Amazon Comes Out Swinging at the iPad With the Alexa Tablet 12 Pro

Amazon Comes Out Swinging at the iPad With the Alexa Tablet 12 Pro

Goodbye Fire OS as Full Android Arrives on Amazon Tablets

Amazon on October 8 killed the Fire tablet brand after roughly 15 years and replaced it with the Alexa Tablet lineup: the 8, the 11, and the flagship 12 Pro. The big break with the past is software. Instead of the locked-down Fire OS, the new tablets run full Android with Google services preinstalled and complete Play Store access, so YouTube, Gmail, Google Docs, and Netflix install directly. CNET reports Amazon will wind down Fire production, sell remaining stock over the next few months, and keep at least four years of software and security updates for old devices. Every new tablet ships with Alexa+, the generative assistant summoned by wake word or an Ask Alexa bar, plus an opt-in On-Screen Intelligence feature that reads screen context.

Nanomatte Display Wins Over Nearly Every Reviewer

The centerpiece of the $549.99 configuration reviewers tested is a 12-inch, 2800 x 1840 panel with Amazon's Nanomatte anti-glare coating. The Verge calls the screen the first thing you notice and possibly the only thing that matters, praising its low glare and tactile feel. The Shortcut cites a 12.3-inch size, 3:2 aspect ratio, 120Hz refresh rate, and 500 nits of brightness, calling it a flagship-grade panel for movies and books, while Engadget measures 280 pixels per inch and favors the 3:2 ratio over 16:9. Accessories strengthen the pitch: WIRED notes the Pro Pen offers 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity with tilt detection and magnetic docking, and the Pro Keyboard attaches via pogo pins with no Bluetooth needed.

Premium Pricing Still Undercuts the iPad Air

Amazon frames the 12 Pro as the best tablet it has ever shipped. Android Authority lists the standard version at $499.99 with the Nanomatte finish costing $50 more, rising to $679.99 for the top 256GB storage and 16GB RAM variant. Engadget reports the tested 8GB RAM and 128GB storage Nanomatte unit costs $550 alone, $650 bundled with the keyboard, or $700 with keyboard and pen, which is less than an iPad Air on its own. The keyboard and pen sell separately for about $150 and $90. The wider lineup starts at $229.99 for the 8.7-inch Alexa Tablet 8 and $329.99 for the 11-inch model. Orders opened October 8, shipping began October 14 in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, with the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain following on October 19.

Midrange Chip Gets Lapped by Every Current iPad

Performance is where the honeymoon ends. The 12 Pro runs on MediaTek's Dimensity 8400, a 2024 midrange processor. The Verge found it benches between last year's and the year-before's flagship Android phones, and in one graphics-heavy test the current 13-inch iPad Pro scored about nine times higher. BGR lists a 13-megapixel autofocus rear camera and an 8-megapixel fixed-focus front camera, in line with rivals including the iPad Air. Battery life is mixed: Amazon claims 16 hours of video playback, but Engadget managed closer to eight hours of real office work across Docs, Chrome, and Slack. Verdicts split accordingly, with a Verge Score of 6 against Engadget's 8.4 out of 10, both sides faulting Amazon bloatware, advertising, laggy moments, and Android apps that still ignore large screens.

Leadership Shake-Up Puts Alexa+ on the Spot

A day after the launch, Reuters reported Amazon is replacing the head of Alexa: vice president Daniel Rausch, who ran Alexa and Echo for over three years, steps away in November, with Aidan Marcuss, head of Fire TV, advertising, and the Appstore, taking over. Rausch, a 17-year Amazon veteran, returns to a different devices role in 2027, with no further explanation given. The timing ties the hardware bet directly to the assistant: Alexa+ sits at the core of the tablet experience, from the Dynamic Tab's proactive suggestions to screen-aware answers, and it will even point users toward buying things on Amazon. If the assistant and the ad load disappoint, even a superb matte display may not lure iPad buyers. The European launch and the holiday quarter are the first real tests.