THE CRUNCH

Amazon's Fire tablets have long been cheap and cheerful, fine for kids but rarely something you would actually want to use. The new $499 Alexa Tablet 12 Pro, one of several Android tablets Amazon announced today, is the company's attempt to change that, according to a hands-on from The Verge.

The big departure is software. Unlike the Fire lineup, the Alexa Tablet does not run a restricted version of Android tied to Amazon's app store with ads for Amazon services throughout. It has full access to the Google Play app store. Under the hood it offers 8GB or 12GB of RAM and a MediaTek Dimensity 8400 eight-core CPU, and the headline feature is its new matte display.