Amazon and Microsoft have both unveiled new, higher-powered versions of their tablet lineups: Amazon with the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9-inch and Microsoft with their second generation of Surface tablets. Let's look at how two closely-matched tablets, the Surface 2 and the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 compare.
Display
Amazon's Kindle Fire HDX, especially the 8.9-inch model, amps up the screen resolution (hence the abbreviation HDX). On its 8.9-inch screen, you'll find a 2560 x 1600p resolution, which gives it an impressive 339 pixels per inch. Microsoft didn't exactly slouch on the resolution for the Surface 2, giving it a 1920 x 1080p resolution, but its 208 pixels per inch on a 10.6-inch screen can't compare to the HDX's brilliance.
Power (Processor and Battery)
With any tablet, the battery life matters as much as the processing power behind the display. Surface 2 promises to give you up to 10 hours of mixed use, which is an improvement over its predecessor. However, the Kindle Fire HDX gives you 12 hours of mixed use. If two hours more doesn't seem like much of a difference, here's a bigger difference: the Kindle Fire HDX can give you up to 17 hours of reading-only time.
The processor behind the Kindle Fire HDX is one of the most recent high-powered mobile processors to hit the market. It runs the quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor at 2.2GHz, with 2GB of RAM assisting. Not to be outdone, Microsoft's Surface 2 runs the latest from NVIDIA, the Tegra 4 T40, clocked at 1.7GHz and assisted by 2GB of RAM (and the Pro 2 model has Intel's energy-sipping Haswell processor).
We'll have to wait until benchmarks are performed to see which is really the better processor between the two, but given the fact that the Surface 2 runs Windows 8.1 RT, you might have a slower (though more multifaceted) experience on the Surface 2. We'll see.
Size
Another important factor for tablets is size and weight. The Kindle Fire HDX actually manages to be lighter and smaller than previous, less hardware-stacked Kindle tablets, with dimensions of 231 x 158 x 7.8 mm and weighing, in its heaviest version, 384 grams.
The Surface 2 is still a bit big, at 274.6 x 172.5 x 8.9 mm, and it's quite a heifer, weighing just under a pound and a half (and nearly twice that of the HDX), at 676 grams.
Still, the Surface 2 has Microsoft's signature kickstand, so perhaps it's not intended to be toted around as much as the Kindle Fire HDX.
Other Features
Both tablets feature a main, rear-facing camera, which tablet users really shouldn't use to take pictures or shoot video with (because holding a full-sized tablet to take a picture looks dumb). However, if you must, the 8-megapixel camera on the Kinlde Fire HDX will out-shoot the Surface 2's 5-megapixel camera. Both have comparable front-facing cameras for video chatting, though the Surface 2's is capable of full 1080p HD video, while the HDX's shoots in 720p.
Having a Microsoft tablet means you have Windows, which is more of a hybrid OS than Amazon's customized Android. That means you'll be able to run more desktop-type applications, and of course, Microsoft Office 2013 RT is included. There are a few other perks to being a Microsoft user, including 200GB of SkyDrive free storage for two years.
The Surface 2 also includes an HDMI port, which Amazon has decided to dispense with in its newest Kindle Fire HDX lineup, much to the chagrin of some Kindle/Amazon video fans.
However, Amazon has added a unique feature for the Kindle Fire HDX called "Mayday." At the touch of a button, a live technical support and concierge service pops up in a one-sided video chat and can show you around the Kindle 24/7.
The Kindle Fire HDX comes in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB storage options, and includes free Amazon cloud storage for all Amazon content. However, the Surface 2 comes with 32GB or 64GB of storage, along with a microSD card slot that can net you up to 64GB more.
Release Date and Price
The Microsoft Surface 2 is expected to be released this month, starting at $449 for the cheapest 32GB model. Compared to that, the Kindle Fire HDX seems cheap, at $379 for the 16GB version that starts shipping a little later, on Nov. 7. A comparable 32GB model costs close to the Surface 2, at $444 without special offers or lock screen ads.
The Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 also has an LTE version, which ups the price of any model by about $100. The Surface 2 pro's LTE line will probably cost that much more, but its prices haven't been announced yet.
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