Looks like the rumors for once again spot on. Amazon has just unleashed a flood of new devices, which included its largest Fire tablet yet. Along with that, however, is also its cheapest. Undercutting even its own Kindle e-readers, the new Fire, no HD here, is the rumored $50 tablet, probably the cheapest to come from a reputable brand. But wait, there’s more! There’s also a Fire Kids Edition that adds some peace of mind for parents with ruggedness and child-friendly content, but at double the price.
The new Fire tablet isn’t going to win any awards, but it does try to do good by some standards. The 1.3 GHz quad-core processor and 1 GB of RAM is promised to outperform Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 3 Lite, which it tries to compete in the same tier. Based on its own tumble tests, it is also supposedly twice as tough as the Apple iPad Air. Amazon would like you to focus on the 128 GB storage feature, but that’s for the microSD card slot, while internal storage is really just a basic 8 GB. And the 7-inch IPS screen unsurprisingly has a resolution of 1024×600. That said, features are the least shocking aspect of this tablet, which is actually the $49.99 price tag, or a “six-pack” bundle for the price of five at only $250.
The Fire Kids Edition doesn’t fall far from the tree but does surpass the Fire with its ruggedness and content. A colorful bumper surrounds the tablet to withstand tough love and access to over 20,000 age-appropriate websites and more than 10,000 books, videos, and games, are sure to keep toddlers entertained for hours and give their parents some down time. The Kids Edition does come with a higher price tag of $99.99 for all those extra features.
It might seem insane that Amazon would be selling tablets at what is probably a loss, but that Amazon isn’t primarily an OEM but a retailer. What it is selling aren’t just tablets but portals to its content, whether it be shopping, videos, or apps. As an example, its Fire OS 5 “Bellini” takes Android Lollipop and transforms it into something almost indistinguishable from Android. Its new Amazon Underground takes a completely new and equally insane twist on marketing Android apps. And of course, there’s the whole gamut of Amazon’s Fire features, like MayDay assistance, ASAP streaming, X-Ray information, and more.
The Amazon Fire tablet will start shipping September 30. There are also protective covers available for $24.99 that come in color options of black, blue, orange, green, and purple. The Fire Kids Edition also starts shipping on that same date.
No, what you’ve done there Amazon, is confuse the regular price, with the kids’ version price.
Parents are just going to buy the 50 dollar version for their kids, pop a third-party case on it, and call it a day.
Silly, silly Amazon.