Amazon has never hidden, as his advertising campaigns show, that he wants his tablets to become real rivals for the almighty iPad, and there is no doubt that in their last generation they have thrown the rest so that they have Technical specifications top of the line and a price with which it is really difficult to compete. Will it be enough to steal users from Apple ? We show you a comparative of the main characteristics of the iPad Air and Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 so that you can judge which one would be the winner for you.
Designer
This is one of the sections in which the differences between both tablets are clearer, or at least they are at first glance: with regard to the front, compared to the reduced side frames of the iPad Air, in the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 we find regular and relatively thick side frames; when it comes to the back cover, in addition to the differences in materials (aluminum for tablet Apple y plastic for that of Amazon), the angular design of the new generation of the Kindle Fire 8.9 is totally opposite to the minimalism of the iPad.
Dimensions
The difference in size between the two screens is substantial (almost an inch less diagonal for tablet Amazon), which is logically reflected in its dimensions: the iPad Air It is longer (24 cm front 23,1 cm) and wider (16,95 cm against 15,8 cm). The difference in weight, in any case, is the most notable: the tablet of Apple weighs almost 100 grams more (469 grams against 374 grams). In thickness, however, the apple company's tablet wins: 7,5 mm against 7,8 mm.
Screen
As we said, the screen of the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 is noticeably smaller than that of the iPad Air (9.7 inches against 8.9 inches), but it is not the only difference that we can see immediately, since the Cupertino tablet is more square (aspect ratio 4:3) than Amazon (aspect ratio 16:9). Despite the prestige of Retina displays, the differences in resolution are no less notable: that of the Apple is 1536 x 2048 (PPI 264) and of Amazon de 1600 x 2560 (PPI 339). This afternoon we have also shown you that the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 would have managed to surpass iPad Air in various image quality tests.
Unlimited
In the performance section, the distances are reduced again, since both devices mount large processors: the Snapdragon 800 quad-core and 2,3 GHz in the case of Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 and A7 de 64 bits in that of iPad Air. Tablet AmazonHowever, it would be superior in RAM memory, with 2 GB, although the truth is that the deficiencies that we usually find in this sense in the iDevices they are hardly noticeable in the user experience.
Operating System
This is probably one of the points that more potential buyers will win when iPad Air, given to the number of fans of iOS that exist, while the range Kindle Fire does not even have the full support of the fans of Android, since it is a version of it so heavily personalized that it is practically unrecognizable and that, in fact, it has already received its own name by Amazon: Fire OS.
Storage capacity
As also happens with the devices of Google, this is always one of the sections in which the tablets of Amazon y Apple are more objectionable, simply by not giving users the possibility of expanding the space available through cards micro-SD (As you already know, presumably with the aim of incentivizing the use of their cloud storage services). In return, at least we have the option of getting both tablets with enough hard disk: up to 64 GB in the case of Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 and to 128 GB in that of iPad Air.
Battery
So much Amazon , the Apple They are always reluctant to give the exact figures of the capacity of their batteries so, in the absence of real autonomy tests, the only reference we have at the moment are the estimates of the companies themselves: the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 should hold up 12h of use without recharging (reaching 17 hours if it is used only for reading), and the iPad Air 10 hours. If these data are confirmed in the independent autonomy tests, it will undoubtedly be an important small victory for Amazon, since the tablets of Apple they have always been the dominators in this section.
Cameras and sound
Tablet Amazon It stands out again here too, thanks to its rear camera of 8 SM with LED flash (in front of 5 SM of the iPad Air) and its stereo speakers with technology Dolby Digital Plus. When it comes to the front camera, however, the situation evens out, with two video calling cameras capable of recording at 720p.
Price
If iPad Air account in front of Kindle Fire HDX with the undoubted advantage of popularity, the tablet of Amazon has in its favor, however, a price much more competitive: while the most affordable model in the iPad Air (16 GB and WiFi connection) is sold for 479 Euros, the equivalent of Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 can be obtained by 379 Euros, that is, 100 euros less.
The differences are also important if we are looking for models with more storage capacity: every time we double the memory in the iPad Air The price goes up 90 Euros, While in the Kindle Fire HDX does it in only 50 Euros. The difference is less marked, on the other hand, in relation to the mobile connection, which increases the price of the tablet from Apple en 120 €yes, and that of the Amazon en 100 Euros.