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Walmart vs Amazon

I have been, and remain, a big fan of Amazon Fire Tablets starting from the original Fire Tab 7 and up to the current Fire Tab HD 8. They have been price/performance terrific values. Solidly built, and well integrated with Amazon's prime services for ebooks, video and music. I have found the screens suitable for reading books and watching video. They are nowhere near "top of the line" but neither is the price.

The only competition in the price range has come from "Black Friday" specials that were never that special....or other ebook platforms like the Nook. Those looking for a decent "Android Tablet" at that price range have been out of luck...until now.

Walmart has come out with the Onn Tablet, an 8" Android Pie tablet for $64. The hardware is almost identical to the Kindle Tab HD 8. The screen is suitable for reading books and watching video. At least to my eyes. Walmart has some preinstalled "bloat ware" that is actually reasonable: Walmart app, Sams Club app, Vudu, Walmart Grocery and Walmart eBooks (tied into Kobo book store). And there is a Walmart button next to the Android buttons (not a physical button). I find it MUCH less intrusive than the full screen ads you get on a Kindle (unless you pay $20 more to turn them off).

For those that have wanted a general Android tablet and not a heavily skinned "ecosystem delivery tablet"....your ship has come in. Other than the previously mentioned apps and button, the rest is vanilla Android 9/Pie. You can load Amazon's apps, or anybody else's. You have the Google Play Store.

While the screen appears the same to me for both....there is clearly some advantages due to Android 9. The OS is smoother than Amazon's Adroid 7.1 derived "Fire OS". I can finally write fb messages, tweets, and web posts by typeing on the tablet. The keyboard response is quick and smooth. Typing on the Fire Tab's have always been janky and frustrating. I found the Walmart tablet just a bit quicker and smoother over all. Probably wouldn't appear in performance testing results...but I could feel the difference. A difference "in the same class", not a completely "much better, class above" way.

The battery saving features are upfront and easy compared to "burried in settings" of the Fire Tab. Frankly, I didn't know the Fire tab had the battery saving options until after discovering the ones on the Walmart tablet and then going and searching for them. There are supposed to be some AI backed battery saving features due to Android 9...but you'll have to look to other types of reviews to find out how effective they are.

I did put the tablet in "battery saving mode" with 40% battery left and went to bed. This morning the Walmart tablet still had 40% battery left. A nice improvement over my Amazon Fire Tab experience. Which, again, maybe now that I know where those features are on the Fire Tab, I'll be able to do that as well.

These tablets are more equivalent than different. If you are an Amazon prime member, and aren't as interested in a generic Android tablet...then the Fire Tablet would likely be a good choice. I know that I will still give Fire Tablets to friends and family that aren't all that tech savvy.

If you've been wanting a real Android tablet experience at a great price, I think the Walmart tablet is the choice. It is less money, and pure Android.

Last year I felt Amazon punted with the newest HD 8. Added Alexa always on feature but didn't upgrade the cpu. Maybe Walmart will light a little fire (no pun intended) under Amazon to not rest on it's laurels this year. Clearly Walmart is dancing to Amazon's tune with this tablet and I bet intends to continue copying Amazon's playbook. However, Amazon has the mind space and marketing muscle behind it's tablets. Amazon with Kindle books and Prime Video and Amazon Music is just far ahead of Walmart with it's new book tie up with Kobo and it's Vudu video service. But, you can get the Walmart table and still consume the Amazon content...which wouldn't hurt Amazon's feelings one bit.