It is Amazon’s turn to dazzle the consumer public with its new line of Kindle Fire tablets, the highlight of which are the beefed-up premium slabs called Kindle Fire HDX. Available in 7-inch and 8.9-inch models, the Kindle Fire HDX sports high-resolution and pixel-dense screens, 2.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 series processor, and 2GB of RAM. The new hardware provides up to three times more efficient performance and 34% lighter than previous models.
The 7-inch version features a 1,920 x 1,200 display with 323 pixels per inch (similar to Google’s Nexus 7), while the 8.9-inch model comes with a superior 2,560 x 2,600 resolution and 339ppi. Both tablets have a battery life of up to 11 hours of “mixed use” or up to 17 hours of reading. The rear-facing camera has been updated with an 8-megapixel sensor with 1080p video recording capability, LED flash, and a f2.2 lens for better photos during low-light situations.
For better gaming performance, the Kindle Fire HDX is equipped with Adreno 330 processor that gives four times the graphics efficiency compared to previous versions. The tablet runs on Amazon’s take on Android called Fire 3.0 OS, which comes with a tweaked UI and new features such as the ability stream content to select Samsung HDTVs, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 4 once that console launches in November.
The highlight of this new device is a new tech support feature called Mayday Button, which provides an on-screen assistant guiding you through technical issues, as well as instructions on how to use certain features in the tablet.
The 7-inch version of Kindle Fire HDX (WiFi only) will cost $229 and will begin shipping on October 18, while its 4G-enabled sibling will be available beginning November 14 for $329. The 8.9-inch WiFi-only model will ship starting November 7 and its 4G-capable variation shipping December 10. They are priced at $379 and $479, respectively. All models are available for pre-order.
Source: IGN
