Kindle Fire HD 8.9 - Review & specs

Kindle Fire HD 8.9 - Review & specs

Kindle Fire HD 8.9 tablet

The Kindle Fire HD is not a complete tablet. That's the first thing you should know. It's a highly advanced consumption device that you can use to access a massive amount of content—books, videos, music, etc.—but that's more or less it. This is the anthesis of Microsoft trying to pull your laptop's capabilities into your tablet.

The Fire HD's screen is wonderful for reading and watching movies. Its video and music stores are extremely well stocked and often cheaper than Apple and Google's. Movies on the Fire HD sound great, because of its surprisingly loud and clear stereo speakers. And its smaller 8.9-inch size makes it the lightest and thinnest of any tablet in this roundup—and also the most comfortable to hold.

So what's the problem, then? It's the software. Amazon's content selection is unquestioned, but its app store is limited to those that are ported to its Kindle OS Android skin. Most of the big guns are there, like HBO Go, Twitter, Facebook, Skype, and Pocket. But even though Android finally has a good stable of apps, it still needs every good app it can get, and Amazon limits the selection even further. Multitasking, or even just keeping apps where you want them is tough—they're relegated to a "Carousel" of recent items on the home screen and a favorites tray that's way too easy to forget about. (You can read more about the software struggles in our review of the Kindle Fire HD 7 and 8.9.)

On the plus side, the Fire 8.9 feels relatively fast when loading apps and large movies—much more than the Fire HD 7 did. Apps are smoother, too, though a few still lag compared to their stock Android counterparts. The slowdown makes its way into the store and other places from time to time, too. It's not pervasive—this still feels like a fast tablet—but is enough to be quite frustrating.

Its biggest, bluntest weapon, then, is its price. It's an amazing price. $300 is a full $200 less expensive than the cheapest iPad and the Surface, and $100 less than the Nexus 10. The $50/year LTE deal is pretty great if you're going to be carrying the tablet around and just want access to articles and email. All in all, it's a humongous value if you just want a pretty screen that lights up and lets you read stuff.

Kindle Fire HD 8.9 Specs
Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 0.35 inches
Weight: 1.25 pounds
Processor: TI OMAP 4470
Memory: 1GB
Storage: 16GB, 32GB
Ports: USB 2.0, Micro-HDMI
Battery life tested: 4 hours, 43 minutes
Price: Starts $300 for Wi-Fi only 16GB