Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Pro (2021) review

The Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Pro 2021 ($199) is basically the same, hardware-wise, as the excellent Amazon Fire HD 10 (2021). It’s got the same octa-core processor, 3GB of RAM and vivacious 1900x1200 display. The big difference is that it's designed specifically for use by older kids ages 6-12, so it comes with a one-year Amazon Kids+ subscription, a colorful kickstand case, and a comprehensive, no-questions-asked 2-year warranty that covers accidental damage. 

All of that comes at a price that's $50 more than the base Amazon Fire HD 10. Even with that price bump, this is one of the best Android tablets available for kids, as I'll lay out in this Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Pro review. However, it does have a few problems that keep it from unreserved recommendation: just like the base model Fire HD 10, the Fire HD 10 Kids Pro has lackluster speakers and can't access the Google Play Store. If that doesn’t faze you, the price, display and warranty more than balance out those snags.

While Amazon’s app store library is not as extensive as Google or Apple’s offerings (a perennial issue), it does have quite a lot to offer, particularly with the included Amazon Kids+ subscription. Kid-friendly apps, television, movies and books abound, and Amazon has several settings for parents to balance education and play.

Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Pro review: Price and availability

• Expect to pay at least ~$200
• Free case included, with multiple color options

The Fire HD 10 Kids Pro (2021) has a starting price of $199, and It's available for purchase on Amazon.com now. You have your choice of four different case designs, which range from simple black to more colorful versions with eye-catching patterns. Our review unit arrived sporting the Doodle case, which layers kid-friendly icons atop a nice shade of purple.

Amazon is also offering the tablet in a ~$275 bundle (which we did not review) that augments the Fire HD 10 Kids Pro with a NuPro zipper sleeve case, a screen protector, and a pair of volume-limiting Bluetooth headphones for kids.

Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Pro review: Design

• Sturdy design housing a nice Full HD display
• Kickstand works well on hard surfaces 

Underneath the multi-colored plastic shell, the Fire HD Kids 10 Pro (2021) is a basic slate tablet. The chassis houses a Full HD (1920 x 1200 pixels) 16:10 display, and the included grip-coated plastic case has a built-in kickstand that makes a nice firm click when it's in position — though if you don't open the kickstand all the way out to the point that it clicks into place (about 60 degrees), the tablet will start slipping. In the hand, the stand can be used as a handle, making drops less likely.

All the tablet's business bits sit on one side, including power and volume buttons, as well as the USB Type-C 2.0 port and the 3.5mm headphone jack. Along the top you'll find dual speakers and a selfie cam. 

Naked, the slate is identical to the Fire HD 10 (2021). The Fire HD 10 Kids Pro is sturdy and feels firm and stable in the hand, even without the textured, rubberized case. At over a pound, though, it can be tiring for younger users to hold for extended periods.

However, with the kickstand out and the tablet in position on a hard surface, you can push firmly on the tablet and it won't go anywhere. If the surface you’ve set it on is smooth or soft, however, the foot of the stand may skid or fall over. Based on my testing, you should encourage kiddos who like to get tap-happy to set the Fire HD 10 Kids Pro up on a rigid, flat surface that offers a bit of friction.

Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Pro review: Display

• Bright, vibrant 16:10 display makes cartoons look great
• Touchscreen feels accurate and responsive

The Fire HD 10 Kids Pro (2021) has a bright, color-rich display that brings highly-saturated cartoons and games to life. Cocomelon’s primary-soaked palette looks sharp and crisp on the tablet's display, and Angry Birds is fluid and clear, even in moderate sun. 

Based on our testing, the screen delivers pretty good color accuracy and brightness, hitting 107% of the sRGB spectrum at an average maximum brightness of 405 nits. Those results are nearly identical to those earned by the Amazon Fire HD 10 (2021) and a bit better than what we saw testing the Samsung Galaxy A7 Lite (81.8% sRGB, 315 nits max brightness).

In my experience the Kindle Fire HD 10 Kids Pro's display looks nice and clear, with no screen ghosting. Navigating via touch feels responsive and precise as well, offering fine control in apps like KidsDoodle. The tablet also seemed to discern pressure and width of contact well.

Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Pro review: Audio

• Weak, muddled sound quality
• Case has a built-in amplifier that helps a bit

If there’s one hardware fault of the Fire HD 10 Kids (2021), it’s the speakers. The '80s pop-inspired bops of Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia lacked force, and the hi-hats in Rush’s Tom Sawyer lost their depth and definition at anything beyond moderate volumes. 

This was true for the base Fire HD 10 (2021) tablet, but it’s somewhat helped by the included cases. Both have an added channel to direct sound at the user, which both boosts quality a bit, and helpfully contains some of the noise from your tyke’s media. It’s not nearly enough to keep Baby Shark out of your head, but it does help listening strain for both the user and whoever else may be around at the time. 

Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Pro review: Performance

• Powerful enough for daily tasks, if you can handle some slowdown
• Struggles to run games more demanding than Minecraft

The Fire HD 10 Kids Pro (2021) sports the same octa-core processor and 3GB of RAM as the cheaper, general-purpose Fire HD 10 tablet. That’s just enough to handle most tasks with some zip, though it can chug when running anything beyond the basics. Kindle or Amazon Kids+ load almost immediately. Closing tasks and returning to the home screen is quick, too, though loading anything beyond your background image is not. There’s also a noticeable delay when using the task manager to switch between apps.  

Minecraft runs capably with some stuttering when Creepers find their mark and go boom. However, Minecraft is famously forgiving, or at least adaptable to a wide spectrum of hardware; the Fire HD 10 Kids Pro (2021) can struggle to run other 3D games, like Off The Road, thanks to its limited RAM and graphical muscle. 

If games are an overriding concern, you would be better served buying a beefier Android tablet like the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 FE. 

Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Pro review: Battery life

• Battery can last for 14+ hours of use on a single charge
• Can eke out a bit more usage using Automatic Low Power Mode

Our tablet battery test, which tasks the device with endlessly surfing the web over Wi-Fi with its screen set to 150 nits, took over 14 hours to drain the Fire 10 HD Kids Pro (2021). That’s pretty great battery life, and it's even better than the performance of Amazon's vanilla Fire HD 10 tablet (13:14) in the same test.

You can eke out a few more minutes of battery life for the Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Pro (2021) with the Automatic Low Power Mode, which can be set to start saving juice when you hit 20%, but it won't buy you much more than 30 minutes of extra time. Even so, unless your kids are watching videos for hours under the noon sun, you should get a day or two of heavy use out of this tablet on a single charge.

Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Pro review: Cameras

• Front and rear cameras (5MP and 2MP) are good enough, but not great
• Cameras have trouble with overly dark or bright scenes

In the era of COVID-19, webcams are a new focal point of our daily lives — especially for those still meeting through Zoom or other video conferencing programs. To that end, the Fire HD 10 Kids cameras are functional, but won’t be particularly sharp or colorful. The rear-facing sensor is 5-megapixels, while the selfie cam snaps at 2-megapixels. 

During my testing I found the image quality acceptable, but indoor scenes looked darker and bluer than they should have been. Any strong points of light will also confuse the Fire HD’s white and light balance. The selfie cam works well, though its lower resolution adds some artifacts around smaller details, like my two-day stubble. 

Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Pro review: Software

• No access to the Google Play Store's smorgasbord of apps
• Robust parental controls and plenty of kid-friendly Kids+ content

Fire OS, Amazon’s custom Android distro that powers the Fire HD 10 Kids Pro tablet, can be difficult to live with. It’s nice enough when working with other Amazon services, but if you need almost anything else, you might have some trouble. 

Since you don't get the Google Play Store app on Fire OS, you’ll miss out on some of the best and most useful software on the Android platform. Google Drive and the full-featured YouTube app are absent, for example. YouTube is also missing, and given the target audience that's likely the bigger issue. And if your kid needs Google Docs for an assignment, you’re out of luck.

That said, if you’re deeply connected to Amazon’s media ecosystem, there’s plenty to enjoy. Between Prime Video, Kindle, and Amazon, there’s many thousands of hours of entertainment and education available. Be careful, though, and make sure you’ll have access to all the apps and tools you or your kids will need before putting money down on this tablet.

On the bright side, parental controls are extensive and easy to access from the Amazon Kids+ app. You can add or remove whatever content you wish to their library, set daily limits for different app categories, set different schedules for different days of the week and even enable location-based permissions. It’s a robust feature set, but it’s important to note that this is accessible from any Fire HD 10 model, not just the Kids models.

However, those content controls benefit from the bundled Amazon Kids+ subscription. You get a free year of the kid-friendly service when you purchase a Fire HD Kids tablet, and if you want to continue using it after that you’ll either need an individual child plan for $2.99/month or a family plan that supports up to four for $6.99.

Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Pro review: Verdict

The Fire HD 10 Kids Pro (2021) is a well-rounded tablet with some handy kid-friendly features. Stellar battery life and a showy panel are its big selling points, but there’s a lot to like: the USB Type-C connector makes charging quick and easy, while the included bumper case helps protect your investment from toddlers and tweens alike.

If you're in the market for a kid-friendly tablet, few competitors can match what the Fire HD 10 Kids Pro (2021) offers for $199, particularly with that generous extended warranty.  If your kids do need something more versatile, you might consider the more powerful and more expensive 8th Gen iPad (2020), or the less expensive and less powerful Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite, which has access to the full Android app ecosystem. 

But if you do decide to invest in a new Amazon Fire HD 10 Kids Pro (2021) you'll be getting a great all-around tablet that can help your kids learn and play, on a schedule that works for you.