Technology moves on, and these models are all getting older. That doesn’t mean you can’t snag some deals on a refurbished or used model. Both the Kindle Fire HD and Nexus 7 are outdated models, so this comparison is for historical purposes. 

We’re going to set aside the 8.9 inch model of the Kindle Fire HD because if you wanted a bigger tablet, you wouldn’t be comparing it to the Nexus 7. In that case, you should probably compare it to the similarly priced iPad. For now, we’ll stick with the Android competition. 

Let’s break it down into the pros and cons.

Both devices have front-facing cameras and no rear camera. Both devices have 1280 x 800 screen resolution. Neither device has a card slot for expansion, so the storage you buy is the storage you’re stuck with. Both support Bluetooth and have gyroscopes and accelerometers to let you tilt your screen for horizontal or vertical views. Both devices run on Android.

Kindle Fire HD

The Nexus 7

Storage Space

The Kindle Fire HD is the winner in this category. The Kindle Fire HD starts at 16 GB storage and goes up to 32 GB. The Nexus 7 starts at 8 GB and goes up to 16 GB for those same price points.

How important is this? If you want to keep a lot of music, books, or movies offline, this is important. If you’re near Wi-Fi access, you can use cloud storage to stream content or exchange what you’ve downloaded. This is going to make the most impact on people who want to watch downloaded movies.

Wireless Data

The Nexus 7 offered no cell data plans, so the Kindle wins by default. However, the 4G LTE plan is only available in the 8.9-inch model. If you want a tablet with a solid 4G data plan, you may be better off shopping beyond either the Kindle or Nexus models.

Parental Controls

The Kindle Fire HD also promises to add enhanced parental controls to allow parents to create a profile for their children. The profile allows the parents to determine access to books and apps on an individual basis and set time limits for activities, so if you wanted to set a time limit on movies but leave unlimited time for reading, you could do so.

The parental controls are (as of this writing) still theoretical and have yet to be released. If they behave as described, they are superior to what is offered on the Nexus 7. While you may be able to use parental control apps on the Nexus 7, there is no out of the box support for blocking app purchases or limiting screen time. Score Kindle.

Available Content

The Nexus 7 is the clear winner for someone who has eBooks in different formats or doesn’t want to feel restricted to one market and one app store.

Android

The Nexus 7 was built to showcase the latest version of Android, 4.1 Jelly Bean. That means it runs the widest variety of apps, including most apps built for earlier versions of Android. It features voice control and slick interface improvements. It also runs all the Google apps that were restricted from the Kindle. In the Android category, the Nexus 7 is the clear winner.

The Choice

The Kindle Fire HD is for you if you:

  • Only buy Kindle books and don’t anticipate getting books from any other source.Download lots of movies or music and want to keep them on your device. Have young children that need to be restricted from accidentally purchasing items or want to electronically limit screen time. Or you want to give this device to a child.

The Nexus 7 is for you if you:

Overall, we think these are both great tablets. We are philosophically inclined to go for the more open system, but we don’t think either device will end up disappointing a new owner.

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