Amazon has killed off its Fire tablet era. On Thursday, the company unveiled three all-new Alexa Tablets — the Alexa Tablet 8, Alexa Tablet 11 and Alexa Tablet 12 Pro — that abandon its homegrown Fire OS for real Android with full Google Play Store access, and pack the Alexa+ AI assistant. The lineup ships October 14 in the US, Canada and Mexico, and October 19 in Europe, starting at $229.99 and topping out at $549.99.
Goodbye Fire OS, hello Google Play
The software switch is the real headline. Since 2011, Amazon's tablets ran Fire OS, a forked version of Android with its own Appstore, forcing users to sideload staples like YouTube, Gmail and Netflix. The new tablets, announced by devices vice president Kevin Keith, run proper Android — a spokesperson told TechCrunch the lineup is an "all-new product line" with new hardware and a new operating system, not a rebrand. YouTube, Netflix, Gmail and Google Docs now install directly from Google Play, and the lockscreen ads that subsidised older models cost $20 to remove on the two cheaper models.
Three tablets, from $230 to $550
The Alexa Tablet 8 is the entry model: an 8.7-inch display in an all-aluminium body, an eight-core processor, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, Wi-Fi 6 and 14 hours of video playback for $229.99. The Alexa Tablet 11 steps up to an 11-inch 2.5K 90Hz display, 8GB of RAM, dual Dolby Atmos speakers and 15 hours of video for $329.99. The 12 Pro flagship brings a 12-inch 120Hz 3:2 display, a 4nm eight-core chip, up to 16GB of RAM, Wi-Fi 6E, quad Dolby Atmos and 16 hours of playback for $499.99 — or $549.99 with a Corning Nanomatte anti-glare screen. A magnetic Pro Keyboard costs $149.99 and a USI 2.0 pen $89.99, and Amazon claims triple the CPU and nine times the GPU speed of any tablet it has shipped.
Panos Panay's upscale gamble
The strategy shift is the deeper story. Under devices chief Panos Panay, Amazon is done selling near-cost budget slates to funnel users into Prime Video and Kindle. The $550 top-end model now sits next to Apple's $450 iPad and Samsung's $550 Galaxy tablets — uncharted territory for a company whose Fire HD 10 topped out at $180. Alexa+ adds voice control and optional on-screen intelligence, though Amazon says the assistant requires a Prime membership or a separate subscription. The tablets go on sale through Amazon.com, Best Buy and Target, with no India launch announced yet.
