Amazon Alexa Tablet 12 Pro vs iPad Pro: Similar Display, Far Lower Price
Amazon's new Android-based Alexa Tablet 12 Pro is aimed squarely at Apple's iPad Pro. The displays are comparable, but Apple's tablet is more powerful, while Amazon's is considerably cheaper.
US technology company Amazon has launched a new Alexa Tablet lineup, and its most premium model, the Alexa Tablet 12 Pro, is clearly aimed at Apple's iPad Pro. Unlike earlier Fire Tablets, the new device runs Android and offers the Play Store rather than the limited Amazon Appstore. Compared with the 13-inch iPad Pro, Amazon's offering is much cheaper, though not equal in every area.
Display
The Alexa Tablet 12 Pro has a 12-inch LCD screen with a 2,800 x 1,840 resolution (280 pixels per inch), 500 nits of brightness and a 120Hz refresh rate. Amazon's Panos Panay said the display was the "one thing" the company would not compromise on.
The 13-inch iPad Pro uses an OLED screen with a 2,752 x 2,064 resolution but a lower density of 264 pixels per inch. Apple's advantage is its tandem OLED technology, which offers higher contrast and 1,000 nits of brightness, double the Amazon model. Both companies also offer anti-glare glass treatments: Amazon's "Nanomatte" at $550, and Apple's nano-texture glass, available only on the 1TB and 2TB versions.
Performance and software
The Alexa Tablet 12 Pro is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 8400, a chip released in 2024 and intended mainly for smartphones. Apple uses the laptop-class M5 chip. The Amazon tablet also has less memory: 8GB in the 128GB version and 16GB in the 256GB version, whereas the iPad Pro starts at 12GB. The Play Store has fewer apps designed specifically for tablets than Apple's App Store.
On the other hand, Amazon's device is more closely tied to Prime services, a Kindle mode and the Alexa+ assistant, which connects to a wider range of smart home products, including Ring doorbells and cameras.
Price
The Alexa Tablet 12 Pro costs from $500 for a glossy screen or $550 for a matte one. The 11-inch iPad Pro starts at $1,199 and the 13-inch at $1,499. Apple's 13-inch tablet with a pencil and keyboard comes to $1,977, while Amazon's bundle with a keyboard and pen costs $650.
