Amazon Plans to Release 4 Fire Tablets and Kindle Voyage 2

September 16, 2015 By Michael Kozlowski 25 Comments

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Amazon is planning on releasing four new Fire Tablets and the Kindle Voyage 2 e-reader this week. The company is gearing up to dominate the low-end spectrum with an upcoming $50 six inch tablet. They also have a 7, 8 and 10 inch model in the works, according to leaked photos on the main Amazon server. All of these tablets will be running a new version of the Fire OS that will be based on Android 5.1.

Over the last few years the Fire tablets have lost their charm, as people tend not to upgrade their devices every year. Will Amazon offer a compelling enough reason for people who have older models to upgrade to the latest and greatest? Likely not, but a $50 entry level model will appeal to people on on a budget or with kids. If you are already heavily invested in the Amazon ecosystem, it might be a compelling value proposition.

Fire Tablet Pictures 1, 2, 3, 4

Michael Kozlowski (7743 Posts)

Michael Kozlowski is the Editor in Chief of Good e-Reader. He has been writing about electronic readers and technology for the last four years. His articles have been picked up by major and local news sources and websites such as the Huffington Post, CNET and more. Michael frequently travels to international events such as IFA, Computex, CES, Book Expo and a myriad of others. If you have any questions about any of his articles, please send Michael Kozlowski an email to michael@goodereader.com

News Items of Interest

JV

Can’t wait to see official specs on the Voyage 2. I hope they wow us….and dont leave us feeling underwhelmed.
Good E-Reader

I have a feeling they might do away with the Haptic feedback page turn buttons, since they weren’t able to market this device in a lot of countries because it could not get the patent for it.
JV

That will be too bad. Although, i dont think the buttons were essential….they were a nice distinction. I think alot of people are going to be upset that they didnt wait for the 2nd generation.
Imprevist

A 7″ Voyage 2 is an automatic purchase for me even with the same existing specs and a $200 price tag. However, a 6″ Voyage 2 is an automatic non purchase, even with the best specs, newer software and a lower $150 price tag. I only care about size at this point, all other factors are good enough for an ereader.
Good E-Reader

Well, we reported that the Voyage 2 was in development months ago and suffice to say, Amazon releases 2-3 e-readers every year.
Brian Thompson

I can’t say that I’m interested in keeping the haptic feedback along as it keeps the page turn buttons. A faster processor for smoother navigation & lower power consumption would be ideal.
dale caldwell

Thanks. I almost ordered a Voyage last night. I’ll wait a few days.
Steve H

Seven inches or larger…even 6.8″ and I am buying one. It’s time for a larger e-reader from Amazon. Other than that they will need to get very creative to capture my dollars:
1) speakers for audible/text to speech
2) storage increase
3) font control options
4) much better battery life
Imprevist

New font options are sorely needed. I did like Bookerly but they need to do away with Futura, Caecilia, and Baskerville and provide classic established reading font options such as Georgia, Charter and Times new roman. I highly doubt they will offer SD expansion although better batterly life is a no brainer. Audible integration would be nice although would require more storage space 8gb would be ideal. Still none of these I believe are absolutely crucial aside from a mandatory screen size increase and perhaps more font options.
Suzatm

I agree. I have the six inch reader and do most of my reading on my IPad mini because of the larger size. My Voyage is the reader I use when I can’t sleep at night. A larger than six inch reader would be an immediate buy and my constant companion. Another six inch would be a pass for me.
Good E-Reader

Amazon really needs to include audio in an e-ink reader, without it, they will never be in schools and higher education. This is a market they really want to break into.
Imprevist

Yes they should considering they own Audible and the growing popularity of audiobooks. However, they already have tablets for that and while it would be a great addition to an e-ink ereader, i dont believe its a deal breaker such as the importance of a larger screen size.
Reader

Agreed. Mobility is not a need for me, so the ability of an e-reader to fit into a pocket is not an issue. Larger screens make for easier reading. A tablet, due to its higher energy consumption, is not a consideration for me. Unfortunately, 6-inch e-readers nearly monopolize the market.
Imprevist

Off topic here but any word on the Nook Glowlight 2?
Jacob Pressures

This article says that the Voyage will be released this week! I can’t wait. I thought i was going to have to wait until November! So why is the article saying it will be released this WEEK? The article that is referenced in the article doesn’t say anything about the voyage only the tablets.
Colin Steinke

Where’s the rumor or proof? You mentioned it in the title but nowhere else…
Danny Shemesh

The tablets were announced, but no voyage in sight.
Any news on that ?
Max

They had text-to-speech in the earlier generations. My 2011 kindle has it. I’m guessing since they got rid of it in later models, they may not add it to future ones.
Jacob Pressures

Yeah, I’m quite disappointed. And to me, I hope I’m wrong the way it says new members of the family kinda makes me wonder if there will be a Voyage this year. I guess we will have to wait and see. Its really not good to treat your loyal customers like this.
dz11

1) I had speakers on my Kindle Keyboard. It would be nice to have them again as an option but I hardly ever used them when I did have them. Besides, they are not needed as much nowadays as you can just use your phone or tablet to play audio books. So I wouldn’t bother to upgrade just for speakers.
2) Current 4GB storage is enough for most people. After all, you’re only storing ebooks and not video or music. I nowhere near running out of space on mine.
3) It could do with this upgrade to the font options. Allowing you to control the thickness of the font would be enough to satisfy me. But they could probably bring this to the current Voyage by just sending us an over the air upgrade to the software.
4) Does it really need better battery life when it already lasts for weeks on one charge? Not a good enough reason to upgrade IMO.

I think Amazon have a problem as all they can really do is upgrade the processor and that isn’t going to be a good enough reason for most people to upgrade to the voyage 2. The other thing they can do is bring the price down as the Voyage seems rather expensive compared to a tablet with a bigger screen which are often much cheaper.
Imprevist

I don’t believe e-ink technology is catching up fast enough to offer significant kindle eink upgrades on a yearly basis. Perhaps Amazon is waiting on einks new Mx7 processor in order to roll out a new update, if true this might cause a pushback and delay a release. Goodereader announced earlier this year that the new Voyage would also be 6″, perhaps Amazon scrapped that and went back to the drawing board due to the incessant demand for a larger ereader thus causing a delay.
This of course is pure speculation but i cant think of any other reasons why a new Voyage 2 wasnt announced today.
George Miller

Michael K – any update to this article regarding the timing of the Voyage 2 release? Thanks.
Jacob Pressures

I was given some details about possibility of getting a Kindle Voyage this year. Honestly, it was nice to get a response. But given what I know about Amazon, i thought it was odd and hopefully a slight change of policy to actually get some feedback about their products. Nevertheless, I didn’t want to completely ruin it if they feared it might appear worldwide on the net, I asked them if i could share the information. They replied as you can see below:

I understand from your comments that you want to know if you can share the information about Kindle Voyage.

I’ve checked our previous correspondence with you and I’m sorry for the miscommunication in this regard.

I’ve personally contacted our developers team regarding the Kindle Voyage and I’m sorry we don’t have any update regarding the Kindle Voyage and they also informed me that any update about releasing the Kindle Voyage will updated on website. Given the case, I request you to keep checking our website from time to time so that if we are releasing any new version we will first update the information on the website.

I’ve also forward your comments about your interest in Kindle Voyage device. We’re regularly working on improvements to your Kindle experience. I’ve let the team know you’re interested in this specific device.

It is always important for us to hear how customers react to all aspects. Your valuable feedback will help us to improve the selection and service we provide and we’re glad you took time to write to us.

Note: Regarding the information you received from my colleague, please do not speculate this information because it was a miscommunication from our end.

Again, I’m sorry for the inconvenience caused in this regard.

Your patience and understanding is highly appreciated. We look forward to assisting you soon.
rogerinnyc

Here’s some feedback — please, please give us the ability to have a book’s cover act as a screensaver on our Voyage. I’d happily pay on top of the $20 I pay now to get rid of the special offers. I can’t understand why this is not an option — it’s the reason that, for now, I’ve switched to a Kobo Aura H20.