The Amazon Kindle Fire had a good run in the Android ecosystem because of its very low price of $200, which is something no major Android manufacturer dared or thought to do that until then, even though it should’ve been an obvious move for both them and Google if they wanted to capture as much market share as possible and become established players in the market.
The Android users have been recommending the Kindle Fire for price sensitive buyers that wanted a low-cost Android tablet, that they can later root and put a custom ROM with the latest version of the real Android on it. But those days are officially over now because now everyone can order a Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 from BestBuy now for $250.
The price is a little bit higher, but it’s worth it. You get double the RAM, double the storage, and even a microSD slot compared to the Kindle Fire, all in a tighter and lighter package, which should make it better for long-term reading or movie watching, too. Plus you get 2 cameras, one in the front and one in the back, which are lacking from the Kindle Fire.
Those of view who are still disappointed to see the lack of an HD resolution like 1280×800 might want to wait until this July, when Google is supposed to launch their own tablet for around $200 (maybe less, maybe more), which will most likely have such a resolution.
Until then I say the Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 is a definite replacement for a Kindle Fire, especially since it comes with Android 4 straight out of the box, so if you actually wanted an Android tablet that is not limited by Amazon’s apps and restrictions, with the latest version of Android without having to root it, then this is the perfect option for you right now.