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tomsem · 07-14-2023, 02:10 AM

The Fire Max 11 I ordered on Tuesday arrived today (I got the bundle with keyboard case & stylus -- 3 separate shipments, the keyboard case hasn't made it here yet).

Just some first impressions.

The form factor and build quality is nice. Bezels are about 2/3 of Fire HD 10, so its slightly larger screen fits a frame only about a 1/2 inch longer and only a bit heavier. Aluminum instead of plastic. The display seems a bit improved. Sound is better.

It quickly updated, and is on FireOS 8.3.1.9 (Fire HD 10 is 7.3.2.8). It has Dark theme as option (scheduling option as well), I guess apps can adapt to this system setting.

Of course this has Pen & Handwriting settings: Hover indicator option, Stroke width/color, preferred languages.

The handwriting recognition works pretty well, and while the stylus doesn't have the sexy feel of writing on Scribe, it is not half bad, and maybe feels a little better than (unmodified) Apple Pencil.

The problem is finding apps to use it with. I tried a couple of featured drawing apps and yuck. Did not seem to support pressure sensitivity, and one of them would not generate lines until you lifted the stylus for certain strokes. Very weird.

I tried a few things with Microsoft OneNote and stylus didn't work too well with it: wouldn't let me handwrite the Title, and I had to first start a text note before I could switch to the stylus and try handwriting to text. And the gestures to erase and edit didn't work correctly. I want to compare with OneNote with Apple Pencil on iPad, something I have not used a lot.

I sure hope they add Notebooks app (compatible with Scribe).

Comparing the Kindle app is interesting. The Max seems to have a slightly older version 14.81.100, vs 14.81.160 on Fire HD 10, even after checking for updates. The text sizes seem to be one notch larger on the Max, even though the DPI is nearly identical (and same number of pixels on the short dimension: 1200). So 3 on Max is about the same as 4 on HD 10. But it fits a few extra characters per line. And of course (in portrait) there is an extra inch so there are 3-4 more lines of text (minimum line spacing).

The cameras are much better also but doubt I'll have any reason to use them.

I'm beginning to think I might want to put Google Play on here at some point. But no urgency.

More tomorrow after I get the keyboard case.

07-14-2023, 02:10 AM	#27
tomsem Grand Sorcerer Posts: 6,968 Karma: 27060153 Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: USA Device: iPhone 15PM, Kindle Scribe, iPad mini 6, PocketBook InkPad Color 3	The Fire Max 11 I ordered on Tuesday arrived today (I got the bundle with keyboard case & stylus -- 3 separate shipments, the keyboard case hasn't made it here yet). Just some first impressions. The form factor and build quality is nice. Bezels are about 2/3 of Fire HD 10, so its slightly larger screen fits a frame only about a 1/2 inch longer and only a bit heavier. Aluminum instead of plastic. The display seems a bit improved. Sound is better. It quickly updated, and is on FireOS 8.3.1.9 (Fire HD 10 is 7.3.2.8). It has Dark theme as option (scheduling option as well), I guess apps can adapt to this system setting. Of course this has Pen & Handwriting settings: Hover indicator option, Stroke width/color, preferred languages. The handwriting recognition works pretty well, and while the stylus doesn't have the sexy feel of writing on Scribe, it is not half bad, and maybe feels a little better than (unmodified) Apple Pencil. The problem is finding apps to use it with. I tried a couple of featured drawing apps and yuck. Did not seem to support pressure sensitivity, and one of them would not generate lines until you lifted the stylus for certain strokes. Very weird. I tried a few things with Microsoft OneNote and stylus didn't work too well with it: wouldn't let me handwrite the Title, and I had to first start a text note before I could switch to the stylus and try handwriting to text. And the gestures to erase and edit didn't work correctly. I want to compare with OneNote with Apple Pencil on iPad, something I have not used a lot. I sure hope they add Notebooks app (compatible with Scribe). Comparing the Kindle app is interesting. The Max seems to have a slightly older version 14.81.100, vs 14.81.160 on Fire HD 10, even after checking for updates. The text sizes seem to be one notch larger on the Max, even though the DPI is nearly identical (and same number of pixels on the short dimension: 1200). So 3 on Max is about the same as 4 on HD 10. But it fits a few extra characters per line. And of course (in portrait) there is an extra inch so there are 3-4 more lines of text (minimum line spacing). The cameras are much better also but doubt I'll have any reason to use them. I'm beginning to think I might want to put Google Play on here at some point. But no urgency. More tomorrow after I get the keyboard case. Last edited by tomsem; 07-14-2023 at 02:22 AM.