Amazon announces three new tablets -- Fire HD, Fire, and Fire Kids Edition

It’s been a while since we’ve seen new tablets from Amazon, but today the retail giant revamps its range with three new low-cost devices.

The all-new Fire HD has, according to Amazon, been redesigned from the "ground up for entertainment" and is available in 8 inch or 10.1 inch trims.

Amazon touts the following features:

• Thin and light industrial design -- at 7.7mm, Amazon’s thinnest tablets ever.
• Crisp and vivid HD display with over 1 million pixels; with a 16:10 widescreen aspect ratio, Fire HD 8 offers 15 percent more HD video viewing area, and Fire HD 10 offers 22 percent more HD video viewing area than similarly-sized tablets with a 4:3 aspect ratio.
• Powerful quad-core processor running at up to 1.5 GHz for fast app switching and fluidity.
• As measured in tumble tests, Fire HD is almost 2x more durable than the latest generation iPad Air.
• Up to 128GB of expandable storage via microSD -- enjoy even more videos, music, games, and photos while offline.
• Stereo speakers with Dolby Audio, which are custom-tuned for immersive, high-quality sound.
• Powered by the latest version of Fire OS -- Fire OS 5 "Bellini" -- with an updated user interface that is inspired by the beautiful layouts of high-quality magazines, making it fun to browse for your next movie, song, or book, or easy to pick up where you left off. Plus, Fire OS 5 includes hundreds of new and upgraded features, platform updates, and Amazon-exclusive services.
• First tablet with Amazon Underground, a one-of-a-kind app store experience where over $10,000 in apps, games, and even in-app items are actually free -- including extra lives, unlocked levels, unlimited add-on packs, and more.
• Have you ever forgotten to download a movie ahead of a flight? For Prime members, On Deck automatically keeps your Fire tablet current with popular Prime movies and TV shows, as well as Amazon Original Series, so you always have something good to watch. Importantly, On Deck only uses the available storage on your tablet, opportunistically in a special shadow mode. When you download something, On Deck automatically makes room for your selected content -- there’s no hassle of needing to clear out space yourself.
• The best reading experience on a tablet gets even better with Word Runner, a new feature designed to help you read faster -- one word at a time -- by bringing each word to the center of the screen to where your eyes are already focused. Word Runner gradually builds to your preferred reading speed, then algorithmically and automatically slows down for difficult words, punctuation, and paragraph breaks.
• For parents whose kids have outgrown Amazon FreeTime, Activity Center provides an easy way for them to see how their kids are spending time on their Fire tablet -- from how much time their kids spend playing games to which websites they visit.
• Mayday Screen Sharing lets an Amazon expert guide you remotely through any feature on your screen, available 24x7, 365 days a year -- for free.
• Access to over 38 million movies, TV shows, songs, books, magazines, Android apps and games, and more -- with free, unlimited cloud storage for all Amazon content.
• Amazon-exclusive features customers love, including ASAP, X-Ray, Second Screen, Family Library, Amazon FreeTime, Prime Video downloads, and more.
• Video chat with friends and family with the 720p front-facing camera; take photos and capture videos in 1080p full HD with the 5MP rear-facing camera.
• Free, unlimited cloud storage for all photos taken on Fire devices, automatically backed-up wirelessly.
• All-day battery life delivers up to 8 hours of reading, browsing the web, listening to music, and watching video.

"Fire HD combines an incredibly thin and light design with powerful performance to deliver the best entertainment experience available on a tablet", said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Founder and CEO. "A beautiful widescreen HD display, fast quad-core processor, expandable storage, Fire OS 5, exclusive features, and the Amazon content ecosystem of more than 38 million movies, TV shows, songs, books, apps, and games".

Fire HD 8 starts shipping September 30, but is available for pre-order from today with 8GB or 16GB of memory, priced from $149.99. It’s available in four color options: black, magenta, blue, and tangerine. Fire HD 10 is also available for pre-order beginning today with 16GB or 32GB of memory. It’s priced from $229.99 and is available in any color, so long as it's black. A white version will be offered shortly however.

SEE ALSO: Amazon revamps its TV products, adds support for 4K Ultra HD streaming and voice control

If you want something cheaper, there’s the new Fire tablet. Priced at just $49.99 (there’s also a "buy five, get one free" six-pack offered for $249.95), this has a 7 inch IPS display and front and rear cameras. The full list of features is as follows:

• Best display of any tablet in its price class -- Unlike other low-cost tablets that use TN displays, Fire’s 7" IPS display offers a great viewing experience with vivid and accurate color reproduction that can be seen at all angles.
• Quad-core 1.3 GHz processor -- 2x more processing power than Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 Lite at less than half the price; quickly and easily switch between apps, stream movies, and browse the web without waiting for your tablet to catch up.
• Durability -- As measured in tumble tests, Fire is almost 2x more durable than the latest generation iPad Air.
• Front- and rear-facing cameras -- Video chat with friends and family with the front-facing camera; take and share photos, and save them for later with free, unlimited cloud storage for all photos taken on Fire devices.
• Up to 128GB of expandable storage via microSD -- Enjoy even more videos, music, games, and photos while offline.
• All-day battery life -- Delivers up to 7 hours of reading, browsing the web, listening to music, and watching video.
• Fire OS 5 "Bellini" -- Includes an updated user interface that replicates the look and feel of a magazine, making browsing and searching for your content easier than ever -- what you want is just one tap away; plus, Fire OS 5 includes hundreds of new and upgraded features and platform updates, plus Amazon-exclusive services.
• Amazon Underground -- A one-of-a-kind app store experience where over $10,000 in apps, games and even in-app items are actually free -- including extra lives, unlocked levels, unlimited add-on packs, and more.
• Have you ever forgotten to download a movie ahead of a flight? For Prime members, On Deck automatically keeps your Fire tablet current with popular Prime movies and TV shows, as well as Amazon Original Series, so you always have something good to watch. Importantly, On Deck only uses the available storage on your tablet, opportunistically in a special shadow mode. When you download something, On Deck automatically makes room for your selected content -- there’s no hassle of needing to clear out space yourself. This feature will be available via a free, over-the-air Fire OS update in the coming months.
• Activity Center -- For parents whose kids have outgrown Amazon FreeTime, Activity Center provides an easy way for them to see how their kids are spending time on their Fire tablet -- from how much time they spend playing games, to which websites they visit. Activity Center will be available via a free, over-the-air Fire OS update in the coming months.
• World-class customer service and tech support -- Mayday Screen Sharing lets an Amazon expert guide you remotely through any feature on your screen, available 24x7, 365 days a year -- for free.
• Amazon-exclusive features -- ASAP, X-Ray, Second Screen, Amazon FreeTime, Family Library, Word Runner, and more.
• World’s best content ecosystem -- Access to over 38 million movies, TV shows, songs, books, magazines, apps, and games -- with free, unlimited cloud storage for all Amazon content.

"Today, we’re taking another step in our mission to deliver premium products at non-premium prices", Jeff Bezos says. "The all-new Fire features a quad-core processor, is incredibly durable, and is backed by the Amazon content ecosystem, the new Amazon Underground, and Amazon customer service with Mayday Screen Sharing. Fire sets a new bar for what customers should expect from a low cost tablet".

It’s available to pre-order from today and will start shipping from September 30.

Finally, if you have children, there’s the Fire Kids Edition. This comes with a year of Amazon FreeTime Unlimited, a kid-proof case, and a 2-year worry-free guarantee. If your offspring manage to break it, return it and Amazon will replace it free of charge -- no questions asked.

Amazon says the tablet has a total value of over $200, but comes priced at $99.99.

"Last year, we introduced the first tablet built from the ground up for kids and their parents -- and customers loved it", said Peter Larsen, Vice President, Amazon Devices. "With the new Fire Kids Edition we’ve added more great content and features for parents and kids while lowering the price. For under $100 you get a new Fire tablet, a year of FreeTime Unlimited with over 10,000 books, videos, educational apps, and games, a new web browser with access to more than 20,000 age-appropriate YouTube videos and websites, and a 2-year worry-free guarantee".

Like the other new tablets this will ship from September 30 and can be pre-ordered now from here.