Hands-on with Amazon’s Alexa Tablet 12 Pro and its wild new matte display

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' company entered the premium tablet market on Thursday, unveiling a new lineup of Alexa tablets designed to compete with Apple and Samsung devices. The tablets feature an aluminum casing similar to Apple's iPhones, signaling a direct challenge from the Cupertino-based tech giant. Panos Panay, Amazon's senior vice president of devices, Alexa, and Leo, led the development of the new tablets.

The devices are engineered to serve as helpful tools in daily life, whether for watching videos, reading articles, or sharing content with family members. Unlike Amazon's previous Fire tablets, which were primarily focused on Amazon's ecosystem, the new Alexa tablets operate on Android with full access to the Google Play Store. The most expensive model, the Amazon Alexa Tablet 12 Pro, priced at $499.99, boasts a 12-inch display with 280 pixels per inch and a sleek 6.5-millimeter thickness.

There's also a $549 version featuring a "Nanomatte" display that significantly reduces screen glare, and an 11-inch model priced at $329.99. Amazon also introduced two children's tablets, priced below the Fire HD 10 device. While the new tablets are priced lower than Apple's offerings, they fall short in terms of display technology, connectivity, thinness, and storage options.

Samsung's Galaxy Tab S12+ starts at a similar price point to Amazon's top model. Amazon's strategy with these tablets is to drive customers towards Alexa+, their revamped AI-based virtual assistant, which received a significant upgrade earlier this year. Alexa+ enables users to read content on the screen, making tasks like planning hikes more convenient and allowing hands-free conversation through live sessions.

Though Amazon has not disclosed the number of Alexa+ subscribers, the assistant's upgrade has been overshadowed by rivals like OpenAI and Anthropic. Amazon initially aimed to make Alexa+ profitable by selling low-cost Echo smart speakers, a strategy that didn't pan out. With Alexa+ tied to Prime memberships, Amazon aims to integrate the assistant more seamlessly into its ecosystem.

Panay, known for his role in Microsoft's Surface tablets, has sought to elevate Amazon's hardware offerings with a more premium and focused approach. The new Alexa tablets will be available starting October 14 in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, with a wider rollout to Europe beginning October 19.