Overview
- Amazon announced the new Alexa Tablet family on Thursday and opened preorders on Oct. 8, with shipments scheduled to begin Oct. 14 in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
- The lineup includes three models—the 12 Pro, 11 and 8—priced from about $230 to $550, with aluminum unibody builds, faster MediaTek chips, up to 16GB of RAM and optional accessories such as a Pro Pen and detachable keyboard.
- For the first time Amazon’s tablets run full Android and include the Google Play Store, and they add a Kindle reading mode that quiets notifications, reduces blue light and extends battery life for long reading sessions.
- Alexa+ is built into the devices with an opt‑in On‑Screen Intelligence that can read what’s on the display to act contextually, but Amazon’s messaging about whether full Alexa+ access requires Prime or a separate subscription has been reported inconsistently.
- Amazon said it will stop making new Fire tablets while continuing to support existing models and promised multi‑year Android updates for the new tablets, a move that shifts its devices business toward higher margins from services and content.