Kindle Fire vs Apple iPad 2

Let’s start off this comparison without beating about the bush: the Kindle Fire is not an iPad 2 killer. It’s not designed to be an iPad killer, it’s not even in the same ballpark as the iPad 2. The iPad is a refined, polished piece of beauty and joy in a tablet and the Kindle Fire is Amazon’s first foray in to the tablet market.

You need to be clear about what the Kindle Fire is and what purpose it serves. Amazon has created the device, which they sell at a loss, to get people to consume their vast library of music, movies, TV shows, apps and of course ebooks. There isn’t really any other reason for the Kindle Fire, it’s a pure consumption device.

The iPad on the other hand tries to serve two purposes: it’s the enabling device for Apple to get as many people buying content from their iTunes store but it’s also a fantastic tablet for creating and can do many office related tasks like preparing reports, spreadsheets, presentations, video conferencing, image editing, video editing and more.

In terms of specs, many people will be surprised that the Kindle Fire and iPad 2 share some of the same technical specifications. They both have dual core processors clocked at 1 GHz (Fire’s is made by Texas Instruments and the iPad’s is made by ARM) and they both have 512MB RAM.

The iPad is obviously larger with a 9.7 inch screen where as Kindle Fire has a 7 inch screen. In terms of resolution though the Kindle Fire slightly edges it over the iPad because it uses a 1024x600 resolution with 169 pixels per inch compared to the 1024x768 resolution and 132 pixels per inch used by the iPad. The greater density of pixels means that even on the smaller screen size images and movies remain sharp and text is easily readable.

Of course, as with all things made by Apple, the interface and usability on the iPad is that little bit more refined and polished. Some users have notice small lags or a juttering on the Kindle Fire when trying to access some apps or visual effects like the turning of the page on the Kindle ebook software lack some of the beauty and grace you get on an Apple product.

Finally, in terms of hardware available, there is no way the Kindle Fire can compete with the iPad. It doesn’t have Bluetooth (annoying if you want to hook up a set of speakers or use a Bluetooth keyboard), GPS (so no location based apps), no camera, no SD card slot, no microphone and no accelerometer.

The larger size of the iPad also means that the battery capacity is far higher than on the Kindle Fire and you can get up to 10 hours of continuous use, including wifi with the iPad whereas many Kindle Fire users are saying they can get about 6 hours max use before it needs recharging.

At the end of the day, if you are looking for a device to watch movies and TV shows, browse the Internet for nothing in particular and to pass the time playing small but addictive games then the Kindle Fire will save you at least $300 and serve you far better than the iPad. Many iPad owners have noted that after some time of holding the iPad to watch a movie it becomes uncomfortable to hold but the Kindle is smaller and lighter and far easier to hold for long durations.