Amazon Drops the Fire Brand for Android-Based Alexa Tablets With Google Play, Priced to Take On the iPad

AMZN on October 8, 2026 replaced its Fire tablets with a new Alexa Tablet lineup that runs full Android with the Google Play Store, ending Fire OS and its closed app store on its tablets and dropping the Fire brand entirely. The devices ship with a launcher built around Alexa+, Amazon's generative AI assistant, and the Kindle app pre-installed. Access to Google Play addresses the longest-running complaint about Fire tablets, which could only run apps built for Amazon's own store.

The lineup moves Amazon up-market. The Alexa Tablet 8 starts at $229.99, or $250 without lockscreen ads; the Alexa Tablet 11 starts at $329.99; and the 12-inch Alexa Tablet 12 Pro starts at $499.99, or $549.99 with an anti-glare Nanomatte display. A 16GB/256GB 12 Pro costs $680, and a Pro Keyboard ($149.99) and Pro Pen ($89.99) are sold separately. Coverage compares the range with Apple's base iPad at $449 and the iPad mini rather than the iPad Pro.

The pricing fits Amazon's broader shift under CEO Andy Jassy away from near-cost hardware and toward devices that can generate more revenue, with Alexa+ as the hook into its services. Sales begin October 14 in the US, Mexico and Canada, and October 19 in the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain.

What to watch: early reviews of the Alexa+ launcher experience, whether higher prices dent the volume Fire tablets used to move during holiday sales, and whether Amazon keeps updating existing Fire tablets now that the brand is retired.