Fire HD

The first Fire HD model was announced on September 6, 2012, and was available in two versions: 7" and 8.9". The 7" model was released in the United States on September 14, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom on October 25 and in Japan on December 18. The 8.9" model was released on November 20 in the United States, in Japan on March 12, 2013, in Germany on March 13, and in India on June 27.[4][5][6][7][8][9]

On September 25, 2013, an updated Fire HD 7 was quietly announced alongside the newly debuted flagship Kindle Fire HDX line.[10] It was available as a pre-order until the official ship date of October 2, 2013. Changes include: price reduction to $139, processor speed upgraded to 1.5 GHz, firmware upgrade from the unnamed "Android based" OS to a compatible proprietary fork of Android named Fire OS 3, removal of the front camera, new shell form factor, and decreased available storage options.

On October 2, 2014, the next revision of Fire HD models were released, part of the Fire Tablet's fourth generation, with 6-inch and 7-inch touchscreen sizes. In addition, the Fire HD Kids Edition was released, which is the same device as the Fire HD 6 except it comes with a case and one-year subscription to Kindle Freetime apps.[11] The branding "Kindle" was officially removed from the tablets' name.

In September 2015, Amazon released a new range of Fire tablets with 7, 8, and 10.1 inch sizes. The 7 inch was simply called the Fire 7, while the 8" and 10.1" were called Fire HD 8 and Fire HD 10 respectively. Amazon had ended the HDX line after two generations and the new model range shifted the entire Fire tablet line down-market, with Fire 7 as the lowest priced Fire tablet at $50.

In September 2016, Amazon announced the release of the updated Fire HD 8 which includes the virtual assistant Alexa,[12] priced at US$89.99. Fortune reported that, "As with most of Amazon's devices, the aim isn't to make money off of the hardware but instead to sell digital content such as books, movies, and TV shows to users".[13]

In 2017, the seventh Generation Fire HD 8 was released. Some differences between the 6th and 7th Generation HD 8 models were the price, the gyroscope removal, the increase of maximum SD card expansion, and the better graphics chip.

In September 2018, Amazon refreshed their Fire tablet line with the release of eighth Generation Fire HD 8/Kids Edition and Fire HD 10. The price remained the same as last year's model with minor upgrade on the hardware where the external storage is expandable to 400GB. On the software side, the 2018 model is preinstalled with Fire OS 6 that allows hands-free Alexa control.

On October 7, 2019, Amazon announced an update to the Fire HD 10 that was released on October 30, 2019. The major hardware differences compared to the previous version were replacement of microUSB with USB-C, a faster processor (upgraded from Quad-Core up to 1.8 GHz to Octa-core 2.0 GHz, which Amazon claims is 30% faster than the previous one) and battery life that is 2 hours longer than the previous generation. The screen size and price remained unchanged. A new color option, white, was also added.

In 2020, the Fire HD 8 was updated with a faster 64-bit quad-core SoC, more storage (from 16/32GB to 32/64GB), USB-C, brighter display, enhanced wifi fidelity, a new front camera location (for landscape video chats instead of portrait), and Fire OS 7 (based on Android 9). It came in two versions: 2GB RAM (HD 8) and 3GB RAM (HD 8 Plus). The 3GB RAM version, which enabled more memory-intensive apps, was available only in US, UK, DE, and JP marketplaces.

In 2021, the Fire HD 10 was refreshed with a new front camera location (for landscape video chats instead of portrait) and slimmer side bezels, leading to a more symmetrical design. Also, wireless charging was introduced for the "HD 10 Plus" model. The HD 10 Plus also has 4GB of RAM.

On September 20, 2022, Amazon announced an update to the HD 8 as a 12th generation model.[14] The new model is the first to run the new Fire OS 8. It also has a faster SoC and improved battery life.

In 2023, Amazon released an all new size of Fire tablet called Fire Max 11. The device features a larger display at 11" with official USI2.0 stylus support, pogo pins for an external keyboard, and a fingerprint sensor. All Max 11 have a partially recycled aluminum rear housing instead of plastic.[15] All are new technologies to Fire tablets. A short-lived option for an aluminum rear-housing was available for the 5th gen HD 10 and was not continued on later gens.[16] It also features newer hardware such as a faster and more efficient octa-core SoC, 4 GB RAM, 8 MP cameras, WiFi 6, and Bluetooth 5.3 BLE. Despite the change of naming convention Amazon considers the Max 11 to be in the Fire HD series. [17]

On September 20, 2023, Amazon held a Device & Services event where they announced two new Kids models, the HD 10 Kids and HD 10 Kids Pro.[18] Both have an MSRP of $189.99. Older models based on the 2021 HD 10 were discounted to a sale price of $139.99 from $199.99.[19] The product descriptions show the new models as variants of the otherwise unannounced 2023 release for the 13th gen Fire HD 10.[20] Shortly after the event official Amazon store pages and documentation showed that they will release a new 2023 model of the HD 10 with the model number KFTUWI.[21] It will include features from the Max 11 such as stylus and detachable keyboard support. The product page for the device claims it is available as a pre-order for $139.99 and will be available on October 18, 2023.[22]

Overview on generations and models for all Fire (including Amazon Fire) tablet devices:[3]

Note: Items in bold are currently available.

• Comparison of:
  • Tablet computers
  • E-book readers

• Official Amazon.com site for Fire Tablets
• Kindle Fire HD Press Event Article at Ars Technica