Nexus 7 vs kindle fire HD

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sep

sep

Platinum Member
Aug 1, 2001
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So I was reading about the new kinle fire HD and my mouth was drooling over the price and hardware (16 GB ram HDMI out stereo with Dolby digital etc.). My only concern is am I limited to amazon and no Google play?

I really like the response time on my nexus 7 but with these options I think I will return my n7 if I can still run my android apps

Do you know if android apps can run on kindle fire HD?

What hardware is the kd fire HD?
 
Ravynmagi

Ravynmagi

Diamond Member
Jun 16, 2007
3,102
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Never owned a Kindle Fire, but my understanding is that it could be rooted and Google Play installed on it so you could run Android apps. So it should be possible on the new one too.
 
shortylickens

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
80,287
17,081
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The new Fire is kickass. I'd take that over the Nexus.
But its not coming out until Thanksgiving.
 
P

Puddle Jumper

Platinum Member
Nov 4, 2009
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The Nexus 7 is much better than the 7" Fire HD overall, they have the same screens but the N7 is much more powerful, has access to the Play Store, and runs a more capable and fluid os. The Fire HD 8.9" is more interesting but the SoC is far to weak to drive that resolution.
 
Ravynmagi

Ravynmagi

Diamond Member
Jun 16, 2007
3,102
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Puddle Jumper said:
The Nexus 7 is much better than the 7" Fire HD overall, they have the same screens but the N7 is much more powerful, has access to the Play Store, and runs a more capable and fluid os. The Fire HD 8.9" is more interesting but the SoC is far to weak to drive that resolution.
Click to expand...

I don't think it's so clear cut.

Kindle Fire HD has a better looking screen with richer colors, deeper blacks, and less glare. I think some Tegra 3 bug is causing our Nexus 7 to look a bit washed out.

TI OMAP 4470 looks like it might be able to hold it's own against the Tegra 3, hope Anandtech can test that out soon. GPU looks like it might be more powerful and a review of the Archos 101 XS using that processor showed it looked competitive in a few benchmarks with the Nexus 7 (though I didn't see enough to really know for sure). So I'm not discounting the TI OMAP 4470 yet.

Kindle Fire HD starts at 16GB. No silly gimped 8GB model (with only 6GB of usable space) and no $50 for an 8GB upgrade. Google did this intentionally to push people harder to use it's streaming content, but it kinda sucks.

Better wifi support, I especially love supporting the 5GHz band. My Nexus 7 tablet is the only thing I have stuck at 2.4GHz (I have almost a dozen 2.4GHz wifi networks competing around me and I'm the only 5GHz network).

For hardware, I think the Kindle Fire HD wins pretty easily. The SoC battle looks too close to call so far. And possibly the one hardware win for the Nexus 7 is it's physical design, it has less width in portrait, so will be easier for more people to hold one handed with thumb and fingers on both edges of the device. And the Nexus 7 is lighter.

For software, I'd give the Nexus 7 a dominating win. And I'm an Amazon Prime subscriber, bought all my books and music from Amazon Prime and I stream all my online TV and music from Prime now (cancelled Netflix recently). But I love Jelly Bean, it has given my Galaxy Nexus new life and the Nexus 7 is definitely buttery smooth compared to other Android tablets I've had. So it would really suck to be stuck on Amazon's version of Android 4.0.3 for who knows how long (forever?). I never touched a Kindle Fire, but from what I see of the UI, I want to hurl (can a real launcher be run ontop of that crap if I rooted it?).

I still think the Nexus 7 wins, but I think Amazon presented us with some really tempting hardware. I might consider getting a Kindle Fire HD 8.9 once folks get that rooted and have a decent ROM ready for it.
 
K

Kingbee13

Senior member
Jul 17, 2007
238
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81
I'm not sure I'd buy any devices with cortex a9 cores, especially built on 45nm. These would of been midly interesting with krait, and I would of been excited if it had an omap 5xxx, but it's looking unlikely we will see any a15 based devices this year.

As an owner of the original kindle fire if I *had to have* a new tablet it would be a tough call, the fire hd 7 hardware has an edge over the Nexus 7.

It really depends on who's ecosystem you are most heavily invested in.
Own tons of apps from the play store? go Nexus 7.
A prime member who wants to stream Amazon's video library? go kindle fire.

If only amazon released a streaming app for android like they did the ipad.
 
B

bearxor

Diamond Member
Jul 8, 2001
6,605
3
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I would definitely be interested in a Fire over a N7 with the ability to flash a custom ROM.

Apple better move on to that 8" iPad quick.
 
Bateluer

Bateluer

Lifer
Jun 23, 2001
27,730
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Puddle Jumper said:
The Nexus 7 is much better than the 7" Fire HD overall, they have the same screens but the N7 is much more powerful, has access to the Play Store, and runs a more capable and fluid os. The Fire HD 8.9" is more interesting but the SoC is far to weak to drive that resolution.
Click to expand...

I don't think the OMAP4470 is a slouch, its SGX544 is purported to outperform the Tegra 3 GPU. Hrrm. I like the ~8in size far more than the 7in size, so I may be biased. And I'm operating under the assumption that the Fire 8.9 HD can be rooted and run AOSP.
 
B

Bonesdad

Platinum Member
Nov 18, 2002
2,213
0
76
ah god, we already have fanboys set up Kindle v Nexus? Drop the silly arguments now boys, to each his own. None of you are right, none are wrong.
 
Bateluer

Bateluer

Lifer
Jun 23, 2001
27,730
8
0
Bonesdad said:
ah god, we already have fanboys set up Kindle v Nexus? Drop the silly arguments now boys, to each his own. None of you are right, none are wrong.
Click to expand...

Actually, a technical debate about the OMAP4470 vs Tegra 3 would have a clear winner, but we'll be waiting until review units arrive and definitive tests can be run.
 
ViRGE

ViRGE

Elite Member, Moderator Emeritus
Oct 9, 1999
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D

dagamer34

Platinum Member
Aug 15, 2005
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Ravynmagi said:
I don't think it's so clear cut.

Kindle Fire HD has a better looking screen with richer colors, deeper blacks, and less glare. I think some Tegra 3 bug is causing our Nexus 7 to look a bit washed out.

TI OMAP 4470 looks like it might be able to hold it's own against the Tegra 3, hope Anandtech can test that out soon. GPU looks like it might be more powerful and a review of the Archos 101 XS using that processor showed it looked competitive in a few benchmarks with the Nexus 7 (though I didn't see enough to really know for sure). So I'm not discounting the TI OMAP 4470 yet.

Kindle Fire HD starts at 16GB. No silly gimped 8GB model (with only 6GB of usable space) and no $50 for an 8GB upgrade. Google did this intentionally to push people harder to use it's streaming content, but it kinda sucks.

Better wifi support, I especially love supporting the 5GHz band. My Nexus 7 tablet is the only thing I have stuck at 2.4GHz (I have almost a dozen 2.4GHz wifi networks competing around me and I'm the only 5GHz network).

For hardware, I think the Kindle Fire HD wins pretty easily. The SoC battle looks too close to call so far. And possibly the one hardware win for the Nexus 7 is it's physical design, it has less width in portrait, so will be easier for more people to hold one handed with thumb and fingers on both edges of the device. And the Nexus 7 is lighter.

For software, I'd give the Nexus 7 a dominating win. And I'm an Amazon Prime subscriber, bought all my books and music from Amazon Prime and I stream all my online TV and music from Prime now (cancelled Netflix recently). But I love Jelly Bean, it has given my Galaxy Nexus new life and the Nexus 7 is definitely buttery smooth compared to other Android tablets I've had. So it would really suck to be stuck on Amazon's version of Android 4.0.3 for who knows how long (forever?). I never touched a Kindle Fire, but from what I see of the UI, I want to hurl (can a real launcher be run ontop of that crap if I rooted it?).

I still think the Nexus 7 wins, but I think Amazon presented us with some really tempting hardware. I might consider getting a Kindle Fire HD 8.9 once folks get that rooted and have a decent ROM ready for it.
Click to expand...

TI OMAP 4470 vs Tegra 3: http://www.anandtech.com/show/6158/the-archos-101-xs-review/3

Pretty much better performance all around.
 
Eug

Eug

Lifer
Mar 11, 2000
24,055
1,697
126
Bezos says OMAP 4470 is faster than Tegra 3.

http://www.fudzilla.com/home/item/28648-omap-4470-faster-than-tegra-3-claims-amazon

---

While yes in many benches OMAP 4470 1.5 GHz will beat 1.2 (1.3) GHz Tegra 3, that's only the 8.9" model. The 7" HD runs at 1.2 GHz. OMAP 4470 has the superior GPU. OMAP 4460 not so much.

However, people shouldn't forget that what matters most to many here is decent CPU power with great battery life. I don't know for sure, but if I had to guess, I'd guess that properly optimized quad-core Tegra 3 would actually beat dual-core OMAP 4470 and possibly even OMAP 4460 for battery life. I personally don't care about 3D gaming speed. About the most complex gaming I do often on a tablet is Angry Birds. All I want is smooth OS rendering and hardware 1080p H.264 decode support. So I'm MUCH more interested in battery life comparisons than 3D gaming comparisons in the tablet space. (Actually, the same is true for me for laptops, too.)

I do wonder if Tegra 3 would have problems driving a 1920x1200 screen smoothly, but I'm guessing no, and in this context it's irrelevant anyway because the Nexus 7 is not 1920x1200, and neither is Amazon's 7" model. Tegra 3 definitely has no problems whatsoever driving a 1280x800 fast for OS actions.

The other issue here is the OS. Ignoring the Amazon skin for now, we have to remember the fact that its underlying OS is Ice Cream Sandwich, not Jelly Bean. That alone may make a huge difference in smoothness.

About the only big advantage Amazon has is multiple user accounts.

dagamer34 said:
TI OMAP 4470 vs Tegra 3: http://www.anandtech.com/show/6158/the-archos-101-xs-review/3

Pretty much better performance all around.
Click to expand...
The battery life on that thing sucks, despite its having a 25 Watt hour battery.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6158/the-archos-101-xs-review/4

ViRGE said:
That just killed any and all interest I had in the Fire. Yikes.:|

And the worst part is that you can't even opt-out (say by paying to disable them). That even goes for the e-ink Kindles.
Click to expand...
That would be deal killer for me too, if it's as bad as it sounds.
 
Last edited:
Phokus

Phokus

Lifer
Nov 20, 1999
22,994
779
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Battery Life on my Nexus 7 has been incredible, i swear i can go more than a week w/o charging.
 
sep

sep

Platinum Member
Aug 1, 2001
2,553
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76
I've had my N7 for about 10 days now. I have 5 more days before I can return it for a full refund. If I do end up returning it and for some reason buy it again can I restore the device from a backup? The device has a backup feature, but don't know what all gets backed up.

I'm very happy with the battery life.

Yes, the display does look a little washed out to me now that you mentioned it.

Response time playing games or watching content seems fine.

Underlying OS - Ice Cream Sandwich vs Jelly Bean. This is my first JB device and it's very smooth. I've not had one crash/lock/slowdown/etc.

Oh gosh yes. The 2.4ghz is cluttered here too.

I don't have a prime account and don't think I ever will. I have a couple kindle readers so I'm not going to be reading books on these devices.

I read Anandtech's Article Amazon Kindle Preview: Paperwhite, Fire (2012), and Fire HD 7" & 8.9".
 
Last edited:
podspi

podspi

Golden Member
Jan 11, 2011
1,982
102
106
ViRGE said:
That just killed any and all interest I had in the Fire. Yikes.:|

And the worst part is that you can't even opt-out (say by paying to disable them). That even goes for the e-ink Kindles.
Click to expand...

The special offers really aren't that bad. I have a Kindle touch with them and they aren't obtrusive, and often the advertisements are for things that I want at a price better than normal.
 
T

Tom

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
13,293
1
76
One thing the Kindle Fire HD 7 inch price might do is get Google to lower the price of the 16 gb Nexus 7 to $199, and the 8 gb to $159.
 
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