Amazon Fire Max 11 tablet (newest gen), our most powerful tablet yet, vivid 11" display, octa-core processor, 4 GB RAM, 14-hr battery life, 64 GB, Grey, with Ads

As soon as the Fire Max 11 was introduced I knew I wanted one to replace my Fire HD10 Plus, but decided to wait until Prime Day. Boy am I glad I did.... 42% off, so a brand new tablet for £150 (without ads), it was a no brainer. When I took it out of the box I was initially surprised that it did not seem to be much bigger than the HD10, but then realised the bezels were much thinner and when it was turned on I could really see how much more screen real estate there was considering the small increase in screen size. The HD10 Plus is a good tablet, but the Fire Max 11 steps it up a notch, it feels higher quality which I put down to its metal construction and it feels much snappier. I purchased the keyboard case too which I am using to write this review and it also feels good quality with plenty of room to type. It turns the tablet into a decent budget laptop solution, so I may end up selling my old MacBook. The display is crisp and bright and the finger print sensor works really well and saves having to enter a PIN everytime I want to use it. Battery life seems very good, but I have not had chance yet to see if it will be better than the excellent life of the HD10. The sound isn't wonderful, but perfectly fine for watching the odd YouTube video. If I wanted to listen to music I would use headphones. For those people complaining about it not having the Play store, it clearly states in the "We want you to know" part of the description "that Google Play is not supported on Amazon Fire Tablets". Amazon Fire tablets use their own bespoke version of Google OS, so that is similar to saying why can't I install Windows programs on my MAC .... they are different operating systems, albeit based on Google. This does not mean that you cannot add the Play Store to the Fire Max 11 as that is the first thing I did when I took it out of the box. It took less than 10 minutes and is very simple to do, no special skills needed. For those undecided, just try it. With the points I have mentioned I don't think you will be disappointed.

I can't stress this enough, Amazon's Fire Max 11 FINALLY eliminates the lag and stuttering that plagues every prior Fire tablet. Make no mistake, this isn't iPad performance but it's finally nice to venture away from using the tablet as just a media streamer - I can now run Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Flipboard, Excel and moderate games etc without the fear of the apps lagging and stuttering after just a few swipes which is what I found to happen on Amazon's next best tablet - the Fire HD 10 Plus - but not the Max 11. Sure, if you push the Max 11 hard enough or power scroll through apps, your bound to see some lag or stuttering, but you won't see it now from normal use. Coupling this performance boost with the absolutely GORGEOUS 11 inch screen and new metal back, the Max 11 literally feels premium which is a strange feeling for a Fire tablet. The extra 1 inch on the screen has made the screen taller (from portrate) rather than stretching it diagonally so the screen feels extra wide-screen if you use it horizontally. The screen clarity is crystal clear, the blacks are deep (although it's not an OLED or mini LED panel), the colours are more vibrant and overall brighter than the previous HD10 - ultimately an amazing screen. The Max 11 now has a fingerprint reader which is a first for a Fire tablet and is nice and fast, but you'll find it annoying like I did that if you purchase the ‘with special offers’ version of the tablet, then you'll be taken to an ad screen as soon as you unlock the screen with your finger print, this then requires an extra swipe to get into your tablet. You can eliminate the ads by paying £10 to Amazon and then your finger print will take you straight into the tablet - this can be purchased during the initial sale or after it. I paid the £10 after I'd setup the tablet and it took Amazon 10 mins to send the signal to my tablet to disable the ads. Do note that these tablets don't have Google Play Store installed and thus you are to use Amazon's Appstore which is very limited, but it does cover most of the media essentials and has somewhat improved over the years, but it’s absolutely no match for Google’s Play store. If you find Amazon's Appstore too limited them you can install Google Play store directly from the tablet and it only takes 5 mins to do so (a quick Google search will help you with this - do note that this requires ‘side loading’ of 4 Google apps that you download and install at your own risk - there are however certain established and trusted websites which offer these Google apps to download for free.). I'd highly recommend you do this as this gives you access to a far bigger and better Appstore which has the proper YouTube app, Gmail, Chrome etc. I also installed Google's Gboard app which is a far better keyboard than the stock keyboard on all Fire devices. The sound seems slightly better than the previous Fire HD10. The speakers are on the left or top (depending on your device orientation) and they're spaced far apart so they have great stereo separation, although they're not as bassey as an ipad, they're still great for movies and YouTube etc. Amazon have removed the 3.5mm audio jack which is a first for a Fire tablet, so you must use either wireless headphones via Bluetooth, or use wired headphones via a type C dongle. The device starts at 64GB storage but you can increase this via the micro SD card slot which is weirdly inside what looks like a SIM tray. There is also a 128GB model. Amazon claim a 14 hour battery life which is incredible, but your mileage may vary with screen brightness and app performance intensity being a major factor in battery life - still a huge battery and the biggest I’ve ever seen in any regular tablet. Similar to the HD 10 Plus, the Fire max 11 has 4GB RAM and an 8 core CPU, but the CPU is much faster than the previous generation and this is what makes the device run so much better. Be sure to install any updates as soon as you boot up the tablet for the first time as thiis will ensure optimal performance before you install your apps. You'll find that this extra power is useful to run productivity apps such as Excel and Word. The device feels solid and sturdy with its metal back and 'alumisilocate' glass which is supposedly very tough. I feel confident using my Max 11 without a case or screen protector. The cameras are supposedly improved from the previous gen but I don't ever use them so I can't comment on that here. It's nice though that the front facing camera is in the middle of the screen in horizontal orientation so you're not awkwardly out of centre during video calls. I absolutely love the Fire Max 11, I'll no longer use my Fire tablet as just a media streamer, but will feel confident running Excel for my finances, Flipboard for my interests and Facebook/Twitter/TikTok without the fear of lag. We’ve waited for this for a long time - a budget tablet slowly creeping into the ‘premium’ territory, yet its still unashamedly a budget device - now with a premium feel and decent specs. So Amazon have finally reached the premium end of the budget category with the Fire Max 11, it's an absolutely brilliant tablet and I'd recommend it to anyone in the market for a good all round tablet, but don't want to pay iPad prices. Amazon's Fire tablets now have their Max 11 as the flagship and it feels so much more comfortable venturing into light productivity, social media and moderate gaming, something we've never experienced this smoothly before on a Fire tablet. Because of this, I'd consider the Max 11 an essential purchase.