Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
TheAmazon Fire Max 11was one of my favorite Android tab released in late memory . It ’s well - price , portable , and has a good choice of accouterment . With a minute of patience , you could add Google Play to make it more usable .
A fair clock time has passed since I used it , though , so does it still hold up a twelvemonth after I first fell in making love ?
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
One issue straight away
Going back into using the Fire Max 11 , I immediately noticed one thing that made the lozenge attend and experience much older than it did even a year ago . The screen has a 60Hz refresh pace , and all but the very cheap Android smartphones come with a higher refresh charge per unit screen in 2024 , whether it ’s 90Hz , 120Hz , or even 144Hz . As such , going back to 60Hz is like step far back in time . It ’s so obtrusive when using Chrome or Amazon ’s included Silk browser app , as text film over out when you scroll up and down the screen . I accept if you ’re number from a 60Hz screen you wo n’t detect any difference , but once you ’ve seen and used a higher refresh pace screen for just a unretentive while , it ’s very hard to go back .
Higher refresh rate are more well-situated to look at for any length of clock time , and in mid-2024 , I ’d consider it a must - have feature , make it a negative home run against the Fire Max 11 . I did take issue with the former - style three - button Android control system that recognize me again when I returned to the Fire Max 11 , as it took the old - timey feel collapse by the 60Hz refresh pace to the next level . To be exculpated , I do n’t have a problem with the three keys : back , home , and late apps , they ’re just not as natural to use as gestures on a big , innovative tablet .
The bully tidings is after give various software updates I was inform by a pop - up that Android gesture control make it , efficaciously removing one of the biggest downsides of the Fire Max 11 ’s custom translation of Android . There ’s nothing Amazon can do about the 60Hz refresh rate CRT screen though , and it is now the independent aspect that ages the Fire Max 11 .
How is the keyboard?
Putting aside the quirks of the Fire Max 11 ’s screen and software , the well - fitted keyboard is a huge welfare , and it can turn the humble , media - driven Fire Max 11 into a basic study tablet . I ’m typewrite on it the right way now , and it ’s a pleasurable , amazingly gamy - tone experience . The Florida key have just the right amount of change of location , and I can type quick flat aside after coming from myApple MacBook Air’schiclet keyboard . Any quibble I have with it have to do with my own layout preferences , such as the very clicky touchpad , which also is n’t very exact , and the small Enter key .
However , it ’s not idealistic for lap utilization . While the keyboard has a solid fundament , it ’s magnetically confiscate to the base of operations of the Fire Max 11 , which then shore up itself up with a foldout stand . Itjust aboutworks on your lap , but it wobbles about quite a bit , and you take to continue in one position for it to work as a mini - laptop . Without the keyboard attached , the magnetic rear panel and its point of view keep the tablet in an good position to watch video recording , whether on your circle or on a desk .
Typing on the Fire Max 11 ’s keyboard when it ’s on a desk or table is a far more comfortable and more stable experience . I ’ve also found the Wi - Fi connectivity to be strong even at a considerable length from my router , and the processor has more than enough power for routine tasks and piece of work . It ’s best used at a desk , but the Fire Max 11 ’s power to become a simple employment companion has not fall since last twelvemonth .
The Fire Max 11’s big caveat
The 60Hz filmdom and the slightly wonky keyboard do n’t really detract from the Fire Max 11 ’s value . At the time of penning , it ’s $ 330 ( with Amazon ’s advertising ) for the tablet , keyboard , and stylus from Amazon , which is an splendid price for a do - it - all Android tablet companion . It ’s designed for see Amazon ’s video , read Kindle books , and shop at in the storage , and it ’s very proficient at it all . It ’ll diddle ordinary game without a problem , too . It ’s noiPad Pro M4 , but it ’s not supposed to be . It ’s a tinny pad of paper , and it’sa good one .
That is , provided you may put up with Amazon ’s interlingual rendition of Android that ’s put in and the Amazon App Store . The software is quondam and rather untempting , and the store is sparsely populated . There are advertizing throughout , and the Silk web browser is n’t a patch on Chrome or any other forward-looking web web browser . It also looks and feel the same as it did this time last year , which is n’t ripe at all . To get the best from the Fire Max 11 you must install Google Play . Luckily , it ’s pretty quick and easygoing , and it has allow for me to exploit this groovy little pad of paper to its fullest potential .
Without this , I would n’t find the Fire Max 11 as utilitarian . It would still do most of its other duty quite well and is obviously excellent for Amazon ’s divine service , but work is a pain without Google ’s apps and the Play Store . This away , it ’s rare I can return to a gimmick that ’s a year old and not come up with multiple alternatives that would be a better purchase , but the Fire Max 11 still lives alongside theApple iPad ( 10th Gen)as an well-to-do passport for most people wanting a reasonably price , universal - utilisation pad .
