I am online now. I do not want to screw this up.
I need to purchase a 10’’ Amazon Fire tablet (and an Otterbox case). My wife wants the sort that takes a telephone SIM card and connects to the Intertube much as a telephone does. Not like the sort that I have that requires a nearby HotSpot.
First question, what is the keyword I am looking for to get this sort of connectivity?
No Fire tablet in many years has taken a SIM card. They only have WiFi/Bluetooth/USB connectivity.
They can have microSD cards, not the same thing of course.
FWIW, you also need to back in time a few days when they were on sale during Prime “Day”.
I bought a 10" one last summer’s Prime Day and have been happy with it, but then I only use it for very basic things.
Thank you.
Do all have identical “WiFi/Bluetooth/USB” connectivity? Would any of these do what I to do, that is to say connect without using a nearby mobile phone as a hotspot?
Fire tablets connect to wifi just like your phone or laptop would. I’ve had several 8" versions going back to 2017 and been able to connect to hotel/public wifi networks without a problem 99% of the time. (the 1% were due to weird network configurations, not to the tablet itself)
Since there are different versions of WiFi and Bluetooth you’d need to check what kind of things you want to connect to. That is, if you want the latest and greatest speeds, etc.
USB allows you to connect via a USB OTG cable various things like an Ethernet port, Ext. drive, etc. There might be something you could connect that does cell service.
The XDA forums are a good place to check for more advanced stuff like that.
I understand that they all connect to the Internet. Ideally, I would like to do this through my telephone carrier, not using a public connection. Once upon a time this was done as if the Fire was itself a telephone. The wireless carrier would of course install a chip and bill you to make this happen.
Nope.
A key phrase you might look for is “tablet with SIM card slot”.
Most of these are actually sold by carriers; buying one independently is probably possible, but you’d have to make sure its cellular radio is compatible with your provider.
And then you’d have to sign up for another line from a provider to get cell data service for the device.
In any event, none of these are current-generation Fire devices, according to Google search.
Well, I suppose that does sort of make things easier. It seems all of these are identical in how they connect to the Internet. I cannot screw with up. Right?
WiFi is pretty much guaranteed to be how tablets connect to the Internet. And most homes and many public locations have WiFi.
True cell data capability is usually not useful most of the time.
Well then, I suppose I can buy the Fire I am looking at knowing that nothing much else will what my wife asked for. That simplifies things at least.
Thank you very much.
I’m going to comment on someone who owns and has owned multiple fire tablets AND as someone who owns a non-Fire cellular tablet.
First, while I agree with @gnoitall, that MOST of the time you don’t need your own direct cellular/SIM connection, there are plenty of times it can be helpful. Still, the deciding reasons for choosing such an option should be asked of @Paul_was_in_Saudi’s wife.
Second, a possible reason for confusion is that pre and post Fire, there are variations of the Kindle E-readers (not Fire Tablets) with LTE:
But they generally don’t have a removeable SIM as asked, and serve almost only as E-readers (minor quibbling) - the LTE served to allow you to download a new purchase nearly anywhere and that was largely it.
I use an Android cellular tablet as my carry around computing resource - it’s a lot easier to read on an 8’ or 10’ screen than a phone, no fuss in tethering the way a wi-fi only tablet would be, and it’s very useful when travelling. But it’s by no means something I need. And it would otherwise be costing me around $25 per month US if I hadn’t gotten the monthly service free due to an old promo.
Figure depending on carrier, a minimum of $15 per month for limited data, and up depending on how much mobile data you want. Also assume that any cellular tablet is going to cost 2-3x what a kindle fire would.
For a cellular enabled budget tablet, I’d probably suggest T-Mobile’s REVVL 5g tablet (yes, I used to work for them, so I know them best). It would be $200, so far less than a (granted, much BETTER) iPad, and most of Samsung’s decent tablets.
ETA - better explanation of LTE on E-Reader and fix spelling errors.
I feel I am starting to understand this now.
Some older versions of the Kindle did offer cellular connectivity for data usage when not connected to WiFi. The current Kindle Fire 10 does not offer such features.
Amazon deleted this feature as it just added cost to the device and required a monthly subscription and the uptake buy subscribers had dwindled. With the ability to download a lot of content to your device when you anticipate not being connected to WiFi, most consumers found the feature pretty useless.
My first Kindle (which had a keyboard—I think it was the 3rd Kindle model to be released) had cellular 3G connectivity instead of Wifi for shopping for and downloading ebooks. (At least, I don’t remember it having Wifi capabilities, but that may just be because I didn’t have easy access to Wifi in those days). There was no extra cost (nor monthly subscription) for this; it was included in the price of the device itself. It wouldn’t have been much by modern standards, since downloading ebooks takes a very limited amount of data compared to many of the things that people use tablets for, like browsing the internet or social media, or downloading/streaming video or audio.
Note that Amazon has long since ceased using the name “Kindle” for its Fire tablets, reserving that name for its e-ink ereader devices and its book-reading apps. As far as I know, no Fire tablet has ever offered cellular connectivity, but I could be wrong about that.
No, there were some high end earlier models that did, but as @Omar_Little mentions, they were sold at a premium, required carrier service at additional cost, and were abandoned. But some of the e-reader models still have the “free” LTE connectivity for book (and I think audible) purchases, such as the one I linked earlier. And that may lead to some of the confusion for the OP’s spouse.
Here’s an example of a 2012 model with the feature:
Note, it shows: “Ultrafast and affordable 4G LTE wireless via AT&T” - not the free service, and again, requiring service through a carrier.
I ordered the First Generation Kindle on the day it was released. It has low-speed internet through a system call WhisperNet. I loved it. You could leave on overnight and it would download your newspaper and stuff all by itself. This was the apex of Kindle development.
Whispernet was just their branding. Kindles still automatically update.
I’d like to point out that most carriers (certainly the major ones) sell dongles that plug into a USB port and allow cellular network access. I’m guessing it adds an extra monthly charge to your bill (or maybe not).
Since it shows having a SIM enabled, then yeah, you pay for the SIM, and a data plan to support it. If @Measure_for_Measure’s cellular plan supports data and tethering (and at sufficient speeds / sufficient data), that’s probably going to be the value fix for a non-cellular tablet / 2-in-1 / whatever.
Plans are generally going to run $20-30 per month for standalone tablet / “wireless device” service, with a wide array of carriers, often with a discount if bundled with your default cell provider.