Amazon has announced that it will discontinue its Fire HD tablet line in favor of the higher‑priced Alexa Tablets. While the era of inexpensive Amazon tablets may be ending, shoppers can still snap up a heavily reduced Fire HD 10. The ad‑supported version is now listed for $72.99 on Amazon, a drop of $82 from its regular $139.99 price tag. Though it is not the fastest tablet on the market, it remains a reliable choice for streaming video, reading, or web browsing, and it will continue to receive security updates.
The Fire HD 10 is one of the more capable devices in Amazon’s budget lineup, and its current price even undercuts the Fire HD 8. It features a 10.1‑inch 1080p screen that delivers sharper images than the smaller, lower‑resolution Fire HD 8, making movies and e‑books more enjoyable. The tablet also includes an upgraded front‑facing camera for video calls and offers up to 13 hours of battery life, which should be sufficient for long trips or flights.
With 32 GB of internal storage, the Fire HD 10 provides a decent amount of space for apps and media, and a microSD slot lets users expand capacity up to 1 TB. The device retains a 3.5 mm headphone jack, a feature that newer iPads lack. Alexa Plus is built in and available for free to Amazon Prime members; the enhanced assistant can handle more complex commands and is handy for controlling smart‑home devices, though experiences with other tasks have been mixed.
The tablet runs Amazon’s Fire OS rather than standard Android, whereas the new Alexa Tablets come with the Google Play Store preinstalled. Users can sideload Android apps onto the Fire HD 10, but its modest hardware may limit performance for some apps and games.