Continued from Part 3
Battery life
Amazon advertises 10 hours of battery life for the Kindle Fire HD 8.9, one hour less than the 7-inch version. I received almost 8.5 hours of battery life after playing several videos, listening to music for almost an hour, and surfing the Internet over Wi-Fi for more than an hour. My device was set to about 80 percent brightness.
This is very impressive for such a small device. It will last you longer on a single charge than the iPad mini or even the new Google Nexus 10. However, be aware that streaming videos takes away more battery life than it does on other tablets. In fact, after streaming videos straight for 6 hours, the battery of my Kindle Fire HD 8.9 was dead.
The iPad generally beats the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 in battery life. Unlike the Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8.9, you really can get 10 hours in some situations -- but only some. If you stream videos for five and a half hours, you will have a dead battery. The Kindle Fire HD 8.9 lasts a half hour longer in this situation.
Conclusion
At $200 to $230 less than the iPad 4, the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 is a far better value. Even though it is cheaper, you are not getting a cheap device. Watching movies with the Dolby stereo sound is a portable experience which will blow you away. You can't have this experience on the iPad 4.
If you don't mind paying a much higher price and want access to millions of apps (many which you probably won't ever use), the iPad 4 is for you. If you want a slightly faster processor, the iPad 4 is also for you. However, if you don't mind easily side-loading some apps on the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 and downloading others from the Amazon app store, you will have the best tablet money can buy.
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