# Amazon Fire tablet

7 Hacker News commenters recommended Amazon Fire tablet and 14 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Cheap tablet that people find fine for light use and simple tasks, often for little money. Critics say it is slow, locked down and designed to be addictive.

## Why people recommend it

- Low price for basic use (2 comments): "it's really hard to beat the value proposition of modding a dirt cheap Amazon/Android tablet" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46250066)) "Mine looks and works like brand new for $25" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49411896))
- Fine for light coding and tasks (2 comments): "It is actually pretty fun to use for light coding." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48178403)) "works fine for that purpose" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47971215))

## What people warn about

- Slow, even after factory resets (2 comments): "the Amazon Fire tablet we used to have which was so slow it was literally unusable" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47291987)) "Ours has become so inexplicably slow it’s wild, even after factory resets." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46391912))
- Locked down, spyware concerns (3 comments): "products like this one that actively constrain people's actions and pressure them to perpetuate the system" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50240026)) "the locked-down android and really android of any kind is just not something I am interested in" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46249625)) "They can keep their Fire tablets, TVs, and other spyware." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46333204))
- Designed to be addictive (2 comments): "Screens are horrible especially when they come attached to a device made to be addictive, like an Amazon tablet." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50240975)) "Amazon going full Facebook-at-their-worst. Nice to know." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50237398))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Apple iPad](https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-ipad.md): 268 recommend
- [iPad Pro](https://hackerapproved.com/p/ipad-pro.md): 95 recommend
- [Apple iPad Air](https://hackerapproved.com/p/ipad-air.md): 61 recommend
- [iPad mini](https://hackerapproved.com/p/ipad-mini.md): 53 recommend
- [Apple iPad with Magic Keyboard](https://hackerapproved.com/p/ipad-with-magic-keyboard.md): 14 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Amazon+Fire+tablet&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Amazon Fire tablet", https://hackerapproved.com/p/amazon-fire-tablet/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).