Engadget review: Amazon's Alexa Tablet Pro 12 is a premium Android tablet with iPad ambitions

The review said Amazon has long used Fire tablets as cheap, durable devices for video and casual tasks, with a more limited app selection than standard Android tablets because they lack the Google Play Store. The Alexa Tablet Pro 12 changes that approach while still emphasizing Amazon's services and assistant. Engadget described it as the most intriguing model in the new lineup, with a design that closely resembles Apple's tablets: a relatively thin bezel around a large display and an aluminum unibody that measures 6.5mm thick and weighs 1.21 pounds.

Optional keyboard and stylus accessories, Engadget said, show that the tablet is intended for productivity rather than only video consumption. The review said the Alexa Tablet Pro 12 is not quite as capable as Apple's iPad lineup, largely because of software limitations, but its $499 starting price makes its shortcomings easier to forgive. It also noted that Android apps still are not great on a big screen.

On hardware, the review said the tablet has speakers on its shorter sides, a power button with a fingerprint sensor, and a single USB-C port for charging and data transfer that recognized an SD card reader and a USB-C flash drive. It has no headphone jack. The top edge has volume buttons and a magnetic groove for charging and storing the Alexa Tablet Pro Pen, while the bottom edge has a four-pin port for the keyboard. The back has a 13-megapixel camera and the word "alexa" in cursive, with no Amazon branding on the device.

Engadget said the tablet sits between the 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Air in thickness and weight. It is slightly thicker than the 11-inch iPad Air, at 6.5mm versus 6.1mm, and heavier, at 1.21 pounds versus 1.02 pounds. Even so, the review called the aluminum unibody sturdy, premium and well-balanced, and a major step forward from most Fire tablets.

The 12-inch display is not OLED but has 500 nits of brightness, a 2,800 x 1,840 resolution, 280 pixels per inch and a 3:2 aspect ratio, which Engadget said is preferable on a tablet to 16:9. The tablet is designed mainly for landscape use, though the on-screen keyboard feels cramped vertically, and in portrait the device feels a bit too tall. The review said the iPad's 4:3 aspect ratio still feels right, but 3:2 offers decent vertical height and space for widescreen movies.

Engadget said the screen beats the iPad Air in some significant ways, including a 120Hz refresh rate that requires at least a $1,199 11-inch iPad Pro to match on Apple's side. However, the Alexa Tablet software is not as well optimized as iPadOS, so the review found performance often felt jerkier than the high refresh rate would suggest.

The review highlighted the optional nanomatte display finish, a $50 addition that Amazon describes as anti-reflective etching. Engadget said it does a remarkable job of minimizing glare; placing the tablet next to an iPad Pro with standard front glass in early morning light made the difference immediately obvious.