HP Slate 7 Extreme VS Kindle Fire HDX 7 Specs Comparison

Written by B Johnson January 22, 2015
HP Slate 7 Extreme VS Kindle Fire HDX 7 Specs Comparison
Hi guys, welcome back!

Earlier, i’ve already made a bunch of comparison reviews between HP Slate 7 Extreme and other tablets. The most recently are between this tablet against Google Nexus 7 and Asus MemoPad 7 HD.

I actually also compared this HP’s tablet with a much larger 10.1-inch Surface RT, which is kind of weird especially given their screen size difference.

(HP Slate 7 Extreme VS Kindle Fire HDX 7 Specs Comparison)

However, i had the reasons to do that.

Both HP Slate 7 Extreme and Microsoft Surface RT are Tegra 4 tablets, so then i thought – why not – let’s pit them both side-by-side in my comparison review.

HP Slate 7 Extreme VS Kindle Fire HDX 7 benchmarks and gaming performance

Anyway guys, today, i want to keep the momentum going by giving you more of another comparison review. Right now, it’s going to be between HP Slate 7 Extreme VS Kindle Fire HDX 7.

Both tablets are 7-inch devices and running on Android platform.

However, there are many parts that separate these 2 tablets apart – the most noticeable ones are the UI, the display, the processor, the cameras, the storage, the RAM, the GPU and a lot more.

But i think these 2 tablets are pretty interested to compare especially since HP Slate 7 Extreme and Kindle Fire HDX7 both are in the same price bracket around $200 (HP Slate 7 Extreme is $199, while Kindle Fire HDX 7 is $229).

Introduction

Ever since Amazon debuted its Kindle Fire HDX lineup last year, tech sites and public started to take Amazon seriously on tablet market.

And that’s thanks to Amazon’s decision to embed Snapdragon 800 processor, Adreno 330 GPU and 2GB of RAM, not to mention, high-resolution display, on 2 of its last-year Kindle Fire HDX tablets – Kindle Fire HDX 7 and Kindle Fire HDX 8.9.

There’s no doubt that the use of this powerful chipset along with its GPU clearly makes these 2 tablets on par even with the flagship rivals on the market last year, even the iPads.

And more impressively, based on display benchmark tests held by some tech sites, Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 amazingly managed to leapfrog many high-end tablets out there on display department, even iPad Air.

Meanwhile, similar just like Kindle Fire HDX 7, HP Slate 7 Extreme is also a top quality tablet but on other different category.

It’s a note-taking tablet actually - as opposed to the Kindle Fire HDX 7 that is intended as a pure media-consumption device.

But the great thing about this HP Slate 7 Extreme – especially compared to Amazon’s tablet – is, not only is this tablet superior in terms of gaming performance, but it also offers a lot of things that Kindle Fire HDX 7 don’t.

This HP’s slate may not have the full HD display and 2GB of RAM of Amazon’s tablet, however, on many parts of this device, i think HP Slate 7 Extreme can be considered as a better all-around tablet than Kindle Fire HDX 7.

First of all, HP Slate 7 Extreme has the stylus, and this stylus amazingly is as great as the S-Pen on Samsung GALAXY Note.

The writing experience brought by this stylus is also really realistic – just like writing on paper – and you can even draw some professional paintings on this device.

And that’s thanks to a company named N-Trig that develops, designs and engineers the stylus and its technology found on HP Slate 7 Extreme.

Besides that great stylus, HP Slate 7 Extreme is also equipped with a 5MP rear-facing camera and VGA font –facing camera - which according to some reviews on YouTube – are able to take some decent quality shots (even slo-mo videos).

It goes the same with the gaming performance of this tablet.

As a Tegra 4 tablet, it’s no brainer that this device will be more than capable to handle even the latest heavy games like GTA San Andreas, Asphalt 8: Airborne or Modern Combat 5.

But the questions remain, with all of these strengths and high-grade specs found on HP Slate 7 Extreme and Kindle Fire HDX 7,

Which one is a better performer when it comes to playing games?

Do HP Slate 7 Extreme and Kindle Fire HDX 7 still deserve to be positioned alongside other flagship rivals on today’s tablet market?

Is any of these tablets really worth to buy, especially as the device for playing heavy games?

Design

On the design standpoint, either HP Slate 7 Extreme and Kindle Fire HDX 7 each has its own characteristic and identity one to another.

HP Slate 7 Extreme is more prominent with dual-front-speaker grilles, while Kindle Fire HDX 7 has more elegant and clean looks all over the front and back.

However, the one that should be given the crown here is definitely HP Slate 7 Extreme. And this is simply because it has more mature and unique design, plus its dual-speaker grilles are not just there for no reason.

The manufacturer puts these dual-front-speakers to make the sound quality of this tablet much louder and clearer, especially for enjoying contents like movies or games.

HP Slate 7 Extreme
HP Slate 7 Extreme
HP Slate 7 Extreme 2
HP Slate 7 Extreme
Kindle Fire HDX 7
Kindle Fire HDX 7

Even many tech reviewers around the net admit it that the sound quality brought by these dual-speaker grilles is just awesome.

And amazingly, the sound even doesn’t get muffled when user covers the speaker grilles when holding this device.

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HP Slate 7 Extreme Kindle Fire HDX 7
No SIM
Released December 2013
7.0 inch IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 800 x 1280 pixels, (~216 ppi pixel density)
Android OS, v4.2.2 (Jelly Bean)
Nvidia Tegra 4 Quad-core 1.8 GHz Cortex-A15 CPU
1 GB RAM
5 MP rear-facing camera, autofocus, HDR
VGA front-facing camera
microSD card slot for up to 32 GB
16 GB Internal storage,
No GPRS
No EDGE
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth
USB
No Radio
GPS
HDMI port
Java
Non-removable Li-Po 4100 mAh battery
Up to 10 hours 30 min (multimedia) Talk time
Released October 2013
Micro-SIM
7.0 inchIPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
1200 x 1920 pixels (~323 ppi pixel density)
Fire OS 3.0
Android OS, v4.x Jelly Bean customized Mojito UI
Quad-core 2.2 GHz Krait 400 Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 Chipset   
Adreno 330 GPU   
No micro card slot   
16/32/64 GB Internal storage
2 GB RAM
1.3 MP rear-facing camera (720p video recording)
No front-facing camera
No Radio
Accelerometer, gyro Sensors   
HTML5 Amazon Silk Browser   
No Java   
Non-removable Li-Ion battery
Talk time: for Up to 11 hours

On the sector of hardware, i think both tablets are equally prepared on this department, both has its own strengths and weaknesses.

Amazon may have a full HD display, 2GB of RAM, a flagship Snapdragon 800 processor and Adreno 330 GPU, LTE connectivity and a promised 11 hours of battery life, but HP Slate 7 Extreme also has much to say on this sector.

First, it has the stylus (a great quality stylus and its technology), a quad-core Tegra 4 processor, 72-core GeForce ULP GPU, 5MP rear-facing camera, microSD card slot, full-featured stock Android OS and 4100mAh battery.

Screen

If there is one sector that makes HP Slate 7 Extreme look mediocre compared to Kindle Fire HDX 7, then it’s definitely the display.

HP Slate 7 Extreme only comes with 720p resolution on its 7-inch display. On the other hand, Kindle Fire HDX 7 may have something to brag with its full HD 1080p display (1920x1200 pixels).

So when it comes to sharpness, then Kindle Fire HDX 7 is more superior than HP Slate 7 Extreme.

Watching HD movies, reading books, browsing the web or playing games definitely will be a lot better on Amazon’s tablet than HP’s slate. But even so, both are still great for enjoying media-contents.

User Interface

Amazon has been really famous for its homemade Fire OS on all of its Kindle Fire tablet since the beginning. And that doesn’t stop here on Kindle Fire HDX 7.

This 7-inch slate still inherits the legacy of its predecessors, which is a simplified version of Android stock UI (based on Android 4.3 Jelly Bean out of the box).

Its UI is called Mojito (but the refreshed 2014 edition probably has been updated to Sangria UI and hopefully the next update to Root Beer will arrive soon. Lol).

Meanwhile, HP Slate 7 Extreme is more convenient to run the stock Android UI on its engine.

It has all the standard features of stock Android OS 4.2.2 Jelly Bean not to mention the standard design layout of Android OS, with widgets, app shortcuts, app drawer, notification and setting windows, etc.

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As far as the performance is concerned, actually both tablets are equally great on this department.

And that’s because HP Slate 7 Extreme and Kindle Fire HDX 7 are both armed with 2 powerful high-end processors, with HP Slate 7 Extreme having the Tegra 4, while Kindle Fire HDX 7 receiving the top mobile processor, Snapdragon 800.

In fact, i think it’s really obvious that these 2 devices will excel on the sector of performance. It’s just no brainer.

However, when pitted side-by-side, then the one that should take the crown is definitely Kindle Fire HDX 7.

The reason to believe that is Snapdragon 800 processor is the current top mobile processor on the market to date, alongside Apple A7 and Samsung 5 Octa Exynos processors.

Not to mention, Kindle Fire HDX 7 comes pre-installed with very light Fire OS, which is the simplified version of stock Android.

But even so, HP Slate 7 Extreme is also as great as Kindle Fire HDX 7 in terms of performance.

Despite using the full-featured Android stock UI, with all of its standard features, this tablet is still more than happier to perform really fast and smooth with no lag whatsoever.

And that’s thanks to the Tegra 4 processor supplied by NVIDIA, accompanied with a staggering 72-core of GeForce ULP GPU and 1GB of RAM.

So everything that you throw on this tablet will be executed perfectly by its Tegra 4 processor in buttery smooth performance.

The great thing about this tablet is, HP Slate 7 Extreme is only sporting 720p resolution on its 7-inch display – as opposed to the 1080p display on Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 7.

So this is why its Tegra 4 processor is set with lower 1.8GHz clock speed, compared to a much higher 2.2GHz clock speed on Amazon’s tablet.

So the processor of HP Slate 7 Extreme is only required to deliver its power to a medium-resolution display, which has less pixels to execute than the 1080p display of Kindle Fire HDX 7.

But despite all that, there’s no single doubt both HP Slate 7 Extreme and Kindle Fire HDX 7 are both great high-end performers on today’s tablet market.

It runs really fast and smooth, and there’s just no lag and stutter found on these tablets.

It goes the same with the gaming performance of these devices. As a Tegra 4 tablet, HP Slate 7 Extreme has a great graphical performance especially thanks to the 72-core GeForce ULP GPU embedded beneath this tablet.

So any games that you see today on the market – even the latest graphics intense titles like Modern Combat 5, Asphalt 8: Airborne or GTA San Andreas – all can be executed perfectly on this device in buttery smooth performance and of course, in full highest graphics.

The same story happens as well on Kindle Fire HDX 7.

The Snapdragon 800 and Adreno 330 GPU are the current top mobile processor and GPU on the market today, so basically, you can play any games on Amazon App Store.

I mean, any games. From the simple casual games like Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja, Temple Run 2 or Minion Rush to even the latest graphically demanding games like Asphalt 8: Airborne, Modern Combat 5 and GTA San Andreas.

Not only do all of these games run in smooth performance, but they can all be played in full highest graphics.

And thanks to the full HD display on this Amazon tablet, the games look insanely sharp and crisp on this device, making the experience a lot more fun and enjoying to do in long long hours.

HP Slate 7 Extreme may only have 720p resolution on its 7-inch display. However, this tablet also has its own strength compared to Kindle Fire HDX 7.

And that’s thanks to – again – its Tegra 4 processor.

As a Tegra-powered tablet, HP Slate 7 Extreme will grant you exclusive access to NVIDIA’s Tegra Zone (but the name has been changed now to NVIDIA Hub), where you’ll be able to find a wide range of THD games well-optimized only for Tegra devices.

So games will have more detailed graphics and more visual effects that are unavailable on other devices.

But for me personally, in terms of gaming experience, i think i’m gonna go with HP Slate 7 Extreme because it has the access to Google Play Store out of the box – which has been removed on Kindle Fire HDX 7 due to Amazon App Store.

So there will be many of favorite games available for HP Slate 7 Extreme.

On the other hand, even though Amazon App Store is growing strongly each year, there is still some limitation especially on its game catalog, although not that significant.

The other thing that makes HP Slate 7 Extreme a great gaming tablet is also its dual-speaker grilles on the front of device.

It actually kind of reminds with the same dual-speaker grilles on HTC One M8. So these dual-speaker grilles are really strong and really loud but still have clear sound quality.

And many tech reviewers on the net agree with this.

So if you’re gonna use it for playing games, the experience brought by HP Slate 7 Extreme will be a lot more fun than on Kindle Fire HDX.

It’s fast, it has huge game catalog and the speaker sounds really loud and clear.

However, despite being a better gaming tablet, there is still one downside found on HP Slate 7 Extreme. And that is its overheating issue.

Actually, many Tegra 4 tablets are mostly plagued by this same issue. So their rear-covers will get hotter easily especially when doing some heavy intense tasks like gaming or watching HD movies.

However, the good thing is, HP Slate 7 Extreme is only using 720p resolution on its display.

So this issue – although it happens -, is probably not that significant compared to other Tegra 4 tablets that use 1080p or even 2.5K display.

Cameras

The other sector where HP Slate 7 Extreme finds its superiority than Kindle Fire HDX 7 is definitely its camera department.

It’s – in fact – just no brainer to take that conclusion because HP Slate 7 Extreme comes with front VGA and rear 5MP cameras, while Kindle Fire HDX 7 is not equipped with rear-facing camera, only front-facing shooter.

The most impressively is, according to many reviews on YouTube especially, the cameras of HP Slate 7 Extreme both are able to take decent quality shots and even slo-mo videos.

So these cameras are not just there for making this tablet look good on paper.

But they do really have the quality.

So even if you’re not going to use its cameras a lot, i believe you will find them really handy especially if you forgot to bring your digital camera or smartphone at your disposal.

You probably would use the stylus as well to add more creativity into your photos.

Battery Life

Amazon Kindle Fire tablets have been really good at staying alive for many hours. Okay, i’m talking about their battery life.

Even from the first-gen Kindle Fire released 3 years ago, this tablet already gained a lot of great reviews for its strong battery life.

This probably happens because all Kindle Fire tablets only deploy the stripped-down simplified version of stock Android OS.

So there are many features and tasks – which could drain the battery – that have been recycle-bin'd by Amazon in order to keep it more efficient in battery life.

And that still continues on the latest-gen Kindle Fire HDX 7.

According to GSMarena, this tablet is capable to deliver around 11 hours of battery life, obviously for enjoying media contents.

The awesome thing is, even with the 1080p resolution – which could be really power hungry -, not to mention its quad-core processor, this Kindle Fire HDX 7 will still keep its engine alive in a solid day.

Meanwhile, HP Slate 7 Extreme with its 4100mAh battery also doesn’t want to look mediocre in front of Amazon’s tablet.

This tablet is capable to deliver you a 10 hours of promised battery life.

So basically, you can do a lot of things with these 2 tablets in one day – like watching movies, reading books, browsing the web, listening to music or playing games.

However, the story would be different if you are gonna use any of these tablets for doing some heavy tasks intensively, without resting the screen at all.

Their battery could only survive probably around 4 to 6 hours the longest, maybe less.

But even so, as media-consumption devices, both HP Slate 7 Extreme and Kindle Fire HDX 7 are equally great in battery life. No doubt about that.

My Personal Opinions

So in my conclusion of this comparison review is, i’m gonna say that both HP Slate 7 Extreme and Kindle Fire HDX are just great, especially as media-consumption devices.

They have great display, powerful gaming performance, smooth experience and good battery life.

However, if all of the parts of these 2 tablets are taken into account, i think i’m gonna go with HP Slate 7 Extreme instead because what this tablet has to offer is just unmatched by a pure media-consumption device like Kindle Fire HDX 7.

Even this Amazon’s tablet is equipped with full HD display, huge RAM and high-end flagship processor, these are just not enough to make it a better all-around tablet than HP Slate 7 Extreme.

I mean, if we take a look a bit closer to this HP’s tablet, first, it has the stylus. And this stylus is just great and even as amazing as the S-Pen on Samsung Note.

Not only can you take simple notes with this stylus, but you can literally draw some professional paintings out of it.

Besides this great stylus, HP Slate 7 Extreme also:
  • has great rear-facing camera, 
  • microSD card slot, 
  • full-featured Android UI, 
  • powerful gaming performance, 
  • great sound quality thanks to its dual-front-speakers, 
  • awesome design 
  • and probably pretty much everything about this tablet is just great
  • of course, with the exception of its overheating issue - which could be handled by lowering its processor’s clock speed with apps like “no frills” (required root), etc.
Meanwhile, Amazon Kindle Fire HDX may have its razor-sharp full HD display, huge 2GB of RAM and flagship processor, however, this tablet is only great as a media-consumption and gaming tablet, nothing more.

Yes – it’s great for watching HD movies, reading books/magazines, browsing the web or playing games (especially with its sharp display), but at the end of the day, this tablet is gonna end up as a pure media-consumption device or gaming tablet.

Not to mention, its Fire OS deploys a really simple UI, with no standard features and customizations found on the stock Android.

And this can be a bit boring for some users.

So bottom line, if we take a look at these tablets in bigger picture, i think HP Slate 7 Extreme is a more versatile tablet than Kindle Fire HDX 7.

But even so, Kindle Fire HDX 7 is also a great tablet though, especially for enjoying contents. So both tablets are great, but in my opinion HP Slate 7 Extreme is better.

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