For $219, you can get a bundle that includes the new tablet, plus a one-year subscription to Microsoft 365 Personal—which provides access to all Office apps and 1TB of OneDrive cloud storage—and a detachable keyboard case. At this price, quibbles about whether the HD10 compares to the iPad are silly because, of course, it doesn’t. My iPad Air costs $599, plus my Apple Magic Keyboard retails for $299. You’re getting into decent laptop price territory with the iPad setup, but the $200 range for the Fire makes it something I’m comfortable throwing in a backpack.
Getting Busy With Fire
Inside the two new Fire models, the differences between the Fire HD 10 and the HD 10 Plus come down to 3GB of memory in the standard model and 4GB of memory in the Plus version. The Plus version also adds a premium finish and wireless charging for $179. The standard Fire HD 10 starts at $149. The specs are on the low end, but it’s hard to complain at this price point. The Fire HD 10 and HD Plus are available with 32GB or 64GB of storage, and both will take a MicroSD card with up to 1TB of additional storage. This new Fire edition adds wireless charging for the “Plus” model, a new front camera location positioned for landscape video chats, instead of portrait, and slimmer side bezels.
Who Doesn’t Love Wireless Charging?
The dock is made by Anker, and can turn the tablet into an Alexa smart display by activating “Show Mode.” The dock costs $49.99 alone, but it’s also available in a bundle with the Plus tablet for $10 off. I was long skeptical of using tablets as productivity devices, because hooking up a keyboard just seemed to make the gadget into an awkward, neither here nor there product. But recent design advances have changed my mind. The Apple Magic Keyboard for iPad has transformed my Apple tablet into a writing powerhouse. The new Bluetooth keyboard case for the HD10 seems like an equally slick solution. I can’t wait to test it out.
