My Kindle Fire is scheduled to arrive Tuesday. My expectations are medium-high for this low-priced tablet device. I expect less than my iPad2, but something close to the “others.” If Amazon did this right it will be a good device for those just wanting a smaller, simple consumption tablet that doesn’t have the Apple premium cost applied to it. Don’t expect great speakers, a video camera, lots of memory etc. But do expect decent hardware and lots of content available along with the Amazon backing.
I’ve been browsing the big Tech sites for their reviews and here’s the ones I’ve found interesting:
- The Verge: The new tech site, The Verge calls the Kindle Fire a “great tablet for the price” but they don’t pull punches where there are obvious negatives. One of the best, most objective reviews I’ve read thus far.
- Wired – The title of this review tells us their opinion: “Is This Really the Tablet Everyone’s Talking About?”
- NYTimes – Pogue isn’t a big fan of the Kindle Fire: “The Fire deserves to be a disruptive, gigantic force — it’s a cross between a Kindle and an iPad, a more compact Internet and video viewer at a great price. But at the moment, it needs a lot more polish; if you’re used to an iPad or “real” Android tablet, its software gremlins will drive you nuts.”
- Gizmodo: Gizmodo calls the Kindle Fire “the first real competition for the iPad” which is strong words. I personally agree mostly because of the low price and the featureset focused on the value shopper. There are plenty of negatives addressed here though so check out the full review.
- Arstechnica – Ars spends it’s first look giving you just what you’d expect from a first look review – their impressions like this one “The body is thicker than the iPad 2, but because it's only a 7-inch screen that's closer to a 16x10 ratio, it is this close to fitting in the back pocket of my jeans.” Conclusions will come in the next day or so after actually using it for more than a couple of hours. I like this take as it’s how I do it.
- Mashable: Another good review of the Kindle Fire
- PC Magazine: PC Mag calls the Kindle Fire the “first easy-to-use, affordable small-screen tablet, the Amazon Kindle Fire is revolutionary.”
- Engadget: Engadget calls the Fire a “usable” tablet. The reviewer is an obvious Apple fan and takes that slant then entire way through. This is a good review to read to see a mostly negative take on things.
- Kindle Chronicles – Len Edgerly of the excellent“Kindle Chronicles” Podcast has a review Kindle Fire in his hands. His review of the Kindle Fire will be one I’ll be listening for as Len is a big fan of the Kindle product in general as well as a huge Apple fan and owner of the iPad2. For now follow his twitter feed for his takes on the Kindle Fire:
The stakes are pretty high for Amazon with this one. It certainly doesn’t need to be awesome with the pretty nice price, but it better be a “good” tablet. If it is, Amazon will change things for itself and become a very serious player even in the same world with Apple and Microsoft. Fail and they’ve possibly put a bad taste in the mouth of many who may not give their next tablet a chance.
I’ll be providing my own complete review of the Kindle Fire with a good comparison to the iPad2 in the coming days. Stay tuned for more at GeekTonic!
