Jan 232015
Kindle Fire HD 8.9″, Dolby Audio, Dual-Band Wi-Fi, 16 GB – Includes Special Offers
- Stunning 1920×1200 HD display with rich color and deep contrast from any viewing angle
- Exclusive Dolby audio and dual stereo speakers for crisp, booming sound without distortion
- Ultra-fast Wi-Fi – dual-antenna, dual-band Wi-Fi for 35% faster downloads and streaming
- Over 22 million movies, TV shows, songs, magazines, books, audiobooks, and popular apps and games
The 8.9” screen on Kindle Fire HD features an incredible 1920×1200 HD display, and the highest resolution of any of our tablets. But a truly advanced HD experience doesn’t stop with just a high resolution screen. Kindle Fire HD delivers rich color and deep contrast from every angle, with an advanced polarizing filter and custom anti-glare technology. Our exclusive Dolby Digital Plus audio includes technology to adjust volume, create virtual surround sound, and deliver easier-to-understand
List Price: $ 269.00
Price: $ 269.00
My Thoughts (Typed Using The Kindle Fire HD 8.9),
Let me start out by saying that I am new to the tablet world and have had no experience using any tablets prior to this purchase. That being said, I spent a great deal of time fishing around through reviews and specs of what seemed like countless tablets for months. The obvious cliche conclusion led to all fingers pointing at some variation of an iPad, yet for me, I do not see much sense in purchasing a tablet (regardless of brand) for around the same price as a cheap yet descent laptop that will have more potential.
Enter the Kindle Fire HD.
I will spare you the story on my process of how I ended up choosing a Fire HD and get right to what you all want to know: my thoughts and experience thus far with the product.
Picture: (10/10)
I will start with this since obviously that was the first thing i noticed. In a word, incredible. Now its not “eye popping” or anything out of this world, but i can honestly say it exceeded my expectations and i was (and continue to be) impressed by this piece of hardware’s capabilities. I tested out just a few minutes of TV shows, trailers, videos, and films from Prime Instant Video, Netflix, Hulu Plus, Flixster, and Youtube (through the web browser since an app is currently unavailable) and everything looks as it should (and beautiful to boot)! Books come out crisp as well (both in text and picture) and the same goes for basic website visuals, apps, and games. Overall I am very impressed.
Sound: (10/10)
This is probably where i was most impressed. I have seen some of the reviews on here that are 3 stars or less putting down the audio or claiming they don’t hear the big deal. Not to be a jerk or anything but i recommend those people check in at an ear clinic and have their hearing tested. I was literally amazed at how I was hearing sounds from various distances and angles. From up close it felt like i was hearing a high quality home theater system and not just for one flick but everything. From website audio to music, Netflix to Audiobooks, this tablet sounds great!
Book/Reading Features: (10/10)
At first this was not my primary reason for purchasing a Fire HD, but after toying around with a few things, I am truly impressed at how well Amazon has integrated the ability to find, purchase, read, and even listen to literature. The lending library for Prime users is a nice added touch allowing you to borrow from a rather extensive list of books. Not to mention many timeless classics are available for free (such as Dracula, Gulliver’s Travels, Little Women, The Iliad, The Jungle Book and many more) and of those titles, many come with free audio! If you do not feel like spending the money on audio (or if your book has none available) the text-to-speech feature is surprisingly well done with minimal error. With all this being said, I can honestly say that I am excited to start reading again.
Web Browsing: (8/10)
The only reason I do not give this a 10 is because web browsing (with what is given out of the box) lacks Flash support which limits the capabilities. However, with a bit of research I was able to find forum discussions on how Fire HD users were able to work around this by downloading an app called ES File Explorer and then a separate browser called Dolphin that gives you Flash capabilities, so this is an easy fix that even a monkey could figure out how to do as long as they are patient. Though don’t get me wrong, Silk is fast and beautiful and i use it for the majority of my web surfing, but occasionally Flash is needed. As I am sure you have read by now in other reviews, the fact that the Fire HD does not automatically come with Flash support is not Amazon’s fault yet rather Adobe for pulling he plug on their involvement with tablets. Again, as long as your network is put together well, browsing the web is very fast and up to par with dare I say some computers.
App Availability: (8/10)
To me, this is the only area where the Fire HD lacks. I would rate lower here but I am trusting that over time and after updates, the lineup will have grown. Once more, with a bit of research you can find discussions on how to “sideload” apps from your computer and other devices, but that could be a bit too advanced for the average user. Though for what it is worth, the selection it does currently come with is top notch. Just to name a few, some important missing apps include: YouTube, Dropbox, and SiriusXM. Still, as far as I am concerned, this certainly is not a deal breaker and I am sure that as things progress access to these will become available.
Look/Feel: (10/10)
The 8.9″ model that I own and am currently reviewing was a lot lighter than I expected and it is true what they say ( it is just right to fit in one hand). Out of the box/pre-case the Fire HD looks great and is very thin, sleek, and dare I say…sexy? The only minor gripe I would have (that I noticed other…
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Excellent Value and Great Gadget,
Originally published in November 2012, Updated January 19, 2013 after using this Fire for several months…
As there appears to be mixed reviews of the 8.9′ Fires – ones with 4G access and those without – to clarify, this review is for the 8.9″ tablet with the 4G connectivity option.
To get the iPad comparison out of the way, I put this tablet side-by-side to my iPad 2 I use for work. Downloads were slightly faster and the video screen resolution and the colors were more vibrant on the Fire vs. the iPad 2.
Screen Display / Video Playback:
With the larger HD screen, if playing video is important to you this is the version of the Fire to get as the screen display is fairly impressive with sharp and crisp colors. The display on this HD Fire was one heck of a lot better in terms of sharpness than last year’s model and even this year’s smaller HD model.
Amazon also added a cool feature on this one with the HDMI micro connection port. I have an HDMI micro plug and was able to hook this up to the big screen to watch an episode of the science fiction series Defying Gravity. It played back great smoothly with no problems.
Wi-Fi connectivity:
My standard test for trying out new gadgets is to see how fast they run side-by-side with a known piece of equipment doing the same test at the best place of Wi-Fi in my house and the worst place where it drags. In this comparison, I had this 8.9″ version of the Fire sitting next to the “smaller” HD version of the Fire, my Motorola RAZR smartphone, my iPad 2 (yes, the Kindle guy uses an iPad for work), and the new 7″ Fire all just using a Wi-Fi connection vs. cellular connectivity..
My website test is to hit the mobile websites of FoxNews, CNN, my personalized Yahoo page, Google, and the Houston Chronicle. The ones that were usually slow on the other devices and were still slow but faster than the other devices (Houston Chronicle and CNN), and for the other sites I couldn’t tell a difference in speed at the location closest to my router. When I went to the slowest / worst reception location of my house, the speed did have a noticeable difference in the other devices as this one was slightly faster but for a casual surfer it is not noticeable nor does it hang.
Email Setup:
Email setup was very easy with the included email app for my main Google account – it took about a minute to input my email address and password information and I was good to go: sending and receiving emails was a snap, and when I sent a test message with pictures they displayed crisply. I will tell you I primarily us an existing app called Enhanced Email that I received here on the Amazon app store for free vs. what came as standard with the Fire for daily use, and it was easy to use – actually better due to the larger screen size – with this version of the Fire. For those of you asking yourself why am I using the Enhanced Email program, the simple answer is like many of you I have more than one email account: you can quickly switch back and forth on the accounts with the tool. The lazy person in me appreciates that as I don’t like getting out of the lazy chair once I’m settled in!
Game Play:
I do play a lot of games, but they aren’t the heavy action / interactive games many of the kids play today. For my test, I tried out several rounds of Words with Friends and a Majong derivative. The display was crisp and the tablet was very responsive as it interacted over the WiFi network of my home to the game server.
Sound / Music Playback
Different than last year’s model and the $159 this year’s model, the two speakers are located in the back of the Kindle Fire in two not-noticeable ports. My test of this feature was cranking up Van Halen’s Panama to maximum volume (I wanted to see if it could really play the guitar licks), and I would alternate covering one speaker up over the other: you have true stereo sound with no degradation of the sound that makes you think you are about to blow the speaker. However, the sound is not very crisp (the $159 Fire sounds better to me) as the sound is going away from you with the speakers being in the back. With a cover on the Fire to protect it, that can be a problem. It’s going to take a little bit of getting used to having the volume controls at the top of the device.
Reading Books:
Reading a book was enjoyable and easy on the eyes with the larger screen: I appreciate being able to changing the default font to something else in addition to increasing the font size so I don’t have to wear my glasses. Turning pages is pretty darn easy – just tap the side of the screen to go to the next page or back a page, or you can swipe your finger across the screen to do the same.
Bluetooth:
Bluetooth setup was very easy. I tested this with audio in my car as well as an external keyboard…
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Not the Greatest Tablet, but a Good One,
I wasn’t really in the market for another tablet, but my girlfriend ended up getting one for me so she got me on this one. I would like to say that this tablet reminds me of the first Motorola Droid smartphone that came out several years back. The phone jam packed a ton of bells & whistles into its hardware and software to give a lot of bang for your buck. This is what it feels like amazon has done with the Kindle Fire 8.9. They have put a lot of advanced hardware and innovative software, so for the average user, specially someone who absorbs a lot of media, you get a lot for the price. But just because you get a lot for the price, doesn’t mean it is without its flaws. This is an updated version of my likes and dislikes, (my original analysis was a bit rushed, this is more detailed):
LIKES
Build Quality
I like the build of this product, it has good material design and durability. It feels nice in your hands and comfortable to hold with easy access to buttons. Since this is only 8.9″ and not 10 or 11 inches, it is easier to grasp and hold in one hand with an overall good aesthetic look and feel to it.
Speakers
I have to say, the more I listen to it, the more I like the sound. The speakers are definitely a step up from the norm and probably one of its best features. They produce a full, rich, and very vibrant sound you can experience music and movies the way they were meant to be experienced. It is not a home theatre experience, but as close as one can get with a small device like this.
Screen
The display is very nice. I’m not sure if it compares with the clarity of Super Amoled or Retina screens, but it comes close. High screen resolution is not special to the Kindle, lots of tablets now have high resolution screens, some higher. What this screen has that other tablets don’t is the anti-glare, which works well under sunlight and highly lit places, it’s not something that seems advantageous until you work with a screen that doesn’t have this.
Internet
Kindle’s Wi-fi and Silk Browser make internet browsing fast. I did a comparison with a Samsung and Apple tablet, and noticed that the surfing was faster, it wasn’t a huge difference but it was noticeable. Streaming audio and video had a bigger and more noticeable difference, with the Kindle being very smooth, with fewer lags and dropped connections. This is key for me, I hate streaming content with pauses and breaks in loading, there is less of that in the Fire.
Reading Experience
In my opinion, this is Fire HD’s best feature, delivering a better reading experience than any tablet right now. This is no surprise as books are Amazon’s claim to fame and where they excel and have always excelled. I don’t know if you remember, but before Amazon was Amazon, they were the first online retailer for books. Before there was an iPad, there was the kindle. They have always been at the forefront of the book buying and reading experience, now especially digital books. I think I remember reading that the Kindle was the main reason Borders Bookstore went out of business, Borders said they just couldn’t keep up with or match Amazon’s delivery system.
Now with this Fire HD, they offer even more advancements. With its X-ray for books, its ‘reading view’ that takes away messy images on a site leaving only text, `immersive’ reading that lets you play an audio book while reading, whispersync technology, and better optimization of text, other devices can’t match. Granted it doesn’t compare to digital ink like on the original Kindle for me did the best to mimic actual reading, but as far as tablets goes its better than what is out there. If you are getting a tablet primarily for reading, this is gonna be a good choice.
Amazon Universe
I have a love hate relationship with Amazon’s Universe of services. I don’t like how even though the Kindle HD uses Android, it is somewhat restricted. Also, they don’t have as many apps as google or apple. But taking everything else into account, movies, books, music, prime lending library, prime movies, amazon is better. The big drawback is you have to own a kindle to fully enjoy their universe, which means if you own a kindle, you are limited from using other company’s universe.
Apps and other features
All the apps work fine, they start and stop as they should, nothing to criticize or brag about. The touch screen is smooth and responds good, though nothing like iPad…hate to say it but iPad thumps everyone on that, their touch and scrolling is very fluid and just feels right. I don’t have kids so I can’t really comment on the parental controls but from other reviews seems like something to have if you have kids. Can access email and everything fine.
DISLIKES
When it comes to bringing together the right mix of original and developing technology in a tablet,…
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