Technologies
Fire Max 11 Review: Amazon Ups Its Tablet Game
The Fire Max 11 is Amazon’s first tablet to have a more premium look and feel and a stronger productivity angle. But how good a value is it?

Like
- Affordable tablet with more premium design
- Relatively zippy operation with new, faster processor
- Optional detachable keyboard makes it a cheap laptop
- 1080p front- and rear-facing cameras
- New fingerprint sensor and expansion slot for additional memory
Don’t like
- Amazon App Store is missing some apps you might want
- iPad only costs $40 more
I’ve been reviewing Amazon Fire tablets for many years, and probably the best thing you could say about them was that they tended to be very good values for Amazon Prime users and parents who could pawn them off as «good enough» iPads to their young children for a fraction of the cost of an actual Apple iPad.
The new Fire Max 11, which starts at $230 with 64GB of storage and lock-screen ads enabled, is also a value play for Amazon. But it’s Amazon’s first tablet to have a more premium bent with an aluminum chassis (instead of plastic) and a stronger productivity angle that includes better front- and rear-facing cameras than previous Fire tablet models and a faster MediaTek processor that serves up a zippier experience. No, it doesn’t quite measure up to the most affordable iPad, but it’s a worthy alternative, especially if you opt for the Fire Max 11 «productivity bundle» with the bundled keyboard case and powered stylus for $330 — the same MSRP of the entry-level (ninth-gen) iPad, sans accessories.

Amazon’s Fire Max 11 tablet has an 11-inch screen, faster processor, better cameras and supports a stylus.
The display is naturally the first thing you see when you look at a tablet, and the Fire Max 11’s is pretty good. The Max sports an 11-inch screen with a 2,000×1,200-pixel resolution with a pixel density of 213 pixels per inch, while the ninth-gen iPad has a 10.2-inch, 2,160×1,620-resolution display with a 264 ppi. Even without knowing that, though, you can see the Max’s screen is not quite as sharp as the iPad’s screen — pixel density is the key feature here, since the iPad and Fire Max 11 have different aspect ratios.
Still, I found it amply crisp and bright, and you can turn on adaptive brightness to have the screen automatically optimize the brightness to your environment’s lighting conditions to help save battery life. Video from a variety streaming service looked sharp — it’s 1080p HD video — with decent color accuracy.
The keyboard and stylus productivity bundle costs an extra $100 but is arguably worth it.
Good performance for the price
In all, I was generally impressed with the build quality and performance of the Fire Max 11. Think of it as Amazon’s Fire tablet version of its premium Kindle ebook readers that rarely get discounted — the Kindle Oasis and the more recent Kindle Scribe. Those models also have metal bodies and the Fire Max 11’s aluminum back and slim bezels definitely give it a higher-end look (you won’t mistake it for a budget product). It weighs in at 17.3 ounces (490 grams), or only slightly more than the $150 Fire HD 10 (16.4 ounces, 465 grams), which actually isn’t much smaller because it has larger bezels around its 10-inch screen.
As I said, the performance doesn’t match up with the ninth-gen iPad, which has higher Geekbench 6 scores, but it certainly feels zippier than previous Fire tablets. Powered by a MediaTek MT8188J 2.2GHz octa-core processor with 4GB of RAM, it supports faster Wi-Fi 6 wireless connectivity and has a fingerprint sensor (a first on an Amazon tablet) along with a microSD expansion slot to add up to 1TB of additional storage.
Using Geekbench 6 for Android, the results I got for the Max 11 were 933 for single-core and 2,280 for multicore, which appears to be a big bump in performance from the Fire HD 10. I benchmarked the Fire HD 10 at 322 for single-core and 951 for multi, which would mean that Amazon is underselling the supposed 50% improvement of the Max 11. While the latest version of the Fire HD 10 model was released in 2021, it remains a very good tablet value, particularly when it goes on sale for around $100. (Its screen is technically a touch sharper than the Max 11’s with 224 ppi, but the two displays are very similar.)
Higher-end Android tablets like Google’s new Pixel Tablet and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S8 have double the RAM (8GB vs. 4GB) and more powerful processors along with even crisper displays. (More RAM prevents your tablet from getting bogged down when using multiple apps at the same time and makes the tablet perform better overall.) But those tablets cost more than twice as much. The $500 Pixel Tablet has a 10.9-inch screen with 2,560×1,600 resolution and 276 ppi. It runs Google’s Pixel-flavored version of Android 13 while the Fire Max 11 runs Amazon Fire OS 8, which is basically an offshoot of Android 11.

Side view of the Max 11 and its USB-C charging port.
No Google Play Store remains an issue — but it can be circumvented
That Fire OS is the big caveat whenever you’re buying an Amazon tablet. Like other Fire tablets, you don’t get the Google Play Store (and are limited to Amazon’s app store) out of the box, though many people sideload the Play Store on their Fire devices. It’s not dead simple, but it’s not hard either, and I was able to add it in about 15 minutes by following step-by-step instructions easily found online.
Some people may feel comfortable living in Amazon’s walled garden. However, with a tablet like this that’s designed to be a more robust productivity tool and not just a gateway to the company’s entertainment content and a dashboard for controlling your Alexa-enabled smart home devices (you can put it into Show Mode to turn it into an Echo Show-like smart display minus the integrated, much fuller sounding speaker), if you don’t sideload the Play Store, you’ll miss out on a broader array of apps that help this tablet reach its full potential.
Amazon’s app store has many of the apps you’ll want and need, but far from all of them. Zoom and Microsoft Teams video-conferencing apps are available, as is Microsoft’s OneNote app (I used it for testing the stylus). Additionally, Amazon throws in a three-month free trial to Microsoft Office 365. However, if you’re looking for a Google Drive app in Amazon’s app store, what you get instead is an app that’s a bookmark to drive.google.com. There are also no Vudu or YouTube apps. And if your headphones have a companion Android app (Sony, Beats, Bose, etc.), it likely won’t be available in Amazon’s app store.
This seems a good spot to mention that the tablet has no headphone jack — you can connect headphones wirelessly via Bluetooth (it’s Bluetooth 5.3) or wired via the USB-C port. And I should also note that the tablet’s internal speakers are pretty decent. They don’t produce much in the way of bass, but I watched Creed 3 and a few other movies and they produced a reasonably wide soundstage with ample volume (the midrange is particularly strong with dialog coming through loud and clear). The left and right stereo speakers can be found on either side of the top tablet when it’s in landscape mode, the same placement as the speakers on the Fire HD 10.
Amazon sent me a Luna game controller and a limited comp subscription to use with the tablet so I could try out its Luna cloud gaming service. The game selection is fairly limited, but the games I tried, including a few from my Ubisoft account (you can link your Ubisoft account to Luna), ran smoothly on my Wi-Fi 6 home network with relatively few glitches. I also ran Xbox Cloud gaming through Amazon’s Silk web browser and games ran smoothly, but I had trouble with the sound at one point and the Luna game controller would only work when I plugged it into the USB-C port rather than use it wirelessly. (Note: I spent a limited amount of time gaming on the Max 11 and still need to spend a bit more time before delivering a final verdict on the tablet’s gaming capabilities.)
Improved cameras
Amazon reps told me the company noticed a shift in how people were using their Fire tablets during the pandemic that has continued as people still work from home at least part of the week. More people were using them as productivity devices rather than just as entertainment devices. That included using them for Zoom and Microsoft Teams video conference calls, even if the cameras weren’t that great from a resolution standpoint.
With that in mind, beyond the design upgrade and faster processor, the biggest changes to the Max 11 from previous Fire tablets are its front- and rear-facing cameras. The step-down Fire HD 10 is equipped with 2-megapixel front-facing and 5-megapixel rear-facing cameras with 720p HD video recording. By contrast, the Fire Max 11 has 8-megapixel front- and rear-facing cameras with 1080p HD video recording. When I was on Zoom calls, I was told that I appeared to indeed be broadcasting in 1080p and screen grabs showed that I looked pretty sharp, particularly with better lighting.

The tablet’s front- and rear-facing cameras feature 1080p resolution.
A case for the keyboard and stylus bundle
You can get a keyboard case for the Fire HD 10, but the Fire Max 11’s design includes a set of pogo pins to attach Amazon’s new Keyboard Case ($90) to the tablet magnetically. The new Amazon Stylus Pen ($35) also adheres magnetically to the side of the tablet. As noted earlier, you can buy the Fire Max 11 in a bundle with the Keyboard Case and Stylus Pen for $330 or $25 less than what the items would cost if purchased separately.
The Keyboard Case may not be quite as good as some of Logitech’s keyboard cases for the iPad, but it’s slim, comfortable to use (the keys are pretty tactile) and also has an integrated touchpad for mouse support. Since it’s so slim, it’s easy enough to bend a bit, so it’s more suitable to use while sitting on a desk or hard surface than in your lap.
Meanwhile, the Stylus Pen is powered by a replaceable AAAA battery that Amazon says lasts up to six months with moderate use. As for the tablet’s battery life, it’s rated to get up to 14 hours of reading, browsing the web, watching videos and listening to music on a single charge. It charges via its USB-C port but does not have a wireless charging option like the HD 8 Plus or HD 10 Plus. It’s worth noting that the Max 11 only comes with a 9-watt USB-C charger, which does the job but does it quite slowly (if use it, you’ll probably want to charge overnight). I ended up using a 65-watt charger that I use to charge my laptop and that helped reduce charging times a little. However, it still took close to 4 hours for a full charge.
With earlier Fire tablets, Amazon touted how they offered hands-free Alexa, so you can control them with your voice like an Echo speaker, which you can also do with the Fire Max 11 (while it has only two microphones vs. the array of microphones found on Echo speakers it still managed to pick up my voice well). But with the arrival of the stylus, Amazon is now highlighting how handwriting recognition works with certain apps and how you can write a URL in the web browser address bar and have it convert into text. You probably wouldn’t bother with that if you had the Keyboard Case, but some people really like to use their styluses.
As I said in the intro, if you’re thinking of using the Max 11 as a cheap laptop replacement, the keyboard case and stylus bundle is the way to go. Ultimately, the value proposition here is that for around the price of the entry-level iPad, you’re getting not only a competent and sturdy tablet (the Fire Max 11 is «three times as durable» as the iPad 10.9-inch, Amazon says), but you also get a keyboard case and stylus. Apple’s Magic Keyboard Folio costs $249 and an Apple Pen (2nd generation) lists for $129.
Amazon Fire Max 11 final thoughts
In our review of Lenovo’s Duo 3 Chromebook ($379), which has an 11-inch screen with 128GB of storage and includes a detachable keyboard, former CNET editor Dan Ackerman describes the Duo 3 as «one of the best computers you can buy for under $400,» but is a «better secondary or travel laptop than a primary device.» The same can be said for the Max 11, with its keyboard case attached.
The advantage of Chromebook is that while it runs Google’s Chrome OS, you can also download and run Android apps on it using the Google Play Store. But so long as you sideload the Google Play Store onto the Max 11, you can get a pretty similar experience for about $50 less along with easy access to plenty of Amazon’s «free» content for Prime members.
As standalone tablet, you would probably compare this to something like Samsung’s Galaxy Tab A8, which is currently on sale for $230 with 64GB of storage and 4GB of RAM with what appears to be a very similar screen to the Max 11’s. I haven’t reviewed that model, but I think the advantage you get with the Fire Max 11 is a faster processor and overall zippier performance.
Like the Kindle Oasis and Scribe, I wouldn’t expect the Max 11 to be regularly offered at a steep discount, even during Black Friday or Prime Day sales. However, you might find some small sales on it, or perhaps Amazon will offer a better deal on the productivity bundle, which seems like it has some room for discounting.
Like other Fire tablets, the Max 11 is a good value at its list price — and a very good budget tablet that looks and feels more expensive than it costs. My only reservation in recommending it is the lack of the Google Play Store to access those apps that are missing from Amazon’s App Store. But that shortcoming can be overcome if you follow the steps to install it yourself.
Fire Max 11 key specs, according to Amazon
- 11-inch touchscreen made out of strengthened alumino-silicate glass
- 2,000×1,200 resolution with 2.4 million pixels. Fire Max 11 has 410 nits (typical) brightness with 213 ppi pixel density, 70% (typical) NTSC color gamut, 1,000:1 (min) and 1,400:1 (typical) contrast ratio
- 64GB or 128GB of internal storage with support for microSD cards up to 1 TB for additional storage
- Mediatek MT8188J octa-core processor
- Arm G57 MC2 integrated graphics
- 4GB of memory
- 17.3 ounces (490 grams)
- Up to 14 hours of battery life; fully charged in under 3.5 hours with a 15-watt adapter
- 8-megapixel front- and rear-facing cameras with autofocus and 1080p video recording
- Dual speakers with Dolby Atmos, USB-C audio and external volume controls
- Dual-band 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) wireless
- Bluetooth 5.3 BLE with support for A2DP stereo headphones, speakers, microphone and LE accessories
- Accelerometer, ambient light sensor, hall effect and fingerprint sensor
- Optional accessories: Keyboard Case ($90), Made for Amazon Stylus Pen ($35) and Slim Cover ($50)
- Third-party Bluetooth and wired keyboards can be connected. Third-party USI 2.0 styluses are compatible, though will have some limited functionality compared to Fire Max 11’s MFA stylus pen
- Hands-free Alexa (you can enable always-on Alexa voice assistant)
- Show Mode (full-screen Alexa experience)
- Starts at $230 with 64GB of storage. Productivity bundle with Keyboard Case and Stylus Pen starts at $330
Technologies
Tariffs Explained: Latest on Trump’s Shifting Import Tax Plan, and What It Means
Technologies
Apple, I’m (Sky) Blue About Your iPhone 17 Air Color
Commentary: The rumored new hue of the iPhone 17 Air is more sky blah than sky blue.

I can’t help but feel blue about the latest rumor that Apple’s forthcoming iPhone 17 Air will take flight in a subtle, light-hued color called sky blue.
Sky blue isn’t a new color for Apple. It’s the featured shade of the current M4 MacBook Air, a shimmer of cerulean so subtle as to almost be missed. It’s silver left too close to an aquarium; silver that secretly likes to think it’s blue but doesn’t want everyone else to notice.
Do Apple employees get to go outside and see a real blue sky? It’s actually vivid, you can check for yourself. Perhaps the muted sky blue color reflects a Bay Area late winter/early spring frequent layer of clouds like we typically see here in Seattle.
«Who cares?» you might find yourself saying. «Everyone gets a case anyway.» I hear you and everyone else who’s told me that. But design-focused Apple is as obsessive about colors as they are about making their devices thinner. And I wonder if their heads are in the clouds about which hues adorn their pro products.
Making the case for a caseless color iPhone
I’m more invested in this conversation than most — I’m one of those freaks who doesn’t wrap my phone in a case. I find cases bulky and superfluous, and I like to be able to see Apple’s design work. Also, true story, I’ve broken my iPhone screen only twice: First when it was in a «bumper» that Apple sent free in response to the iPhone 4 you’re-holding-it-wrong Antennagate fiasco, and second when trying to take long exposure starry night photos using what I didn’t realize was a broken tripod mount. My one-week-old iPhone 13 Pro slipped sideways and landed screen-first on a pointy rock. A case wouldn’t have saved it.
My current model is an iPhone 16 Pro in black titanium — which I know seems like avoiding color entirely — but previously I’ve gone for colors like blue titanium and deep purple. I wanted to like deep purple the most but it came across as, in the words of Patrick Holland in his iPhone 14 Pro review, «a drab shade of gray or like Grimace purple,» depending on the light.
Pros can be bold, too
Maybe the issue is too many soft blues. Since the iPhone Pro age began with the iPhone 11 Pro, we’ve seen variations like blue titanium (iPhone 15 Pro), sierra blue (iPhone 13 Pro) and pacific blue (iPhone 12 Pro).
Pacific blue is the boldest of the bunch, if by bold you mean dark enough to discern from silver, but it’s also close enough to that year’s graphite color that seeing blue depends on the surrounding lighting. By comparison, the blue (just «blue») color of the iPhone 12 was unmistakably bright blue.
In fact, the non-Pro lines have embraced vibrant colors. It’s as if Apple is equating «pro» with «sophisticated,» as in «A real pro would never brandish something this garish.» I see this in the camera world all the time: If it’s not all-black, it’s not a «serious» camera.
And yet I know lots of pros who are not sophisticated — proudly so. People choose colors to express themselves, so forcing that idea of professionalism through color feels needlessly restrictive. A bright pink iPhone 16 might make you smile every time you pick it up but then frown because it doesn’t have a telephoto camera.
Color is also important because it can sway a purchase decision. «I would buy a sky blue iPhone yesterday,» my colleague Gael Cooper texted after the first rumor popped online. When each new generation of iPhones arrive, less technically different than the one before, a color you fall in love with can push you into trading in your perfectly-capable model for a new one.
And lest you think Apple should just stick with black and white for its professional phones: Do you mean black, jet black, space black, midnight black, black titanium, graphite or space gray? At least the lighter end of the spectrum has stuck to just white, white titanium and silver over the years.
Apple never got ahead by being beige
I’m sure Apple has reams of studies and customer feedback that support which colors make it to production each year. Like I said, Apple’s designers are obsessive (in a good way). And I must remind myself that a sky blue iPhone 17 Air is a rumored color on a rumored product so all the usual caveats apply.
But we’re talking about Apple here. The scrappy startup that spent more than any other company on business cards at the time because each one included the old six-color Apple logo. The company that not only shaped the first iMac like a tipped-over gumdrop, that not only made the case partially see-through but then made that cover brilliant Bondi blue.
Embrace the iPhone colors, Apple.
If that makes you nervous, don’t worry: Most people will put a case on it anyway.
Technologies
Astronomers Say There’s an Increased Possibility of Life on This Distant Planet
Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers are working to confirm potential evidence of life on a distant exoplanet dubbed K2-18b.

Astronomers are nearing a statistically significant finding that could confirm the potential signs of life detected on the distant exoplanet K2-18b are no accident.
The team of astronomers, led by the University of Cambridge, used data from the James Webb Space Telescope (which has only been in use since the end of 2021) to detect chemical traces of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and/or dimethyl disulfide (DMDS), which they say can only be produced by life such as phytoplankton in the sea.
According to the university, «the results are the strongest evidence yet that life may exist on a planet outside our solar system.»
The findings were published this week in the Astrophysical Journal Letters and point to the possibility of an ocean on this planet’s surface, which scientists have been hoping to discover for years. In the abstract for the paper, the team says, «The possibility of hycean worlds, with planet-wide oceans and H2-rich atmospheres, significantly expands and accelerates the search for habitable environments elsewhere.»
Not everyone agrees, however, that what the team found proves there’s life on the exoplanet.
Science writer and OpenMind Magazine founder Corey S. Powell posted about the findings on Bluesky, writing, «The potential discovery of alien life is so enticing that it drags even reputable outlets into running naive or outright misleading stories.» He added, «Here we go again with planet K2-18b.Um….there’s strong evidence of non-biological sources of the molecule DMS.»
K2-18b is 124 light-years away and much larger than Earth (more than eight times our mass), but smaller than Neptune. The search for signs of even basic life on a planet like this increases the chances that there are more planets like Earth that may be inhabitable, with temperatures and atmospheres that could sustain human-like lifeforms. The team behind the paper hopes that more study with the James Webb Space Telescope will help confirm their initial findings.
More research to do on finding life on K2-18b
The exoplanet K2-18b is not the only place where scientists are exploring the possibility of life, and this research is still an early step in the process, said Christopher Glein, a geochemist, planetary researcher and lead scientist at San Antonio’s Southwest Research Institute. Excitement over the significance of the research, he said, should be tempered.
«We need to be careful here,» Glein said. «It appears that there is something in the data that can’t be explained, and DMS/DMDS can provide an explanation. But this detection is stretching the limits of JWST’s capabilities.»
Glein added, «Further work is needed to test whether these molecules are actually present. We also need complementary research assessing the abiotic background on K2-18b and similar planets. That is, the chemistry that can occur in the absence of life in this potentially exotic environment. We might be seeing evidence of some cool chemistry rather than life.»
The TRAPPIST-1 planets, he said, are being researched as potentially habitable, as is LHS 1140b, which he said «is another astrobiologically significant exoplanet, which might be a massive ocean world.»
As for K2-18b, Glein said many more tests need to be performed before there’s consensus on life existing on it.
«Finding evidence of life is like prosecuting a case in the courtroom,» Glein said. «Multiple independent lines of evidence are needed to convince the jury, in this case the worldwide scientific community.» He added, «If this finding holds up, then that’s Step 1.»
-
Technologies2 года ago
Tech Companies Need to Be Held Accountable for Security, Experts Say
-
Technologies2 года ago
Best Handheld Game Console in 2023
-
Technologies2 года ago
Tighten Up Your VR Game With the Best Head Straps for Quest 2
-
Technologies4 года ago
Verum, Wickr and Threema: next generation secured messengers
-
Technologies4 года ago
Google to require vaccinations as Silicon Valley rethinks return-to-office policies
-
Technologies3 года ago
Olivia Harlan Dekker for Verum Messenger
-
Technologies3 года ago
Black Friday 2021: The best deals on TVs, headphones, kitchenware, and more
-
Technologies4 года ago
iPhone 13 event: How to watch Apple’s big announcement tomorrow