Amazon Fire Max 11 tablet (newest model) vivid 11” display, all-in-one for streaming, reading, and gaming, 14-hour battery life, optional stylus and keyboard, 64 GB, Gray

Well, for $190-$230 this tablet might not be the best at one particular thing, but thanks to some common-sense decisions and Amazon's resources and commitment, it's competent enough at everything, all at once. Media consumption, retro games, word processing, digital art, battery life, you name it. For media consumers, it has an obscenely long battery life and a pretty nice screen. Contrast is surprisingly good for an IPS display (the black areas look black), colors are very poppy, and the 5:3 aspect ratio means you're not losing much space on either 16:9 or 4:3 content. For retro games, let's talk about the processor. It has a Mali G57 MC2, 2 Cortex A78 cores, and 6 Cortex A55 cores. Anyone who keeps up with Android hardware will know this is a bizarre setup. The Mali G57 MC2 and Cortex A55s are all modest, cheap, power-sipping technology. While the Cortex A78s are freakishly fast for this price point. But I'm certain Amazon did this on purpose, and it's responsible for the great battery life, which is essential for what is basically a media consumption tablet. The modest GPU and high number of "little" cores keep battery drain minimal (this is a 5w chip, in a tablet, where 7-10w chips are the norm) while 2 A78s give it some serious oomph for the right sorts of tasks. This accidentally makes this little tablet a retro gaming powerhouse, as that relies heavily on single-core performance, with the GPU and secondary cores being an afterthought. So, it's a tablet that just excels at anything where you'll be using the screen a lot. Reading, movies, old games, etc. It may struggle with native Android games due to the weaker GPU, but compared to retro games there aren't a lot of worthwhile Android games anyway IMO. The keyboard and stylus are also very well executed. I'm typing this review on the keyboard case, and the keys are a nice size thanks to the TKL form factor, with short travel and a nice tactile, springy feel. The trackpad is small, but accurate and doesn't "lose" my finger. The stylus itself uses a user-replaceable AAAA battery. I like this decision, because small Li-po batteries wear out fast, and the AAAA means that the stylus has a super long life without worrying about whether you'll be able to find a replacement in a few years. The stylus is also magnetic and clips to the side of the tablet. The stylus is pretty accurate. I don't notice much parallax or judder. My Galaxy Tab S8 actually had slightly more parallax. However, there is more input lag than you'll get with something like a Galaxy Tab S8 or iPad with Apple Pencil. It's a quite noticeable amount of input lag compared to those two. I will mention, this tablet is about 1/3 the price of those devices and actually has a longer battery life. So it's still better than you expect for the price. But will definitely be more of an "entry level" art tablet instead of something outstanding. All in all, I still think you're getting a lot more for your money with this tablet than the others available. Amazon's reach with e-readers, with keyboards, with stylus peripherals, with tablets, and their resources and supply chain (ie, being able to order unusual tablet SoCs) has definitely given the Kindle Fire 11 a wider spread of abilities and better quality than your ordinary budget tablet. I can't really name anything I'd expect to be better for the price. The only real flaw is software; since Google Play is not preloaded and Amazon is not putting a lot of effort into their own App store, be prepared to sideload some apps if you want to use the broader spectrum of abilities this tablet has.

I come from a 2021 10 plus for reference. This tablet has better graphics, brighter, sharper...hands down. It does everything the 10 plus did plus more and it is faster. The charging port is a PD C port. This means that I can plug in various flash or external drives (the fire has to format them and prepare them first to work with it so go in bare and let it do that). These drives can STILL be used with your regular computer too after that per usual. I made a flash drive of various things that I'd want during a power outage for that purpose as my fire is my go to device in that situation. The pen...oh my, the pen. I bought one when I got the Max 11. It is the best thing I've ever done and the reason I also bought an 11 and pen for my disabled son. Lets talk at some length about the pen being used with the tablet as that is a major upgrade. It writes better on this tablet than any stylus I've ever used on any device. The palm rejection is GREAT..it only very rarely makes a small mistake. I tried every major stylus apps on my 11 (after sideloading the play store of course- if that ability goes away I will quit buying these as the provided app store is meager and pathetic- sorry amazon, it's true. It's super easy to do, google it and there are simple instructions to install 4 programs with links where to get them- very simple). The two that came out on top is Inkredible and Squid. Inkredible lets you buy what you want and need without having to get the whole thing. Brownie points there. I want fun and rich backgrounds to write on mostly for household notes. I have small papers all over with various notes I've taken and this will solve that mess. I tried doing it with adding a picture and sizing it over the provided area. That worked only somewhat ok. When I'd touch the stylus to make a dot for like the top of an i, it would stop writing and you had to fuss with it to get it to write again (that is a thing with the program and not the stylus). I figured out how to fix it though. I made the background what I wanted IN inkredible then exported it out of inkredible to a file as a .pdf (I sent it to my main computer), then I put the file back on the 11 and imported that pdf back into the inkredible and it was now an embedded background and it was fine, great...no more problems. They have writing enhancement in the inkredible that makes your writing still yours but cleaned up a touch to look nicer and smoother. On Squid, they want a continuing payment to unlock things like importing. It works very well but they don't have the enhanced writing so how you write is what you get raw. I was going to pull the trigger until I figured out how to make inkredible work for the backgrounds, now I don't need to I don't think. Squid has pages for a large variety of uses and needs though- graphing, music and the like. If I end up needing something that inkredible doesn't provide me I'll do Squid for the cost. The only thing I WISH I had on the 11 is the ability to mark over pages in the web browser and other programs that are similar. My HP laptop has that and it is fun and amazing to be able to markup stuff on webpages and save it as a screenshot essentially to send where you will. Other than that the stylus functioning is nearly perfect. I am SO jazzed, this is what I've been waiting for a very long time. With the play store sideloaded this becomes a great tablet. I don't know how productive it is for business people but for the average user it is productive enough. This is my brain cell and my babysitter. I take it with me out and it keeps me entertained or working on stuff while I wait in waiting rooms. It keeps notes for me, now easier than ever as I don't have to hunt and peck on the keyboard popup, I just write it, and it looks good while doing it. It will now stand in for the tablet/s I keep on my desk for taking notes while on the phone AND I don't have to scramble looking for the recent notes when I have a need to refresh my memory as they will be saved right on my 11. My son needs to keep notes as well as a function of his disability. The thing is he is disorganized and never has ready paper and a writing instrument, but he lives life with a fire in his hand- literally he's almost never without it. I got him a case that holds the pen too and now at any moment he is ready to take a note and he's absolutely loving that. Our 2021's were working fine, but because of the stylus capabilities I decided to try the Max 11 and I am so glad that I did. For us it is a major jump in enjoyment and productivity and disability mitigation. I think it is well worth upgrading to.

UPDATE 4/2026: I use this tablet daily, using the magnets to stick it to the back of my stove. I use it almost exclusively for content viewing at this point, and using sideloaded google play store-this thing is still a media content beast. Great picture for 1080p, and I just can't gush enough about it!! Original Review: This is by far the best Fire Tablet since the HDX series, and my favorite. To put into context my love of the Fire Tablet, I’ve owned (or bought and returned) the following over the past 11 years: Fire 7 (2012/2014/2020), Fire HDX 7 (2014), Fire HD 8 (2018), Fire HD 8+ (2020/2022), Fire HD 10 (2018, 2019), Fire HD 10+ (2021), Fire Max 11 (2023). Of those, the ones I kept or kept the longest was the Fire HDX 7, the Fire 7 (2014), and the Fire HD 10 (2018). Specs for the Fire Max 11 can be found within the product description. Design and Build The Max 11 boasts a sleek and modern design, coupled with a build quality that feels robust and premium. Its lightweight aluminum structure makes it convenient for both work and leisure, allowing easy handling and portability. I like that it went back to a similar size/ratio of the 2018 HD 10. Performance Equipped with a more powerful processor than its predecessor, the Max 11 is capable of handling various tasks smoothly. Whether I am browsing the web, watching videos, or using multiple apps simultaneously, the experience is fluid and lag-free, especially compared to my HD 10. While not ‘blazingly fast’, it IS much faster than I expected. Out of curiousity, I wound up trying it with a bluetooth keyboard/mouse combo, and for the first time-I feel this is a possible viable laptop replacement for light to medium users. My HD 10 does not make a viable laptop replacement. Great multitasking ability, can run enough apps at once with little to no lag. The speakers are merely adequate, if not a tad disappointing. Thought normally I either use ear buds or a bluetooth speaker. I don't miss having a head phone jack, and love having the quite responsive finger print sensor on the power button. Display This has been probably my biggest surprise. The display is vibrant and crisp, offering excellent viewing angles. It renders colors accurately, making it a joy to use for both media consumption and reading. I do wish it was a TAD brighter at times, but the vibrancy of the colors makes up for it most of the time. I’d wondered how much of a viewing difference going from the 10 to the 11 would be, and it’s shockingly a pretty big difference. The Max 11 almost feels like a small tv, or laptop screen at times. Battery Life Battery life has been good. It’s not the best nor the worst, and should be more than adequate for most users. Since I have chargers adjacent to most places I use the tablet in my house, I’ve also not needed to run it low. Value One of the reasons I’ve had so many Fire tablets (I’ve owned only one other non Fire tablet, a 6th gen iPad mini that I use for my business) is that I love the value proposition and ease of use. Reviewers like to talk down the Fire software, but I have never minded it. I am admittedly deep into the Amazon ecosystem with movies, books, music, etc., so the operating system has always made it easy to access and use that stuff. I have also side loaded the Play store (I did this on my HD 10 also), so I have access to almost the entire Play store of apps on my Max 11. If one is really ambitious, you can essentially turn it into more an Android operating system. Personally, I have never like the tablet OS offered from iPad or Android tablets. When the Fire Max 11 was first announced, I was excited about the specs, but hesitant on the price. So I waited until Prime Day to buy it, also taking advantage of the trade in offer. In terms of what I paid ($229-$30 trade in gift card-$46 trade in 25% off-$80 prime day offer=$73.99), of course it’s an awesome value. At $229…I would suggest either going refurbished if available or just waiting it out for the inevitable discounts (at the time I write this, it’s on sale for $189.99). But I still think it’s a great tablet at $229, and wouldn’t fault anyone that pays that. Overall In conclusion, the Fire Max 11 strikes a balance between aesthetics and functionality, offering a modern solution that should meet the needs of most while offering value and longevity. It might be a worthy addition to your tech arsenal, promising reliability and efficiency in daily use. Rating: 4.5/5

First off I have two of these, one I set up for my sister and another I have for personal media consumption. I'll start with the cons: no fast charge and I believe this only supports up to 15w charging at max. Lowering the charge time down to about 3.5hrs instead of 4.2, and it ships with a 9w power brick so I recommend using something other than the included brick if you want to knock 30 minutes off charge times. They have a screen protector but they don't provide something like and anti-blue light tempered glass screen protector. The screen is low blue light which is a good thing, but I'm sure consumers would want to generally have the option to additionally add an anti-blue light screen protector anyway ..even better if it's tempered glass for the added protection while retaining visual clarity. There's not too many great cases and the first party one is really pricey. I wish they had also made their own tri-fold smart folio style case as one I got felt like it was designed well but the quality wasn't good. (If they do make a tri-fold case eventually, I hope they make it in more than just three colors and with a tpu backing) or sell the kickstand backing separately from the keyboard. Limited first party apps due to lack of the full android implementation, this also limits the whole productivity portion they're trying to sell to consumers, it does do a handful but don't go expecting this to compare to an ipad or Microsoft surface tablet ..or even a fully Integrated android tablet. For the processor this is pushing, it would've been nice to see this have at least 8gb of RAM, but generally this is competing with the likes of my old Google Pixel 3 XL rather than any full fledged tablets out there. Even then it's only slightly better. And last Amazon either needs to ditch FireOS or update it to a current version of Android, this is still an android tablet running an Amazon skin over it that's about 3 generations behind running android 11. Either Amazon should update it or make a hybrid Operating system that can do both desktop android and tablet, this way programs can be installed to utilize the productivity side of this machine. pros: great screen that runs 2k resolution, colors are nice and vivid with a natural color tone and decent blacks The pixel density at this size means the images are nice and sharp too being squeezed in a smaller form factor. it's not the highest rated HDR but it's far from the worst. The touch screen is pretty responsive with no lag, unless you're playing an extremely graphic heavy game the unit can't handle and you hit deep frame dips where it becomes slow. Speakers aren't too bad, they retain fullness at louder volumes and it does get a decent amount of volume, don't expect it to be loud enough to fill a room though, but the sound chip does it's job well and the Dolby surround is pretty good imo, sounds better through headphones either wireless or wired with a USB-C adapter. Expandable storage! such an ancient yet god tier part of the specs that every piece of tech these days has unfortunately phased out. This tablet supports up to 1TB with a microSD memory card, I hope any future versions keep this feature. I also hope other companies would also go back to using this method of expandable storage. Now as for things I'd like to see in the future if they either plan on updating this version or make future versions. If a revision was made, I'd like to see fast charging, at least 8Gb of RAM with a snapdragon 8 gen 3 mobile chip. I'd also like to see Amazon ditch FireOS and just use the proprietary Android OS or use a hybrid desktop/tablet format, they can just fill it with their bloatware. FireOS just looks really outdated and takes me back to when I had my old 2nd gen fire HD 7" (not a good look). Maybe it'd be nice if the keyboard had backlit keys. For the love of God add google play store (that alone would make any fire tablet sell like crazy, Amazon is really hurting themselves here and it's embarrassing, listen to the userbase and the money will flow). As for accessories, it'd be nice if Amazon made a tempered glass anti-blue light screen protector, the screen already has low blue light, but it'd be nice to also have that option on top of it. As for covers, why doesn't Amazon make a magnetic cover that rotates from portrait/landscape mode? make a trifold rotation case or a smart folio (preferably with a tpu backing) As for the current version, either do an OS overhaul through a firmware update, Get us past android 11 ..or just completely update the system to fully run android. You have no idea how much people would love to have a customizable home screen and widget with the android experience plus Google would regularly cover security updates for the device. Overall: This is a decent tablet, it's not slow but I wouldn't say it's immediately snappy either in some areas, it's best use case is media consumption and some light mobile gaming. The L1 wifi encoding is great for consistent video playback and I almost never get stream buffering which is nice. The app store is abysmal and the OS is outdated and lacking, I hope people who get this are tech savvy enough to find a way to get the full potential out of this. I opted out of an ipad mini 6, although it is more powerful it doesn't have upgradable storage and is about $250 more expensive, hopefully I don't end up with buyers remorse. I went with a 64GB ad free version and added a 512GB microSD (seems overkill but I play some pretty big mobile games that sometimes hit above 25GB with internal updates in total) Edit: my additional complain is read/write speeds with the microSD card. Naturally, native storage will run faster, so those that got the 128gb don't really have this problem until they run out of storage and have to pop in a card, but even with a A2 Level read/write speed apps saved to the microSD feel a little sluggish at times to open. Hopefully one day there's an update to properly support faster read/write speeds for microSD. For those that got the 64gb version like I did. Save your most used apps on the native storage and your less important ones to a microSD, that way your more used apps will load in faster. Thank you for your review. I'd also like to add that this tablet is pretty hefty, it's not really a pro or a con. The heft adds to a premium feel, holding it while reading will cause some fatigue after about 6 minutes. It's about as heavy as an 11 inch lenovo yoga laptop I own ..and that has a keyboard on it.

UPDATE: I've been using this Fire for about a year (got it on Prime Day 2023) and I still like it a lot. It is a bit heavy for relaxed reading, so I also got the Fire 10 HD (13th gen) this year, 2024 Prime Day. Indeed the 10 is significantly lighter even thought the size difference between the two is fairly small (same width but 11 is taller when in portrait, so it is wider screen in landscape). It is nice to have both. I will keep using the 11 with the keyboard it came bundled with and I will not get a keyboard for the 10. The keyboard is awesome and having the 11 be wider than the 10 allows the keyboard to be very comfortable. So if you touch-type, and want the attached keyboard, I recommend the 11 over the 10. I've used the keyboard extensively and it really is great (other than accidentally touching the touch pad occasionally, and unintentionally change my typing location). Also, I noticed that the 10 is annoyingly slower than the 11 when rendering all the icons on my home screen. Occasionally the icons disappear and you have to wait for them to reappear. It is only a couple of seconds but I don't recall ever seeing that on a "regular android" device, so it is a Fire OS issue that is more apparent with the slower 10. But the main reason I decided to write an update is the SD card issue that some other reviewers mentioned. I thought others had issues because they set up the card as "internal" which is essentially (but not quite) like having a bigger internal space for everything including apps. This is dangerous and there is a reason why you can no longer do this with newer versions of Android. So unless you have a zillion apps and really need bigger internal space because of your apps, you really should set up the card as Portable Memory instead (no apps on the card, only media and other files, etc.). Then you can decide what types of files to put there AND you can safely remove the card and access it on another device like your laptop (that's why it is called "portable"). You can choose to have the Kindle app, Prime Movies, etc download to the card. Most people need expanded memory for media, so this makes sense, and again it is safer. You also have good control over what gets stored on an SD card vs internal storage. But, setting up the card as Internal isn't the reason people had issues, because today for the first time I had the issue that others complained about, which is that my card supposedly unmounted and the Fire asked me to re-format. (This would be a bigger problem if I had set it up as "Internal" rather than "Portable"!!). I shut down the Fire, removed the card, and mounted it in Windows. Windows told me there was a problem with the card and I should scan and fix it. I did. Windows showed it as then fine, no further issues. And I had no trouble copying out all the folders from the card to Windows. Returning the card to the Fire still showed the screen for formatting the card, but I'm wondering if this is because the Fire tends to show screens that were on when you shut down. Or else the card was somehow marked as needing a format. The super weird thing, is, when I said to format as Portable Memory, it did so without removing anything. Doesn't formatting a card mean erasing it (or showing it as blank) so you start over with it fresh ?!?!? I was going to format it however Fire likes to format, and then return the original folders. But I did not need to copy back anything. It is working fine now. So apparently it would have re-formatted only if I had decided to swap from using it as "portable" to "internal." Probably every time you unmount ("eject") the card, you will get this message, and it won't really erase everything and reformat, unless you opt to change how you want to use the card. So all is okay with the card, but this situation should not have happened. It probably happened because some function was writing to the card and another function (an update??) dismounted it, thus interrupting the write. This is why Windows had to fix it. So, I think the card issue almost certainly has nothing to do with the particular card, so others' comments are correct about that. (I've been using a new high-quality Samsung Pro Plus card, overkill for a Fire tablet but it was on sale). When the card issue surfaced, I was trying to do some updates from the Appstore and it seemed frozen. (There is still a problem with the Appstore!). So the Fire was not in a good state. It may be a good idea to reboot it occasionally once in a while (I probably hadn't rebooted for about a month). I was also thinking maybe it was trying to update and that broke its normal functionality. Could be. My biggest suspicion. It is on Fire OS 8.3.2.4, from July 3, 2024. I checked for updates even though it showed as last checking today, and it said to tap to install an update, but when I did, everything froze. I eventually went back to the updater, and now it said I have 1 update (rather than a bunch of gibberish that suggested some pieces were still downloading, and with a broken button for installing, as initially happened). Now I was able to install the update, and when I re-checked for updates, it showed "no updates found," and the Check Now button reappeared as normal. So all seems fine. Other than the fact that my OS still shows as 8.3.2.4. And it still shows it as being from July 3 (today is Aug 7). And I did not get the usual message that my system has updated. It was a secret undocumented thing, or the old update re-installed (why??). Perhaps it was not a Fire OS update but an update of some other built-in component (like the Apstore, or some such thing). The Appstore still seems hung on the page where I update apps. The other parts of it work. It is an issue with the app, because F-Droid can install and update just fine. And my new Fire 10 also works fine, so it is not the server for the Appstore. I'm now thinking it got a corrupted (interrupted?) update and won't work until Amazon has a newer update that I can install on top of it. Amazon, if you are listening: please please be normal about updates. Let your users know there is an update and let them pick when to do the update. If control-freak Apple can do this, you can, too. I do not want to be using my device while it is trying to update (or shutting it down to remove a corrupted card...). That's just asking for trouble. I want to have it plugged in and keep my hands off it for a while. This is a problem with other Amazon devices as well. Okay, you're gonna force an update whether I like it or not, but please, if you don't want to cause a lot of grief, just let people have some control (and awareness!!!!!) when the device needs to be updated. My guess is that even when there is only a minor update (as seems to have been the case for me), the Kindle is not fully functional but pretends to be, and since it is not fully functional (it quits some processes), some unexpected quits will cause corruptions/crashes/SD card issues..... But otherwise it is a good device. Truly. I'm still happy to have it. I love the whale background :-) Initial Review: I got the productivity bundle and I am super pleased. I needed something to take notes with in classes, that also had a touch screen for drawing, and this is great for that. (Amazon Appstore has OneNote and Squid and both are great for notes with this.) In my experience it DOES matter which app you use with the pen because a paint app I tried worked but was slow (so I blame the app, since OneNote and Squid are fine). There is also a fairly new open source app called Saber that seems great (I still need to experiment with that one -- available on F-Droid). I'm thinking that some of the professional reviews (on other web sites) got an early or different version of the pen because the harsh criticisms of it do not match my experience. It works great. This is my 2nd Fire tablet, and I like it so much better than my first one, Fire 8 HD from 2017. I wasn't unhappy with the old tablet when I got it (because I got it on sale for a great price) but I just almost never used it because the screen was so unpleasant and stressful to look at, plus the device was annoyingly slow. Not so with this new tablet -- I am very pleased with the screen quality, and the speed is good for how I'm using it. The pen and keyboard are truly awesome. I wasn't sure at first whether I liked the aspect ratio/shape of the tablet but actually it makes sense. The longer shape allows for nearly full-sized key spacing on the keyboard while not causing the tablet to be unnecessarily large and heavy, as it would be with the iPad's aspect ratio. Someone said they prefer the snap-in clamshell keyboard that is available for the 10, but I much prefer this thin-and-light keyboard (didn't have the 10 but considered it and looked at pics of its keyboard). It is super easy and fast to pull off and snap on the keyboard and it does not need batteries. At home (where I have "real" laptops) I use the tablet mostly without the keyboard, and half of the keyboard case stays on it, protecting the back and the camera, and giving the tablet a nice non-slip feel, plus I can use the fold-out stand. I don't use it on my lap at school, and at home I use a lap desk so I don't mind that I can't put it directly in my lap while typing. Really, I have no complaints at all about this setup. Perfect. Well, maybe I can complain a little about Fire OS but it is mostly okay. I would hate it for a phone but it is fine for a tablet. And it is much improved over what I had on my old Fire, especially the settings (I like to have control and info). I put Google Play on my previous Fire but I'm not sure I will do so on this one. I mean I have an Android phone that has things I'd like from the Play store, like my calculator collection and bank apps and whatnot. I don't need to replicate that on this tablet. I've installed F-Droid so I can still easily put a bunch of nice apps on it. I have a Linux terminal app (Termux) and will probably install a small Linux distro with desktop which will further expand the usability. Plus I have a Microsoft 360 subscription from work and it is nice to have an app for that on this tablet too. It has the most critical work apps like Zoom and Teams and Office and Outlook. So it already has what I really need on a tablet. Oh, and Kindle, of course. I think in the past it was almost necessary to side-load Google Play but the Amazon Appstore now has my most critical apps, at least for a tablet. (Yea, it generally is not great and not well maintained, with tons of outdated apps.) Don't be mad at Amazon about Google Play Store, YouTube, etc. It is a Google policy. Google does not want others to take the open source piece of Android and build their own thing on top of it, with no control from Google. There are penalties for doing that. And Amazon couldn't sell its media to you directly on regular Android, so it kind of has to make a separate OS. This is your tradeoff for getting a subsidized tablet. I'm poor so I will accept the tradeoff, especially for a tablet as nice as this one. I paid to get rid of the ads, and I do that on every Kindle or Fire (I value discounts a lot, but aesthetics even more) and now this tablet is a pleasure to use. And soooo much less expensive than a similar setup would have been from Apple.

I bought the Amazon Fire Max 11 for my 14-year-old daughter, and she absolutely loves it. She mainly uses it for drawing digital art, playing games, watching videos, and browsing the internet. The screen is a great size, and the display looks bright and clear, which makes drawing and gaming even more enjoyable. She says it's fast, runs smoothly, and doesn't lag while switching between apps or playing games. It also has plenty of storage for everything she needs, so she hasn't had to worry about running out of space. The battery lasts a long time, and it's been a great value for the price. If you're looking for a tablet for a teenager that's reliable, fast, and perfect for both creativity and entertainment, I would definitely recommend the Amazon Fire Max 11!

Short and to the point Review: Great tablet for consuming media and playing games. Well built, fast and responsive. Recommend purchase. Bought 1st tablet in Oct 2023. Very satisfied. Long and Rambling Review: My wife had been using an older Fire Pad 7 that we bought as a test platform to see how well they worked back in 2019. For $30 at the time of purchase it was worth it. I did sideload the Google Playstore for some apps that Amazon didn’t have. As time went by, I decided to give my wife a new pad even though she didn’t want one. I reviewed Android pads from Lenovo and Dell. They cost much more than I wanted to pay and had less ability. Then I saw this new Fire Max 11 and was an early adopter. I paid $199 for preorder and went for max memory and no ads. Was a good choice. Ordered a good case for it at the same time. Blew my wife away when I gave it to her, and she started using it right away. Instead of the frustration of using the old, slow pad, she fell in love with it right away. It’s fast, high definition for consuming media, and has decent sound. Amazon clearly defined this device with a detailed description of everything it could do on the web page, unlike their competitors. Decided against sideloading the Playstore as all the apps are very responsive and nothing else is needed at this time. I like the fact that it’s registered right away, and you can deactivate it in case of theft remotely from your Amazon account. (I deactivated two old Firepads this way and was offered a $20 trade in for each). Which leads to my second purchase. My grandson had his iPad stolen a few months ago. Police and Apple could do nothing to locate it as he didn’t know he had to opt-in for this function to work. Pretty backwards Apple. As he was using the iPad for media consumption, I thought this was a good replacement. So, I bought a second Fire Max 11 for him with the max memory and no ads for the same $199 and same case. He is extremely happy to have it. Now the grandgirl dropped mom’s iPad in the bathtub so I expect there will be another purchase coming. Items that I am interested in, I put in my wishlist and monitor the prices until the right price comes along. Prices can change daily, so if you know what you want and are willing to wait, the savings can be substantial. The Fire Max 11 at the regular price is still the best deal out there. Retired Military Aerospace and Industrial Manufacturing Engineer

I've had the Fire Tablet Max for several months now. Initially, I really loved it. I wanted an ebook reader with a large enough screen to read my Kindle books, plus I wanted the functionality of having a Personal Assistant. Plus, I wanted something I could go online with. At first, the Fire Max 11 provided, well, 2.5 of the 3. As an ebook reader, it's great. With the larger screen, I can easily read books from my Kindle library, so I'm very happy with that. I can go online BUT the Fire Max 11, like all Amazon tablets, uses only Amazon Silk browser and only apps from the Amazon App Store. Many apps I would like to use are not available, like Dropbox, Adobe Acrobat (to read pdf's), Internet security, and many othes. And while it has Bluetooth, I've thus far not been able to pair my laptop with my Fire tablet. My computer will pair and connect but the Fire Max Tablet will NOT, even when the "numbers" match on my computer and tablet. So there's no way to share files except with the USB. I haven't tried that yet, so can't speak to whether it works or not. However, because most of the files I want to view on the Fire Max 11 tablet are pdf files, there's no way to read them without a PDF viewer. So, that's a downside, as well as the limited apps from the Amazon app store. Also, there's no way to add an antivirus or firewall or adblockers, either. So going online is extremely limited without the security one would like to have. Finally, Amazon Alexa. Initially, she was a godsend. I could be reading an article on the NY Times or Washington Post app (both of which are available in the app store), ask Alexa a definition of a word, and she would give it, all while my Fire Max 11 stayed on the article screen, which provided a streamless reading experience. Since I could choose to have Alexa respond even when the device is locked, I could wake up in the morning and ask her the time, the temp/weather, and she would respond immediately. I could set reminders and alarms and she would give me my reminders even when I wasn't using the Fire Max 11 tablet and the screen was locked. The same with alarms. So if you wanted to set an alarm for each morning, that worked quite well. The only issue I had was that for some unfathomable reason, Amazon designed the cover for the Fire Max 11 to actually cover the speakers, so that the sound is greatly reduced and sometimes hard to hear or even miss. The cover should open and close on opposite sides to work well with the speakers. However, since Alexa's latest update a few days ago, all that functionality is gone. Frankly, I'd fire the tech team that came up with this update. I've come to the conclusion that Amazon intends to phase out having Alexa function as a personal assistant on the Amazon Fire tablets, much as Microsoft Windows phased out Cortana from functioning as a personal assistant in Windows (a big mistake, imo). The first thing I noticed after the update is that when I spoke Alexa's name, a textbox, much like the one you'd see on your phone if sending a text or using Messenger to send a message, pops up. So, if I'm reading an article now on the Washington Post, NYTimes, etc., and ask Alexa for a word definition or who a person mentioned in the article is, the screen reverts to Alexa's text screen immediately. Their customer care team says that's so we can "see what we say and how Alexa responds" - which I think is idiotic. However, since the screen leaves the news app, in order to get back to the article I was reading, I have to close out Alexa's "new" text screen, go back to the home screen on the tablet, select the news app again, and go back to the article I was reading. WAY TOO MUCH hassle, does NOT make for a seamless reading experience, and frankly, it's just as fast to use an old-fashioned dictionary. So that functionality is lost. Perhaps more importantly, Alexa no longer works when the device is locked. I don't know about you, but I don't use my tablet 24/7. There are times during the day when the screen is inactive or when the cover is closed. Since I want to protect the screen on my tablet from spills, accidental falls or something falling on it, and prevent cracking or breaking, or getting liquid from say, coffee or water on it, I close it when not in use. Closing it automatically locks the device. Not sure if it used to in the beginning, because Alexa would still work back then, even with the cover closed, but it does now. Also, the device automatically locks after a period of time - which I can set at certain increments between 5 min and 30 minutes. There is no option not to lock the device at all after a period of inactivity. And why would I not want to have that security? First of all, to keep the Fire Tablet Max always active, would take up alot of battery power. That means I'd have to keep it plugged in all the time or be constantly recharging it, which wears down the battery. And the purpose of a tablet is to have a mobile device, so keeping it plugged it makes it more difficult to use, especially because the charging cord is less than 3 ft long. I'd say more like 24 -28 inches. So, that's not really feasible. And again, probably not good for the battery. However, since Alexa no longer responds from the lockscreen, it's not just that she doesn't respond to questions, but the reminders and alarms no longer work now, either, unless the device is active and I'm using it. That rather defeats the purpose, since if I set an alarm to wake me up, I'm sleeping and so not using my Amazon Fire Max 11 tablet - meaning it's locked and the alarm won't work. If I set a reminder for a birthday, to take out the garbage, a doctor's appt or whatever, I will no longer get that reminder unless I am actively using the tablet. That, too, defeats the purpose of a reminder, because I have to remind myself with some other device, to make sure I'm using the Fire Max 11 tablet at the time the reminder (or alarm) is scheduled, so I can get it. And if I have to set a clock alarm and paste a sticky note on it why I set it, like so that I can unlock my tablet so Alexa can remind me to take a pill or that it's someone's birthday, etc., then I already have the reminder on a sticky note and an alarm clock that goes off so that I'll read the sticky note. No need for Alexa. But also, no functional Personal Assistant, either. So, again, Alexa on the Fire Tablet Max 11, and I'm guessing all tablets, has been essentially neutered in her functionality as a Personal Assistant. So I'm guessing, although customer care denies it, that she's being phased out on the tablets, which I can't understand. Frankly, this update looks more like it should have been only for a phone, and not for a tablet. When I go to the help section now, for example, it gives specific instructions for help with Alexa on mobile phones or on Echo devices, BUT NOT TABLETS. It's as though the update was meant for a different device, but all devices got it. And there's no way to undo it. Here's some of the literally stupid responses I've gotten from customer care: 1. To not see the text box pop up when I say the "woke word", aka "Alexa", they've told me to disable hands-free Alexa. Well, that means the only way I can use Alexa to ask a question, give a command, etc....wait for it....IS TO USE THE TEXT BOX AND MESSAGE HER. So how does that "solution" even made a modicum of sense? IT DOESN'T. If I don't want to see the text box or use the text box, why would I make it so that's ALL I see and can use? Not sure who thought that one up, but it's literally laughable it's so idiotic. A second solution I've been told is to do a factory reset and then Alexa will be in it's original state - maybe. I shouldn't have to tell an Amazon tech specialist why that solution won't work, but I bet most of the people reading this can guess. Yep, once you do a factory reset, you not only wipe out all your data and have to setup the device all over again, BUT all those apps that are installed, including Alexa, will begin to update. (Alexa comes embedded in the Amazon Fire Max 11 software, so it updates automatically.) In a matter of hours, or even days, you'll have to do the reset all over again. Great way to literally ruin your tablet. Or maybe Amazon's plan to have you keep replacing them? Fool me once and all that. There'd be no second purchase. Oh, and as I mentioned, Amazon Alexa is embedded in the Amazon Fire Max 11 tablet software, much like Cortana used to be embedded in Windows (and is now embedded in Microsoft Office 365 and only works with office applications). There's no way to uninstall her and reinstall her. Or even just uninstall her. I suppose I could just disable her, I'm not sure. But again, she can't function as a Personal Assistant if she's disabled. Oh, and here's the final bright solution one tech gave me: "Tell Alexa to exit Show Mode". I tried several times to tell her that my tablet isn't IN show mode, so how can Alexa exit from something that isn't enabled? She kept insisting, though, so I unlocked my device and told Alexa to "Exit Show Mode." Alexa's response: "Sorry, I can't help with that." The agent asked me to do it again (rotflmao). So I did. "Alexa, exit Show Mode". Alexa: "Sorry, I can't help with that." Alexa is officially dead as a Personal Assistant on the Amazon Fire Max 11 tablet. I'm guessing this is true of all the tablets, but I can't speak to that. I just know that functionality is gone on my Fire Max 11 tablet. I've called and complained and told them all of what I've said here, but to no avail. There's no way for me to "roll back" the update to the previous version. Again, my guess is that this update was more intended for Alexa apps on mobile PHONES, but so far I've not gotten an answer on that. But just looking at the "new" Help section, all the solutions or issues listed now are specifically for mobile phones, whereas previously that was not the case. So, while I would have initially given the Fire Max 11 tablet 4 stars, without Alexa, I'm downgrading it to 1 star. In my opinion, buy a real tablet if you want a Personal Assistant. Just don't buy one that has Alexa. Buy one with either Siri or Google Assistant. While one customer service agent tried to tell me they're no good, I know people who have ipads and other Android tablets who use the Personal Assistant all the time, with no problem. Why Amazon would remove itself from this market, i.e., having a tablet with a functioning Personal Assistant, is beyond my comprehension, but that is what they did. So therefore, no longer worth the money. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Apps that are suspicious and full of ads abound in the Amazon App store, but functional apps like antivirus and security software are nowhere to be found. You can't even find a Starbucks app! So as a tablet, I could not recommend this. Whatever potential or functionality this glorified Kindle reader had is now just that - a Kindle ebook reader. Shame on Amazon. This tablet had real potential to compete with some of the other tablets on the market, but instead, Amazon shows its short-sightedness by taking away even the limited functionality it had in this last update. And don't even get me going on its "customer care". Clearly, that has been outsourced to a planet or country where solutions are not part of the package and representatives barely speaking intelligible English read from lame scripts that are laughable, as in the examples I have already given. After using this tablet for several months now, I've had to downgrade my review down to a 1 star. All that's left on it, really, is the Kindle app. It's great for reading books, but that's all. Of course, Amazon could, in their infinite lack of imagination and competence, decide to take that away, too, at some point. As a Kindle ereader, I could offer some suggestions here, too. All in all, this device does not qualify as a true tablet. The name is misleading and Amazon should really downgrade the description, to be fair to consumers.