Amazon's new Alexa Tablets drop the Fire branding but are more Android than ever

Amazon has officially retired its long-standing Fire tablet branding, replacing it with a new "Alexa Tablet" lineup. Marking a significant shift in strategy, these devices are now fully Google-certified Android tablets, complete with native access to the Google Play Store. This move follows Amazon's decision to shut down its proprietary Appstore last year. The new hardware features a premium unibody aluminum design and is powered by updated MediaTek 8189 processors. The lineup includes an 8-inch model starting at $230 and an 11-inch version at $330, both featuring 16:10 aspect ratios optimized for media consumption. While Amazon’s streaming sticks have transitioned to the custom Linux-based Vega OS, these tablets represent a deeper integration with the standard Android ecosystem, offering users a more familiar and feature-rich experience compared to the previous Fire OS iterations.