ZDNET's cardinal takeaways
- The Fire HD 10 Kids Pro tablet is disposable for $190.
- Designed for older children aged six to 12, this kids' tablet features a slimmer design, amended performance, beardown parental controls, and a escaped surface repair oregon replacement wrong 2 years of purchase.
- While it's amended than different Amazon Fire Kids tablets, the Fire HD 10 Kids Pro tablet doesn't outperform an iPad -- but it's besides a fraction of the iPad's price.
The Fire HD 10 Kids Pro tablet has received a 26% discount, going from $190 to astir $140.
What makes a bully tablet? It's casual to gully up criteria of features to look for: A accelerated processor, a user-friendly platform, portability, and artillery life, to sanction a few. What makes a bully kids' tablet? Amazon appears to beryllium successful the moving to fig that out, and they're connected way to nail the formula.
I've been investigating the caller Fire HD 10 Kids Pro tablet since it was announced past twelvemonth during Amazon's Devices and Services event. This is the latest procreation of the Fire HD 10 Pro, a kids' tablet aimed astatine children from six done 12.
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The Fire HD 10 Kids Pro tablet promises a 25% faster show than the Fire HD 10 Kids, a longer artillery life, and a higher-quality front-facing camera astatine 5MP, up from 2MP.
Why take a Fire tablet? Many parents get their kids an older-generation iPad, similar the 9th-gen iPad, arsenic their archetypal tablet. If you person a younger kid and are acrophobic an iPad won't clasp up to their handling, see an Amazon Fire Tablet.
Since my oldest of 3 is successful 2nd grade, I've tried respective Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids tablets. iPads are great, and my hubby and I each person one. But ever since my iPad surface got cracked by a inexpensive lawsuit a mates of years ago, I'm little than enthused astir giving an eight-year-old specified a fragile tablet.
This is wherefore I similar Amazon Fire Kids' tablets for my small ones. Plus, Amazon replaces them if they interruption wrong 2 years. They're besides eligible for trade-ins erstwhile you privation to upgrade to a caller instrumentality you're buying connected Amazon.
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At the ripe property of eight, my oldest is craving "big kid" devices. I'm not 1 to get my kid a smartphone conscionable yet, but we had considered graduating her with a large kid tablet successful the signifier of an iPad this Christmas.
I thought the occupation was successful the different two: a kindergartner and a toddler who lacked an knowing of idiosyncratic spot oregon space. It felt similar the Fire HD 10 Kids Pro tablet was built for this reason, but aft astir a twelvemonth of testing, my oldest broke her tablet's screen.
My kid's atrocious wont of leaving the tablet connected the level was yet curbed erstwhile I accidentally tripped implicit it and cracked the Fire HD 10 Kids Pro tablet's screen. After quelling the tears, I contacted Amazon lawsuit work to spot what could beryllium done. A typical instructed maine to nonstop the tablet successful to measure whether the surface could beryllium replaced oregon if a caller tablet was necessary. In the end, Amazon sent america a caller Fire HD 10 Kids Pro tablet to regenerate the breached one, with the full process taking nether 2 weeks.
This bigger, 'Pro'-level tablet has been the cleanable upgrade from the smaller Fire 8-inch model, which is cloaked successful a chunky protective case. Aside from having a larger 10-inch display, the Fire HD 10 Kids Pro tablet is protected by a slim lawsuit that is much kid-friendly than kid-proof, arsenic Amazon's listing describes.
Like different Fire Kids tablets, the Fire HD 10 Pro kids tablet besides includes the Amazon Kids+ subscription. This tin beryllium renewed aft 1 year, but the timer resets whenever you bargain a caller Fire Kids tablet oregon different instrumentality that includes the subscription.
The Fire HD 10 Kids Pro has proven to beryllium faster than some generations of our Fire HD 8 Kids tablets. Since the older ones were passed down to a five-year-old and a three-year-old, that hasn't been a problem, but the eight-year-old who owns the Fire HD 10 Kids Pro decidedly noticed the difference.
Though my firstborn is getting connected successful years and looking for much grown-up tech, she is inactive eight. In astir a twelvemonth of use, the Fire HD 10 Kids Pro has been dropped countless times and stepped connected astatine slightest a twelve times. Like the older models, it has remained wholly unaffected, but for the abovementioned lawsuit (which was promptly resolved by Amazon).
I admit that Amazon's Kids Tablets person beardown parental controls. I tin easy power what my kids watch, o.k. their app and acquisition requests, and acceptable up clip limits from the app connected my phone. When it's clip for bed, and my kids are stalling connected their tablets, I tin rapidly entree the app connected my telephone and artifact them, which oddly results successful less groans than if I determine to instrumentality them away.
Aside from entree to thousands of apps and games, Amazon besides has collaborative games that kids tin play with others. My kids and I often play Sketch 'n Guess, a virtual word-guessing crippled successful which 1 idiosyncratic draws thing and the different tries to conjecture it. I play from my phone, and the kids play from their tablets.
Like Sketch 'n Guess, there's besides Memory Match, Jigsaw, Chess, Checkers, Dessert Decorator, Chain Reaction, and much "Play Together" games included with Amazon Kids+. Even my five-year-old tin play since the games tin beryllium work retired large what the kids can't read.
ZDNET's buying advice
If you're trying to take betwixt an iPad oregon a Fire HD 10 Kids Pro tablet, overmuch volition beryllium connected your kid's property and however they volition usage it. Amazon has refined the Amazon Kids level into a kid-friendly idiosyncratic acquisition that doesn't consciousness childish for older kids but that younger kids tin inactive navigate.
This tablet tin grip aggregate profiles, including young children, older children, and adults, truthful it tin turn with the kids. However, it is inactive constricted by its 3GB of RAM and a slower processor than an A13 Bionic chip.
An iPad has much high-end features, similar a amended processor and camera, and is simply a grown-up level that is cleanable for older kids, those who similar to bash much intricate play, similar editing photos, and adjacent those successful the Apple ecosystem.
Even if we are an Apple family, I'll proceed getting my youngsters Fire kids tablets until they tin admit the worth of a instrumentality you can't locomotion on.
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