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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tiffanykennedy - Wednesday, November 30, 2011 - link
My bf got me a Kindle Fire for my birthday and I love it. It's lightweight and easy to use straight out of the box. The first thing I recommend anyone with a new Kindle do is install the nook app. We got our instructions from www.kindlemad.com through google.It basically unlocks all the Android marketplace apps and unlocks the device. Super happy!
Reflex - Wednesday, November 30, 2011 - link
I would strongly suggest rerunning the performance tests. Just my subjective point of view, but perf just got a major boost. The browser is certainly faster, and so is the book reader. The UI and tap response also seem much improved. All of the Fire's on the market should autoupdate in the next couple days...VivekGowri - Wednesday, November 30, 2011 - link
Downloading, I'll post my findings later today :)Reflex - Wednesday, November 30, 2011 - link
Thanks, wanting to make certain I'm not imagining things.Reflex - Sunday, December 4, 2011 - link
Any update on this? Or waiting for the Nook Tablet review?Chaser - Wednesday, November 30, 2011 - link
As I have stated I don't believe the Fire will TAKE marketshare from Apple. But just like the airline price wars of the 80s and 90s, the Fire with its undeniable market recognition will put A tablet in the hands of those that would not have considered a tablet before.With Apple holding 90% of tablet sales I personally only see iPads in use when I am on business travel. I very rarely seen an Android tablet anywhere in use in public except for a Color Nook. So the tablet scene is expensive iPads and their happy owners. I think the Fire will change that.
Toadster - Wednesday, November 30, 2011 - link
I'm curious how a PC or regular laptop would fare against the Android/iOS versions of the GL Benchmarks... is there one made?kawatwo - Wednesday, November 30, 2011 - link
John Phillips in C&D. Nice! I have the 8 inch Vizio tablet. I bought it to read my digital magazines with mostly as I subscribe to several on Zinio. Zooming only takes a couple taps so that doesn't bother me. You can also pinch to zoom. I am assuming the Kindle works the same way? The Kindle and Nook do seem like a lot of performance for the money if you only need to do the things they can actually do.freedomfries - Monday, December 5, 2011 - link
what kills the competition with this piece is the price, though it's still not as impressive as the iPad's to me... at least when I hold and use one.elestein - Saturday, March 23, 2019 - link
I have been using Kindle fire from last one year. Its was simply superb. As student its very useful for me. Any way to get it for lower cost for my brother?