Amazon's new Alexa Tablets mark the biggest change to the company's tablet line in a decade: they run Android with full access to the Google Play Store. Announced on October 8, the three-model lineup — the Alexa Tablet 12 Pro, Alexa Tablet 11, and Alexa Tablet 8 — drops the locked-down Fire OS and Amazon Appstore approach that defined Fire tablets, so owners can finally install YouTube, Gmail, Netflix, Google Docs, and millions of other Play Store apps without sideloading. Amazon's announcement confirms the tablets ship with the Alexa+ assistant built in.
An Amazon spokesperson told TechCrunch that these are "an all-new product line with new hardware and a new OS, rather than a rebrand of Fire Tablets."
Three tablets, aluminum builds, mainstream prices
| Model | Display | Memory/Storage | Battery (video) | Price |
|---|
| Alexa Tablet 12 Pro | 12-inch, 280 PPI, 120Hz, 3:2 | up to 16GB / 128GB | up to 16 hours | $499.99 (around ₱31,500) |
| Alexa Tablet 12 Pro Nanomatte | same, with anti-glare display | up to 16GB / 128GB | up to 16 hours | $549.99 (around ₱34,600) |
| Alexa Tablet 11 | 11-inch 2.5K, 276 PPI, 90Hz, 16:10 | 8GB / 64GB | up to 15 hours | $329.99 (around ₱20,800) |
| Alexa Tablet 8 | 8.7-inch, 329g, 7.95mm thin | 4GB / 64GB | up to 14 hours | $229.99 (around ₱14,500) |
The 12 Pro is the flagship: a 6.5mm-thin body, a 4nm eight-core chip, quad Dolby Atmos speakers, and Wi-Fi 6E. Its Nanomatte variant uses an anti-glare display developed with Corning. The Tablet 8 is the one-handed option, an all-aluminum 329-gram slate. Amazon also announced Kids versions of the 8.7-inch and 11-inch tablets, bundled with a protective case and a year of Amazon Kids+.
Alexa+ and On-Screen Intelligence
Every tablet has Alexa+ — Amazon's conversational assistant — available from anywhere in the system by saying "Alexa" or tapping an Ask Alexa button, without leaving the app you are in. Live sessions keep the conversation going without repeating the wake word.
The more unusual feature is On-Screen Intelligence, which lets Alexa read what is on your screen to summarize documents, plan trips, or pull a recipe out of a video. Amazon stresses it is opt-in: it is off by default, can be switched off in Settings, and shows a visual indicator whenever Alexa can see the screen.
Reading mode and Pro accessories
A new Kindle reading experience turns the tablet into something closer to an e-reader — notifications silenced, blue light reduced — with up to 20 hours of reading battery. For the 12 Pro, Amazon sells a Pro Keyboard ($149.99, around ₱9,400) that attaches magnetically with no Bluetooth pairing, and a Pro Pen ($89.99, around ₱5,700) with USI 2.0 support, 4,096 pressure levels, tilt detection, and magnetic wireless charging.
Where and when you can buy one
The tablets went up for order on announcement day through Amazon and retail partners including Best Buy and Target. Shipments to the United States, Canada, and Mexico start October 14; the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain follow on October 19. Kids Tablets also ship in Japan on October 14.
No Philippine launch — and no sign of one yet
Amazon has not announced Philippine availability or pricing for the Alexa Tablets, and the country is not in either launch wave. That is the usual pattern: Amazon has no official retail presence here, and past Fire tablets reached Filipino buyers through third-party retailers and importers at marked-up prices. If the Alexa Tablets follow the same route, the peso figures above are conversions, not local SRPs — expect gray-market pricing to land higher. For now, buyers here who want a mainstream Android tablet with full Google services at these sizes are looking at alternatives like the Samsung Galaxy Tab S12 series, which just got official Philippine prices — though at a very different price tier. What the Alexa Tablets really change is the baseline: an Amazon tablet is no longer a walled garden, and that makes it a genuine Android option if it ever officially crosses the Pacific.
