Amazon Fire HD 10 gets a faster processor and USB Type-C, keeps same $149 price tag

Amazon’s Fire tablets have long been consumer favorites. The device family’s ethos of “good enough” has made the Fire tablets attractive to budget-conscious buyers. That same crowd may find the Fire HD 10 a bit more enticing now; Amazon has updated the largest Fire tablet with a new CPU and a USB Type-C port.

According to Amazon, the new Fire HD 10 is 30% faster than the older model. The new processor not only helps with performance; battery life has also been upped to 12 hours (an increase from 10). In addition to better battery efficiency, the Fire HD 10 has also been upgraded with a USB Type-C charging port that supports fast charging. Amazon didn’t give any estimates on charging speeds, but the switch to USB Type-C should greatly improve charging speeds.

Other improvements include “enhanced WiFi” (no details on what this means from Amazon), support for a 512 GB microSD card (up from a maximum of 200 GB), and new colors: Twilight Blue, Plum, and White. The standard Black color is still available.

Other than the hardware upgrades mentioned above, the Fire HD 10 is largely the same tablet. It’s still running Amazon’s FireOS, which is a customized flavor of Android P. Amazon did add a new picture-in-picture mode for a few select apps (Prime Video, Netflix) and will increase support for the feature in the future.

Lastly (and perhaps best of all), the Fire HD 10’s price tag will remain unchanged at US $149. (buy now at Amazon)

Amazon is also selling a kids’ version of the new Fire HD 10. Like with Amazon’s other Kids Edition bundles, the Fire HD 10 Kids Edition includes the new Fire HD 10 tablet, a kid-friendly bumper case with a built-in stand, and a tweaked UI designed for kids. The Fire HD 10 Kids Edition also includes a two-year extended replacement program and a year of Amazon’s FreeTime service for free (buy Kids Edition now at Amazon). FreeTime is a service that offers thousands of apps, movies, books, and TV shows geared towards kids and allows parents a deep amount of control over screen time.

The Fire HD 10 and Fire HD 10 Kids Edition are available for preorder over at Amazon starting today. Units will begin shipping on October 30th, just in time for Halloween.