Hands-on review: Amazon Fire 10 HD

There might be some among us that though Amazon might give up on the tablet game – but instead the brand has gone away and created yet another iPad competitor.

While journalists are usually labelled as lazy for instantly comparing Apple's device to any new tablet on the market, in this case it was Amazon making the claim. It said that it put the new Fire HD 10 in a tumble dryer for 200 revolutions to see how well it held up, and bar a few dents it was fine.

It did the same with the iPad Air 2, and that apparently only lasted 30 cycles before the glass broke and created 'dangerous' fragments that could splinter into your finger.

However, all that did was show that you can drop your iPad 30 times onto a hard surface and it probably won't break – and that you're an idiot if you run your finger over broken glass.

As you can guess with a tablet that's marketed as durable, it's not got the most premium of builds. But at £169.99, you probably won't expect that much. The plastic back and weight in the hand don't feel brilliant – it's definitely a case of getting what you're paying for – but the durability is good and there's little creak in the chassis.

A couple of speaker grilles at the bottom of the tablet fire out some meaty sound, but without being front facing it's hard to see how these will be useful when the HD 10 is placed on a table or bed to watch late at night – they're easily covered.

The power button (which doubles as the screen lock) is a little hidden on the top right hand corner, and can be a bit fiddly to hit. The screen also takes a rather long amount of time to turn on – the quad-core chipset inside seems to struggle a little bit to come out of sleep mode.

The screen quality – while decent thanks to being IPS and laminated to the surface of the glass – still looks low-res, which is because this 10.1-inch tablet only has a 1280 x 800 resolution, which is almost criminal for a large tablet, and the lower price only just helps it get away with the spec.

Given Amazon is touting this as a tablet for media, I'd have expected something higher resolution. If you've used any higher-end smartphone or new tablet lately, you'll definitely notice the drop in sharpness.

The interface, FireOS 5 from Amazon, is another thing that will polarise opinion. If you're completely behind the notion of using your tablet for entertainment only, or are a novice user of the technology, then the way the brand has divided up the home screen into categories will appeal.

There's a section for video, music, audiobook and regular tomes (among others), with your most recent purchases on the top, and recommendations served below.

However, it's slow to swipe through them all (partly because there's only 1GB of RAM inside, I'd wager) and if you're after a tablet that can use reams of apps, then you'll probably want to look elsewhere.

Amazon Underground does offer a load of free apps, both in terms of upfront cost and in-app purchases, and the selection is pretty decent (thanks to being based on Android) – but this is clearly a tablet for those that only want to listen to music, play games and watch video.

Video is probably the biggest draw to this tablet, as the 16:10 aspect ratio is designed for video according to Amazon, giving you more movie into your eyes compared to the 4:3 tablets out there (such as the iPad, apparently) – it's a nice enough experience, but nothing dazzling.

The other addition is 'Word Runner' – the same technique used on some smartwatches to let you speed read by flashing up a single word on the screen at a time, with the pace altering. It feels odd, but if you're desperate to suck up a book, it's an option.

Early verdict

Is the Amazon Fire HD 10 a decent tablet? It entirely depends how much you want to do with it, and how much you're willing to pay. If it's a stick-in-your-bag, watch a bit of Netflix or Amazon Prime Instant Video on the way to work, it's a decent choice and does the job.

But extend out of that and you're going to be a little limited – this is a tablet to get you using your Amazon content and little else.

For a low cost option to throw around on the couch and out and about, Amazon has done well – but it won't wow you the second you pick it up.

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