Many shoppers will weigh buying either this device, or the newly released and more expensive iPad Mini. True to my early adopter ways, I picked up a Mini on launch day, so here is a quick comparison. If you are picking up a tablet to be your primary computing device, the Mini wins hands down because of the larger screen, wider selection of apps, smoother interface, more accurate keyboard, much better cameras, access to iTunes content, better physical button design, and a more complete software stack--useful things like notifications, AirPlay to your TV, Find my iPad, dictation, remote wiping, automatic encryption of data, and a better browser. The Fire HD has a more pixel dense screen, which shows up in beautiful text rendering, and a more appropriate thumb sized bezel making it more comfortable to hold over long sessions. Both fit in a cargo pants' pocket, have access to Amazon content--Amazon gives away both a Video and a Kindle app on the iTunes Store--have good battery life, and have bright screens with good color reproduction. If the tablet will be infrequently used, or will be used almost exclusively for a fixed set of tasks, such as watching Netflix, reading books, or watching Amazon videos, then the lower priced Fire HD becomes more tempting. Apple makes it difficult to purchase Amazon content on an iPad--you have to leave the Kindle or Amazon Video app and use the browser for purchases--whereas it's almost too easy to buy content on a Fire. As for me, I bought the Mini with the intention of testing software at my job, but I like the design and software quality so much it'll be in my cargo pocket from now on. I was surprised by how good the screen looks even with its inferior pixel density, and the Fire HD seems positively claustrophobic in terms of both screen usage and navigating between and within apps. But this is a review of the Kindle Fire HD. Build Quality and Materials. This tablet is put together better than the original non-HD Kindle Fire, which had a tendency to peel apart at the seam between the front face and the back, but I can still feel every seam which scratch over my fingers as I handle it. The materials of the back portion are OK. Sort of grippy and look to take scratches and aging gracefully. Certainly better than the ridiculously toylike back of my Touchpad if not the cool perfection of the robot machined iPad. The buttons are noticeably cheap. As for the display itself, the most important part, the glass is of high quality and on a tablet that counts. Design. This is one of the great leaps forward from the previous generation with two exceptions. The bevel, speaker grills, corners, and choice of screen convey a subtlety and maturity that the previous generation didn't have. This is a design future Kindles can build upon and refine unlike the generic design of last year. The width of the screen bevel is well chosen for comfortable long term grasping; the weight is light enough for the duration of a feature film or at least a TV show. However, the volume buttons and the power button are both hard to find and distinguish. The micro-USB port is near the micro-HDMI port and they are both about the same size and shape, costing me annoyance every time I plug in the charger to figure which port to use and which way to twist the cable. Technology. The screen is much more than adequate, and in my opinion is the best feature of this device. Nestling somewhere in between the good screen in the iPad Mini and the awesome screen in the full-sized Retina iPad, the screen is crisp, appears to have excellent color reproduction, without the cartoony over saturation you see on competing technologies, and has fantastic viewing angles. The processor/graphics system is much more capable than the sludgy performance of the previous generation. Web browsing is semi-enjoyable and most operations are snappy. The speaker is loud for the size, I have it turned down to one pixel short of zero, and it's almost too loud for late night listening. I've had good luck with Bluetooth on this device, it pairs easily with an and streams music without hiccups to an . The camera is mediocre. Battery life for real world mixed use is not great; Amazon tech support called to reaffirm their conviction of 11 hour video watching time, but I get perhaps 5 hours of mixed use. The standby time on a charge is fantastic, however, I could use it for twenty minutes a day at lunch for a couple weeks. In general, when it comes to jamming appropriate technologies in a box, Amazon has done a great job. Software Execution. If anything is preventing me from saying this device is more than OK, it is the software. Navigation is a mess and seems to have a primary goal of exposing the user to things to buy. The web browser while now useable, is jerky and things like tap to zoom is non-existent or in the case of pinch to zoom done badly. Inertial scrolling is poorly executed, making it hard to navigate long lists. The app store is filled with mediocrity, a lot of ad supported junk and a few cool titles; even A-list titles like Skype are not particularly optimized for the larger than a phone screen size of this small tablet--although in the case of Skype, a tablet optimized version is on the way. Netflix looks exactly like it does on the iPad except for being a bit cramped and showing less tiled content at once. Amazon has not proven they can put out a competitive software stack for general computing. For finding and consuming content, it works; for even the simplest content creation like, for instance, typing a short Amazon review, the horrible non-adaptive onscreen keyboard makes life miserable. The FreeTime app for children might be the most compelling aspect of the whole package. For $3 a month on top of my Prime membership, the kids get age appropriate apps, a moderate selection of mixed bag books, and a small selection of fairly old kids TV programming. The most interesting part for me are the apps. I buy a lot of apps, and my kids use them for a few days at best and then move on, so my tablets get cluttered with apps my kids won't be using, and the costs add up. I just watched my daughter joyfully run through 20 puzzles in the Where's Perry app from Disney. There aren't a huge number of apps, and many are indifferently written, but it's well worth the trouble to sign up for a month's trial. Amazon will have to show that new content will be made available to keep me as a subscriber, but what's there--except the video library which is old and limited--will keep my kids engaged for months. I wish they'd concentrate on quality over quantity though; there's a lot of chaff in there. Still, the app actually leverages the simplistic Fire interface to make a product you can just hand to a kid. I'm concerned that this device might not receive software updates when a year from now, the inevitable new and improved model is released. Amazon did not, and apparently will not, push out an update for last year's non-HD Kindle Fire to match the new software in this year's non-HD Kindle Fire. Screen Size. This device has a 16x9 aspect ratio measuring 7 inches along the diagonal. What this means in practical terms is it's a little too narrow for comfortable use for browsing the web in portrait orientation, while it doesn't show much vertical content while browsing in landscape orientation. Modern HD TV content, and many movies fit this ratio perfectly in landscape so it is optimal for watching videos. I browse the web more than I watch videos, and even then I prefer to watch videos in portrait while in bed so that I can rest the device on my belly and raise the image up a bit to avoid neck strain,Light Works KPI. So I prefer a lower aspect ratio. Ecosystem,Stethoscopes Guide. I like the Amazon ecosystem. I watch many Prime videos--like whole seasons of Mythbusters--for free which are costly on iTunes or might not be on Netflix, and then there is the huge collection of e-Books on all topics, including free books and books on loan. Right now, I'm reading the first Harry Potter book to my son, which I borrowed for the month from Amazon, no charge. Any purchased content is available on my computer, iPads and iPhone. And I can watch Amazon video on my HDTV using a variety of devices, including this Fire HD, such as a Roku, my smart TV, or any number of Blu-Ray players. At this point, I'm leaning against paying the $15 to kill the lock screen deals. So far, deals like promotional credits for using a Discover card have been things I might want to use. I'll see, and if you do buy one, I'd recommend withholding judgement as well. On the other hand, the "Customers Also Bought" ribbon on the bottom of the launch screen is starting to get on my nerves. When I go to launch the calculator app I bought, I would rather not be distracted by a group of other calculator or clock apps I could buy too. As for not coming with an included wall charger, any iPhone or iPad chargers you have laying around or the charger from the original Kindle Fire will work in my experience so you can save yourself the added expense of a charger. The optional Kindle Fire charger is a bit bulky and the charging port is perpendicular to the charging plug, making it harder to find space for than it had to be. The device charges from 0 to 100% in about 3 hours. In the comments, someone reports that his daughter broke the screen on his Kindle HD and cut her hand. As it happens, I've shattered an iPad screen myself, and I've learned two things. 1) You should put a screen protector on tablets as it won't protect against shattering but it will keep the glass together like a car windshield and prevent cutting children. 2) You should get an accident replacement warranty if children will ever use the device. In summary, if you want to consume Amazon video, browse the web every now and again, or read the occasional book, or be inundated by deals all while having excellent portability then this is a decent device. If you want something to hand to the kids, to let them play unsupervised with age appropriate content, then this may work. If you want a more general purpose device, with an App Store filled with quality, highly optimized tablet titles, then I think you know what you'll need to do.