Tested Amazon Fire HD 10 Plus

T E ST E D A M A Z O N F I R E H D 1 0 P L U S

The slate divide

Amazon’s latest affordable flagship tablet is an undeniable bargain… but will you have to make do without Google’s massive selection of apps?

£180 / stuff.tv/Fire10Plus

The Fire HD 10 Plus is now the top slate in Amazon’s roster, bringing a Full HD screen, improved innards and wireless charging. Not bad for a £180 tablet, right? Well, the downside is you’re stuck with Amazon’s Appstore and its limited selection of apps and games.

Slick integration with Alexa transforms it into a portable Echo Show, but it won’t be long before you realise YouTube, Gmail and Call of Duty: Mobile are absent. It’s said the web has some really easy tips on a Google ‘jailbreak’ … we couldn’t possibly comment.

It won’t win any design awards, but it’s far from ugly. The plastic build feels sturdy and we like the dark matt finish. Controls are on the right-hand side of landscape and we often found ourselves accidentally turning off the display when aiming for a CoD killstreak.

Of course we’d prefer an OLED screen, but LCD is fair enough at this price. The 10.1in display is no slouch: from games and films to browsing and reading, your eyes won’t be left wanting more… unless it’s placed next to an iPad Pro.

From weather reports to photos from Facebook, a screen takes Alexa’s game to a new level. The front camera means you’re good for 720p video calls too, though the rear cam is poor in low light.

Techspecs

Screen 10.1in 1920x1200 60Hz LCD touchscreen Processor MediaTek MT8183 octa-core 2GHz RAM 4GB OS Fire OS 7 Cameras 5MP rear, 2MP front Battery life Up to 12hrs Connectivity Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5, USB-C, 3.5mm, microSD, Qi Storage 32/64GB Dimensions 247x166x9.2 mm, 468g The blare necessities

You’ll get punchy performance from the built-in stereo speakers, which do a great job at higher volumes to create a 3D-esque soundscape. This is good news for games and TV streaming, as well as Amazon Music Unlimited. Expand on the run Ports-wise the Fire HD 10 Plus has USB-C, a 3.5mm headphone socket and a microSD slot for up to 1TB of extra storage.

Pumped up quicks

It has the same quad-core chip as its predecessor, but this tablet does get a 4GB RAM boost and we managed to play demanding games like Asphalt 9: Legends at max settings, with very little to complain about.

STUFF SAYS An almost perfect budget tab that can easily be made even better

This is not an Android tablet… unless you really want it to be

For the price, the Fire HD 10 Plus offers incredible value, thanks to its sharp screen, powerful speakers, built-in Alexa smarts and ability to keep up with demanding games while offering a smooth user experience. It’s only real downside is the lack of the Google Play Store… but as we’ve seen, that’s a quick and easy (albeit totally unofficial) fix, making this a solid contender on our Android tablet shortlist.