s AI-powered devices continue to gain traction, Amazon is trying out a popular form factor.

On Thursday, Amazon launched Alexa Tablets, built from the ground up around its namesake AI assistant. Though the tablet line-up offers several new hardware upgrades, including all-new aluminum unibody, vivid displays, and more advanced processors to support the more demanding AI workloads, the more noteworthy feature is the core integration of Alexa+, with built-in, personalized experiences that make it easier to leverage Alexa.

For instance, when you open the devices, the home screen has Alexa integrations in the top-left and bottom-right corners. The Alexa+ chatbot is in the bottom-right corner, where you can start conversations as you would with any other chatbot.

• However, if you have On-Screen Intelligence turned on, you can ask Alexa for help with what's on the screen in real time by pulling from the bottom-right corner or speaking directly to it.
• The top-left corner, known as the Dynamic Tab, includes the time, books, songs, or shows you were watching, as well as suggestions. When you swipe right on it, you can access a personalized "For You" feed that acts as a hub for a user's content, along with AI prompts to offer a deeper dive.
• This device connects with user Amazon accounts, learning from a user's existing context.

The line-up includes the Amazon Alexa Tablet 12 Pro, Alexa Tablet 11, and Alexa Tablet 8. However, the Alexa Tablet Pro is the best of the bunch. At just 6.5mm thick, it feels remarkably light, and its evenly distributed weight makes it comfortable to hold. Amazon deliberately chose a 3:2 aspect ratio, rather than the more typical 16:10, to better suit content and multitasking. Powering it is a 4nm 8-core chip that Amazon claims delivers nearly three times the processing speed and nine times the graphics performance of any previous Amazon tablet. A new Nanomatte display option also reduces glare.

And despite the AI integration the tablet offers a distraction-free "Kindle Sanctuary" option for reading, turning off notifications, reducing blue-light and providing up to 20 hours of battery life.

Our Deeper View

Amazon Alexa Tablet 12 Pro feels like it was made for me. It keeps some of Kindle's best features, including the Kindle sanctuary and three reading modes: black-and-white e-ink, the more muted tones of Colorsoft, and a vivid color option that e-ink can't offer. The nanomatte display also gives it an edge over premium tablets like the iPad, at a lower price ($549.99 for the 12 Pro with nanomatte). However, nearly all of these advantages come down to hardware upgrades, and that's exactly my concern. The AI features seem genuinely useful, but I'm not sure people will buy the tablet for its AI alone, since Alexa+ doesn't have the star power of ChatGPT or Gemini. However, that may change if Alexa+ gets another upgrade, which could be on the way if Amazon follows prior years' patterns.