This Amazon Fire Max Tablet Is $140 Right Now
If you're looking for a media and productivity companion without going full iPad, this refurbished tablet is worth considering.
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The Amazon Fire Max 11 feels like the grown-up version of the Fire Tablets that used to be just good enough. It's bigger, cleaner, and doesn’t stutter when you try to do more than scroll through a book or stream a show. Right now, you can grab a certified refurbished unit with 128GB of storage and no lock-screen ads for $139.99 (down from $239.99). And it’s not old tech, either—it came out last summer and earned PCMag’s Best Budget Tablet of the Year 2024.
Its 11-inch screen is a bright, crisp LCD panel with a 2,000 x 1,200 resolution and decent 213ppi sharpness. It’s not quite iPad-level quality, but it gets close, especially for reading, streaming, or even casual drawing with the optional $36.99 stylus. The aluminum build adds a bit of a premium touch, and the stereo speakers are surprisingly solid for something at this price. There’s no headphone jack (which feels like a miss), but Bluetooth 5.3 is stable for wireless headsets. Internally, it’s running on 4GB RAM and a processor that keeps things snappy. You can browse, download, and play light games without the usual budget-tablet lag. You can expand storage beyond the already generous 128GB via microSD (sold separately) up to 1 TB.
That said, it still runs FireOS 8, which is Amazon’s custom take on Android. If you’re already tied into Kindle, Prime Video, and Audible, it makes sense. But if you rely on Google apps or want Play Store access out of the box, it’s not the most open system—you’ll have to sideload apps manually, notes this PCMag review. Camera-wise, it’s nothing to write home about: It's got two 8MP shooters that are fine for Zoom calls or document scans, but not much else. Battery life also doesn’t quite live up to the advertised 14 hours; you’re more likely to get around eight to 10 hours, depending on what you’re doing. The tablet charges via USB-C and technically supports 15W charging, but Amazon ships it with a slower 9W adapter. Still, for under $150, it’s hard to find a tablet with a screen this good and that much storage.
Amazon also sells some solid accessories to go with it. There’s a magnetic slim cover for $49.99 that makes it easier to carry around without scratching the screen, and a matte anti-glare screen protector for $17.99 if you’re reading outside or just hate smudges. And if you want to turn the Fire Max 11 into a basic productivity setup, the $84.99 keyboard case snaps on magnetically and works well for emails or notes.
