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TECHNOLOGY A23
Monday 26 October 2015
Tech Talk:
Review: Amazon’s cheap Fire tablet does a lot for $50
ANICK JESDANUN — LOWER RESOLUTION: The with 5 or 8 megapixels on Fi, so this is hardly cut-and- fingerprint reader to bypass
AP Technology Writer screen is just short of dis- higher-end Amazon tab- dried. Many other factors passcodes.
NEW YORK (AP) — The thing playing video in full high lets. Photos come out fuzzy, affect performance, even Promised battery life is sev-
to remember about Ama- definition, otherwise known and low-light images have if you have top-of-the-line en hours, which is reason-
zon’s new $50 Fire tablet is as 1080p. As Amazon’s HDX plenty of color distortion. technology. able for $50.
that it’s a $50 tablet. tablets and Apple’s “Reti- The camera’s lens also isn’t In fact, the inexpensive Fire And as with other Ama-
It’s not as light or as thin as na” iPads tout super-sharp able to capture as much tablet surprised me in many zon devices, the Fire tablet
a tablet that costs five or displays, the screen on the as other gadgets from ways. The display has in- works nicely with other Am-
six times more. The cam- azon services, including Kin-
era isn’t as good, and the Amazon’s $50 Fire tablet is displayed in San Francisco. The tablet works well as a budget device dle e-books, Audible audio-
screen isn’t as sharp. But it for the basics--reading, Facebook, video and, of course, shopping on Amazon. books, Prime video stream-
works well as a budget de- ing and e-commerce. Just
vice for the basics — read- (AP Photo/Eric Risberg) swipe right from the home
ing, Facebook, video and, screen to scroll through the
of course, shopping on Am- new Fire feels retro. the same distance. It’s as plane switching technolo- various services. After sign-
azon. Photos and video display though the camera has gy, which means it can be ing in with my Amazon ac-
Over the years, Amazon. fine. Where the lower reso- a permanent zoom. That viewed from an angle — count, the shopping page
com Inc. has done a good lution is most noticeable said, most people already twice as wide as standard reminded me what type
job of making tablets af- is with small text. When have smartphones with de- screens, according to Am- of replacement vacuum
fordable for the masses. reading, some of the verti- cent cameras. There’s no azon. The tablet was also bags I need. I also found
The new Fire tablet is Ama- cal lines in d’s and l’s look need to pay more to dupli- fast for Web surfing, email a mini plunger to deal with
zon’s cheapest yet, joining fat. It feels like a typewriter cate technology. and other common tasks. that nagging clogged sink
a fall lineup that maxes out with metal type that hasn’t — WI-FI: The Fire has an It seemed to take an extra in my kitchen.
at $230 ($15 more if you been cleaned of gunk, older, single-band form second or two to launch A swipe to the left gets you
want Amazon to remove forming misshaped letters of Wi-Fi that doesn’t sup- video on Hulu and Netflix, recently accessed content
ads on the lock screen). By when some of that gunk port the highest available but playback was smooth and apps, plus recommen-
contrast, Apple’s iPads start hits the ink ribbon. (For our speeds, technically known once it started. dations. It’s a good way to
at $269, ad-free. younger readers, type- as the 802.11ac standard. Unlike iPads, the Fire allows get to frequent tasks with-
Of course, you get less for writers are machines that In practice, that means sig- you to set up multiple pro- out spending a lot of time
$50. produce letters on paper, nal range and data speed files, including ones for kids, moving around icons on the
The Fire started shipping rather than a screen. And might be lower. But in my and to establish parental home screen. Older Ama-
again Thursday after a lim- paper is a sheet of writing limited testing, the new tab- limits on apps and usage zon devices will get this fea-
ited run quickly sold out, material made from trees.) let downloaded a video file time. But the Amazon tab- ture, too, with an upcoming
despite these trade-offs: — TAKING PICTURES: The faster than last year’s HDX let doesn’t have anti-glare software update. The app
— THE FEEL: The 7-inch tab- main camera is just 2 8.9 tablet from Amazon, technology found in the lat- selection isn’t as robust as
let is bulky, about two-thirds megapixels, compared which has dual-band Wi- est iPads, nor does it have a what’s available on iPads,
as thick as a deck of cards. Android and Windows de-
This runs counter to a trend vices. Amazon tablets run a
of gadgets getting thinner custom version of Android,
and thinner. But this is rea- and many Android apps
sonable for budget devic- haven’t been adapted.
es, as they use older, larger You get many of the major
components to cut costs. ones, but not all.
At 11 ounces, the tablet The Fire is a good option for
also feels heavy for a de- kids. They won’t complain
vice that size. about what’s missing, and
if they lose the device, it’s
only $50 to replace. Ama-
zon will even sell you six for
the price of five, so each
family member can have
one.
I’d be highly disappointed
with the Fire if its price tag
were $250 or more. But it’s
not — not even close.q
