Music

Back in June 2010, while rumors were circulating that Amazon was developing a tablet device, I wrote a post which suggested that they would be the only company that could create a product to successfully compete with Apple’s iPad.  My reasoning was that they were successfully developing a content atmosphere with products like Amazon MP3, Video on Demand and the Amazon App Store with its free app of the day that would compare to Apple’s digital hub.  Now that I’ve used the Kindle Fire for a couple weeks I figured I’d share my thoughts about whether Apple should be worried or not.

Hardware

When I first pulled my Kindle Fire out of its box I have to admit that it was bulkier than I expected.  Although I owned the first generation of the iPad, I had long since sold it, and so my closest frame of reference was my iPhone 4S.  That’s probably not a fair comparison, but I’ll just say the Kindle Fire felt thicker than it should be, at least initially.  Over time I’ve gotten used to the heft of the device and, now that I’ve used it for a while, I’m fairly comfortable with holding it.

One way that the Kindle Fire does compare to the iPad is its monolithic form factor with a lack of many physical buttons.  The only button you’ll find on the device is located on the bottom bezel next to its charging and syncing port.  I have noticed that the location of the button plus the device’s smaller form factor has caused me to accidentally push it (which causes the device to lock) while I’m holding it in portrait orientation from time to time.  That issue is only mildly annoying and probably more of a matter of training myself to place my hands further from the center of the device while using it.  Over time I’ve noticed the accidental device locks have been less frequent.

The form factor itself has been surprisingly useable.  The only other tablet I’ve ever used for a substantial amount of time is the Apple iPad, so I’m used to a larger device.  With that said, I think I prefer the smaller Kindle Fire in some cases, most of all for portability.  It has also been more condusive to browsing the mobile web without feeling like I’m using a site designed for a significantly smaller device, and that carries over to using apps designed for phones rather than tablets.  When using the iPad’s zoom feature to view iPhone apps on it, I always felt like I was using a Fisher Price version of the app (buttons and other UI elements were blown up and felt cumbersome).  The Kindle Fire splits the difference however, which means that phone apps work just fine on the somewhat-larger display.

One last potential issue I’ve noticed with the Kindle Fire is that the display does tend to have some temporary ghosting.  Every now and then I notice ghosted elements of a different application or of user interface elements that are on the screen frequently.  It’s not a huge issue and the ghosting goes away, but it might bug some users.  I think it’s important to remember that this device only costs $199 when nitpicking such issues, and when you take that into consideration I honestly think any slight ghosting isn’t a deal-breaker if you’re interested in the Kindle Fire.  Additionally, since my Kindle Fire was purchased very early in the device’s life cycle, that issue might be resolved or could be a manufacturing glitch specific to my device.  With that said, the problem isn’t significant enough for me to consider returning it for a replacement device.

Apps, Media & Web Browsing

Consuming content on the Kindle Fire is a joy.  Because I’m an Amazon Prime member and have used Amazon’s various content services before, all I had to do was login to my Amazon account and I had instant access to my entire music library through Amazon MP3, all of the apps I had downloaded from the Amazon App Store, and all of the books I had purchased through Amazon’s Kindle app.  Best of all, access to all of my content was instant because it’s all stored in the cloud so I didn’t have to spend hours syncing everything to the device.

Listening to music on the Kindle Fire through the cloud works well over wifi.  I’ve experienced issues with their mobile app for phones such as my previous Motorola Droid X, where-in streaming over a 3G connection produced a lot of time spent buffering.  That hasn’t been my experience on the Kindle Fire, however.  I’m not sure if it’s because I’m using a more solid wifi connection, but playback has been fairly instant and I haven’t run into the same buffering problem.  At this point I haven’t felt the need to sync any of my music to my device which is a testament to the playback from the cloud.  If you’re planning on using your Kindle to listen to music I would recommend investing in a decent pair of headphones though, as the internal speaker isn’t anything to write home about.

When I had an iPad my primary reading app was iBooks, but having read on the Kindle Fire I’m happy to say that it’s just as readable if not more so.  You have many of the same options as with iBooks, including changing the background color of your book, how big or small the font size is, and the style of font you prefer to read.  The reader also has a slew of other handy features, like the ability to search a book or document, make notes and of course leave a bookmark.  Navigating pages is pretty simple, just a tap on the left or right side of the screen to move backward or forward a page, or you can swipe your finger across the page to replicate the page turning experience, though it’s not as elegant as the page turn in iBooks (but now I’m just splitting hairs).

The Amazon app store, though easy to use, does leave something to be desired.  Although I’m sure the selection will improve over time, the amount of apps developed specifically for the Kindle Fire is lacking right now.  There isn’t a great Twitter or Facebook client available yet, though simple apps which link to each service’s mobile website (think more of a bookmark) are available.  It has been nice to revisit my collection of Amazon apps that I had on my old Droid X though, and like I mentioned previously even apps developed for phones specifically work pretty well on this device.

Between the Amazon video on demand software and the Netflix app, if you’re looking to watch video on the Kindle Fire you should be pleasantly surprised.  Video streams very well in my experience, even when skipping around a video by scrubbing through its timeline.  I can’t say a whole lot about the quality because I’m far from a videophile, but for a device this small I haven’t been let down at all.  It’s definitely watchable, though I’d recommend some headphones because the sound volume is a bit low at times.

My time spent using the Kindle Fire has re-introduced me to the mobile web in a way.  To make up for the fact that I don’t have a great Twitter or Facebook app yet, I’ve been using both services’ mobile sites more.  Additionally, to speed up the Fire’s Silk browser I’ve defaulted to a site’s mobile version whenever possible.  This doesn’t have a whole lot to do with the Kindle Fire specifically, I have to admit that browsing the mobile web is often an enjoyable experience so don’t rule it out if you’re without an app!  Most major websites have put a lot of time and thought into their mobile site, and you can usually complete the same tasks as you can with a full website or app.  With that said, I have noticed that the Silk browser is a bit pokey at times.  There are already guides on the web for settings you can change to speed up the browser, but by default it’s a little slow.  I’m sure that Amazon will fix that issue with a future software update, though.

Recommendation

Overall, I’d have to recommend Amazon’s Kindle Fire.  For a mere $199 it’s a heck of a package if you want easy access to your content collection.  As is the case with most consumer electronic devices there are some imperfections in software this early in the product lifecycle, but many of those will be fixed in time.  It’s hard to argue with a device that offers a lot of the great tablet experience I’ve enjoyed with the iPad at a price point that’s less than half that of the cheapest Apple model.  The good news is that these things are flying off the shelf, so if you’re curious about the Kindle Fire just ask a friend or go try one out at a store!