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authorluxagraf <sng@luxagraf.net>2023-06-20 14:09:17 -0500
committerluxagraf <sng@luxagraf.net>2023-06-20 14:09:17 -0500
commit5424a0c1960afc55b689062d832c7aa9afb5533a (patch)
treef61868f767af0c0eed0f6f9c4c1165cf68e132df /wired.txt
parentf1290f13d516f1b26869d01915aee8fb7413c081 (diff)
finished up Fire 11 Max review
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@@ -10,28 +10,32 @@ Take mid-level hardware, slap on an OS that's good for little more than consumin
## Why the Fire 11 Max Sucks
-Lest you think I have some pretentious dislike for Amazon's hardware, I would like to start by saying that I am typing this review up on a Fire 10 with a Finite keyboard. It's my main writing tool when I leave the house. Or RV in my case. I have modified the Fire somewhat. I use the adb developer tool to turn off all of Amazon's apps, and install the apps I need to work (Vivaldi and Termux), but hardware wise the Fire 10 is well able to handle my needs. Which is to say, for $100 on sale I think, with some slight modification, Fire tablets are indeed capable of being useful for work.
+I think most of what you need to know about the Fire 11 Max is in the naming. Out of the box this is the best Fire tablet Amazon has ever made for consuming Amazon content. It lives up to its name Max. The problem comes when you want to do anything other than consume Amazon content.
-For that reason I was excited to try the Fire 11 Max, what's not to like about a more powerful tablet, this one made of real metal instead of cheap plastic? The Fire 11 Max does deliver what Amazon is promising here. It's is by far the best Fire tablet you've ever used.
+Amazon sells the Fire 11 Max for $230. For another $100 you can get what Amazon calls the productivity bundle, which adds a keyboard, cover, and stylus. Which is to say, even Amazon knows that the tablet itself isn't much for productivity.
-The base model is $229 which gets you an 11-inch tablet with a nice, 2000×1200 pixel 60 Hz display, 4 gigabytes of RAM, and 64 gigabytes of storage. You can get one with 128-gigabyte SSD for another $tk. The chip is a Mediatek MT8188J, an 8-core processor.
+Lest you think I have some pretentious dislike for Amazon's hardware, I would like to start by saying that I am typing this review up on a Fire 10 with a Finite keyboard. It's my main writing tool when I leave the house (RV in my case) and half the time when I'm at home. I have modified the Fire's software, using the adb developer tool to turn off all of Amazon's apps, and install the apps I need to work (Vivaldi and Termux), but the Fire 10 is well able to handle my needs as a writer. Which is to say, for $100 on sale, with some slight modification, the Fire 10 is indeed capable of being useful for work.
-There's a fingerprint reader is on the side power button, which is a first for Fire tablet. There's a MicroSD slot so you can expand your media storage and the keyboard now connects via pogo pins which allow it to charge and communicate. Previous Fire tablets like mine need to connect to keyboards via Bluetooth, which is inconsistent and slow on the best of days. The Fire 11 Max also supports Wi-Fi 6 and has front and rear 8 megapixel cameras, making it a better video chat device as well.
+For that reason I was excited to try the Fire 11 Max—what's not to like about a more powerful tablet, this one made of real metal instead of cheap plastic? The Fire 11 Max does deliver what Amazon is promising here. It's is by far the best Fire tablet the company has ever made.
+
+The 11-inch 16:9 format screen features a nice 2000×1200 pixel 60 Hz display that's very glare-prone, but no worse than other tablets. The 16:9 format gives away that the first priority here is consuming movies (and reading if you rotate to portrait mode), but it's not great for productivity. It could be if Amazon tool some of the tools in Android 12L, which is optimised for tablets, but FireOS is based on an outdated version of Android that lacks any tabblet-friendly features. More on that in the minute.
+
+There's a fingerprint reader is on the side power button, which is a first for Fire tablet. There's a MicroSD slot so you can expand your media storage and the keyboard now connects via pogo pins which allow it to charge and communicate. Previous Fire tablets like mine need to connect to keyboards via Bluetooth, which is inconsistent and slow on the best of days (and they must be charged separately). The Fire 11 Max also supports Wi-Fi 6 and has front and rear 8 megapixel cameras, making it a better video chat device as well.
+
+Under the screen sites 4 gigabytes of RAM and a choice of either a 64 gigabyte or 128-gigabyte SSD (the larger storage is another $tk). The 11 Max is powered by a Mediatek MT8188J chip which uses an 8-core processor.
Those specs put the Fire 11 Max firmly in the middle of the Android tablet range, more powerful than its Fire siblings, but certainly no OnePlus or Samsung level tablet. See our [guide to the best tablets](https://www.wired.com/gallery/the-best-tablets/) for our picks on higher end devices.
For Amazon though, this qualifies as a high end tablet, relative to the rest of the Fire line.
-It's made of metal and feels much more like a quality device than any other Fire. My experience using it for a few weeks was less
-
-Throw in the very nice keyboard, cover, and stylus and you have something that really is powerful enough to be used for work. The problem is that to get all that you'll have to spend $330. Given that you can get a 9th-generation iPad on Amazon for $269 and a Bluetooth keyboard for $30 more... why would anyone buy a Fire 11 Max? It's a good tablet, but it's not anywhere near as powerful as even the base model iPad, and it doesn't even pretend to be anywhere near as useful.
+It's made of metal and feels much more like a quality device than any other Fire. My experience using it for several weeks made me a little sad to go back to my very plasticky Fire 10. It's also noticeably faster than the Fire 10, though not enough that I would feel compelled to upgrade. And one potential deal breaker to be aware of, the keyboard and case are not self-supporting. To be productive with the productivity bundle you need to put in on a flat surface.
-The reason you should buy an iPad in that scenario comes down to software: Fire OS, Amazon's proprietary fork of Android is terrible. It's always been terrible and as far as I can tell, it likely always will be terrible. It's sole purpose is to get you to consume Amazon content. It works well for that too, you'll have no trouble finding all your favorite Amazon Prime features through Fire OS. If you want to do anything else though you'll quickly find yourself fighting Fire OS to get it done, which is why the iPad, or [Lenovo's Tab P11](https://www.wired.com/gallery/the-best-tablets/#6436b7a1b084d83a4bb0ac97)), remain a better investment at these prices.
+The main problem with the Fire 11 Max is that to use it as more than a firehose blasting your eyeballs with Prime content you'll have to spend $330. Given that you can get a 9th-generation iPad on Amazon for $269 and a Bluetooth keyboard for $30 more... why would anyone buy a Fire 11 Max? It's a good tablet, but it's not anywhere near as powerful as even the base model iPad, and it doesn't even pretend to be anywhere near as useful.
-Fire OS, even when it does have the software you want, and
+The reason you should buy an iPad in that scenario comes down to software: Fire OS, Amazon's proprietary fork of Android, is terrible. It's always been terrible and as far as I can tell, it likely will always be terrible. It's sole purpose is to deliver your eyeballs unto Amazon. It works well for that too. you'll have no trouble finding all your favorite Amazon Prime features and perks through Fire OS. If you want to do anything else though you'll quickly find yourself fighting Fire OS to get it done, which is why the iPad, or [Lenovo's Tab P11](https://www.wired.com/gallery/the-best-tablets/#6436b7a1b084d83a4bb0ac97)), remain a better investment at these prices.
+The Fire 11 Max isn't terrible. Assuming you can pick one up later this year for 30 percent off (which could happen as soon as Prime Day), it's not a bad deal. Just be sure you're aware of the limitations that Fire OS puts on this otherwise good hardware.
-but having done so, I have no plans to upgrade. The extra power isn't noticeable to me unless I use them side by side.
# Guides Existing
@@ -1478,7 +1482,7 @@ For this review though I'll be looking at the Intel i7 model (with the 13th-Gen
You can configure your Framework with up to 64 gigabytes of RAM and use just about any PCIe Gen4 SSD. A fully maxxed out Framework Laptop 13, with 64 gigabytes of RAM and 2-terabyte SSD from Framework will set you back $2,018. You can save some money if already have an SSD,a nd of course you can start with a slower chip and upgrade just the motherboard down the road.
-That is after all the main appeal of the Framework -- you're in control. Or, at least a lot more in control than you are with a big box laptop. Every component in the Framework has a QR code on it that will take you to webpages that show you how to upgrade and change out your SSD, RAM, speakers, motherboard, and more. I've come to think that the existence of the MacBook made the Framework inevitable. It is the repairable Yin to Apple's locked up Yang.
+That is after all the main appeal of the Framework—you're in control. Or, at least a lot more in control than you are with a big box laptop. Every component in the Framework has a QR code on it that will take you to webpages that show you how to upgrade and change out your SSD, RAM, speakers, motherboard, and more. I've come to think that the existence of the MacBook made the Framework inevitable. It is the repairable Yin to Apple's locked up Yang.
I happen to think that nothing goes as well with repairable, customizable hardware as Linux, a user-centric, customizable operating system. Last time around I installed Linux on the Framework, but this time Framework provided me with a Windows 11 key. I dutifully installed and used Windows long enough to run some benchmarks, perform a battery drain test, and get a feel for day to day life on a Windows Framework. And then I pulled that drive out, stuck in my own, and install Arch Linux. Ah, much better.
@@ -1500,7 +1504,7 @@ If you're thinking of investing in your first Framework, I think now is the time
Acer's new Swift 14, which replaces the Swift 5, is the company's MacBook Pro, which is to say it's a well-built, svelte, slickly-designed, all-metal portable with enough power and battery to help you get things done no matter where you are.
-It's not perfect, and there are some better options for specific use cases, but for the price—$1,400 as tested -- you'd be hard pressed to beat this package as an all-around great laptop.
+It's not perfect, and there are some better options for specific use cases, but for the price—$1,400 as tested—you'd be hard pressed to beat this package as an all-around great laptop.
###
@@ -1522,7 +1526,7 @@ The Core i7 chip is an interesting choice here as it's a rather energy hungry pr
Where it is significantly different is in battery run time. I managed 6 hours and 14 minutes in our standard battery test, which loops a 1080p film (local) with the brightness at 75 percent. In real world testing, using it for work for a few weeks, I was rarely able to get a full day's work in without reaching for the cord. That's not a deal breaker to me, but it is something to consider and to me it reflects more on Intel than Acer. No one needs more power in their thin, light laptop Intel, what they need is better battery life.
-Where the Acer exceeds much of its competition—I'm looking at you Dell -- is the plethora of ports available. There are 2 USB Type C ports (both Thunderbolt 4 / USB 4), two USB-A ports, and an HDMI 2.1 port. There's also support for Wi-Fi 6. Even the webcam is great, with a 1440p camera capable of recording QHD video (which most video chat apps don't even support, but when they do, you'll be ahead of the game).
+Where the Acer exceeds much of its competition—I'm looking at you Dell—is the plethora of ports available. There are 2 USB Type C ports (both Thunderbolt 4 / USB 4), two USB-A ports, and an HDMI 2.1 port. There's also support for Wi-Fi 6. Even the webcam is great, with a 1440p camera capable of recording QHD video (which most video chat apps don't even support, but when they do, you'll be ahead of the game).
Despite all that, there are some things I don't like about the Swift. The keyboard is mushy the way all Acer keyboards are, but I take this to be a matter of personal taste because clearly Acer customers must like these keyboards, they haven't changed in years.