Amazon’s Kindle line has long been a favorite of mine. Yesterday morning the e-commerce titan announced not one, but two new tablets, dubbed the Kindle Fire HDX. Both the 7.8″ and 8.9″ models continue the trend of being a brilliant choice for consumers. However, instead of focusing on the new OS, cool costumer service solution, insanely faster innards, drool-worthy display, or the redesigned lighter-than-ever body, I would like to focus on the side affect: cheaper Kindle HDs.
Amazon has taken the older Kindle HD and repurposed it in a new body. Now, similar in appearance to the HDX and running the same updated Android-based OS, the 7″ Kindle HD now costs a mere $139 for the 8 GB base model. For a mere $30 more, you can get the 16 GB model, which remains one of the best deals in town. Compare it to the 7″ HDX, which runs a cool $229 or the 8.9″ for $379, and that’s not even considering the connected models with 4G.
Amazon can afford to do this for a few reasons, the main one being that they see the Kindle Fire line not as a product to sell you, but as a gateway to sell you products. The older hardware in the Fire HD is good enough for most users, after all. Unless you are a serious mobile gamer who has to have a quad-core HDX, the HD will get you through your day. Throw in Amazon Prime for streaming (plus for free shipping on all the stuff you’ll buy on Amazon), and a better question is why you’d consider any other Android tablet.
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