Amazon Launches Alexa Tablet 12 Pro: First Full Android Tablet, No More Fire Branding

Amazon has introduced the Alexa Tablet 12 Pro as part of a new tablet lineup that marks a shift from its traditionally budget-focused Fire tablet range. It is Amazon’s first tablet to support full Android, giving users access to the Google Play Store and apps such as YouTube, Google Maps and Gmail. The company has also dropped the Fire branding and Fire OS from the new range. The 12 Pro has a 12-inch display with a 120Hz refresh rate and up to 16GB of RAM, and Amazon says it delivers three times the CPU performance of any tablet it has made before.

Alexa+ Built In

The tablet comes with built-in Alexa+, bringing Amazon’s AI assistant directly into the tablet experience. The new lineup also includes two smaller models, the Alexa Tablet 11 and Alexa Tablet 8.

A Move Toward Premium

Amazon is positioning the 12 Pro as a productivity and entertainment device rather than a simple affordable tablet, putting it closer to premium devices such as Apple’s iPad Air. Eric Saarnio, Vice President at Amazon Devices International, described the launch as the company’s biggest development in tablets to date. Fire tablets have traditionally competed in the lower-cost segment, partly to connect customers with Amazon’s wider digital ecosystem, and the company has not abandoned its existing tablet lineup.