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You wait a year for an Amazon Kindle Fire (see our Kindle Fire overview) to produce its technique to the UK, then two come along at as soon as, with the greatly enhanced Amazon Kindle Fire HD arriving simultaneously as its predecessor.
Best inexpensive tablets 2012: best price range options
The Amazon Kindle Fire HD definitely matches the Nexus 7 in terms of price tag and raw hardware, and it comfortably trumps the iPad mini on cost and screen resolution.
But, as we've come to realise, Apple's dominance inside the tablet market place has been built on sturdy design, coupled with a peerless content ecosystem plus a super-slick UI.
The Amazon Kindle Fire HD may be inexpensive, but ultimately it's going to nonetheless have to have to embrace all three of those crucial components if it really is to succeed.
If you nonetheless assume of Amazon Kindles as these tiny monochrome holiday companions, then you really should realize that the Amazon Kindle Fire HD is actually a fully distinctive beast.
Rather than focusing around the really certain job of downloading and reading electronic books, this can be an all-purpose tablet that acts as a window onto Amazon's wider multimedia globe - films, music, apps and games are all integrated in the Kindle Fire HD's remit.
With that in mind, the Amazon Kindle Fire HD is actually a a great deal simpler, purer design than the original Kindle.
The emphasis right here is around the screen 1st and foremost, using the only hardware controls coming inside the shape of some weedy and difficult-to-locate volume and power buttons on top with the device, proper alongside its 3.5mm headphone jack.
The lack of a fixed residence essential adds to that minimalistic vibe (we'll talk about the impact which has on usability later). The only detail around the front in the device can be a 1.3-megapixel camera for video calls - there's no rear-mounted camera here.
Regardless of that impossibly affordable price point, the Amazon Kindle Fire HD does not really feel like a low cost device. It's solid inside the hand, with none in the creak you uncover in a lot of price range Android tablets.
There is a good contrast amongst the Amazon Kindle Fire HD's smooth, glass front and its grippy matte back. It really is quietly pleasing from a tactile point of view, despite the fact that it lacks the sheer machined precision and premium feel of Apple's tablets.
One region in which Amazon would hope to achieve a significant benefit with the Amazon Kindle Fire HD more than its rivals is with its display. As we've mentioned, we're talking about a 7-incher right here, but it really is the high quality of that screen that's causing Amazon to boast.
The company claims that the show characteristics a polarising filter and anti-glare technologies, which apparently boosts colour and contrast, too as enhancing viewing angles.
Regardless of such claims - to not mention early optimistic reports from the US - we've to admit to becoming slightly underwhelmed by our initial practical experience with all the Amazon Kindle Fire HD show. It appears distinctly yellow to our eyes.
Of course, it could just be that we've been conditioned by Apple's slightly cooler, bluer high-definition displays.
Certainly, once your eyes have grown accustomed to its warmer hue, you'll no doubt commence to appreciate the Amazon Kindle Fire HD display's far more naturalistic colour contrast - specifically when viewing video content material. It is absolutely richer than the somewhat washed-out and dim Nexus 7 screen.
That's only half the story with all the Kindle Fire HD display, as well. The clue is inside the name - that 7-inch display is sharp. It is high-definition-sharp. In actual fact, with a resolution of 1280x800 in addition to a pixel density of 216ppi, it is significantly sharper than the iPad mini equivalent.
