Amazon just announced its new Kindle lineup, the Kindle Fire HDX. It comes with a 7-inch and 8.9-inch screen, depending on the model you buy, and is going to be released this fall. So how does it stack up against the next newest 7-inch Android OS-running tablet, the 2nd generation Google Nexus 7, aka the Google Nexus 7 2?
These two tablets might be the top competitors going into the holiday season, unless Apple sudenly unveils a new iPad mini out of the blue. But even without Apple in the picture, these two tablets give you plenty to think about, as you get a certain kind of experience, and advantage, with each over the other.
Screen
But one thing these two tablets have in common is their screen. The Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 7-inch model comes with a 7-inch super Full HD screen. It has a resolution of 1,920 x 1200p, giving you 323 pixels per inch. The new Google Nexus 7 has the exact same display specs.
Processor
You'd think the pure Google product would be more powerful than its bookish competitor. And you'd be wrong. The Amazon Kindle Fire HDX comes with a 2.2GHz quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, which is pretty much the newest, most top-of-the-line chip from Qualcomm. The Nexus 7 2, on the other hand, sports a 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro. Both have 2GB of RAM onboard, and neither is likely to leave you waiting for anything to load.
Camera and Storage
People shouldn't be taking pictures with tablets anyway - even 7 inchers - but here are the camera specs nevertheless. The Google Nexus 7 2 comes with a 5-megapixel rear camera and a front-facer with 1.2-megapixels.
The Kindle Fire HDX 7-inch, meanwhile, only has a front-facing camera. You can get a rear camera with the 8.9-inch model, and maybe Amazon's new Mayday always-on live-chat tech support system (arguably the only reason the 7-inch HDX has a camera at all) will make up for the lack of a main camera on Amazon's new tablet.
Both the Google Nexus 7 2 and the Amazon Kindle Fire HDX eschew the microSD card slot, which can give devices up to 64GB of extra storage. Amazon's offering gives you three sizes to choose from: 16GB, 32GB and 64GB. The Google Nexus 7 2 only has a 16GB and 32GB model available.
Battery and Size
Arguably one of the most important specs on a small tablet is its weight and dimensions. But slim down a small tablet enough and you end up skimping on battery life. Amazon's Kindle Fire HDX will give you 11 hours of mixed use, and 17 hours of reading time. Meanwhile, the Nexus 7 is rated for only 9 hours of mixed use.
The Nexus 7 2 will give you a little slimmer of a tablet at just 0.34 inches, but its hardly worth noticing, compared to the Kindle Fire HDX's 0.35-inch width. The Kindle Fire HDX is only 7.3-inches tall and 5.0 inches wide, which is shorter but wider than the Nexus 7's 7.87-inch by 4.49-inch figure. The Kindle Fire HDX weighs slightly more, at 12.2 oz compared to the new Google Nexus 7's 10.5 oz.
Availability and Price
The Kindle Fire HDX line was just announced, so it's actually going to start shipping from Amazon on October 18. The LTE version will ship November 14. The Google Nexus 7 2 is available in WiFi only and LTE through the Play Store and some retailers already, along with AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon for the cellular version.
The Google Nexus 7 2 has a minimum price of $229 for the 16GB WiFi-only version. The 32GB LTE version costs $349. Google's Nexus 7 2 also costs $229 for 16GB WiFi-only version, while the 64GB 4G LTE version of the 7-inch tablet can cost over $400.
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