Amazon Fire HD 10 vs Apple iPad: Amazon Tablet Half The Price Of iPad

Amazon is making some pretty hefty claims about the capabilities of its refreshed Fire HD 10 tablet originally released in 2015 and last updated in 2018.

The 2018 upgrade boasted a brilliant 10.1 inch, 1080p Full HD display (1920 x 1200), up to 1.8 GHZ quad-core processor and 2 GB RAM. It also provided up to 10 hours of battery life. On the other hand, the refreshed 2019 Fire HD 10 tablet features overhauled internals with a new processor that makes it 30 percent faster than the previous model.

The 2019 version also comes with 20 percent longer battery life, Dolby Atmos stereo speakers and a USB-C (a first for an Amazon hardware product) for fast charging and more convenience. The new tablet's display size remains 10.1 inches, however.

Among the new bells and whistles for the 2019 Fire HD 10: “enhanced” Wi-Fi and microSD storage expanded to a maximum of 512GB (up from 200GB on the older model). The new gadget will come in twilight blue, plum, and white and, of course, the standard black.

But the biggest surprise with the new HD 10 is the price. Amazon's new tablet will start at $149, the same price as the previous model, despite all the new improvements. In contrast, Apple’s cheapest iPad starts at $329.

There aren't any major improvements to the software that runs the refreshed HD 10. The upgrade will still run the same customized version of Android as Amazon’s other tablets.

One new feature, however, will be a new picture-in-picture mode that allows users to keep watching video content while on other apps. Only a few apps are currently supported, however. Among these are Amazon’s own Prime Video app and Netflix. This new feature will make its way to the entire Fire lineup in a future software update.

The Fire HD 10 Kids Edition will come in a new case quite similar to the Fire HD 7 Kids Edition. It's got a built-in adjustable stand to easily prop it up.

And, of course, the Fire HD 10 tablet serves as a portal to all of Amazon’s services. These include Amazon Music, Prime Video, Kindle and its app store.

Fire HD 10 will ship Oct. 30, as will the Fire HD 10 Kids Edition priced at $199. Preorders start today (Oct. 7).