The Alexa Tablet Quiz: Six Questions on Amazon's New Lineup

Amazon has a brand-new tablet lineup, and the Fire name is gone. The company announced three tablets this week, the Alexa Tablet 8, the Alexa Tablet 11, and the Alexa Tablet 12 Pro, with aluminum bodies, Alexa+ built in, and full Google Play Store access for the first time. The lineup starts at $229.99, and every model is available to order now, with shipments beginning October 14 in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, according to Amazon's announcement. TechRepublic reported that the new branding marks a move away from the long-running Fire tablet line.

This Alexa tablet quiz is built for anyone who skimmed the launch headlines and moved on. Below are six questions about the lineup: the prices, the specs, the Alexa+ features, and the small print. The answer and a short explanation follow each question, so keep a mental score as you go.

Question one: how many tablets did Amazon launch?

Name every model in the new lineup.

Answer: three. The range covers a compact model with an eight-point-seven-inch screen, an eleven-inch mid-size, and a twelve-inch flagship. Battery life runs from fourteen hours of video playback on the compact model to fifteen on the mid-size and sixteen on the flagship. The compact model weighs 329 grams and is seven point nine five millimeters thick. The two smaller models connect over Wi-Fi 6, while the flagship steps up to Wi-Fi 6E.

Question two: what does the mid-size model cost?

How much does the eleven-inch model start at?

Answer: $329.99. The compact model is the cheapest of the three and the flagship is the most expensive. Storage starts at four gigabytes of RAM with sixty-four gigabytes of storage on the compact model and rises to 8GB of RAM with 128GB of storage on the flagship, according to Amazon.

Question three: what changed about apps?

What is new about the app store on these tablets?

Answer: full Google Play Store access. These are the first Amazon tablets to ship with it, as Techaeris noted in its launch coverage. Earlier Amazon tablets pushed the company's own Appstore instead, so the switch closes an app gap that frustrated Fire tablet owners for a long time.

Question four: which model gets the Nanomatte screen?

Which model offers the Nanomatte display option, and what refresh rates do the three screens run?

Answer: the twelve-inch flagship offers Nanomatte, an anti-glare option that Techaeris described in its launch coverage, starting at $549.99. The flagship display runs at 120Hz, the mid-size model at 90Hz, and the compact model at 60Hz.

Question five: how does Alexa+ behave on the tablet?

What does Alexa+ do here, and which feature ships switched off?

Answer: Alexa+ is built into all three models. Say "Alexa" or tap the Ask Alexa button for answers, smart-home control, and help with whatever is on the screen. The On-Screen Intelligence feature, which studies the display to give contextual answers, is off by default and needs a deliberate opt-in, according to Techaeris. Open the Kindle app and a Sanctuary mode silences notifications, reduces blue light, and stretches reading time to twenty hours, according to Amazon.

Question six: what costs extra on the two cheaper models?

What is the small-print catch for buyers of the compact and mid-size models?

Answer: removing lockscreen ads. TechRepublic reported that the compact and mid-size models include lockscreen advertisements in their base configurations, and stripping them out costs $20. Buyers who want the full flagship setup can add a magnetic Pro Keyboard at $149.99 and a Pro Pen at $89.99.

Your Alexa tablet quiz score, decoded

Five or six right on this Alexa tablet quiz: you followed the launch coverage closely. Three or four: solid, but the fine print tripped you up. Fewer than three: re-read the specs before you hand over any money. One more thing worth knowing, beyond this Alexa tablet quiz: Amazon also launched Kids Tablets in two sizes, bundled with a kid-proof case and a year of Kids+. The bundles add a Storybuilder tool that turns a child's voice into illustrated stories, plus a redesigned Parent Dashboard, according to Amazon.

More from GenZNewZ on Amazon

Enjoyed this Alexa tablet quiz? Amazon news does not stop at tablets. GenZNewZ broke down the Prime refund expansion and put together a Prime price-hike survival guide. For the streaming side of the empire, there is the Emmys' move to Prime Video.