If you are looking for a tablet device on the cheap, the Playbook and the Kindle Fire are two options that you’ve probably encountered. The latter was designed to be in that tier while the former suffered from poor sales resulting in drastic price cuts. Now, Blackberry is presenting the Playbook 2.0 hoping for better results. The main difference between Playbook 2.0 and Kindle Fire is phone functionalities. Tablets with their huge 7 inch screens are not meant to be placed on the side of someone’s head. But Blackberry decided to incorporate this capability and most people would probably have the sense to use a Bluetooth headset to avoid looking silly.
Another stark difference between the Playbook 2.0 and the Kindle Fire is their connectivity features. The Playbook comes with all the bells and whistles; WiFi, 3G, Bluetooth, GPS, and even the not so established NFC. On the other hand, the Kindle Fire only has WiFi; greatly limiting your connectivity options. 3G, GPS, and NFC may not be very crucial, but Bluetooth is necessary for connecting with the many Bluetooth accessories like headsets, keyboards, and many more.
Then there’s the camera, another staple feature of most tablets. The Playbook 2.0 has both front and rear facing cameras with decent resolutions and both are capable of recording 1080p videos. The Kindle Fire doesn’t have any camera so you can’t really use it for taking photos, videos, or even talking to someone face to face on Skype. This is can be a deal breaker for many people as it’s a feature that we’ve come to expect from tablets and even smartphones.
Lastly, the Playbook 2.0 also has better specs when it comes to memory capacity. The Playbook comes in two models; a 32GB model and a 64GB model. On the other hand, the Kindle Fire only has 8GB of storage space. And when you consider that both devices do not have memory card slots, ample amounts of storage space become very important.
The Playbook 2.0 wins over the Kindle Fire in terms of brute specs and feature list. What the Kindle Fire excels in is price. If you can get the Playbook 2.0 anywhere near the price of the Kindle Fire, then that is the better bargain.
Summary:
The Playbook 2.0 is capable of voice calls while the Kindle Fire is not
The Playbook 2.0 has Bluetooth and NFC while the Kindle Fire does not
The Playbook 2.0 has cameras while the Kindle Fire does not
The Playbook 2.0 comes with higher memory capacities than the Kindle Fire