Amazon Takes Jab at iPad Mini with Gutsy Ad, Compares Kindle Fire HD

Open the Amazon’s website and you’ll notice an advert “Much More for Much Less”, comparing the Kindle Fire HD tablet with the iPad mini and showing that the Kindle Fire HD is available for $199 while iPad mini starts at $329. In a typical marketing gimmick, Amazon has listed the advantages of its tablet stating that the Kindle Fire HD display has 30 percent more pixels than iPad Mini, have dual stereo speakers, support to watch HD movies and Ultra fast MIMO WiFi. To make the ad more interesting and attacking, Amazon extracted a quote from technology site Gizmodo which says:

“…your [Apple's] 7.9-inch tablet has far fewer pixels than the competing 7-inch tablets! You’re cramming a worse screen in there, charging more, and accusing others of compromise? Ballsy.”

While Amazon may tout a pricing and few spec advantages, it still can’t touch the iPad Mini’s access to the vast ecosystem of applications available in Appstore. Amazon store has only 51,000 applications whilst Apple has around 275,000 apps in Appstore almost six times. The advertisement list only the gaps and not the advantage iPad Mini have over Kindle Fire HD. To summarize – iPad Mini has HD front camera for FaceTime and 5.0 MP rear camera whereas Kindle Fire HD has 1.2 megapixel front camera and lacks rear camera. There are few more differences as well.

So how does the iPad Mini stack up against the Kindle Fire HD aside from specs mentioned at Amazon Home Page? Well, we’ve got all the tech specs comparison below for your perusal. Take a look at the table below to get a ‘real’ idea.

The iPad mini vs. the Competition (Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD, Nook HD)

iPad Mini

Nexus 7

Kindle Fire HD

Nook HD

 

OS	iOS 6.0	Android 4.1	Android 4.0	Android 4.0
Display	7.9-inch LED-backlit IPS, 163 PPI	7-inch IPS display, 216 PPI	7-inch LCD IPS, 216 PPI	7-inch LCD IPS, 243 PPI
Resolution	1,024 x 768	1,280 x 800	1,280 x 800	1,440 x 900
Processor	Dual-core A5	1.2GHz quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3	Dual-core 1.2GHz TI OMAP4 4460	Dual-Core 1.3GHz TI OMAP 4470
Memory	512MB (unc)	1GB	1GB	1GB
Storage	16GB / 32GB /64GB	8GB / 16GB	16GB / 32GB	8GB / 16GB + microSD
Ports	Lightning connector, 3.5mm audio	micro USB, 3.5mm audio	microSD, micro HDMI, 3.5mm audio	30-pin connector, 3.5mm audio
Front camera	FaceTime HD	1.2-megapixel	HD	None
Rear camera	5-megapixel 1080p video	None	None	None
Cellular radio	Optional LTE	None	None	None
WiFi	802.11a/b/g/n	802.11b/g/n	802.11a/b/g/n	802.11b/g/n
Bluetooth	4.0	3.0	3.0	3.0
Accelerometer	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Gyroscope	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Battery	10 hours	4,325mAh	4,400mAh	4,050mAh
Thickness	7.2mm	10.45mm	10.3mm	11mm
Weight	308g (0.68 pounds)	340g (0.75 pounds)	395g (0.87 pounds)	315g (0.69 pounds)
Pricing	$329 (16GB WiFi) $459 (16GB LTE) $429 (32GB) $559 (32GB LTE) $519 (64GB) $659 (64GB LTE)	$199 (8GB) $249 (16GB)	$199 (16GB) $249 (32GB)(w/special offers)	$199 (8GB) $229 (16GB)
Availability	November 2nd (WiFi version)	Available now	Available Now	Available now

iPad Mini is the first model of the miniature version of full-sized iPad and if Apple keeps gunning it in the right direction, the gap between iPad Mini and Kindle Fire HD tablet offerings will continue to shrink. Apparently, iPad Mini sales are going good and the pre-order stock was sold out within 30 minutes.

Soon after, Amazon issued a statement saying that the 7-inch Kindle Fire HD sales have tripled over the week after iPad Mini launch. The company did not disclose out the actual sales figure making the statement ‘vague’.

But, if you care about having a large selection of apps and love to take photographs, the Apple iPad Mini is clearly the winner. What is your opinion about iPad Mini vs. Kindle Fire HD? Would you rather have an iPad Mini or a Kindle Fire HD model?