Amazon Kindle Fire Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi & Vivek Gowri on November 29, 2011 3:31 AM EST- Posted in
- Tablets
- Mobile
- Amazon
- Kindle Fire
- Kindle
Keyboard & User Experience
The keyboard looks and acts like a mildly reskinned version of the default keyboard included in Gingerbread. The two biggest differences are that the keys are square, and the keypress sound comes from Honeycomb. As such, it works pretty well - you're not going to type out essays on it, but the ergonomics are good and the visual style is cleaner and more consistent than the Gingerbread keyboard.
I come away from the Kindle Fire feeling pretty pleased with how Amazon has gone about crafting the user experience. It's genuinely sleek, with a simpler and more elegant interface than Android. It's less capable, less customizable, and less intricate than any build of Android I've used before, but also more polished and more user friendly. It's pretty limiting, so some of the power users I've spoken to are relatively disappointed, but for a device targeted at mainstream-level consumers, this is one of the best implementations of an Android-based OS I've seen. It's more distanced from Android than the Nook Tablet OS; you have to dig pretty hard to find the really direct ties, but every single piece of the UX is different in some way.
It just feels more complete than the stock version of Android, a more cohesive and consistent user interface throughout the entirety of the operating system. It's significantly more polished from a visual standpoint, but you do get the feeling that it's not fully baked yet. There's a general sluggishness though the UI, as well as some odd pauses and stutters during complex animations. Examples being page turns in books and magazines, and the overall choppiness of the carousel. There's also an issue where screen taps will not always register or delay in registering, resulting in a double tap that will either act as one or two taps.
The OS isn't as fluid or as smooth as it should be, but given the kind of hardware on board, it's likely something that can be resolved in future software builds. As we've seen time and time again however, although UI smoothness is something that can be resolved, it's not always something that ends up being actually resolved.
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Reflex - Friday, December 2, 2011 - link
So come back in February. By then we'll be on the cusp of a new generation of devices. Right now the Playbook is defficient. Its a nice set of hardware with a lacking software stack. Out of the box it simply does not do what most people want. When it does, I'm sure AT will check it out, but having them review it now is likely to simply get it slammed since it simply won't work for most people who do not already own a BB.ComputerGuy2006 - Tuesday, November 29, 2011 - link
The "final words" section says "The Kindle Fire is probably the best tablet you can buy at $199.". This is troubling.It was never explained how a $200 playbook isnt as good as the $200 kindle. Seems to me the playbook has double the ram and double the storage space. The playbook has two camera and a micro-HDMI port.
So as long RIM can keep its promise and make the playbook capable of running android apps, I dont see how the kindle can beat the playbook in ANYWAY unless you want to spend lots of money on the amazon app store.
VivekGowri - Wednesday, November 30, 2011 - link
Honestly, as tempting as the PB is at $199, RIM's utter failure to deliver features that were promised at launch even 8 months after release is pretty worrying. The lack of native email, contacts, and calendar as of December 2011 is blatantly unacceptable.doesitreallymatter - Friday, December 2, 2011 - link
It is unacceptable that those key apps are lacking. In 2 months when/if RIM delivers these apps, what will be your opinion then?As long as those apps are delivered along with the android support, I just don't see how the Fire can compete with the playbook.
I just don't understand how the conclusion has no mention of the playbook at all.
Reflex - Friday, December 2, 2011 - link
It also does not mention the Nook Tablet. Why? Because it hasn't been reviewed it. If the Playbook becomes competitive, and thats a big if honestly, I'm sure they'll take a look. But really, February? You mean almost a year after the device they give it basic functionality everyone else has shipped with from the beginning?For me, even if the Playbook was competitive, I just can't see that as a well supported platform worth me investing into the ecoysystem of.
dgburns - Wednesday, December 7, 2011 - link
Perhaps you missed the announce a while ago that RIM has dropped the Android App Player from development? So your touted "android support" isn't coming....dgburns - Wednesday, December 7, 2011 - link
The Playbook will NEVER have the ecosystem Amazon delivers with the Fire. As many commentors have implied, that's a HUGE differentiator.And to those who say the PlayBook is the better device at $199 if you own a BlackBerry smartphone already, I disagree. I've got TWO BlackBerry smartphones (different models, from two employers) and as nice as the PlayBook hardware is I STILL don't want one. Even "bridged" to a BB, the PlayBook is SO limited. Will it get better come February (or whenever RIM REALLY releases a update)? Probably, but even then it won't have the ecosystem the Fire brings.
jedivulcan - Tuesday, November 29, 2011 - link
I wish this review went into a bit more nitpicking with the display like I've seen with the other AnandTech reviews. In my experience with having two Kindle Fires, the displays are so wildly different that it's almost like looking at two different products when you have them side by side.The first Kindle Fire I received from Amazon on the day it came out had a duller backlight, some backlight bleeding when viewing older television shows on Netflix, and warmer, almost yellow colors, one or two dead pixels, and hit or miss viewing angles.
The second one I got a week later had a brighter backlight, a ton of backlight bleeding, bright dead pixels on the screen (very apparent in one location), cool blue washed out colors, and terrible viewing angles.
https://img.skitch.com/20111130-x9fq2qskte8kas62jg...
https://img.skitch.com/20111130-dm18ykeb8kud98w4t2...
Reflex - Tuesday, November 29, 2011 - link
Totally bizarre. I'm not implying you haven't seen what you've seen, but I've handled more than a dozen Fire's now and the screens have been consistent with each other and very very high quality. The one I own and took on trips got noticed repeatedly and the first comment most people had was about how nice the screen looked. Its typically the standout feature hardware wise from most people I've discussed it with.Your situation is odd to me because normally I'd suspect a bad run, but you got them a week apart. I really have no idea, but I will say it does not jive with my anecdotal experience or what I"m reading elsewhere. Anyone else see this issue?
VivekGowri - Wednesday, November 30, 2011 - link
Hmmm mine is totally fine, so was Anand's. I really, really like the display quality, though I would have preferred a more neutral colour temperature. I'm not sure why you had so many issues with the display, that's very very odd.