Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids (2021)

Verdict

Having two 10-inch kids tablets is a little confusing, but all you need to know is that the Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids (2021) is built for young kids thanks to its large Bumper case. Excellent parental controls and lots of content extend its appeal, but this model is more expensive than the 8-inch version and the Amazon app store is a little limited.

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Introduction

Rather than having a single 10-inch tablet aimed at children, the Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids is one of two, with the other the Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Pro.

That makes it sound as though this is the lesser product, yet both models cost the same, so what gives? The case is the answer. This model has a larger bumper case that offers more protection, making this tablet suitable for younger children (Amazon says ages three to seven).

Otherwise, the specs, performance and features are the same, so read my Fire HD 10 Kids Pro review for slightly more in-depth information. Here, I’ll largely focus on what’s different. Overall, the excellent parental controls, quibble-free warranty and largely decent specs make this a great large tablet for children, but the smaller 8-inch model is much better value.

Design

• Huge and chunky case
• Webcam is strangely placed at the bottom
• Relatively light and easy to carry

As I said, the basic tablet here is the same as in the regular Kids edition and in the standard Amazon Fire HD 10. The difference is all in the protection. Here, you get the Bumper case, which is a huge bit of foam that surrounds and encases the tablet for protection. It’s available in blue, pink or aquamarine.

This gives additional protection and the tablet should be able to withstand a good deal of rough handling and dropping. Should it break, then there’s a two-year guarantee and Amazon will replace the tablet without question. That certainly gives you a good degree of confidence in buying tech for your kids, even if this tablet is more of a budget offering.

Amazon has done a good job with the case, too. Here, you get a flip-out stand, so the tablet can be placed on a table for watching or even using. It’s a very stable stand, so your kids are pretty safe using this tablet without it toppling to its doom. And, it makes a handy carry handle, too.

Strangely, the front webcam is at the bottom of the case when you use the stand, rather than on top as with the Fire HD 10 Kids Pro.

With such a large case, this tablet is bigger and bulkier than the regular case-free model (209 x 269 x 27mm, 716g), but not to the point where it’s hard to carry around. In fact, the bigger dimensions here arguably make it easier for smaller hands to grab.

There’s a standard 10.1-inch screen here, which is surrounded by large borders. Given the size of the case, these borders are harder to notice here. With the Fire HD 10 Plus, our review noticed that there was quite a bit of flex in the rear casing; with the large case on the Fire HD 10 Kids, you don’t get this problem.

Otherwise, it’s business as usual. As you turn the tablet on, the bright screen lights up. Given the underlying cost, this tablet actually sounds pretty good: the stereo speakers are loud and clear, well defined and even have a bit of bass. The iPad Air 4 sounds better, of course, but that’s a lot more expensive. What you get here is good enough sound for apps, games and videos.

Screen

• Sharp and detailed
• Quite bright
• Useful auto-brightness control

As my Fire HD 10 Kids Pro review goes into more detail, I’ll cover the basics here. With a 1920 x 1200 resolution, the Fire HD Kids tablet is sharp enough. Sure, you get more detail on an iPad, but Amazon has neatly balanced features and price and there’s nothing to complain about here: the screen’s easy to read and videos look sharp.

Colours are vibrant, contrast is pretty good and brightness (measured at 444nits) is very good: you can use this tablet outside, although not in direct sunlight. I recommend turning on the auto-brightness mode, which will get you the right setting and help extend battery life.

Fingerprints can be a bit of an issue, particularly with kids, but keep some screen cleaner around and take care of the tablet and you won’t have any issues.

Software and performance

• Lacks some of the big apps
• So-so processor
• Excellent parental controls

Amazon tries to sell the difference between the Fire HD 10 Kids and Fire HD 10 Kids Pro on features, with the Pro model having greater web browsing and a bigger app selection. That’s not true. All Amazon tablets are the same, running Fire OS, and features are dependant on the ages of your kids.

Here, as you’re more likely to let younger children use the tablet, you’ll probably see more of the simpler interface: there are big bright shortcuts, and kids can use the search bar to find apps and videos. Older kids get a more grown-up interface that’s similar to the one adults get.

With this tablet (and all Kids editions) you get a one-year subscription to Amazon Kids+, which gets you tonnes of videos, games, books and audible books, all available for download and offline use, all filtered by the age you set in your children’s profiles. Normally this costs £79 a year (£49 a year for Prime subscribers), which makes sense why this tablet costs more than the basic edition.

There’s a decent selection available, too, although as everything runs through the Amazon AppStore, the choice isn’t as big as with the Google Play store and some big apps and games are missing. For younger children this won’t be an issue; older children that want to keep up with their mates may not be quite so impressed. It’s the same with books: there’s a good selection but you don’t get the full range available with a Kindle Unlimited subscription.

Where Amazon tablets thrive is with their parental controls. Each child can have their own profile, which restricts content based on their age. It’s easy to set up and gives you a sense of security that your kids won’t find anything unsuitable.

Additionally, you can control web browsing, going from a blanket ban, through allowing a selection of handpicked websites to filtered browsing. You can enforce bedtimes to stop kids from using their tablets when they shouldn’t, and set app limits on categories (games, videos, and so on).

You can even set goals for apps and prevent the likes of entertainment usage until kids have achieved their educational goals. Everything can be managed from the tablet or from the Amazon Parental Dashboard online.

Given how dodgy the internet is, the range of controls available here makes this platform just about the safest you can get.

There’s 32GB of storage space, which is enough to get you started. One problem with Amazon’s tablets was that they had little internal storage space, so filled up quickly, especially with kids tapping away at every app, game and book they saw. Here you get a bit more breathing room and can add up to 1TB of storage via the microSD card.

There’s a MediaTek MT8183 processor, which has eight CPU cores and a triple-core Mali-G72 graphics chipset, and 3GB of RAM. Running Geekbench 5, I got a score of 897, which is quite slow: the similarly-priced Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 scores around 1400.

Does it matter? Not really, the processor is fast enough for what it has to do and Fire OS felt responsive.

You get a 5MP camera at the rear, which shoots OK photos but can’t compete with a smartphone. Think of it as more a fun extra for kids and you get the picture. A 2MP front-facing camera can shoot in Full HD for video calling – it might be useful for talking to grandparents, although I doubt many kids of the age this tablet is aimed at will be doing a lot.

Battery life

• Excellent battery life
• Long(ish) charge times

Amazon claims the 6500mAh battery will last for 12 hours. Watching an hour of video, the tablet lost 6%, two hours of video saw it lose 11% and after three hours it lost 18%. Based on those figures, you could get up to 16 hours of use. Letting the kids use the tablet as they wanted, I had to charge roughly every three to four hours. Of course, this means long journeys are covered, as the kids can be kept entertained with their tablets.

With a 9W USB-C charger in the box, it takes around 4 hours to top up the battery, which is pretty slow. I recommend charging overnight to avoid any disappointed kids.

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