Tale of the tape: 7-inch Kindle Fire HD vs. Nexus 7

By Salvador Rodriguez

Sept. 10, 2012 12 AM PT

Amazon revamped its 7-inch tablet offering last week with the new Kindle Fire HD.

The 7-inch Kindle Fire HD is the successor to the tablet the online retailer released last year and the answer to Google’s Nexus 7 tablet that was introduced this summer.

Apple may introduced its own mini tablet later this year, but for now, the top two lower-end tablets may be the Nexus 7 and the 7-inch Kindle Fire HD.

Here’s how they compare.

Operating system

Both tablets run on Android, but they are vastly different.

The Kindle Fire HD runs on Amazon’s highly modified version of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, which is the second-most-recent version of the Google operating system.

The Nexus 7, on the other hand, runs on the newer Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, which is supposed to use Google’s Project Butter to run quicker and smoother than its predecessor.

Weight

The Nexus 7 is the lighter of the two tablets at just 340 grams, beating the Kindle Fire HD, which weighs 395 grams.

Thickness

The Kindle Fire HD is the thinner of the two tablets but not by much. The Amazon device is 10.3 mm thick, while the Nexus 7 is 10.45 mm thick.

Audio

One of the key features of the Kindle Fire HD is its Dolby Digital Plus dual speakers. Though we haven’t compared the two in person, Amazon wins this round because the Nexus 7 has just a single speaker located on its back.

Wi-Fi

Unlike the Kindle Fire HD, the Nexus 7 has just one antenna to pick up Wi-Fi signals. Amazon claims the Kindle Fire HD’s dual antennas give it faster download and streaming speeds than its competitors.

Display
This category appears to be a draw. Both devices feature 7-inch 1,280-by-800 pixel HD displays.

Battery

When it comes to battery performance, there is a clear victor. The Kindle Fire HD’s battery gets 11 hours of continuous use while the Nexus 7 only delivers eight hours.

Chips

The Kindle Fire HD runs on a 1.2Ghz dual-core OMAP 4460 Texas Instruments processor while the Nexus 7 uses a quad-core Tegra 3 processor.

Cameras

When it comes to cameras, both devices feature a front-facing camera. Google says the Nexus 7 has a 1.2-megapixel camera while Amazon has yet to disclose the specs of its device’s camera.

Other

Some people may not be happy to hear that Amazon displays special-offer advertisements on its Kindle Fire HD devices when they’re in locked mode.

Also, users receive a couple of magazines, books, the movie “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” and a $25 credit for the Google Play store with the purchase of a Nexus 7.

Variations and price

The biggest victory for Amazon comes with storage and price. For the same price, you get twice as much space from the Kindle Fire HD than the Nexus 7.

7-inch Kindle Fire HD: