Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 Review

Introduction

We’ve seen the commercial play on TV several times, so we thought it was about time we checked out Amazon’s full-sized tablet offering in the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9. Naturally, it complements the smaller 7-inch model we reviewed over this past fall, but it’s obvious that this larger model is setting its eyes on taking a piece of the pie from the iPad Air. Yes, it has a display that’s more detailed. Yeah, it’s lighter too. And you can bet it’s also cheaper than its esteemed rival, but will the Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 actually prove to be a viable threat?

The package contains:

• microUSB cable
• Wall Charger
• Getting to know your Kindle card

Design

Simple and sweet, with a splash of glossiness to break things up.

Flaunting the same design aesthetics as its 7-inch counterpart, the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9’s design is a humble one to say the least – without coming off as being too cookie cutter. Sure, it would’ve been swell to see something more daring, but its design serves its purpose in being an affordable thing. We like that its tapered edges help to give us a decent amount of grip when holding it, while its soft touch matte casing keeps it clean looking for the most part. Slightly breaking things up is a glossy strip along the rear, which is adorned with a few angled cuts to give the entire thing a pleasant accent. Indeed, it’s super lightweight at 13.55 oz (384 gr), making it feel like we’re not holding anything at all in our hands.

Though a bit unconventional, its power button and volume controls are recessed and facing the rear – making it tough for us to try and feel them out. Considering that this is more of an entry-level offering, it doesn’t see any additional amenities aside from the usual suspects around its trim. Specifically, they include its microUSB port, various microphones, 3.5mm headset jack, and dual-firing speakers.

One surprising addition, however, is the inclusion of both a front and rear camera, which size up respectively at 1.2 and 8-megapixels. Amazon could’ve easily omitted the two to save on cost, but as always, it’s something we welcome with open arms – and it can come in handy during those inopportune moments.

Display

Utterly detailed. Easily one of the sharpest displays around.

Technically, this isn’t a tablet some would vouch as being a “full-sized” offering, seeing that its screen measures up at 8.9-inches. Nevertheless, it’s still a larger one than its 7-inch sibling, so it’s meant to compete against those 10-inchers in the space. Remarked as having an HDX display, one that’s based on LCD technology, there’s no questioning the amount of detail it delivers with its number crunching resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels (339 ppi). It’s undeniably crisp, giving plenty attention to even the smallest of details – with no visible pixels to the eye.

Outdoor visibility isn’t a problem with this one at all, thanks to its potent 500 nits of brightness. Essentially, it’s more than visible even with the sun shining down upon it. Colors are accurate for the most part, while exhibiting very low distortion at wide viewing angles. Don’t let the Kindle name fool you, just because this one is graced with one of the best displays out there.

Interface and Functionality

Effective for basic needs, power users will find Mojito rather limiting. Then again, it’s well in tune with Amazon’s ecosystem.

At the core of it all, the Fire OS 3.0 software experience of the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9, commonly referred to as Mojito for short, is based on Android Jelly Bean. We won’t get into all the specifics regarding it, like its customer assistance service in Mayday and other things, just because we covered them all extensively in our review of the 7-inch model. In short, it’s a familiar UI seeing that doesn’t greatly enhance itself from previous Kindles, and for the most part, centers its operation around Amazon’s ecosystem.

One of the results of having an experience that’s controlled by Amazon, is that it doesn’t benefit like other normal Android running tablets by being able to have access to the Google Play Store. Rather, apps are purchased and downloaded through the Amazon App Store, which has a decent and budding selection, but still feels tame in comparison to Google’s usual portal. Nonetheless, it’ll suffice enough for most people, but it’s still at the mercy of Amazon.

Looking through the various core organizer apps on the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9, they pretty much adhere to our most basic needs – so we have no complaints, though, we gladly still prefer the usual set found with regular Android. Thankfully, the email app introduces threaded conversation for easier organization. Then again, we would totally prefer having the usual Google branded services instead.

Since it’s smacked right between the 7 and 10-inch tablet segments, it’s a tough challenge trying to use its on-screen keyboards. With the landscape one, it just feels a bit cramped – especially for those with larger hands. Instead, we gravitate to using the portrait one, seeing that we’re not stretching our thumbs as much to encompass its layout. Fortunately, the keyboard by in large is responsive to the touch.

Processor and Memory

Armed with Qualcomm’s finest, it doesn’t surprise us with its snappy performance.

Cheap doesn’t mean weak, which this tablet gladly shows us with its punchy processing power. Armed with a quad-core 2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 SoC, featuring the Adreno 330 GPU and coupled with 2GB of RAM, it’s no slouch when it comes to executing even the most demanding operations. Although it’s tough to gauge its finesse navigating through the interface, it’s made known with process intensive tasks – like some serious 3D gaming.

Available in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB capacities, it’s nice that consumers are given a healthy choice on what size to choose. Of course, they’ll need to choose well because there’s no physical expansion – save for cloud storage.

Internet and Connectivity

Whether it’s Wi-Fi or LTE, there are plenty of options to choose from with this budget offering.

As expected, the Silk Browser is effective enough to deliver a fine and dandy web browsing experience. Nearly everything it does, whether it’s loading up complex pages or pinch zooming, is executed in a very responsive manner. In general, it gets the job done, but the browser’s functionality still pales in comparison to Google’s Chrome.

In addition to the usual Wi-Fi models, the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 is also available in 4G LTE data connectivity form too – albeit, current models only support the networks of AT&T and Verizon. To keep itself in good company with all of the rest, it’s stuffed with the usual connectivity assortments. They include aGPS, Bluetooth, and dual-band 802.11 a/n/g/n Wi-Fi. Alas, it’s lacking other conveniences like NFC.

Camera

Fantastic to see a rear camera in this, even better when it’s actually decent with its quality.

Amazon is crossing a new border with the addition of a rear camera, which is a first for any Kindle. In fact, it’s only this 8.9-inch version that benefits from having one. To say the least, the camera app itself is pretty bare bones with its arsenal – though, it features panoramic and HDR modes. Beyond that, there isn’t much else to fiddle around with, as we’re left to simply touch the screen to adjust the focus.

For its price point, we’re content to find an 8-megapixel auto-focus camera calling all the shots, which is paired with an f2.2 aperture lens and LED flash. We’ll admit, the snapshots it captures are more than acceptable enough – albeit, they tend to have soft/hazy touch to them. Details are good and it handles macro shots with a direct focus on the subject, but it has difficulty at times in having an even exposure throughout the shot. Meanwhile, its color reproduction leans towards the warmer side.

Even though we’re greeted with an HDR mode, we’re not particularly fans of the results. Essentially, the mode does nothing more than to boost the contrast and giving more saturation – without emphasizing on having a consistency with dynamic range. As a result, there’s sometimes an overexposed look with images. In addition, details are lost due to the bump in contrast.

Under lower lighting situations, digital noise becomes more prevalent throughout the shots. Colors, as a result, tend to have a duller tone to them. In combating the noise, the LED flash does a decent job in minimizing it.



Also ample enough to shoot 1080p videos, its quality isn’t without its own set of flaws. Frankly, most people wouldn’t complain about the results put out by this one, but there are a few things that catch our eyes. First, details again have a distinctively soft tone to them. More importantly, though, is the noticeable wobble/jello effect that’s a result when panning. To the untrained eye, it’s not a deal breaker, but it definitely becomes prevalent as we pan faster with the tablet.

Multimedia

If we’re to give out an award for the blandest music player out there, Amazon would get the trophy in a heartbeat. Well, considering that aesthetics of the experience is lacking any serious visual flare, it shouldn’t really take us by surprise to find a barebones music player. Again, the app plays well into Amazon’s ecosystem, which means that it’ll sync with any music purchases via Amazon.

Indeed, there are two speakers with this tablet, but it would’ve been more ideal if they were facing the front – as opposed to the rear. Sadly, the speakers’ output is extremely weak – even weaker than some smartphones!

There’s no denying that the tablet’s beauty and awe is accentuated most when watching high-definition videos. Furthermore, streaming fanatics will undoubtedly eat up how it tightly integrates with Amazon Instant Video service. Looking at it, we can’t complain about the wonderful experience, which is complemented by its Dolby Digital Plus audio support.

Battery

Relying on our battery benchmark test, the Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 is right in there with the crowd, as it’s able to pull in 7 hours, 46 minutes from its fully charged battery. It’s a little short from the iPad Air’s mark, but it still translates into giving us an all-day battery performance – even with heavy usage. Basically, it’s something that’s sure to give even power users all the juice they need to get through the day.

Conclusion

Amazon’s tablets have always been known to be easy on the wallets, and the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 follows suit by sporting a hard-to-beat starting price of $379 for the 16GB Wi-Fi model. In comparison to the $500 base iPad Air, Amazon’s prodigy is hitting it hard the most where it needs to – in the minds of consumers who make value paramount to everything else. Quite frankly, the pricing is tough to beat when factoring the kind of specs it’s packing along for the ride.

Yes, the design isn’t the most tasteful for something that intends to compete against Apple’s premium offering, but nonetheless, it doesn’t interfere with its main objective in attracting consumers to its low price point. This year’s model is more diversified, as it bears two cameras and various wireless radios, to make it more feature filled than ever before. And who doesn’t want more features?

By in large, the biggest obstacle again here is trying to accept Amazon’s customized interface. For now, it doesn’t pack the same totality and depth over some of its main rivals, especially when many aspects of the platform are limiting. There’s not as much personalization to the interface, nor is there full access to the wealth of apps in the Google Play Store, but as a consumptive device, whether it’s buying goods through Amazon or using one of its various multimedia portals (think Amazon Instant Video), it more than gets the job done.

Let’s get things straight, the Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 is something you’ll want to bear in mind if savings is something you cherish. If money isn’t a problem, there are several other options to think about. There’s always the iPad Air and Android alternatives, like the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition or slick Sony Xperia Tablet Z.

Software version of reviewed unit: 14.3.1.0_user_310079820