Kindle Fire Versus the Competition: Tale of the Tablet Tape
Sep 29, 2011 04:16 PM EDT by Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet won’t succeed or fail based on what’s under the hood. People will buy it because of the $199 price and the way it seamlessly integrates with Amazon’s book, magazine, music, movie, and app stores. But this slate is no slouch in the specs department. It packs a speedy dual-core processor and a brilliant IPS display. So how does the Kindle Fire stack up to other hot tablets on the market? Check out our tablet comparison below. (No offense to the similarly sized BlackBerry PlayBook, but we left out RIM’s slate because of its anemic sales.)
Tablets Compared
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| Device | Amazon Kindle Fire |
iPad 2 |
Samsung Galaxy |
Acer Iconia A100 |
Toshiba Thrive 7″ |
Nook Color |
| Price | $199 | $499 | $469 | $329 | Under $400 | $249 |
| CPU | TI OMAP Dual-Core (Speed unknown) | Apple A5 dual-core | Nvidia Tegra 2 | Nvidia Tegra 2 | Nvidia Tegra 2 | TI OMAP 6321 |
| OS | Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) | iOS 4 | Android 3.1 and TouchWiz (Honeycomb) |
Android 3.2 (Honeycomb) | Android 3.2 (Honeycomb) | Android 2.1 |
| Display | 7 inches (1024×600) |
9.7 inches (1024 x 768) |
8.9 inches (1280 x 800) |
7 inches (1024 x 600) |
7 inches (1280 x 800) |
7 inches (1024 x 600) |
| Size (inches) |
7.5 x 4.7 x.45 | 9.5 x 7.3 x 0.3 | 9.1 x 6.2 x .3 | 7.6 x 4.5 x 0.5 | 0.5 inches thick | 8.1 x 5.0 x 0.5 |
| Weight (pounds) | 0.91 | 1.3 | 0.99 | 0.92 | 0.88 | 0.99 |
| Storage (Built-In) |
8GB | 16GB, 32GB, 64GB |
16GB, 32GB | 8GB, 16GB | 16GB, 32GB | 8GB |
| Storage (Expandable) | N/A | N/A | 32GB | Available / Size Unknown | 32GB | |
| Front Camera | N/A | VGA | 2-MP | 2-MP | 2-MP | N/A |
| Back Camera | N/A | 720p | 3-MP | 5-MP | 5-MP | N/A |
| Wireless | Wi-Fi Only | Wi-Fi and 3G (AT&T, Verizon) |
Wi-Fi Only | Wi-Fi Only | Unknown | Wi-Fi |
| Battery Life (rated) | 8 Hours | 11 hours | Unknown | 5 Hours | Unknown | 8 Hours |
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September 29th, 2011 at 9:24 pm
The “Tablets Compared” table has the Kindle Fire screen size listed incorrectly at 10″ (it is 7″).
September 29th, 2011 at 10:08 pm
I’m pretty sure the Fire doesn’t have a 10″ screen.
September 29th, 2011 at 11:37 pm
Check that chart. The Kindle Fire is 7″ and not 10″. Also, you list the Thrive’s wireless capabilities as “Unknown,” when you really should know that yes, it does do wi-fi.
September 30th, 2011 at 1:20 am
Kindle fire is 7″ not 10″.