Amazon Alexa Tablet 12 Pro Challenges the iPad Pro Using a Paper-Like Display

Amazon spent years selling cheap plastic tablets that locked you into a limited app store and showed ads on the lock screen. The Alexa Tablet 12 Pro marks a clear break from that pattern. It ships as a full Android device with access to the Google Play Store, an aluminum body, and a 12-inch screen that reviewers have called one of the strongest reasons to consider it over more expensive options.

This tablet’s screen is roughly 12 inches and has a 2800 by 1840 resolution in a 3:2 ratio, as well as a respectable 120Hz refresh rate. Most tablets at this price point have a 60Hz refresh rate or a larger format, which doesn’t give much area for reading a paper or browsing the web with two apps open side by side. The 3:2 aspect ratio provides somewhat greater vertical space, which is a significant advantage for reading and general use. Furthermore, brightness maxes out at 500 nits, which is normally plenty for indoor use and really holds up rather well even outdoors, at least far better than some of the glossier panels available, if you select the special display version.

The display tech is known as Nanomatte. Amazon collaborated with Corning to develop a method for etching a precise texture into the glass that is aligned with the pixels beneath, which differs significantly from traditional matte screens, which scatter light and muddy the image slightly. Their technique does a considerably better job of maintaining high contrast and decreasing glare, to the point where text appears to be sitting on the surface rather than far away behind glass. One reviewer preferred it to any iPad screen he tried after using the tablet both inside and outside. There is no discernible loss in quality in terms of color or, in the case of an LCD, black levels. What you’re left with feels similar to swiping through a paper book.

In terms of performance, the base model has a MediaTek Dimensity 8400 CPU and 8GB of RAM, while the higher-end ones have 16GB. Amazon boasts that this device is several times faster than their previous tablets, and the benchmarks certainly demonstrate that, though they don’t quite match up to what you’d get with one of the latest, high-end iPads or Android tablets. Still, for regular tasks such as video streaming, app switching, light photo editing, and casual gaming, this device performs as smoothly as possible. If you’re looking at something a bit more demanding, like more complex games or heavy multitasking, you might start to see the limits of this CPU, and a few reviewers did mention some slight stuttering with the Android app switcher. To give you a sense of storage capacity, you start with 128GB and can go up to 256GB. There is no cellular option, so it’s Wi-Fi 6E all the way.

The battery life is rated to be up to 16 hours of video playback, while the special Kindle mode, which turns off notifications and uses a more reading-friendly tone on screen, manages to last a solid 20 hours. In reality, if you use all of the functions combined, you should get between 8 and 14 hours out of it, depending on who you ask and what they’re doing. The aluminum body is impressively thin at 6.5mm and weighs only roughly 550 grams, making it light enough to wield in one hand for hours on end without feeling flimsy, yet sturdy enough to know it’s built to last. Four speakers with Dolby Atmos perform a good job of producing crisp audio for movies. There’s even a fingerprint reader for easy unlocking.

The most significant difference here is in terms of software. Previously, Kindle tablets ran a restricted version of Android, which prevented you from installing any program you wanted. This one, on the other hand, comes with full-fat Android 16, which means you can utilize the Play Store to get all the usual suspects, such as Netflix, Google applications, and most other services, up and running as usual. Amazon’s Alexa+ is still here and integrated throughout, as you can activate it with your voice, tap a corner of the screen, or just click a button on the keyboard (if you have the extra one). Then there’s the On-Screen Intelligence feature, which allows it to look at what you’re doing and give assistance, such as adding dates to the calendar or summarizing a page for you. Some users find it useful for shopping and reminders, while others prefer to switch to a different assistant and remove some of the Amazon widgets that always appear to clutter up the home screen.