After a long day of pushing data through the network, I was running on fumes heading home to South San Jose. Then I remembered: Amazon had sent a shipping notification that morning. My Kindle Fire was supposed to arrive today. That thought alone was enough to get me through the door.
I will be honest. I may have done a cursory scan of every room before properly greeting my family. In my defense, the hugs happened. Then I sent the kids on their way and got back to the search.
The package had not arrived yet. I checked the front door approximately 37 times over the course of dinner and dishes before finally finding it waiting on the step. I tore into it with the enthusiasm of someone who had been waiting far too long.
What I found inside was impressive right out of the gate. The packaging was thoughtfully designed, clearly taking some inspiration from Apple's unboxing experience, and it was made entirely from biodegradable, recyclable materials. A nice touch. Inside: the Fire itself, an AC adapter with micro USB, and a quick start card that I immediately set aside.
The device is jet black front and back, and the display is genuinely excellent. Crisp colors, smooth response to touch and swipe, fast and accurate. First order of business was connecting to my wireless network and downloading a pending update. The download ran slowly, which made sense given that a lot of Fires were probably being activated that same night. The device recognized the slow progress and offered me the option to continue or defer. I pushed through.
After the reboot, the Fire came back up already registered to my Amazon account. No setup required. My full library was waiting in the cloud, and I downloaded several books I was actively reading. I tend to read multiple books at the same time, rotating between them the way some people flip channels.
The app store is where my enthusiasm cooled a bit. Coming from the Apple App Store, the Amazon Appstore felt harder to navigate and noticeably thinner in selection. Several apps I searched for simply were not available. At $200, the Fire is going to reach a lot of hands quickly, and Amazon and Google need to treat the app ecosystem accordingly. The hardware deserves better support.
As a reading device, it performs beautifully. Multiple font sizes, font styles, and three different color schemes for the page make it easy to customize for comfort. The screen is responsive and clear indoors. My one concern is outdoor readability. I have a Kindle 3, the full-size model with the gray keyboard, and that device handles bright sunlight well. I am not confident the Fire will hold up at the beach next summer, so the Kindle 3 is staying around as a backup.
I also set up email on the device. Not because I needed another screen with my inbox on it, but because I apparently cannot help myself.
At $200, this is going to be one of the more compelling Android devices on the market this holiday season. If Apple had released something comparable in price and size, I would have gone that direction without hesitation, mostly because I already use the Kindle app on iOS and an iPad mini would have fit my needs just as well.
I will follow up with a longer review after a few more days of use. So far, a strong first impression.
