Amazon’s Fire tablets are known for being an excellent value for the price. It’s also known that Amazon cuts some corners with its Fire Tablet lineup in order to undercut the competition. And while the Amazon Fire HD 10 can’t compete with the best-performing tablets from the likes of Apple or Samsung — that’s not Amazon’s goal.

One of their highest-spec tablets with a 10.1-inch screen, at a very palatable price.

The Fire HD 10 provides a tablet experience, full of Amazon’s app and services, that’s made for the whole family to use. Amazon keeps things stripped back and simple, focusing on delivering the basics in the most effective way possible. If you’re hunting for a cheap new tablet, a great starting point is the Amazon Fire HD 10 (2023). It’s one of their highest-spec tablets with a 10.1-inch screen, at a very palatable price. I’ve been testing the Fire HD 10 (2023) and am rather surprised, while also fully aware of its shortcomings. What’s impressed me? What’s let me down? Read on to find out.

Price, specs, and availability

Available globally now, the Amazon Fire HD 10 (2023) is priced at $140 for 32GB of storage and lockscreen ads. You can also buy it with 64GB of storage for $195. If you’d rather buy it without any ads, add $15 to the price.

It’s worth keeping an eye on the price because Amazon gear is regularly discounted. We’ve seen the Fire HD 10 on sale for as little as $95 in the past.

To keep the cost down, Amazon sticks to the essentials, forgoing any unnecessary extras like a fingerprint sensor. The Fire HD 10 uses the Fire OS operating system, has a 10.1-inch FHD screen, and packs a MediaTek MT8186 processor with 3GB of RAM. Take a look at the table below to see a full list of specs.

A boring design isn’t always a bad thing

Simple and sturdy

The best word to describe the design of the Amazon Fire HD 10 is simple. You can only buy it in black, it has a plastic rear casing and thick bezels around the screen. While that sounds a long way off the modern glass designs you can find elsewhere, I like it because it still looks smart, the black colorway is inoffensive, and you can easily jazz it up with a case if you want to.

Amazon has undeniably opted for function over form in designing the Fire HD 10.

As soon as I took it out of the box, I noticed how sturdy and resilient the build quality felt. I planned to take this tablet out and about with me a lot, so a durable design gives me confidence that it would survive being crammed into my bag and knocked around. While the wide bezels may not be aesthetically pleasing, they do mean I can grip the edge of the device without obscuring the screen. Amazon has undeniably opted for function over form in designing the Fire HD 10.

In the top bezel, you’ll find the front camera, and on the back, there’s another 5MP lens. They’re both well-concealed in the design. Around the frame, there’s a power button, a volume rocker, a memory card slot, a USB-C port for charging, and a 3.5mm audio port. The memory card slot is a fantastic addition because it means you can buy the most affordable model and add storage, up to 1TB, at any time via microSD card. Sadly, there’s no fingerprint sensor or facial recognition to unlock the tablet, but that’s by no means essential.

I found the Amazon Fire HD 10 very comfortable to hold. I was able to walk around watching a show while doing other things with my other hand. That’s partly down to its weight. At 15.29 ounces, it’s one of the lightest tablets around, and it’s also lighter than its predecessor.

The display is good, not great

Does well for purpose

The 10.1-inch Full HD display is fit for purpose. It’s a good size, it’s sharp, the colors are vivid, and it has a decent amount of brightness.

I primarily use the Amazon Fire HD 10 to stream TV shows from services like Netflix and Amazon Prime. Overall, the IPS LCD screen delivers video content well — I could see the scenes clearly, although it’s some way off the top-level contrast and brightness you might see on an OLED display. Annoyingly, when I took it outside, the screen was barely visible under bright sunlight. Although given the fact that I would rarely use it outdoors, that’s something I can look past.

Another way I regularly use this tablet is to catch up on ebooks and news stories. The Amazon Fire HD 10 is great for reading thanks to its sharp lettering, which is perfectly legible even when it comes to smaller characters.

Navigating through the system, the touchscreen is also very capable. So far, whenever I’ve used the Fire HD 10, it has always registered every tap or swipe without being too sensitive. However, it won’t give you the level of detail you’d find on a high-end device. It’s by no means made for precise tablet art like drawing or sketching. You’ll want to look at tablets specific for graphic design if that’s your preference.

It’s fast enough for the basics

Don’t expect a workhorse

The Amazon Fire HD 10 is powered by a MediaTek MT8186 processor with 3GB of RAM and a choice of either 32GB or 64GB of inbuilt storage — Amazon claims that this latest 2023 device is 25% faster than its predecessor.

Broadly speaking, the Fire HD 10 does a good job at loading apps, and you can flick smoothly through the system. Despite being undeniably speedier than the 2021 model, I still wouldn’t say it’s particularly swift. It certainly won’t cope with heavy workloads or huge mobile games, so don’t expect to use it for anything too demanding. Truth be told, you can’t expect mind-blowing speeds from a tablet that costs less than $200 and this is very much a basic tablet for basic tasks.

Good battery life, slow charging

Would it hurt to add true fast charging?

In my experience, the battery life was fine. If I didn’t spend too much time using it, it would last a couple of days. Whereas when I ran an HD video continuously, it lasted around 8 hours in total. That’s not bad, but it’s not top of the class either.

Charging it up took around 4 hours, which felt like ages. There was one occasion when I wanted to give it a quick boost before I left the house, and I didn’t get very far before it ran out again.

Lots of pros, a few cons

Another way Amazon has improved its 10-inch tab for 2023 is by boosting its cameras from 2MP up to 5MP. I still wouldn’t necessarily use this to snap photos, because the results are quite grainy. For video calls, though, the new cameras are a big improvement.

Pre-installed Amazon apps, like Amazon Shopping, Amazon Video, and the Kindle app. You can control the tablet using the Amazon Alexa voice assistant, simply by saying the wake word followed by your command.

Dual speakers provide the sound, and I was impressed by how loud they are. I could easily hear the shows and movies I streamed. The audio quality won’t come close to that of a separate speaker. However, given the tablet’s price, that’s not surprising.

Fire OS provides the tablet’s smarts and there are undeniable pros and cons to that. Benefits include that it comes with all sorts of pre-installed Amazon apps, like Amazon Shopping, Amazon Video, and the Kindle app. You’ll also be able to control the tablet using the Amazon Alexa voice assistant, simply by saying the wake word followed by your command. I predominantly use Alexa to control my smart home tech, like my smart lights, but it’s also handy for quickly playing a song or getting the answer to a question.

When you aren’t using it, the Fire HD 10 can double up as a smart display. It works similarly to an Echo Show in that you’ll be able to see the answers to your questions as well as hear them.

Another plus point is that Fire OS is very family-friendly. You can manage your kids’ screen time by creating a Child Profile, giving you control over what they see and when. And there are a lot of fun educational apps available. In a more broad sense, Fire OS is also very easy to use because everything you need is laid out simply.

The downside of Fire OS is that you’ll only have access to the Amazon Appstore, which is lacking a lot. You’ll be limited to Amazon’s Silk browser, which feels outdated, and there are some popular apps that you won’t be able to download. I’m a regular user of Gmail, YouTube, Google Maps, and Google Chrome, all of which I couldn’t get on the Amazon Fire HD 10 because Amazon uses its own operating system that lacks Google apps out of the box.

Verdict

Not everyone needs an all-singing, all-dancing tablet that can be used to work all day and create masterpieces all evening. A lot of people will be looking for something straightforward and cheap for simple tasks that will last a long time. The Amazon Fire HD 10 proves you don’t need to splash hundreds of dollars on a new tablet.

While it may be modest, I thought it did the basics very well. I happily use it for streaming shows, reading books, and playing the occasional game. The fact that Alexa is integrated into the system is another great feature that I use all the time. If you want something affordable that the whole family will benefit from, then this is a fantastic choice.