Both the Fire HD and Fire HDX belong to the Amazon Fire tablet family. The Fire HD line included the 6″ screen Fire HD 6 (released in 2014) as well as the 8″ screen Fire HD 8 and 10.1″ screen Fire HD 10 (both released in 2015). The Fire HDX line included the 7″ screen Kindle Fire HDX 7 (released in 2013) and the 8.9″ screen Fire HDX 8.9 (released in 2014). So what is the difference between the Fire HD and HDX?
The Fire HDXs are the older models (3rd and 4th generation) but they are still more advanced than the newer Fire HD models (4th and 5th generation). Below is a short comparison between them.
Advantages of Kindle Fire HDX over Fire HD
- Higher screen resolution at 1,920*1,200 for the HDX 7 and 2,560*1,600 for the HDX 8.9 (vs 1,280*800 for the HD display).
- Faster 2.2 GHz (HDX 7) and 2.5 GHz (HDX 8.9) Quad-core processor (vs Quad-core up to 1.5 GHz processor for the Fire HDs)
- More memory at 2GB RAM (vs 1GB RAM)
- Longer battery life – You get 11 hours for mixed use (vs 8 hours).
- Option for 4G with assisted GPS function (no such option in Fire HD)
- On device Mayday button for 24/7 technical support (vs none).
Read here for an Amazon Customer Review from an owner of both the Kindle Fire HDX and Fire HD:
http://www.amazon.com/review/R229MMAGM93RND/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8…
Advantages of Fire HD over Kindle Fire HDX
- Fire HD 8 and HD 10 have microSD Card slot (vs no support for the HDXs and Fire HD 6)
- More color options: Black, Magenta, Blue, Tangerine (for HD 8) vs Black, White (for HD 10) vs Black only (for HDXs and Fire HD 6)
- Fire HD 10 has a 10.1” screen – the biggest screen among all the Fire tablets.
- Fire HD 6 has a 6″ screen – the smallest screen among all the Fire tablets and thus the most portable Fire tablet.
Features available on both HDX and HD models
Here are the features that are available on both models:
- Dolby Audio Stereo Speakers (except the Fire HD 6 which only has a Mono speaker)
- Text-to-speech, to read books aloud to you
- X-Ray for movies, TV, books, music
- Email, Web Surfing, Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, etc.), Videos, Photos, Music, Books, Magazines, Audiobooks, Apps, Games, etc.
- Free unlimited Amazon Cloud storage for all digital content from Amazon and photos taken by the Fire tablets.
- Come with a power adapter (the previous Kindle Fire 2012 models don’t come with any power adapter, now all newer models come with the adapter)
The Fire HDX and Fire HD do have the following limitations:
- No direct access to Google Play Store (though you can get most Google Play apps via sideloading)
Click here for a detail comparison between the Fire HD 8 and the Kindle Fire HDX 7.
Conclusion
If you would like to have a tablet with faster processor, better screen and longer battery life, you should buy either the Kindle Fire HDX 7 or the Fire HDX 8.9. Otherwise the Fire HDs are also very good value tablets. If you would like to have the flexibility of expanding the memory in the future, you should consider the 2015 Fire HD 8 and Fire HD 10 which have the the microSD card slot build-in. If you want a portable tablet that can easily put into your bag, you should consider the Fire HD 6.
This following Amazon user comment compares the newer Fire HD with the Kindle Fire HDX:
http://www.amazon.com/review/RS65SA930SF1E…
I have taught classes on the kindle fire since 2011. I highly recommend the HDX. The Mayday feature is outstanding.
The 3rd gen HDX does have a rear facing camera. The 2nd gen HD does not.
The 5th gen fire HD does have a micro ad card slot! Exciting news.
Thanks for writing, Sunshine!
Yes, our original review is on the old Fire HD, but now we’ve updated to talk about the latest Fire HD models, and updated on the SD card slot.
The 3rd gen Kindle Fire HDX 7, discussed in this article, doesn’t have a rear facing camera.
Thank you. This is the information I’ve been looking for. I’ll be keeping my HDX then.