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iPad mini Suggestions: iPad Mini or Kindle Fire?

B

Bearygoodfries1

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 5, 2020
201
197
Hi Everyone,

So, I’m debating whether to get an iPad Mini or an 8” Kindle Fire HD Plus.

I’ll be using it only for reading articles, some textbooks, and TikTok.

I already have an iPad Pro, but I want something I can hold with just one hand, especially for when I’m walking on the treadmill.

The iPad Mini seems awesome, and I like iPads in general, but it’s a little pricey. If I’m just going to use it for what I mentioned above, maybe getting a cheap Kindle Fire would probably be best?

What are your thoughts?
 
My aunt was gifted a Kindle Fire by her son and she didn't even use it for a month before buying an iPad.

YMMV
 
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I would go for the mini. We tried the cheaper route before with our kids and it just wasn't worth all the hassle. My daughter got a fire hd 8 at her moms place and they replaced it with an iPad within the same year.

Even a mini 5 would be a big step up from that kindle device. They run some pretty dated hardware in them.
 
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The only way I would go with the Kindle over the mini is if you wanted just the basic Kindle for reading no other apps nothing else to it just the e-ink screen.
 
There's a reason the iPad mini is more expensive. The difference is palpable once you use both devices for more than a few minutes. If someone told me I could ONLY use a Kindle Fire as my tablet, I just wouldn't use a tablet. Yes, it's that bad.

Pay the extra and get the mini.
 
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Bearygoodfries1 said:
Hi Everyone,

So, I’m debating whether to get an iPad Mini or an 8” Kindle Fire HD Plus.

I’ll be using it only for reading articles, some textbooks, and TikTok.

I already have an iPad Pro, but I want something I can hold with just one hand, especially for when I’m walking on the treadmill.

The iPad Mini seems awesome, and I like iPads in general, but it’s a little pricey. If I’m just going to use it for what I mentioned above, maybe getting a cheap Kindle Fire would probably be best?

What are your thoughts?
Click to expand...
Certainly nothing wrong with going for a cheap, basically disposable Kindle Fire, especially if you're going to be using it on the treadmill where a single drop could be catastrophic.

Just be aware that any apps you need beyond the included ones you'll have to buy again even if you already own them for the iPad.
 
I was gonna say the kindle for reading until I realized that it wasn’t the ink screen kindle.

Then it’s a no brainer. IPad mini. If you just want it for reading and like the e-ink of a normal kindle, then I would do that hands down but I wouldn’t touch a kindle fire hd whatever with a 10 foot pole. The flexibility and utility of the mini would far outweigh the costs.

But put a case on it. It will fall and will break if you are regularly using it on a treadmill.

Frankly, I would use the iPad pro you have and just set it on the treadmill. I watch movies while running all the time with my 12.9 inch.
 
Bearygoodfries1 said:
Hi Everyone,

So, I’m debating whether to get an iPad Mini or an 8” Kindle Fire HD Plus.

I’ll be using it only for reading articles, some textbooks, and TikTok.

I already have an iPad Pro, but I want something I can hold with just one hand, especially for when I’m walking on the treadmill.

The iPad Mini seems awesome, and I like iPads in general, but it’s a little pricey. If I’m just going to use it for what I mentioned above, maybe getting a cheap Kindle Fire would probably be best?

What are your thoughts?
Click to expand...
I own both (and quite a few more) and heavily use them on a daily basis... for different purposes.

If you are going to use the device specifically for the things you stated, getting an Amazon Fire is the no-brainer choice.

As for which one to get, the Fire HD 8. Out of the box, it'll do the things you stated you want to do with it.

It has a microSD card slot for expanded storage, so you can buy the base model (ad-supported) and you'll be fine.

You have enough time to test it out and see if it truly suits your needs so you can return it if it doesn't.

The 64GB HD 8 is currently $59 on Amazon. That's a great price for a great tablet.
 
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Here's my two cents... my grandma got a good fire HD for her birthday a year ago so she could play digital puzzles and such. She was enjoying it, but when she left the house for a while, I decided to check the tablet so I could see what it was like. And... it was unbearable. There were advertisements on the home and lock screen. The performance was sluggish. Everything sent you to a different app and the transition (I timed) took 20 flat seconds to switch apps. Those things get obsolete fast.

Buy nice, or buy twice, as they say. I would really recommend buying nice here. My mini gave me a wonderful portable experience in the around 4 years I have used it, and it's still getting regular software updates. I'm not sure the Fire even gets software updates, like at all. You would probably want a mini 5. It's still pretty powerful these days, and definitely works for your uses. If you want a longer lifespan, get the mini 6 if you have the money to spare. You can sync stuff easily from your mini to your Pro and vice versa, if you get one.

All I ask is that you please skip the Fire. You will regret it.
 
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floral said:
Buy nice, or buy twice, as they say. I would really recommend buying nice here. My mini gave me a wonderful portable experience in the around 4 years I have used it, and it's still getting regular software updates. I'm not sure the Fire even gets software updates, like at all.
Click to expand...

In fairness, you can buy like 5 or more Fires for the price of the iPad mini.
 
floral said:
Here's my two cents... my grandma got a good fire HD for her birthday a year ago so she could play digital puzzles and such. She was enjoying it, but when she left the house for a while, I decided to check the tablet so I could see what it was like. And... it was unbearable. There were advertisements on the home and lock screen. The performance was sluggish. Everything sent you to a different app and the transition (I timed) took 20 flat seconds to switch apps. Those things get obsolete fast.

Buy nice, or buy twice, as they say. I would really recommend buying nice here. My mini gave me a wonderful portable experience in the around 4 years I have used it, and it's still getting regular software updates. I'm not sure the Fire even gets software updates, like at all. You would probably want a mini 5. It's still pretty powerful these days, and definitely works for your uses. If you want a longer lifespan, get the mini 6 if you have the money to spare. You can sync stuff easily from your mini to your Pro and vice versa, if you get one.

All I ask is that you please skip the Fire. You will regret it.
Click to expand...
Amazon Fire tablets get regular updates... 4 years and counting.

As for performance, the Fire HD 8 is fine. No, it's not iPad Mini speeds, but it is fine. I've spent a TON of time with Fire tablets (check out my threads here on MacRumors about the Fire tablet line) and I'm not trying to invalidate your personal experiences, but they are just that... your personal experiences.
 
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sparksd said:
I have a Mini 6 and Kindle Oasis and prefer the Mini for reading ebooks (some hours per day).
Click to expand...

I whiffed on this - where the OP said Fire, I read Kindle. I've had a Fire in the past and if you're not doing a lot of heavy lifting with it, it's not bad for the low price and would work fine for the OP's intended use.
 
sracer said:
Amazon Fire tablets get regular updates... 4 years and counting.

As for performance, the Fire HD 8 is fine. No, it's not iPad Mini speeds, but it is fine. I've spent a TON of time with Fire tablets (check out my threads here on MacRumors about the Fire tablet line) and I'm not trying to invalidate your personal experiences, but they are just that... your personal experiences.
Click to expand...
And your personal experience is also just a personal experience. No opinion here is going to be the "correct" or "logical" one. It's up to the OP on what tablet they pick. I personally just believe the mini 5/6 is well worth the price and that the Fire is going to slowly stack up problems that will overtake the "it's cheap though!" over time.
 
Most of the folks I know who started with kindle fire ended up with an iPad mini. My wife got a Kindle fire hd 8 in 2016, used it for couple of months and went back to a 2013 iPad mini. That was the last experiment with fire in my household.
 
I have a Kindle Fire 7 lying around... when it gets used, which isn't often, it's exclusively for reading. For that plus everything else, I prefer my iPad.
 
Just get an iPad mini. The fire HD 8 is ok. My kids have one and they also have fire HD 10s. They have them because they are 4 and 6 and are not careful enough with their stuff to have an iPad yet. I don’t care when it breaks and I just get them a new one. The build quality is quite poor compared to any iPad you’ve ever used. It’s slower and the OS isn’t that great. You can side load the Google play store which makes it more useable but the user experience is so much better on the iPad mini.
 
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floral said:
Here's my two cents... my grandma got a good fire HD for her birthday a year ago so she could play digital puzzles and such. She was enjoying it, but when she left the house for a while, I decided to check the tablet so I could see what it was like. And... it was unbearable. There were advertisements on the home and lock screen. The performance was sluggish. Everything sent you to a different app and the transition (I timed) took 20 flat seconds to switch apps. Those things get obsolete fast.

Buy nice, or buy twice, as they say. I would really recommend buying nice here. My mini gave me a wonderful portable experience in the around 4 years I have used it, and it's still getting regular software updates. I'm not sure the Fire even gets software updates, like at all. You would probably want a mini 5. It's still pretty powerful these days, and definitely works for your uses. If you want a longer lifespan, get the mini 6 if you have the money to spare. You can sync stuff easily from your mini to your Pro and vice versa, if you get one.

All I ask is that you please skip the Fire. You will regret it.
Click to expand...
The fire tablets do get updated regularly for several years. They run a forked version of android. I think to make it unseeable you need to side load the Google play store. Also about the adverts you can have those removed. You either pay £10 or if you complain enough to Amazon they usually remove them for free.
 
Last edited:
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floral said:
And your personal experience is also just a personal experience. No opinion here is going to be the "correct" or "logical" one. It's up to the OP on what tablet they pick. I personally just believe the mini 5/6 is well worth the price and that the Fire is going to slowly stack up problems that will overtake the "it's cheap though!" over time.
Click to expand...
I think in this users case he has access to both an iPad mini and a fire HD tablet so he can be more forgiving to the deficiencies of the fire HD tablet. I have an iPad mini 6, an iPad Pro 11 and a fire HD 10. I only use the fire HD to stream TV shows that I can’t watch in the UK. It’s a decent enough tablet. I got it on sale. I knew the exact purpose I had in mind for it. If it’s a choice between the mini and the fire HD tablet. I’d say get the mini. For me it wasn’t a direct choice and therefore I can be more forgiving of the inadequacies because I only use it for one thing which I’m not going to do on either of my iPads.
 
Shanghaichica said:
The fire tablets do get updated regularly for several years. They run a forked version of android. I think to make it unseeable you need to side load the Google play store. Also about the adverts you can have those removed. You either pay £10 or if you complain enough to Amazon they usually remove them for free.
Click to expand...
Yeah, emphasis on "I don't think"... I didn't really bother to check since my grandma never asks for "it says to update" like it does with every other device.
 
I procrastinated for over a year about getting an iPad mini to complement my iPad Pro. Finally pulled the trigger on it back in November, and I’m really glad I got it. It gives me ANYTHING my iPad Pro does, just in a smaller package.

My primary reason for wanting it is reading - I have a kind (e-ink) but I’m not happy about how that works reading in bed; the “Night mode” is white-on-grey rather than white-on-black. The iPad works much better for me.

But beyond that - if I want to send a text or email, or look at photos - all my Safari bookmarks are there - EVERYTHING is there. I find myself grabbing the mini for “Quick” things more and more. The iPad Pro with Magic Keyboard still has its place - I’m typing this on it, for example. But the mini is great when portability is important. I take it with me for appointments, etc so I can read a book or browse the web while waiting (tethered to my iPhone).

Having a Kindle Fire instead of this… I mean, I suppose as a book reader it’d be fine. But the iPad mini is SO much more.
 
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