Our Review of the Fire HD 10 Kids Edition

The Fire HD 10 Kids Edition is a children’s tablet from Amazon, part of their Fire range. This is a 10.1″ tablet that comes with a 1920×1220 pixel resolution screen and has a protective case in pink, blue and purple with integral stand and cut-outs for the various ports, speakers and cameras.

The HD 10 Kids Edition is an Android tablet but it runs on Amazon’s own offshoot of the operating system, rather than being a standard Android tablet. It doesn’t come with Google Play, which cannot be easily installed on it, but does come with the Amazon Appstore. The tablet has 32 gigabytes (GB) of internal memory, with 25.3 GB of that stated to be usable as the remainder is taken up by the operating system and other essential software. It also comes with a microSD card slot that will take memory cards up to 512 GB in size. The tablet has front and rear facing cameras, both with a 2.0 megapixel (MP) resolution. The HD 10 Kids edition has an octo-core processor and 2 GB of RAM.

The HD 10 Kids Edition comes with Bluetooth and WiFi. It has a micro USB port, a 3.5 mm stereo headphone jack and stereo speakers. The tablet’s stated battery life is up to 12 hours but, of course, this will depend on what sort of use it is put to. The recommended minimum age to use the tablet is 3 years.

At 12 hours battery life, even if it is noticeably less than that due to heavy use, is at the definite top end for children’s tablets. The HD 10 will work away from a source of power than the majority of tablets. The screen resolution is at the upper end, but this is common with larger tablets, so it is at the top end of standard for a 10.1″ tablet. The front camera resolution is still about standard but the rear camera resolution is lagging behind. Many children’s tablets now have significantly higher rear camera resolutions; few, if any, have lower. The internal memory is very good – few children’s tablets have more – and the size of memory cards that the tablet will take is by far at the top end; it is unusual to see a child’s tablet that takes memory cards greater than 64 GB, never mind 512 GB. An octo-core processor is also at the top end; quad-core processors are still the most common.

Can Children Play Games on the Fire HD 10 Kids Edition?

The ability to play games on a tablet are rarely stated to be a primary reason for buying one, but they are often a secondary reason, especially as they can be a useful reward for achieving a goal. There are two primary sources of games for the HD 10. The first is through FreeTime Unlimited, the subscription service which, amongst its other content, comes with a selection of games. The next primary source is from the Amazon Appstore, and parents can add games to a children’s account by purchasing them from the Appstore. Both free and paid content is available. There are also various websites that may have games available on them, and parents can add these to sites that a child is allowed to visit.

Does the Fire HD 10 Kids Edition Have Parental Controls?

Parents want to keep their children safe online and this is where parental controls come in. The HD 10 has parental controls that are linked to Amazon FreeTime Unlimited. Through these, parents have a number of options as to what they can do. They can add screen time limits, controlling the amount of time children spend on a tablet, choose which apps and content they have access to, set educational goals that children need to achieve and filter web-based content by manually approving which sites a child is allowed to view.

What is the Two-Year “Worry-Free” Guarantee?

The tablet comes with what is described as a two year “worry-free” guarantee. Amazon state that the tablet is covered against defects in its manufacture for two years after purchase for normal use. If a problem arises during this period, Amazon will repair the tablet, replace it with either a new or refurbished device or issue a full refund.

What is Amazon FreeTime Unlimited?

The Fire HD 10 comes with a year’s subscription to Amazon FreeTime Unlimited. This subscription-based content service currently has over 20,000 pieces of content available. This content has been chosen to be suitable for children in the 3-12 years age group, and is hand-curated and age-appropriate. Parents can use the parental controls to add content to a child’s profile. The included content consists of books, Audible books, movies, television shows, games and other apps.

Does the Fire HD 10 Kids Edition Have Any Educational Uses?

Education is often stated as being a primary reason why a child is bought a tablet. The HD 10 isn’t a pure educational tablet but it still has plenty of educational capability. FreeTime Unlimited comes with material that can be used for education and a parent can set educational goals. In addition, there are numerous educational websites and apps available, some requiring payment but others being free.

Can Children Watch Streaming Film and Television Shows on the Fire HD 10 Kids Edition?

Streaming media is popular and the HD 10, with its larger screen, is more suited to watching such than smaller tablets. FreeTime Unlimited comes with TV shows and movies included in the content, but parents can also install apps such as Netflix and give their child access or add Amazon content to a child’s profile.

Summing Up the Fire HD 10 Kids Edition

At 10.1″, the Fire HD 10 Kids Edition is still large for a children’s tablet, though tablets of this size are becoming much more common. Larger tablets have the advantage of being better for watching streaming video on because of the bigger screen, but have the disadvantage of being larger and heavier for smaller hands to hold. The integral stand helps here when watching media, but is less useful for other activities. With 32 GB of internal memory, it is at the upper end for children’s tablets; 32 GB is still uncommon as 16 GB is still common and higher is very rare. The memory card size of 512 GB is extremely high as most children’s tablets have a much smaller capacity. The screen resolution is also good, even though larger tablets tend to have higher resolutions. What lets the tablet down technically is the resolution of the rear camera; at 2.0 MP this is at the bottom end for current children’s tablets.

The stated battery life is very good at 12 hours. Even though this does depend on usage, few children’s tablets will be found to equal this. Technically, this tablet is on the upper end for children’s tablets in most respects and the guarantee is also useful. The parental controls have decent features and the free content included in the year’s free subscription is good value, though the subscription will need reviewing when it expires.

Find out more about the Fire HD 10 Kids Edition.