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mrandishtoday at 7:00 PM2 repliesview on HN

I bought 4 of the same tablet (Fire HD 10) on Black Friday 2021 for Home Assistant dashboards and a Fire HD 10 Pro (edit: actually Plus) I use as an E-reader/browser (with KOReader/Firefox). To save money I got the cheaper version with lockscreen ads pre-installed but before ever letting them online I ran Fire Toolbox to remove the ads, debloat, block updating and install Google services. Fire Toolbox is excellent: https://xdaforums.com/t/windows-linux-tool-fire-toolbox-v45-...

I've never had the problems OP describes but my tablets all came with FireOS v7.3.2.1 and I've never let them update. I think Amazon started locking down later firmware versions more but Fire Toolbox can still do quite a bit to tame and decruft later versions. The XDA forum for Fire Toolbox has a lot of posts covering exploits and workarounds for later FireOS versions.

Once the Amazon cruft is tamed, I still haven't found a meaningfully better 10-inch thin/light Android tablet than the 2021 Fire HD 10 Pro. It has wireless charging, weighs 430g and at 247 x 166 x 9.2 mm no one makes a 10" that's much lighter, smaller or thinner. The only slight downside is FireOS 7 is based on Android 9 and new versions of a few apps are starting to require later APIs. I'd gladly pay ~$250 for a 10" Android 16 tablet with wireless charging that was as thin & light but had smaller bezels for overall smaller size.


Replies

drnick1today at 7:20 PM

> Once the Amazon cruft is tamed, I still haven't found a meaningfully better 10-inch thin/light Android tablet than the 2021 Fire HD 10 Pro.

It is shocking that no mainstream tablet manufacturer will let buyers exercise control over their device. At the very least, this means having root and being able to use it to purge unwanted software. Ideally, it also means being able to fully replace the stock OS with third party/open firmware.

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ck2today at 7:28 PM

I think you mean the "plus" not "pro"

The Plus model has more ram (memory) and wireless charging than the base model

It only comes in Slate dark-grey color and is often resold on Amazon's Woot ("used like new")

I have one, bought a year ago anticipating this would eventually happen, exciting times lol

Now we'll get LineageOS on this with newer Android within another year

* https://computers.woot.com/offers/amazon-fire-hd-10-tablet-2...

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