The Alexa Tablets mark Amazon’s move from budget models to a high-end range with full Android and Alexa+. Three formats, an anti-glare screen and the integrated Kindle function for those who love to read.
Four years have passed since the Fire HD and, in the meantime, Amazon seems to have rethought its tablets from scratch. The Alexa Tabletarriving in Italy on October 19th, no longer chase those who want to spend as little as possible, they instead aim for those looking for a device refined, fast and well built. The prices they start from 229.99 euros and it reaches 559.99 for the most sophisticated version, an unmistakable sign of a change of direction compared to the past.
The change is noticeable when you hold them, with the aluminum body made from a single block, and is even more noticeable when you turn them on. Below is Android, the real one, with the Complete Google Play Store: the same smartphone apps, from YouTube to Gmail, coexist with Prime Video, Kindle, Audible and Luna.
Three formats for three habits
The 12 Pro is the Alexa Tablet’s most ambitious. Twelve inches in 3:2 format, just 6.5 millimeters thick, a 4 nanometer chip and up to 16 GB of RAM. Anyone who works near a window or outdoors will appreciate the variant Nanomattewith a glass treated together with Corning to extinguish reflections and give the pen a resistance reminiscent of paper. The starting price is 499.99 euros (559.99 for the Nanomatte), and with a magnetically attachable pen and keyboard the package rises to 649 euros.
More domestic the Alexa Tablet 11from 329.99 euros: 2.5K screen at 90 Hz, 8 GB of RAM, designed for series, games and navigation. The Alexa Tablet 8, costing 229.99 euros, is the pocket size, 329 grams and the size of an ebook reader. One is dedicated to those who read Kindle mode which deactivates notifications, takes on the colors of sheets of paper and promises up to twenty hours away from the socket, with books and audiobooks placed side by side in the same space.
An assistant who knows what you’re looking at
The real ace, however, is Alexa+. It is called by voice and adapts to what is in front of you: with the on-screen intelligence function you just need to show it, say, a page of mountain paths and ask it “what is this?” so that he can read, summarize and propose how to organize himself.
No spying: the control stays off until you turn it on, euA blue light warns you when Alexa can see. Continuous conversations without pressing anything will also be coming soon. One limitation must be remembered, which counts when evaluating the purchase: the assistant is free only for Amazon Prime subscribers.
The children’s chapter
There is also room for children, with the 8.7 and 11 inch Amazon Kids tablets for those aged three and over, offered with a shockproof case and twelve months of Kids+the catalog of games, cartoons, books and audiobooks that arrives in Italy at the same time, without advertising and without hidden purchases within the apps. Among the names Peppa Pig, Pokémon, LEGO and Disney stand out.
Just the exclusive contents and the rich cataloguealso accessible by Fire TV devicesare a distinctive reason for purchasing, especially compared to the few competing products. Once the free year is over, you pay from 6.99 euros a month with Prime, 7.99 without, while parents are left with an app to decide how much screen time to allow and see what interests their children.
