It’s
a brand new year, and I am proud to be part of something brand new here
at MakeUseOf: An independent hardware review followed by a giveaway.
We’ve done plenty of
giveaways before, mostly for software, but also for very cool hardware such as the
Nikon D3000 dSLR. Today we’ll be giving away an Amazon
Kindle Fire
tablet to one lucky reader, but we took the time to test it first, and
we have a complete review of what it’s like. We actually bought this
Kindle Fire – this giveaway is not sponsored by Amazon or anyone else,
so the review is not biased. Just because we’re giving one away doesn’t
mean it’s a perfect device (otherwise we’d just keep it all for
ourselves!).
Oh, and the Kindle Fire is originally a US-only device – so if you’re
outside of the States, this may be your best chance to get one. Let’s
get started, shall we?
The giveaway is over. The winner is Craig Hunter from Scotland! Congratulations, Craig!
Introduction
The Kindle Fire is a 7-inch multi-touch tablet. It has a dual-core
processor, a resolution of 1024×600 pixels, and 8GB of internal memory.
It runs a custom build of the Android operating system – so heavily
customized, you won’t feel it’s Android most of the time (more on that
later). At $200, the Kindle Fire costs less than half of an iPad 2.
As noted above, Amazon has opted to make the Kindle Fire available
only within the US. This means that if you’re outside of the US, many
parts of the Kindle experience will not be accessible for you (for
example, the App Store and movies). I tested the device in Israel, and
this review reflects that user experience. There are ways to circumvent
Amazon’s regional protections, but they tend to be convoluted, and since
I wanted to keep the device in a pristine state for a lucky reader, I
did not try them. So, this review is mainly about the hardware, and what
you could expect from the Kindle as a hardware platform.
Initial Impressions
![kindleFire[7]](http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/kindleFire7.jpg?323f2c)
The Kindle Fire arrives in a sturdy no-frills box. In the spirit of
the times, Amazon clearly made an effort to use as little packaging
material as possible. If you’ve ever bought a “regular” Kindle, the
Fire’s packaging should be familiar. Within the cardboard box you’ll
find a molded “holder” for the Kindle. Under the Kindle you’ll find a
power adaptor, and that’s about it:
![KindleFire[9]](http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/KindleFire9.jpg?323f2c "KindleFire[9]")
Design
![kindleFire[11]](http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/kindleFire11.jpg?323f2c "kindleFire[11]")
Above you can see the Kindle Fire sitting on a Samsung Galaxy Tab
10.1. While the Fire has a smaller screen, it is significantly thicker
than the Galaxy Tab:
This is a side-by-side view of the Kindle Fire and Galaxy Tab. The
Tab is tapered so it feels even thinner along the edges, but even when
you compare the base thickness, the Kindle is noticeably thicker.
For another size comparison, here’s the Kindle Fire next to a Kindle 3:
This is much more similar – in fact, the Kindle Fire is almost
exactly the same size as the Kindle 3, only much thicker. Unlike the
Kindle 3, the top of the Kindle Fire is completely unadorned – not even
an Amazon logo in sight. No buttons, either. It’s just a bezel with a
screen. You can find the Kindle logo embossed on the heavily rubberized
back of the device:
The rubberized back, combined with the device’s compact width, make
it easy to hold. But at 413 grams (14.6 ounces), the Kindle Fire is not a
lightweight device, especially not when held with just one hand. So
while size isn’t an issue when trying to grip it with just one hand, for
prolonged use you will probably find yourself using both hands to hold
the device, or propping it up against something.
Controls are bunched up at the bottom of the device, much like on “regular” Kindles:
There’s a headphone jack on the left, a Micro USB port, and a power
button. Let’s compare that with the control layout on a Kindle 3:
![kindlecompare[3]](http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/kindlecompare3.jpg?323f2c "kindlecompare[3]")
Above is the Kindle 3, and below is the Kindle Fire. As you can see,
Amazon has done away with the volume button on the Kindle Fire: It’s not
located anywhere else – it’s just
gone. Another significant
change: The power button isn’t activated by sliding, but by a simple
push. Both of these are actually big steps backwards for the Kindle.
Changing the volume requires fiddling with the touch screen, and I’ve
turned the screen off by accident many times just by holding the device.
I hope Amazon improves the control layout on future revisions of the
Fire, and makes it more similar to the Kindle’s proven layout.
The Kindle Fire also includes two speakers:
As you can see above, the speakers are lined up on the device’s “top”
side – i.e, opposite of the controls. This is a very strange place for
the speakers, given the fact that videos must be watched in landscape
mode. When you turn the device over to watch a video, both speakers are
on the same side. It’s also very easy to muffle the sound accidentally
when holding the device. A much better position for the speakers would
have been on the wide side of the device, for actual stereo when
watching videos.
Using The Kindle Fire
![kindlefire[13]](http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/kindlefire13.jpg?323f2c "kindlefire[13]")
This is what the Kindle’s main interface looks like in landscape
orientation. At the very top is a heavily modified Android status bar.
Directly underneath is the list of content types the device can display,
and under that is a display of your recently viewed items. You can
swipe between them in a CoverFlow-like display:
Under the recently used items you will find wooden “shelves” containing your favorite apps, books, and other content:
To place something on the shelf, simply grab it from the “recently
viewed” display and drag it onto the shelf. Couldn’t be simpler, really.
Now let’s look at the video store:
The Kindle Fire comes with a 1-month free Amazon Prime membership,
which entitles you to view lots of content for free (if you’re in the
US). If you’re outside of the States, you’ll have to make do with
trailers:
My screenshot tool won’t show the video, but you can see the control
interface. When you don’t touch the screen, the interface disappears,
leaving nothing but the video you’re watching. The top-left button lets
you rewind ten seconds back; on the top-right you can see the volume
slider, and at the bottom is a scrubber. Very simple, really.
Now let’s look at reading a book with the Kindle Fire:
Amazon WhisperSync works pretty well, and the Kindle Fire usually
syncs to the last page I’ve read in the book. The reading app interface
looks like this:
This is in landscape mode. The app is virtually identical to the
Kindle Android app, except that controls are laid across the bottom bar
because the Kindle Fire doesn’t have a Menu hardware button. Tapping the
screen’s right side flips to the next page, tapping its left side flips
to the previous page. This is nice in theory, but it’s very easy to tap
the screen edges by mistake when holding the device. Tapping the middle
of the screen pops up the control interface you can see in the
screenshot above. When you’re just reading, the app looks like this:
![kindleFire[15]](http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/kindleFire15.jpg?323f2c "kindleFire[15]")
You can pick one of three different background colors and several
fonts, and also change the font size. Pretty much what you would expect
from a Kindle Android app, really.
Next, let’s look at reading a magazine on the Kindle Fire:
This is the January 2012 issue of Popular Science (you can buy
magazines internationally in the Kindle Store). There’s a strip along
the bottom for quickly scrubbing through the magazine. A spread looks
like this:
This particular magazine is a perfect copy of its paper counterpart.
If you were expecting crazy interactivity, embedded videos and other
cool stuff, you won’t find it here. To be able to read anything, you’ll
need to pinch to zoom and then pan around with your finger. The maximum
zoom level isn’t very high, either. So while magazines can display well
on the Kindle Fire, the small screen size makes them difficult to read.
Some magazines are offered in a “Kindle native” format, which looks
more like an eBook than a magazine. Take Fantasy & Science Fiction
for example:
As you can see, this is much like reading a Kindle book. This format
works very well for text-heavy magazines, and is perfectly readable.
The Silk Browser
One of the Kindle’s main selling points is Amazon Silk, a
“revolutionary cloud-accelerated” browser (Amazon’s words, not mine).
The Silk browser uses Amazon’s cloud to make browsing faster. Amazon
says:
With each page request, Silk dynamically determines a division
of labor between the mobile hardware and Amazon EC2 (i.e. which browser
sub-components run where) that takes into consideration factors like
network conditions, page complexity and the location of any cached
content.
That sounds slick, and should translate to blazing-fast browsing
times. Unfortunately, in regular use, I would be hard pressed to say
that Silk made any noticeable difference. Gizmodo took around 15 seconds
to fully render, and MakeUseOf took around 20-25 seconds. The page was
usable before it completed rendering, but it didn’t feel blazing fast.
On a positive note, page rendering was spot-on perfect:
Flash content works silky-smooth, and the whole thing feels very
solid. Pinch-to-zoom is highly responsive, too. All in all, browsing
with the Kindle Fire is a lovely experience.
Living With the Kindle Fire
In my day-to-day life, I usually spend quality time with my Kindle in
bed, right before I go to sleep. With a regular Kindle, this means I
have my reading lamp on, and I read it like a book. When using the Fire,
I didn’t need a reading lamp, which was nice. The downside was that
after a couple of hours reading in the dark, my eyes hurt. This happened
even when I used a black background.
Another annoyance was software-related. As I mentioned, there are no
hardware buttons for controlling the sound volume. You can turn the
volume down using the top control bar, which looks like this:
However, even with the volume muted, the Kindle sounded an audible
alert when battery dropped below 15%. This was late at night, with my
significant other lying in bed next to me, trying to sleep. Pretty
irritating.
Due to the Kindle’s heft, I had to adapt a new reading posture. I
couldn’t really lie on my back and hold the Kindle over my head; I also
couldn’t hold it vertically because I kept turning it off by mistake.
Eventually I was able to read by moving to landscape mode and gripping
the Kindle with both hands.
Should You Buy It?
If you’re in the US, my answer would be an unequivocal YES. For $200, the
Kindle Fire
is a lot of tablet. The UI is very responsive, and with Amazon’s
tempting content options (Kindle lending library, videos, etc.), the
Kindle Fire would probably be a joy to use. I would not, however, buy it
instead of an e-ink Kindle. For just reading books, the regular Kindle
still wins.
If you’re outside of the US, the answer becomes more complicated. On
its own, with its default Amazon firmware, the Kindle Fire is not such a
great choice. The Amazon App Market doesn’t work outside the US, which
means you won’t be able to install any apps (that’s why I didn’t review
that part). You also won’t be able to watch videos. However, if you are
interested in the Kindle strictly as a hardware platform, it is a lovely
device. Alternative Android distribution CyanogenMod is
available for the Kindle Fire,
which means you can reflash your Kindle Fire, utterly void any sort of
warranty, and have fun with a slick 7” tablet. Whether or not you choose
to go down that path is up to you, of course.
We’re giving this
Kindle Fire review unit away to one very lucky MakeUseOf reader. Here’s how to join the giveaway.
Source:
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/kindle-fire-full-review-and-giveaway/
AIM ($2.99/Free) 
