Summary: Amazon has raised the bar in the tablet space with its competitively priced new Kindle Fire HDX tablet line. Having been officially announced, when can you actually get one and for how much?
The new Kindle Fire HDX line of tablets look really nice and are priced to sell. The two sizes, 7 and 8.9 inches, are each packed with fast hardware and running Amazon’s latest Fire OS 3. Fire OS is based on Android 4.3 with Amazon’s UI on top to make it easier to use.
Both tablets are available to order currently but won’t be shipping for a while. We wanted to see when different configurations would actually be available and went through the order process for every hardware combination so you don’t have to.
Amazon also announced non-HDX models of the Kindle Fire starting as low as $ 139 but since the greatest interest seems to be the high-end models that’s what is covered here. Both sizes of the Kindle Fire HDX are configurable with different internal storage capacities and with/without 4G LTE on either Verizon or AT&T.
When we started checking availability it quickly became clear that the biggest impact on delivery is the LTE option. This option adds a month or more over the models without LTE, so those thinking of an LTE tablet for the holidays could be pushing it to get in time.
The amount of internal storage doesn’t affect availability dates so that’s not a factor. The only other configuration option is a $ 15 charge to remove ads on each model. Amazon serves ads on all Kindle Fires when the $ 15 is not configured and paid as a purchase option.
Here is the breakdown of configuration, availability date, and price for both HDX tablets. Note that Amazon is careful to state that the availability date is the release date, which implies this is not a shipping date. Since Amazon calls this a release date, we assume that’s when shipping will commence on a first come basis. Those who hold off ordering one of the Kindle Fire HDX tablets may not get theirs shipped until later, depending on how Amazon works it.
| Model | Storage | Wi-fi only/LTE | Release date | Price |
| HDX 7″ | 16GB | Wi-fi | Oct. 18 | $ 244 |
| HDX 7″ | 32GB | Wi-fi | Oct. 18 | $ 284 |
| HDX 7″ | 64GB | Wi-fi | Oct. 18 | $ 324 |
| HDX 7″ | 16GB | LTE | Nov. 14 | $ 344 |
| HDX 7″ | 32GB | LTE | Nov. 14 | $ 384 |
| HDX 7″ | 64GB | LTE | Nov. 14 | $ 424 |
| HDX 8.9″ | 16GB | Wi-fi | Nov. 7 | $ 394 |
| HDX 8.9″ | 32GB | Wi-fi | Nov. 7 | $ 444 |
| HDX 8.9″ | 64GB | Wi-fi | Nov. 7 | $ 494 |
| HDX 8.9″ | 16GB | LTE | Dec. 10 | $ 494 |
| HDX 8.9″ | 32GB | LTE | Dec. 10 | $ 544 |
| HDX 8.9″ | 64GB | LTE | Dec. 10 | $ 594 |
Observations
The earliest release date is October 18 (which is coincidentally the date of Windows 8.1 availability), and the latest December 10.
Adding LTE is $ 100 on both the HDX 7 and HDX 8.9 over wi-fi only.
LTE models are released about a month after the wi-fi models.
Storage capacity does not affect release date.
To save money on the purchase, subtract $ 15 from any price above to get ads pushed to the tablet.
With the HDX 8.9 release dates for models with LTE approaching the middle of December, there could be uncertainty of getting one of these tablets in time for the holidays if order not placed soon.
All models can be ordered on Amazon’s web site.
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