Amazon’s newest Fire HD 10 tablet takes the same approach as its predecessors in that it’s an affordable tablet that’s well-designed, has good-enough performance and provides direct access to all of Amazon’s apps and services.
The Fire HD 10 (2023) brings a slight performance boost and an extra hour of battery life over the 2021 model, along with a better front-facing camera for video calls, in a slightly lighter housing.
Is it good? Sure. Is it great? That’s debatable. Let’s just say it does what it’s supposed to do, and not a whole lot more. At least that’s the impression I’m left with after having tested it for the last week.
Cyber Monday Deal
If you want a relatively cheap tablet and use lots of Amazon services and apps, the Fire HD 10 is a nice affordable middle ground in the company's lineup.
What we liked about it
The price sure is appealing
Once you start shopping for a tablet and increase the storage space, add a keyboard case and maybe even throw in a stylus, the total cost can quickly climb over $500. That’s not the case with Amazon’s entire Fire tablet lineup.
The Fire tablet lineup ranges from $60 for the Fire 7 up to $230 for the Fire Max 11, before accessories. The 2023 version of the Fire HD 10 is $140 for a 32GB model that also supports using a microSD card to expand storage up to 1TB.
Compare that to, say, Apple’s 9th Gen iPad which starts at $329 for 64GB of storage and lacks any accessories or microSD support, and it’s easy to see how far ahead you are budget-wise when buying a $140 tablet.
But keep in mind, an affordable tablet is only such because there are some corners cut to hit that price point. I’ll touch on those below, but for someone shopping for a tablet at an affordable price, those tradeoffs usually aren’t deal breakers. And that’s certainly the case with the Fire HD 10.
All things Alexa and Amazon
![Amazon Fire HD 10 (2023) review: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it | CNN Underscored (2) Amazon Fire HD 10 (2023) review: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it | CNN Underscored (2)](https://i0.wp.com/media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/amazon-fire-hd-10-cnnu-003.jpg?q=w_1110,c_fill)
From the moment you turn on the Fire HD 10, it’s very apparent it’s an Amazon tablet built to do Amazon things. Alexa is baked into the operating system, allowing you to use it as a portable smart display or Echo Show of sorts. Of course, the Shop Amazon is front and center, as are Prime Video, the Kindle app, Amazon Music, Audible and Goodreads.
If you’re someone who constantly relies on Amazon’s services, the Fire HD 10 is a dedicated gateway to all of it.
As a Kindle, the 10.1-inch display of the Fire HD 10 can be a bit unwieldy when holding it vertically, but it shines as an e-reader when using it in landscape orientation. The Kindle app presents a true-to-life book layout, showing two pages instead of one.
![Amazon Fire HD 10 (2023) review: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it | CNN Underscored (3) Amazon Fire HD 10 (2023) review: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it | CNN Underscored (3)](https://i0.wp.com/media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/amazon-fire-hd-10-cnnu-002.jpg?q=w_1110,c_fill)
My favorite use of the Fire HD 10, though, is using it as a smart display. You can trigger Alexa at any time, just like you would an Echo speaker or Echo Show display, and ask for weather updates, control a smart plug, adjust the temperature or view a livestream from a Ring security camera.
When you trigger Alexa, a 10.1-inch display lights up and shows you relevant information for what you’ve asked.
The best part? I don’t have to buy multiple devices to ensure Alexa is available in the rooms where I spend most of my time. As long as the Fire HD 10 is nearby, I can use Alexa.
Good battery life and performance
Amazon’s Fire tablets aren’t known for offering impressive performance, let alone a device that would compete with Apple’s iPad or any of Samsung’s tablets in overall speed. It’s one of those shortcuts I was just talking about; Amazon doesn’t use the latest and greatest chips to power its tablets. Instead, Fire tablets, including the Fire HD 10, have a processor that’s just good enough to handle the most basic of tasks on a tablet.
For the 2023 Fire HD 10, that means an octa-core 2Ghz processor, 3GB of memory and either 32GB or 64GB of storage. You can add a microSD card to the tablet to boost storage up to 1TB. Those specs, admittedly, aren’t all that impressive. Neither are the benchmark scores from the Geekbench 6 app that’s used to measure overall performance for simple and complex tasks.
![Amazon Fire HD 10 (2023) review: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it | CNN Underscored (4) Amazon Fire HD 10 (2023) review: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it | CNN Underscored (4)](https://i0.wp.com/media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/amazon-fire-hd-10-cnnu-005.jpg?q=w_1110,c_fill)
The Fire HD 10 had an average score of 694 for single-core performance, and 1,698 for multi-core performance. Single-core tasks include things like sending an email, reading in the Kindle app or scrolling through the Amazon store. Multi-core performance is what you’ll want to pay attention to if you’re someone who frequently games on a tablet, or is doing more resource-intensive tasks like editing photos and videos.
As a quick comparison, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ scored 1,024 and 2,898 in the same single-core and multi-core tests, respectively.
As I always say, though, benchmark scores are only part of the story. You can’t run a single test in an app and get a true sense of how performant a device is. You have to use and live with it. And so, over the last week, that’s exactly what I’ve done. I used the Fire HD 10 to browse the web, do some reading, do Amazon shopping and play the occasional game or two.
![Amazon Fire HD 10 (2023) review: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it | CNN Underscored (5) Amazon Fire HD 10 (2023) review: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it | CNN Underscored (5)](https://i0.wp.com/media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/amazon-fire-hd-10-cnnu-009.jpg?q=w_1110,c_fill)
I even used it as a dedicated display to monitor my Ring security cameras while having some construction work done on my home.
It’s slower than an iPad at doing things like loading a livestream from my security camera, or when minimizing the feed to a picture-in-picture rectangle on the home screen, but it’s usable. The same goes for gaming. It may take a second or two longer for the game to open and fully load, but once you’re racing through the streets in Asphalt 9 or gobbling up bananas in Minion Rush, performance takes a back seat to the overall experience, which is more than good enough.
Amazon claims the Fire HD 10 has 13 hours of battery life, up one hour more than the 2021 Fire HD 10. I ran the same battery benchmark we run on all tablets, which consists of playing a 4K video file on repeat with the display set to 50% brightness from a full charge to empty, but the Fire HD 10 turned off after just 4 hours and 32 minutes. But that benchmark score doesn’t align with my personal experience of using the Fire HD 10.
I’ve had no issues using the Fire HD 10 for longer than that 4.5-hour mark doing all sorts of tasks, including gaming and watching some videos in addition to typical surfing the web and the like. While I don’t have an exact number, I can say it’s been consistently closer to the 13-hour Amazon estimate than the benchmark result.
All in all, the Fire HD 10’s performance isn’t overly impressive, but it doesn’t have to be. Amazon knows that, especially at this price point. It’s capable of performing the task at hand, even if it’s a little slower than what you’d experience on a more expensive tablet.
What we didn’t like about it
The lack of Google is growing tired
Amazon’s Fire tablets all run a heavily customized version of Android, called Fire OS. Amazon uses the core features and foundation of Android as an operating system, so if you’re an Android user, you’ll see similar features such as navigation, and settings. But one thing you’ll notice is missing is any Google apps or services.
That means you only have access to Amazon-built apps like the Silk browser, email, contacts and calendar apps. It also means that you only have access to apps that are listed in Amazon’s own Appstore, and not the Google Play Store.
Furthermore, any apps that rely on Google services to do things like display a map inside an app or send push notifications won’t work.
This leaves you with an Amazon Appstore that, while it has a lot of apps, is lacking a lot of the same high-quality apps that you’d find in the Play Store.
A lot of the streaming services, such as Disney Plus, Netflix and Paramount Plus are available in the Appstore. However, you won’t find the official YouTube app. Instead, you’ll find a bunch of apps that are nothing more than a shortcut to YouTube’s website.
Granted, there are a handful of useful apps available, mostly from the likes of Zoom, Facebook and Microsoft, including its Microsoft 365 bundle of productivity apps. But I did a quick search for some of my must-have apps for any tablet, including Fastmail, Threads, FeedMe and OpenWeather, and only ESPN is available in the Appstore.
I don’t ever see Amazon moving away from Fire OS and its lack of Google services, which is unfortunate and hurts the overall user experience of the Fire tablet.
The keyboard case and stylus are just okay
![Amazon Fire HD 10 (2023) review: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it | CNN Underscored (6) Amazon Fire HD 10 (2023) review: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it | CNN Underscored (6)](https://i0.wp.com/media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/amazon-fire-hd-10-cnnu-007.jpg?q=w_1110,c_fill)
Along with the Fire HD 10, I also received the $35 Made for Amazon Stylus Pen and $50 Made for Amazon Bluetooth Keyboard. Both accessories are designed to help transform the Fire HD 10 from a simple tablet to a productivity tool.
Both work well with the Fire HD 10, with the Stylus feeling more polished than the keyboard that doubles as a case. But neither of them feels like a well-rounded product that someone will want to use over a long period of time.
The keyboard is cramped and feels cheap. The Stylus is fairly thick, presumably to fit the AAA battery that powers it. There’s a loop on top of the keyboard case that you can use to store the pen if needed.
The Stylus works well with the Fire HD 10, though. Handwriting recognition that converts my sloppy writing into text is impressively accurate, and there’s very little latency between the tip of the pen moving across the screen and seeing digital ink appear underneath it.
The Fire HD 10 is a well-designed device for this price point, but the Made for Amazon accessories feel like an afterthought. And that’s unfortunate.
How it compares
Display | 10.1-inch 1080p, 1920 x 1200 | 10.1-inch 1080p, 1920 x 1200 | 11-inch Vivid display 2000 x 1200 |
---|---|---|---|
Operating system | Fire OS | Fire OS | Fire OS |
Processor | Octa-core 2GHz | Octa-core 2GHz | Octa-core 2.2GHz |
Storage | 32GB, 64GB | 32GB, 64GB | 64GB, 128GB |
Memory | 3GB | 3GB | 4GB |
Battery | 13 hours | 12 hours | 14 hours |
Camera | 5 megapixel front and back | 2 megapixel front, 5 megapixel rear | 8 megapixel front and back |
Dimensions and weight | 9.69 x 6.49 x 0.34 inches, 15.29 oz | 9.73 x 6.53 x 0.36 inches, 16.4 oz | 10.2 x 6.44 x 0.3 inches, 17.28 oz |
Colors | Black, Lilac, Ocean | Black, Denim, Olive, Lavender | Gray |
Price | From $140 | From $150 | From $230 |
Bottom line
![Amazon Fire HD 10 (2023) review: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it | CNN Underscored (10) Amazon Fire HD 10 (2023) review: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it | CNN Underscored (10)](https://i0.wp.com/media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/amazon-fire-hd-10-cnnu-004.jpg?q=w_1110,c_fill)
Amazon’s Fire tablet lineup has a device for almost everyone, be it someone who just wants a tablet to use as a Kindle in the Fire HD 8, or someone who wants a more productivity-focused setup in the Fire Max 11. Then there’s the Fire HD 10, the middle-of-the-road Amazon tablet, that does a lot of things well.
It’s a Kindle, sure, but it also has enough battery life and performance to be used for browsing, shopping and some casual gaming. And with the right accessories, it can even help you get some work done.
That said, the lack of Google Services and the Play Store, which has long been a complaint of many, feels like a bigger hurdle to justify than ever due to lack of app parity between Amazon’s Appstore and Google’s Play Store. Not to mention, some of Amazon’s apps are good, but not great, especially when compared to the Google equivalent.
All of that said, the Kindle Fire HD 10 is a well-rounded tablet that’s more than capable of keeping you, or a kid, entertained, while at the same time not costing hundreds of dollars. That’s exactly what it’s supposed to be and do, and it succeeds.
If you’re looking for something with better app support and more power, Google’s Pixel Tablet is a solid choice for an Android tablet, and Apple’s base iPad is more affordable than the Pixel tablet, and still one of the best tablets you can get.