Amazon is on a press release issuing spree today. They’ve announced a new lineup of Fire tablets for 2015 that includes an entry-level device for only $49.
It’s the least expensive Kindle Fire tablet released, undercutting last year’s Fire HD 6 by $50. Plus it’s a 7-inch tablet instead of 6, and it even has a microSD card slot.
The $49 Fire tablet has surprisingly decent specs for the price. The low resolution screen is the biggest con, but there had to be some drawbacks.
It has a 7-inch IPS display with a resolution of 1024 x 600 (that’s 171 ppi; by comparison the Fire HD 6 has 252 ppi).
The $49 Fire tablet is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core processor. Battery life is rated at up to 7 hours.
The device includes front and rear cameras, 8GB of storage space, and a microSD card slot. This new generation of Fire tablets is the very first to feature memory card slots, so that’s a pretty big deal.
The new Fire OS 5 looks like a nice change, with more of a traditional Android feel. The description states that the new homescreen includes dedicated content pages for books, games, and apps, video, music, audiobooks, and Newsstand. It certainly looks a lot better than the carousel layout from before.
The $49 Fire tablet is up for pre-order right now. It gets released on September 30th. Amazon has come up with a new 6-pack promotion where you can get one Fire tablet for free with the purchase of five.
$49 Fire Tablet Specs
- 7″ IPS Display
- 1024 x 600 (171 ppi) Resolution
- Quad-core 1.3 GHz processor
- 1 GB of RAM
- 8 GB Storage space (5 GB available)
- MicroSD card slot for cards up to 128GB
- VGA front-facing camera; 2 MP rear-facing HD camera
- Single-band Wi-Fi b/g/n
- Bluetooth
- Mono speaker
- Microphone
- Accelerometer
- 3.5 mm stereo jack
- Battery life: up to 7 hours
- Weight: 11.0 oz. (313 g)
- Dimensions: 7.5” x 4.5” x 0.4” (191 x 115 x 10.6 mm)
Great for schools!! –and gifting!!
How do you think it will be for reading? Those ratios look a little suspect to me.
4:3 ratio is the standard for reading which this kindle doesnt have. Yes its cheap but look at the 16:9 ratio and that horrible 171 ppi.
4:3 is typically considered better for reading and 16:9 is typically considered better for watching movies.
For reading, I highly recommend using an e-reader (not a tablet).
Not bad specs for $49… FINALLY A MICRO SD CARD SLOT!
“Exclusive to Prime members, download thousands of Prime Video movies and TV episodes. Watch downloaded videos anywhere—on a plane, on vacation, in the car, or wherever you don’t have a wireless connection.”
That Micro SD slot will com in handy! I wonder if you can download a movie and take the card out to play on another Android Tablet running Kindle App? 😉
But I can already do download a movie on my Asus Tablet, but I’m not sure if On Deck will be on other Tablets other than the Fire:
“Coming Soon: On Deck automatically downloads Prime Video (for Prime members) and the first episodes of Amazon Original Series while your device isn’t in use, ensuring that there is always something new to enjoy instantly, even when offline.”
I do use an eReader to read though….
I just pre-ordered one… I know, I know I said I wouldn’t buy another tablet until there was an AI on one that could hold an intelligent conversation with me…
I’ll play with this one for a spell and give it away… I’m kinda interested in the Fire OS5 too. Maybe I’ll just use it for a standalone movie downloader… I took advantage of the SanDisk sale a few weeks ago and got me two 32GB micro SD cards 🙂
I just bought a Samsung Class 10 microSD card for $20 the other day.
Amazon finally gets it — this $49 tablet is easily worth the price just for watching movies.
Well done Amazon!!
The Fire Phone is dead from Amazon.
Amazon removed phone from website!
I pre-ordered mine too, what the hell!!, if it’s not so good I wouldn’t lose so much, I just want it to read books and play silly games during my breaks at work and when I go to bed, all I want, it’s having a bigger screen so I can read easily so…