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Hands On with the Fire HD 6

Amazon’s $99 Android tablet will probably never grace my todo list (not unless my current unit dies) but that doesn’t mean I’m not as interested in it as the next gadget blogger.

While digging through Youtube today, I found a hands on video worth watching. It wasn’t made by a pro gadget blogger (which is part of the reason why I like it), but the guy has used Amazon’s other tablets and he regularly shoots videos of RC helicopters and other topics.

He runs through the basic features and shows off how well the Fire HD6 runs apps, streams to his TV, and also plays Youtube videos.

I’ve watched the video, and one detail I picked up was that I was too pessimistic on the audio. I had decided against getting a Fire HD 6 because it had only a single speaker, but the reviewer says that it has good quality sound for a tablet.

I see this as a media tablet, so sound quality is important, and if more user reports come in that the audio is good then I just might buy a Fire HD 6 if it goes on sale.

The Fire HD 6 runs Kindle OS4 Sangria on a quad-core 1.2GHz CPU with 1GB RAM and 8GB or 16 GB internal storage. There’s no card slot or HDMI slot, but this tablet does have a microUSB port which Amazon says can take an HDMI or VGA adapter.

This tablet has a 6? IPS display with a screen resolution of 1280 x 800. I didn’t catch any mention of the screen quality in this video, but Amazon usually has pretty good screens. The Fire HD 6 also has a couple cameras: a VGA resolution webcam, and a 2MP rear-facing camera. As you can hear in the video, neither camera is all that great, but you can at least use them for Skype.

Weighing in at 10.1 ounces, the Kindle Fire HD 6 measures 6.7? x 4.1? x 0.4?.  The reviewer doesn’t mention how good the battery life was on his unit, but the spec page says that it has up to 8 hours of battery life.

The Fire HD 6 can be had from Amazon and other retailers. Retail starts at $99 for 8GB storage, and you can get one with 16GB internal storage for $119. It comes in five different colors (Black, White, Cobalt, Magenta, Citron).

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In case you are interested, I also found a second video which might be worth watching. It takes a very different approach and goes into the physical details to a much greater degree, making it a good compliment to the video embedded above.

Before you watch it, let me warn you that I didn’t like the narration. I came close to not using this video because of that narration, but the narrator does offer a lot of detail so the video is still useful.

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Comments


tubemonkey October 17, 2014 um 9:08 pm

Last Cyber Monday, Amazon had a two-day $50 off sale for two of its newest Fires — Fire HDX 7 and the 2nd gen Fire HD 7. I’m hoping they do the same this year for the new HDs. I’m looking to get the HD 6.

Nate Hoffelder October 17, 2014 um 9:29 pm

I’ll keep that in mind, thanks.

tubemonkey October 17, 2014 um 9:52 pm

YW – it’s one of the many things I’m tracking in the Black Friday thread at MR.


Doug October 19, 2014 um 6:12 am

Thanks for posting this. This device appeals to me.

I liked the "Mobile Tech Review" video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHySoidqQ8g

The specs are pretty detailed on the notebookcheck.net review. There is 4.5 GB free on the 8 GB model, so spending $20 extra for 16 GB might be a good investment, as there is no micro SD slot. No mention of USB OTG that I can find.


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