Amazon Fire HD 10 (Kids Edition) in the test: tablet for children and adults

With Alexa hands-free support

A tablet specially designed for children? The Amazon Fire HD 10 is also available in a children's edition. In the test, we find the details we like about both versions of the tablet, like the hands-free function Alexa. But with regard to offspring, some question marks remain on the front. Why is there no mechanical protection of the camera?

Content

One thing is certain: the 10 inch tablet from Amazon is cheap. The Fire HD 10 tablet is already available for 150 euros. Then, the Fire OS tablet already offers a good equipment, for example hears the word thanks to Alexa hands-free. Fire OS is the Amazon version of Google's mobile operating system and Android tablet. In this case, Google Apps has been replaced by Amazon apps. Instead of the Google Play Store, you can download apps from the Amazon App Store. Google (Play) apps can be installed later.

If you pay 50 euros more, you can now order the Kids Edition edition of the Fire HD 10. The differences between Amazon Fire HD 10 (2017) and the new Fire HD 10 Kids Edition tablet are as follows:

• Protective cover thick: so that the tablet can fall once, Amazon the team of a sturdy padded shell. These are available in pink or blue. However, the display remains unprotected, a slide is recommended
• One year FreeTime Unlimited included: Children have access to more than 5,000 apps, games, videos and books that have been reviewed by an editorial team. Amazon.com: Two Year Warranty: In case of damage occurring within two years from the date of purchase, for example by breaking the screen, Amazon guarantees replacement "without any conditions".
• Special "secure" child mode with personalized profile and parents' dashboard. More on that below.

Design, execution and equipment

You see – with the exception of the well-made protective case, the kids tablet is identical to the 7th generation of the Fire HD 10, which Amazon introduced for the first time to autumn 2017. Without shell, it weighs 498 grams. With a protective blanket, the editorial scale shows 657 grams.

We are looking at a 10.1-inch tablet with edges more than two centimeters thick. This may seem archaic in 2018, but probably only a secondary interest for mom, dad, son or daughter.

The black plastic fingerprint and transparent on the back and the thickness of one centimeter do not leave us the highest impression. On the other hand, we can not detect visible gaps and do not forget: the Amazon tablet costs between 150 and 200 euros. For an iPad, you have to pay twice as much – at least.

A quick look at existing interfaces reveals nothing revolutionary. Thanks to the headphone jack, microSD card slot and microUSB port we do not miss anything. Our evaluation unit Kids Edition has a memory of 32 gigabytes. At least 24.8 gigabytes are available for free from the factory. The "normal" version of the Fire HD 10 is also available with 64 GB of memory. Inside is a Mediatek processor (MT8173) with four cores. Old processor, supported by two gigabytes of medium RAM.

display

The time at which the fire tablets only offered HD displays is over. The 10.1-inch touch screen of the test tablet provides full HD resolution. The police can now read a lot more relaxed. Subjectively, we also have nothing to complain about in terms of color and contrast.

Unfortunately, the maximum brightness is not always enough under the open sky to overshadow the reflections that occur. But it is the same with other tablets. If we look at the display at a sharp angle, there will be no annoying color inversions. In the settings of the Amazon Kindle Fire HD 10, we discover a blue light filter (Blue Shade), which regulates both brightness and color before going to bed.

Cameras and Speakers

The two integrated cameras are more of a decorative accessory than a real added value. The sensor of the front camera dissolves with a puny VGA solution, therefore grainy are the photos taken with it. The same applies to photos that you or your child take with the main camera at the back. These land at a maximum resolution of two megapixels in local storage or in the Amazon Cloud. You need a lot of ambient light, so the darker areas of the image do not dissipate completely. Anyone who believes they can save the purchase of a separate children's camera is disappointed in this case.

Unfortunately, the sound of built-in stereo speakers does not exceed the level of the lower middle clbad. Thanks to the relatively large distance to each other, we notice a certain stereo effect. However, the mini-drivers lack badurance and foundation. Better, you plug sensitive earphones.

These special kids features are provided by the Kids Edition

"Children want a real tablet, not a toy" – says Amazon. And as we have noted up to now, this applies to the Fire HD 10. Except for the protective cover is in the true sense of the word a tablet in its own right. Of course, the children's edition also offers software-related and other differences to the normal fire tablet.

First and foremost, Amazon offers a two year hardware warranty for the Kids Edition. As part of this "worry-free warranty," the manufacturer is committed to repairing or replacing the "no-no-if" tablet in case it falls into everyday life. Statutory warranty claims remain unchanged. Whoever buys the Kids Edition pays nothing more.

Included in the purchase price is also a one – year membership for the Amazon FreeTime Unlimited service. The merchant marine giant provides targeted content on this subject, which is addressed explicitly to children aged three to twelve and has been reviewed by an editorial staff.

From this offer, children can independently compile their books, videos and applications. In turn, parents can explicitly unlock individual applications or content, such as Netflix. There is also a child-friendly browser. Most sites, including for example Netzwelt, are blocked.

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Instead, children are offered a collection of links to popular channels. In many cases, behind an entry, for example, behind "Bibi Blocksberg", just hides the corresponding YouTube channel. Children can not leave this chain. The path to standard search from YouTube is also blocked. Again, parents can manually unlock individual websites and even check the pages that the child has tried to access.

At the end of its one year membership, Amazon FreeTime Unlimited costs $ 4.99 per month. Main customers pay € 2.99 per month. Incidentally, you do not necessarily need the Kids Edition version of a Fire tablet for FreeTime Unlimited. The service works on all Android smartphones and Android tablets.

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A dashboard gives parents more control even at a distance. Practice is on a function that allows you to adjust the child's bedtime. If this happens, the tablet can not be used anymore, it will turn off automatically. Generally, tutors can determine how long the entire screen should be. An example: The child should spend a maximum of two hours a day on the tablet. Of these, at least half an hour should be spent with a learning application. In addition, no more than half an hour should be played. It is possible to read a book as long as you want until the time limit is reached.

Prices, variants and availability

The Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Edition that we tested can be pre-ordered during the trial period. According to Amazon, delivery is from July 11th. The price for Kids Editin is 199 euros. The "normal" Fire HD 10 currently costs between 149 euros (32 gigabytes version, with special offers) and 205 euros (64 gigabytes of storage, no special offers).

In addition to the tested Fire HD 10, there is also the Fire 7 and Fire HD 8 in a Kids Edition. Here, the shipping giant recently lowered the price. The 7-inch tablet costs around 100 euros, the 8-inch version beats 120 euros.

Who else hit us

• When setting up the Tablet PC, it is mandatory to provide a valid credit card linked to the Amazon account or that has already been linked. A configuration is not possible otherwise, there is no back button in the installation process.
• The Alexa Handsfree feature can be turned off for the Kids profile. Microphones do not listen constantly and do not expect the keyword.
• For more complete protection against hacking, we would have liked a mechanical lock for the webcam.
• The average battery life is ten hours. The subsequent loading process is quite slow. After 30 minutes to take, the energy storage was 15% full.
• The cheapest version of the tablet with Amazon "specials" (advertising on the lock screen) does not exist for the Kids Edition.