Tablets

Upcoming budget Amazon Kindle Fire pops in a render, comes with some seriously thick bezels

posted by Chris P. / Sep 16, 2013, 6:15 AM

Upcoming budget Amazon Kindle Fire pops in a render, comes with some seriously thick bezels

A render of the upcoming next iteration of Amazon's entry-level Kindle Fire has been ousted by leaker @evleaks, painting a not so pretty picture – the bezels on this thing continue to be huge. Somehow making it past the aforementioned unpleasantness, we can't help but notice the slight revamp that Amazon's forked version of Android has gone through. Favorite apps, for example, are finally available in landscape mode, and it appears that you may be able to scroll through them, as well.

As we reported last month, the internals in the new Kindle Fire haven't really gone through much of a renaissance – we've got the nearly identical TI OMAP 4470 chipset, featuring two Cortex-A9 cores clocked at 1.5GHz. The amount of RAM has received a much needed upgrade to 1GB. Don't expect any surprises as far as screen real estate is concerned – you're still getting a 7-inch, 1280x800 resolution display to play with.

Pricing is currently unknown, though the original Kindle Fire initially retailed for $199, which subsequently got squeezed down to $159. Considering the pace at which the mobile industry is moving as a whole, however, we're actually expecting an even better price point for this year's Kindles, despite not having an official figure just yet.

source: @evleaks

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9 Comments

1. Brutus

Posts: 19; Member since: Dec 21, 2012

Stupid thing.... An elephant could stand on em'

posted on Sep 16, 2013, 6:48 AM 1

4. DaHarder

Posts: 177; Member since: Oct 10, 2009

I certainly don't find them aesthetically pleasing but they're pretty ideal for small children to hold... Which is likely the (part of) the reason for their size.

posted on Sep 16, 2013, 8:01 AM 0

6. theruleslawyer

Posts: 108; Member since: Apr 23, 2012

Yah, they're actually nice for a grip while you're reading, rather than having to only hold the edge in order to not get accidently page turns.

posted on Sep 16, 2013, 11:26 AM 1

2. CX3NT3_713

Posts: 2349; Member since: Apr 18, 2011

.....that bezel,,,,,,,

posted on Sep 16, 2013, 7:35 AM 0

3. Napalm_3nema

Posts: 2236; Member since: Jun 14, 2013

Ugh, never again.I have the 8.9" KFHD, and it is the worst tablet I have ever owned. I will be glad to see the backside of it as I hand it off to a new owner. The fact that they compared it to the iPad 3/4, when it is not comparable in any way (Screen included) except being cheaper is mind boggling. My iPad 3 danced circles around this POS.

posted on Sep 16, 2013, 7:48 AM 2

5. theruleslawyer

It was also like half the price of a ipad 3, what do you expect? The only tablet near its price with the same sort of resolution was the nook, and that's pretty much identical hardware. People who are upset about the kindle HD line seem mostly to be expecting them to be something they're not. They're not general use tablets. They are media consumption devices

posted on Sep 16, 2013, 11:24 AM 0

7. Napalm_3nema

At $269 and $299, they aren't exactly giving them away. At least the Nook could get the Play Store without stupid second boot loader shenanigans.

posted on Sep 16, 2013, 11:45 AM 0

8. theruleslawyer

Not until quite recently. And you don't need a 2nd bootloader for play on the Kindle, just root. 2nd bootloader is if you want to boot CM10. Granted the Nook is the better deal right now if you were to buy one. Still in 2012 there wasn't anything with a 1080p screen ~10" 'class' approaching the nook/kindle price. 1080p on the android side was just a poor choice in 2012 for performance anyways. The SOCs needed to drive it well didn't really exist yet. Mine has more or less lived upto expectations, but I knew what I was getting into with it. I knew the SOC was on the weak side and it wouldn't handle any heavy lifting. Works great for AIV, reading, PDF docs, etc.

posted on Sep 16, 2013, 12:44 PM 0

9. DRAPicard

Posts: 27; Member since: Nov 05, 2011

This is probably going to be retailling for less than $150.....which makes it a rather good option for a lot of people. It is NOT an iPad killer. It is NOT a Nexus 7 killer. But the new Kindle Fire HD 8.9" could DEFINITELY give the Nexus or iPad or Transformer or any other tablet a SERIOUS run for it's money if the leaked specs are correct. I am assuming and hoping that the prices will be about the same and I would consider picking one of them up. I do not have a Kindle Fire tablet but to get my Kindle books and Amazon Streaming Video on a tablet with a premium screen and ultra-fast processor, I would consider picking one up this Fall.