Amazon Alexa Tablet 12 Pro hands-on: Taking aim at the iPad Pro for less than half the price
Engadget · C · trust 51/100
It's a promising tablet that starts at about $500.
Cherlynn Low for Engadget Add Engadget on Google: Preferred Source Google Discover When it comes to tablets, only a few names are left standing: iPads , Galaxy Tabs , Surface and Fire . Amazon's Fire tablets have acquired a bit of a cult following, thanks mostly to the value they deliver for their relatively low prices. So it's a bit of a risky move for the company to announce today that it's completely replacing that line with a new family of Alexa tablets. The good news is, you'll still find the new 8-inch and 11-inch models fairly comparable to the Fire HD 8 and Fire HD 10. And the (probably) better news? The new Amazon Alexa Tablet 12 Pro looks set to take on the iPad Pro.
The 12-inch device starts at $499, with a more premium variant going up to $549. At that price, the latter version comes with 16GB of RAM and a texturized screen that the company calls a "nanomatte" display. It's powered by a 4-nanometer 8-core processor by MediaTek (specifically, the Dimensity 8400) and has some powerhouse display specs. It can refresh at up to 120Hz, has a 3:2 aspect ratio and a pixel density of 280ppi. It also has four speakers onboard with Dolby Atmos support for a surround sound-like experience, along with a promised 16-hour battery life. And as its new name suggests, Alexa is deeply integrated into the tablet's interface. I'll get into how all that felt in person in a bit.
I was able to speak with Panos Panay, the company's head of devices, Alexa and Leo this week, along with a couple of reporters. Acknowledging the Fire tablet's popularity, Panay said millions of units have been sold, as "they're fairly inexpensive and different."
The Alexa tablets, he added, are the result of 2.5 years of work. He said it was rebuilt from the ground up to offer "the most premium experience we possibly could" at "an affordable price point."
Panay said Amazon had three areas of focus when designing the Alexa tablets: All the apps users want (via, for the first time, the Google Play Store) and "Alexa intertwined throughout the entire OS." The third one, which actually was the first one he mentioned, seems to be a mix of the redesign and hardware.
Panay then went on to say that his philosophy whenever building a product is "What's the one thing?" This one thing is slightly different from those three things we mentioned earlier. It's the one thing that, according to Panay, should not be compromised on, no matter what. And for the Alexa tablet, "the one thing on this product was we were going to go reinvent the screen. No matter what."
My confusion over all those numbers aside, the nanomatte display on the Alexa tablet is certainly unique. That is — on a gadget made by Amazon. When Panay first brought the device into view, before he even mentioned the display, I already noticed its texture. But my immediate reaction was that it's very reminiscent of the nano texture Apple brought to the iPad Pro line starting with the M4 generation in 2024. More recently, I've seen a similar treatment on the iPhone Duo's internal display.
It's not a bad thing that the Alexa Tablet 12 Pro's nanomatte screen reminds me of Apple's. Both options are striking in person and effectively reduce glare. When I used a video camera to record the non-nanomatte and nanomatte tablets side by side, it was clear the untreated model was more reflective of overhead lights at various angles. I did find it impacted brightness and readability ever so slightly in direct sunlight, though.
Cherlynn Low for Engadget The thing that differentiates Amazon from Apple in this case though, is Kindle mode. "We challenged the team, because of the nanomatte display and what we could do with it and how it feels when you put a pen on it," Panay said. "Shouldn't this be a Kindle? Shouldn't it be a Kindle Scribe?"
As the story goes, the team delivered. Kindle Mode is available across the entire Amazon Alexa tablet lineup, and it's basically a focused fullscreen reading environment that mutes notifications and reduces blue light. It also extends battery life to allow for 20 hours of reading. You can customize what contacts or apps can break through when you're in this mode, and for now it appears the only app that works with Kindle mode is, well, the Kindle app.
Since Kindle Mode only kicks in when you launch the Kindle app, there's not a lot of setup you have to do. There's also a pleasant animation when you enter and exit the app that has colors fade in and out, serving as a visual indicator of which mode you're in.
You can tweak the software to default to one of three color schemes in this view: Ink Paper, Color Paper and Standard. The first is a grayscale rendering, the second is a muted effect similar to newspaper comics and the third is somewhat like the glossy pages of a magazine. On the nanomatte model I tried, the effects were even more appealing. In that Color Paper option, something about the textured screen added a visual grit that scratched a nostalgic itch somewhere deep in the recesses of my almost-40-year-old brain.
With its page-turn animations and fullscreen two-page layout, it's pretty easy to imagine Kindle mode on any other tablet, like the iPad Pro with nano-texture glass I've mentioned a few times. And sure, it feels like you can simply buy a Kindle for the privilege of reading on a gadget that won't bother you with alerts. Even Panay conceded "You could argue that I'm challenging my own Kindle business by creating an Alexa tablet that does incredible Kindle work."
"But I think it's rad for the customer," he said. I guess if you're a person who mostly wants a tablet that can sometimes double as a pretty effective distraction-free Kindle, then the Alexa tablet could be right for you.
You can also use the company's new Pro Pen with these tablets, which will cost an extra $90. It felt quite similar to the Kindle Scribe's stylus in my brief experience doodling with it, but I need more…
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