Editors’ Note: This is the most recent version of the Fire HD 10 Kids Pro. Read our review from October 18, 2023 below.
The 2023 edition of the Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Pro successfully builds upon Amazon’s legacy of affordable yet capable tablets for both children and adults. Based on the $139.99 Amazon Fire HD 10, the $189.99 Kids Pro model includes a durable case and a yearlong subscription to Amazon Kids Plus, which offers a wide variety of child-centric apps, books, and games. A video-friendly 10.1-inch screen, combined with Amazon’s robust parental controls, makes it an affordable entertainment device that will keep kids safe no matter what they browse, read, or watch. As long as you’re comfortable with the focus on Amazon’s content and services, the Fire HD 10 Kids Pro is a great device for cheap content consumption. If you want to play serious games or need more productivity apps, however, the pricier 9th-generation Apple iPad ($329) is a much more versatile alternative.
Amazon Started the Fire
Until recently, the Fire HD 10’s flames leaped the highest among Amazon’s roster of tablets. Earlier this year, Amazon introduced the bigger and more powerful Fire Max 11 ($229.99), which is now positioned as the company’s flagship tablet. The refreshed 2023 Fire HD 10 ($139.99) is basically the same exact tablet as the Fire HD 10 Kids but without the ruggedized case and the subscription to Amazon Kids Plus. For parental peace of mind, all Amazon Fire Kids tablets come with a two-year warranty, so if the device breaks during that time, you can return it for a free replacement.
(Credit: Sarah Lord)
Note that there are two different versions of the Fire HD 10 Kids tablet, both of which cost $189.99. The standard model is for children ages 3 to 7. It comes with a thick case that can withstand drops, splashes, and maybe even the occasional temper tantrum. The case is meant to make the tablet easier for kids to carry around and it comes in blue or pink.
The Kids Pro edition reviewed here is meant for children ages 6 to 12 and comes with a slightly thinner case (in blue, green, or purple) with a built-in kickstand. Both Kids tablets include Amazon Kids Plus, which otherwise costs $5 per month for Prime members or $8 per month for non-Prime customers.
Amazon is also offering a $199.99 Disney-themed Kids Bundle that comes with a Mickey Mouse (red) or a Princess (bluish green) case. It features Disney digital wallpapers and preloaded Disney content such as “Cars: Neon Racers” and “Minnie’s Food Truck.”
All Fire HD 10 models are compatible with Amazon’s optional stylus and keyboard case accessories, though there aren’t enough productivity apps in the Amazon Appstore to do much real work on this device.
By itself, the Fire HD 10 is thin and light, with smooth round edges and a matte black metal back surface. It measures 9.7 by 6.6 by 0.3 inches (HWD) and weighs 0.96 pounds. The case adds a little bulk, pushing the dimensions to 10.1 by 7.5 by 0.7 inches and 1.46 pounds. By way of comparison, the Fire Max 11 measures 10.2 by 6.4 by 0.3 inches and weighs 1.08 pounds while the Fire HD 8 Kids measures 8.7 by 7.1 by 1.1 inches and weighs 1.1 pounds, which makes it easier for kids to hold.
The tablet has a 10.1-inch display with 1,920 by 1,200 pixels in a 16:10 aspect ratio for a pixel density of 224ppi. It looks good as long as you’re viewing it straight on. It’s more than adequate for watching movies and TV shows, while text in Kindle books looks crisp, even at smaller font sizes. The Fire Max 11 steps the screen up to 11 inches with 2,000 by 1,200 pixels, and the Fire HD 8 shrinks it down to 8 inches with 1,280 by 800 pixels for a density of 189ppi. The Fire HD 7 Kids has a small 7-inch display with just 1,024 by 600 pixels at a density of 171ppi. It looks grainy in comparison with the others.
(Credit: Sarah Lord)
Two speakers on the tablet generate stereo sound and are loud enough to fill a small room, but the quality is far from perfect. I was able to hear all of the dialogue while watching “Orange is the New Black” on Netflix, but it was harder to make out the full soundstage of the environment in the show. I’d recommend using headphones whenever you listen to music or any other time when you need to pay attention to details. Thankfully, there’s a 3.5mm headphone jack on one side for your favorite wired headphones.
You’ll also find a USB-C port for charging and transferring files, as well as a slot for microSD cards. The tablet supports memory cards up to 1TB for expanding your storage to carry around more content on the go.
Performance Gains
The 2023 Fire HD 10 comes with a new processor that offers significant improvements in performance over the 2021 model. This time around, the CPU has an eight-core arrangement with two Arm Cortex-A76 cores at 2.05GHz and six Arm Cortex-A55 cores at 2.0GHz. Amazon doesn’t specify, but the processor is likely made by MediaTek. The tablet comes with 3GB of RAM, which is just enough to enable multitasking. I had multiple programs open at once and experienced no problems switching between them. The base model ships with 32GB of storage but you can upgrade to 64GB for $40 more.
(Credit: Basemark)
The processor is powerful enough to run Zoom, stream movies and shows, read books, and surf the internet. You can play basic games like Hungry Shark and other less intensive fare, but don’t expect much more. For example, I tested Roblox but faced some stuttering while maneuvering my hockey player in NHL Blast. This tablet is not designed for even moderate gaming, so those in need of more robust performance should look elsewhere. The Fire HD 8, in comparison, feels sluggish to use and the entry-level Fire HD 7 even more so.
Amazon doesn’t spell out how big the battery is, but it did well in testing, lasting for 10 hours and 18 minutes of streaming video playback over Wi-Fi with the screen brightness set to the maximum. That’s much longer than the Fire Max 11’s battery life of 7 hours and 55 minutes, as well as the entry-level iPad’s 5 hours and 59 minutes, but about the same as the Fire HD 8, which lasted 10 hours and 3 minutes. The Fire 10 HD includes a 9W power adapter that takes about 4 hours to fully charge the tablet. You can use chargers up to 15W, however, which can shorten the charging time to 3 hours.
I didn’t have any connectivity issues with either the Wi-Fi 5 or the Bluetooth 5.3 radios. I got the same fast download speeds over Wi-Fi on the tablet as I did on my computer, but I have to point out that it features an outdated version of Wi-Fi rather than the newer Wi-Fi 6 or 6E.
(Credit: Sarah Lord)
Tablets aren’t known as great photo-taking devices, and the 5MP rear camera here makes the Fire HD 10 perhaps the last device you’d want to use to snap a picture. Photos are grainy and washed out, even in decent lighting conditions. You might be able to grab a quick picture of your pet in a cute pose, but don’t expect to share that image on Instagram. You can find all of your photos on the Amazon Photo app, which syncs automatically.
The front camera gets an upgrade this year from 2MP to 5MP. Even with the improvement, it isn’t going to do wonders for you on a Zoom call. It works in a functional way, but you’re still going to appear grainy to those on the other end of the line—especially in low-light conditions. In all, the Fire HD 10 takes images that are on par with the Max 11, but not as good as those you get with the iPad.
Embrace the Amazon
The biggest downside of the Fire HD 10—and all Fire tablets—is Amazon’s software and restricted ecosystem. Amazon Fire OS runs on a modified and heavily restricted version of the Android operating system. For example, the base model includes lock screen ads. You have to pay an additional $15 to get rid of them.
The user interface heavily favors Amazon’s content and directs you to it. In fact, Amazon’s stuff takes up so much room that there are only two rows available for your own apps on the main screen when in landscape mode. You can access more of your apps by scrolling down.
(Credit: Sarah Lord)
The main home page features a search bar along with For You, Home, and Library tabs. The For You page is an entire section devoted solely to Amazon apps, products, and services. The Library tab is far more useful; it’s where you’ll find everything you actually own and use. Home is for the home screen. A bar at the bottom of the screen functions as a navigation tool. You can also swipe down from the top to bring up the quick settings menu, which lets you adjust brightness, Wi-Fi, airplane mode, and more with a tap.
Amazon makes it easy for you to create kids’ profiles and toggle between them. Parents can limit which apps children have access to, as well as how much time they spend on each activity. You’re able to decide if your child should focus on educational programs before playing games. The Kids Plus subscription includes content that both older and younger kids will enjoy, such as Harry Potter books and the Warrior Cats series. You can toggle between profiles by swiping down on the quick settings menu.
The Fire HD 10 supports Echo Show mode, which lets you talk hands-free to Alexa, see the time, weather, trending topics, and other smart display features. People who use smart displays on a regular basis will find Show mode an enjoyable extra. You can disable Show mode via the quick settings menu if you wish.
The app selection on Amazon’s Fire tablets is severely limited. Fire users do not have access to the Google Play Store and instead have to rely on apps from Amazon. Thankfully, you can find most of the streaming and reading apps you’ll need. For example, Disney+, ESPN+, Hulu, Netflix, Max, and Spectrum are all present. So is the Libby app from Overdrive, which you can use to download books from your local library.
Google apps such as Docs, Drive, Gmail, Maps, and YouTube are unavailable. You also won’t find Marvel Unlimited, Alto’s Odyssey, or Apple TV+. You can sideload apps if you know what you’re doing, but we don’t recommend it for security reasons.
The last thing we have to say about software is that Amazon does not make upgrade commitments like other Android tablet makers. There’s no telling if Amazon will update the Fire HD 10 Kids Pro at all, and out-of-date versions of Android become a security risk over time.
A Cheap Tablet for Kids That Works
The Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Pro has decent hardware, an attractive screen, and enough memory and processing power to run multiple apps simultaneously. It offers long enough battery life to keep kids busy for car rides or flights, has a headphone jack for when wireless headphones run out of juice, and reduces adult anxiety thanks to its top-of-the-line parental controls and endless supply of kid-friendly content. The most significant detractor is Amazon itself—the in-your-face lock screen ads and heavily favored Amazon content can wear on you. Children almost certainly won’t care, however, which makes the Fire HD 10 Kids Pro one of the best kids’ tablets you can get, especially if you want one with a big screen. For $40 less, the Fire HD 8 Kids Pro is smaller and easier to handle, but not quite as peppy. For a far superior display and a greater selection of apps, the 9th-gen iPad is the best entry-level tablet for most people and our Editors’ Choice, but it costs nearly twice as much as the Fire HD 10 and doesn’t come with a rugged case.
Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Pro
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The Bottom Line
The 2023 edition of the Fire HD 10 Kids Pro offers a convenient way for children to consume Amazon content through an affordable tablet that’s easy for parents to manage.
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About Sarah Lord
Analyst, Mobile
