GPU Performance

I threw GLBenchmark on the Kindle Fire (Android apps can be sideloaded via USB and a file manager to run the .apk) to see if Amazon skimped on its GPU driver optimizations. Luckily it didn't, the Kindle Fire's PowerVR SGX 540 performs just as well as you'd expect it to:

GLBenchmark 2.1 - Egypt - Offscreen

GLBenchmark 2.1 - Pro - Offscreen

Vellamo Overall Score

WiFi Performance

Amazon didn't sacrifice compute in building the Kindle Fire, but WiFi performance is pretty bad. As I alluded to in our earlier piece on Silk performance, the Fire is limited to around 15Mbps over 2.4GHz 72Mbps 802.11n (5GHz isn't supported):

WiFi Performance

It's unclear if this limitation is due to the TI WL1271 chip on-board or if Amazon just didn't tune the WiFi driver stack for performance vs. power consumption. I'd assume the latter given the focus of the Kindle Fire.

I also measured transfer rates over USB 2.0 to confirm this wasn't some NAND performance limitation. The Kindle Fire uses a single 8GB eMMC package from Samsung. Sequential read speeds were nice and high at 24MB/s, but sequential writes to the device were noticeably lower. I measured between 4 - 6MB/s, which isn't unheard of for low-end NAND. The lowest sequential write speed I measured is still 2x the speed of the fastest transfer I recorded over WiFi, so this is definitely the result of the wireless stack.

Keyboard & User Experience Battery Life: 6 Hours
Comments Locked

70 Comments

View All Comments

  • 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.

Log in

Don't have an account? Sign up now