Amazon's larger Kids Edition Fire Tablet is worth the extra money

Go big

Fire HD 10 Kids Edition

$200 at Amazon

Pros

• Long battery life
• 2GB of RAM
• USB-C for charging
• Great sounding dual speakers

Cons

• Can be a bit large for some children
• On the expensive side

Amazon's 10-inch kids tablet offers a great experience for youngsters of all ages. The large HD display and its dual-speakers make watching movies or playing games a joy. Pair that with up to 12 hours of battery life, and your kids will get plenty of playtime from their tablet before having to plug it in.

For younger kids

Fire 7 Kids Edition

$100 at Amazon

Pros

• Easy-to-hold size
• Lower cost of entry

Cons

• Display isn't great
• Single speaker
• Only 1GB of RAM
• Less than stellar battery life

The Amazon 7 Kids Edition is a solid tablet for young children. The compact size might be easier for some children to handle, while the lower cost of entry makes it a little easier to stomach should something happen to the tablet. However, the lower resolution screen, only up to 7 hours of battery life, and the single speaker may make long term use less than enjoyable.

Amazon's Fire tablet line-up is popular for a variety of reasons, one of those being they have kids specific options for their low-cost tablets. The Amazon Fire Kids Edition tablets offer great performance, Amazon support, and an ecosystem full of entertainment and parental safety features that aren't found on other products even close to this price range. Thankfully, whether you get the top-of-the-line or the entry-level model, you'll get a wonderful kids tablet — but what makes one the better choice?

Here are the details

The Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Edition is the best tablet in the line-up from the company. It's packed with great hardware, from the screen and processor to the speakers and battery life — and it's reflected in the price. Meanwhile, the Fire 7 Kids Edition toes in at a much more palatable cost, and as such, has hardware more in line with that price. Even though the hardware isn't to the same level as its larger sibling, both the 7 and 10-inch models come with the same great software and kid-friendly features.

	Fire HD 10 Kids Edition	Fire 7 Kids Edition
Weight	24.7 oz	16.1 oz
Display	10.1" 1080p full HD	7"
Dimensions	11.5" x 8.1" x 1.0"	8.7" x 6.3" x 1.0"
Storage	32GB	16GB
Expandable Storage	Up to 512GB	Up to 512GB
Screen Resolution	1920 x 1200 (224 ppi)	1024x600 (171 ppi)
Battery life	Up to 12 hours of multimedia	Up to 7 hours of multimedia
Camera	2MP front and rear-facing cameras with 720p video recording	2MP front and rear-facing cameras with 720p video recording
Alexa enabled	Off by default	Off by default
Colors	Pink, Blue, Purple	Pink, Blue, Purple
Audio	Dual speakers with Dolby Atmos	Mono speaker
Case	Kid-safe case included	Kid-safe case included
Parental Controls	Yes	Yes
FreeTime Unlimited	One year included	One year included
Ports	USB C, 3.5mm headphone jack	Micro-USB
Warranty	2-year	2-year

While there are a few common traits these devices share, the differences are important. Both of the tablets will do a fine job of entertaining your child, but the larger option offers improved hardware that can make quite a difference in the overall experience.

Take, for example, the screen. While the size is obviously larger, it also offers better resolution at full 1080p. This can make not only the movies and shows your child loves to watch more enjoyable, but it also will make reading text less straining. Depending on the age of your child, they may already be reading or just starting to learn, the clearer text will make it that much better for their eyes. The Fire HD 10 Kids Edition also has dual speakers with Dolby Atmos, which is great for watching movies.

My 7-year old knows what sort of user experience to expect from his technology, and his two-year-old Fire HD 8 Kids Edition doesn't cut it for him anymore.

Some less upfront hardware differences that can make using the tablet a smoother experience are the increased RAM, faster processor, and larger internal storage on the Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Edition. When I gave my son his Fire HD 8 Kids Edition two years ago with its 1.5GB RAM, he was only five years old, and he didn't know what sort of user experience to expect. Now that he's seven years old and has used other more capable devices, I'll hear groans coming from the other room that the tablet doesn't respond to his commands as quickly as he wants.

However, these differences do not mean that the Fire 7 Kids Edition is not a good choice for your child. This tablet is still capable of being a solid form of safe entertainment and learning device for them. Possibly one of the biggest benefits that a smaller tablet may have is that it is lighter and easier to hold in smaller hands.

Both tablets offer the full suite of Amazon's parental controls along with the one year of Amazon FreeTime Unlimited. You can filter the content your child has access to based on their age. With over 20,000 books, movies, TV shows, apps, and games, there's sure to be something great for your child.

Each tablet also gets two years of "worry-free" guarantee, meaning if it breaks, Amazon will replace it for free. The included kids case offers great protection, as well as a fold-out kickstand to prop up the device.

But which one should you buy?

Your child is likely to be happy with either option. If they are like mine, he was just excited to have a gadget he got to call his own. However, even though the cost is a fair bit higher, the Fire HD 10 Kids Edition will last your child longer. This isn't just because the battery is rated for 12 hours rather than the 7 hours of the smaller tablet, but also because the internal hardware is more futureproof.

Having upgraded hardware means that it will do a better job "growing" with your child. As your child ages and their demands for education, as well as entertainment, matures, the Fire HD 10 Kids Edition will do a better job of handling it. Not to mention, the frustrations of it not being as fast as your child wants it to be will be lessened — that is a win for the parent and child. However, if the price is paramount to you and the smaller size would benefit your child more — perhaps the 7-inch option is the way to go.

See it all

Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Edition

In full high-definition

$200 at Amazon

From the wonderful display and dual front-facing Dolby Atmos speakers to the two-year warranty and year of included FreeTime Unlimited, the Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Edition is the tablet for kids with grown-up capabilities.

Great start

Amazon Fire 7 Kids Edition

For young kids

$100 at Amazon

With its comfortable size and good entry-level pricing paired with top-notch kid-friendly services from Amazon, the Fire 7 Kids Edition is a great way to bring safe technology to your young child. Not only can you feel safe with letting them explore on the tablet, but they'll also have lots of fun.