ll also be able to detect easily the micro USB port for charging, a microphone, and the 3.5mm headphone jack.
Display and Audio
The Fire HD 10 has a 10.1-inch IPS LCD touchscreen with a 1,920 x 1,200 pixels resolution that is finally satisfying for some of the users. Compared to the new iPad that comes with a 9.7-inch display and has 264ppi, this screen is quite close to that. What differs is the technology the two manufacturers have used. The great thing about it is that the display is sharp, bright, and vibrant, although you wouldn’t expect it from a tablet in this category. The image is crisp and clear regardless of the content you are watching. The bad part is that it is reflective and the blacks are far from deep. If you are planning to read or navigate and in direct sunlight, you will find that it is a major challenge. However, let’s keep in mind that the old Fire HD 10 had a 1,280 x 800 resolution.
Another new feature is the Dolby Audio function, which is meant to improve the volume and audio quality is fine for watching a movie. Even so, it is recommended to use headphones in order to get the best out of the tablet’s sound.
There’s isn’t much to be said about this tablet’s sound. It has two speakers that come with a decent technology and allow you to listen to music and audiobooks when connecting to the Amazon Digital Music Store, the Music Library for free or Amazon Music. If you like listening to audiobooks, you will be able to do that using this tab and the Audible app that offers more than 180,000 titles in audiobooks.
Performance and battery life
Although it doesn’t have the best battery out there, it can still be used for up to 7 hours of continuous reading, listening to music or browsing the web. By comparison to older models, this version of the Amazon Fire has evolved a bit, in the sense that now it has a high definition display, better and faster performance, and on top of that integrated hands-free, voice assistant, Alexa. This is quite exciting, as all users have the ability to request songs, get news updates or ask essential questions. This product is equipped with MediaTek 1.8GHz quad-core CPU and 2GB of RAM. It does a decent job handling the interface and the apps from the Amazon App Store. It offers quite a lot for the price, so even though it isn’t the smartest, fastest or more efficient, it still offers value for money.
The Amazon Fire 10 HD might have a good screen, but the camera is quite disappointing. Not that tablet users take much advantage of the camera generally but it is good to know that you have the option to capture something in HD when needed.
This tab’s battery life, on the other hand, isn’t bad. It lasts approximately 10 hours after fully charged. Keep in mind that this model isn’t built to satisfy the need of binge Netflix watchers, but even if you do that from time to time, you will notice that 2 hours of Netflix will drain about 22% of the battery. This result is still better than expected.
Should you buy the Amazon Fire HD 10?
If you are reading this review, it means that you are looking for a tablet that is affordable, durable, easy to use and obviously, not too advanced. This version of the Amazon Fire is exactly that. It is a plain tablet with basic functions that can satisfy the need of watching video content, reading, browsing the web, listening to music or listening to audiobooks. It is better than the older model, but it remains basic, so that it can be affordable.