First look: Amazon is retiring its Fire tablet brand after 15 years, replacing it with a new lineup of Alexa tablets running standard Android, complete with Google Play and Alexa+ support. Devices chief Panos Panay says the company has no plans for a full-fledged PC or laptop for now, focusing instead on the tablet overhaul that brings Google's app ecosystem alongside Amazon's services and AI tools.
The change addresses a longstanding limitation of Amazon's tablets: their app selection. Fire tablets ran Fire OS, Amazon's version of Android, and relied on the Amazon Appstore. The Alexa models will use mainstream Android, bringing native access to Gmail, YouTube and Google Docs alongside Amazon's Kindle, Prime Video, Audible and Music apps.
The overhaul follows Amazon's acknowledgment that the Fire lineup had fallen short of customer expectations. Panay said it "wasn't giving customers what they were asking for."
Amazon is also moving the hardware into a higher price range. The Alexa Tablet 8 starts at $229, the Tablet 11 at $329 and the Tablet 12 Pro at $499. A Pro model with a glare-reducing Nanomatte screen starts at $549. The devices begin shipping this month in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Beyond the shift to Android, Amazon is making Alexa+ a central part of the tablet experience. Users can summon Alexa+ by voice or an on-screen button without leaving the app they are using. The optional On-Screen Intelligence feature lets the assistant use displayed content as context. Amazon describes tasks such as extracting dates from a schedule, adding calendar appointments and helping users interpret a webpage.
Live conversations do not require users to repeat the wake word. If screen sharing is enabled, Alexa can follow changes on the display during a session. Amazon says On-Screen Intelligence is off by default, requires users to opt in and shows an indicator when active.
The 12 Pro uses an 8-core processor built on a 4nm process and supports up to 16GB of RAM. Its starting configuration includes 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Amazon claims nearly three times the processing performance and nine times the graphics performance of its previous tablets. Those are company figures, not independent benchmark results.
The 12-inch display has a 120Hz refresh rate, a pixel density of 280 pixels per inch and a 3:2 aspect ratio. Users can resize app windows for side-by-side work. The tablet also includes Wi-Fi 6E and four Dolby Atmos speakers. Amazon rates video playback at up to 16 hours.
The optional nanomatte display uses a treatment developed with Corning. Photolithography creates a texture aligned with the screen's pixels at the subpixel level. Amazon says this reduces glare while preserving image detail and color accuracy.
The Pro also supports a $149 magnetic keyboard that needs no Bluetooth pairing and an $89 USI 2.0 stylus. The pen offers 4,096 pressure levels, tilt detection, magnetic docking and wireless charging. Both accessories are designed specifically for the 12 Pro.
The Alexa Tablet 11 has an 8-core processor, 8GB of RAM and an 11-inch, 2.5K display with a 90Hz refresh rate. Its 16:10 screen differs from the Pro's 3:2 display. The entry-level Tablet 8 has an 8.7-inch screen, starts with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, and weighs 329 grams. All three tablets have aluminum bodies.