REVIEW – AMAZON KINDLE 2019 MODEL (10TH GENERATION)

The main improvement offered by the 10th generation base model Kindle over its predecessors, is the inclusion of an integrated light, which was previously only a feature of the more expensive Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Oasis, and this is a game-changer. The inclusion of the light vastly increases the ease by which you can read the Kindle in various conditions and dramatically improves screen visibility.  

While on the topic of the screen, it is Amazon’s 6″ e-Ink glare-free display, with a PPI of 167 pixels per inch and offers a 16-level grayscale color palette, meaning even comic books and graphic novels are easily readable and details do not get lost.

The Kindle 2019 model offers a comfortable read, with text size easily resizable to user taste and allows for much quicker reading.

The Kindle supports books, comics books\graphic novels, magazines, and audiobooks across the following file formats: Kindle Format 8 (AZW3), Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively; HTML DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, PMP through conversion; Audible audio format (AAX). Amazon has also vastly improved PDF support, and reading PDFs is now far less painful than in the past.

The Kindle model reviewed here comes with 8GB of non-expandable storage, enough to hold ample books and comics. However, heavy audiobook listeners might want to look at the 32GB version of the Kindle Paperwhite or Kindle Oasis instead.

A Bluetooth audio device is required (Headphone, Speaker, etc.) to listen to audiobooks, and the Kindle does allow the user to switch between reading and listening rather seamlessly.

The Kindle is entirely Wi-Fi enabled, and once online, it seamlessly integrates into the Amazon ecosystem.

Amazon claims a battery life of up to 4-weeks, obviously depending on usage and light brightness selected. I found the Kindle needed to be charged once every ten days or so with moderate usage (1-2 hours a day), and the light turned up to roughly 80% brightness.

The Kindle weighs in at 174g without a cover, making it shockingly light for its size, definitely contributing to its reading comfort.

The Kindle 2019 model retails on Amazon for $89.99 with the special offer enabled (ads show on the device lock screen) and $109.99 without the special offer. I find the special offer unintrusive, especially if you use a cover that obstructs the screen when not in use.

Amazon’s Kindle e-book readers are pretty much the de facto standard for e-book readers, with Amazon controlling over 80% of the e-book reader market, and it is easy to see why. From the ease of use to simple convenience, Amazons Kindle Devices and Ecosystems are hard to beat.    

REVIEW – AMAZON KINDLE 2019 MODEL (10TH GENERATION)

REVIEW – AMAZON FIRE 10 HD (7TH GENERATION)

The Fire 10 HD is a tablet computer developed by Amazon. The one we are looking at today is the most recent iteration of this tablet, the 7th generation which was released in 2017.

The Fire 10 HD is a 10.1-inch tablet with a screen to body ration of approximately 71%. The screen is a 1920 x 1200 IPS LCD panel with a 16:10 screen ration and a screen density of 224 ppi. The screen is by far the best part of this tablet, it is bright, crisp and has a very large viewing angle.

 The Fire 10 HD has a Quad-core processor consisting of two 1.8GHz Cortex-A72 cores and two 1.4 GHz Cortex-A53 cores, making the tablet feel snappy and responsive. For a GPU the tablet uses the PowerVR G6250. The Fire 10 has 2 GB of RAM and comes in two variations for storage 32 and 64 GB but both can accept SD cards of up to 256GB.

The tablet has a VGA front-facing camera and a 2MP rear-facing camera which is capable of 720p video recording. The cameras are definitely the weak point of this tablet and to be frank they terrible to the point of being unusable. However, I have never actually used the camera functionality on any tablet I have owned so this does not really bother me.

The Fire 10 has a 3.5 mm stereo jack and the integrated dual stereo speakers implement Dolby Atmos Audio and they sound great, you can comfortably watch a movie without using headphones.

From a connectivity perspective the Fire 10 has dual-band Wi-Fi and built-in Bluetooth. The tablet has a micro USB connector used for charging the battery and data transfer.

The battery is advertised to last up to 10 hours and after 4 months of daily use I typically get 7-8 hours of usage between charges.

The tablet comes in three color options, red, blue and black and weighs in at around 500 grams.

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A customized version of Android, called Fire OS, is used by Amazon on the Fire product range. This means that the default App store for the device is the Amazon App Store, however the Google Play Store can be easily installed to get access to the entire Android app library.

This device is great for content consumption, and this is predominantly what I use it for. From Amazon Prime video, to Kindle Books and Comic books, to Audible Audio Books, to Magazines, to Podcasts this tablet does an exceptional job at offering a convenient way to get access to a vast variety of content.

Since acquiring this tablet, I read significantly more comic books and magazines as I can easily and relatively inexpensively get access to them.

Now given all this, the real surprise of the Fire 10 HD is the price, coming in at $150(USD) if you opt for the Special Offer option, which means ads will be displayed on the lock screen of the device, or alternatively $15(USD) more to remove the ads. And given that the cheapest variation of the latest iPad is over $300 at present, this tablet offers exceptional value.

From a content consumption perspective, the Fire 10 HD is faultless. With access to the entire Amazon library of content, the selection is endless. So, if you are looking for a cheaper alternative to the iPad with a well-established ecosystem, or you are just looking for a convenient way to read your electronic books, comics and magazine the Amazon Fire 10 HD is a perfect choice.

REVIEW – AMAZON FIRE 10 HD (7TH GENERATION)