Amazon introduced a $250 tablet bundle on Monday that tries to lump together everything a reading fan might be seeking in a device, from unlimited e-books to a leather case that feels like a real book.
The bundle includes a Amazon Fire HD 8 (normally $130), a year’s subscription to the Kindle Unlimited e-book catalog (normally $10 per month), a leather case and all the typical reading features we’ve come to expect from Amazon devices.
It’s priced right at what you would normally pay for the Fire HD 8 and the unlimited e-book subscription, so really the only thing that makes it a bargain is that Amazon is throwing in the free leather case that “opens like a book.”
The offer is a little unusual, since Amazon already sells a line of Kindle e-readers. But the company explains that while Kindles are “purpose-built for reading,” this is “the best tablet for reading.” In other words, the Reader’s Edition is designed for reading e-books — but it can do a lot of other things, too.
The Fire HD 8 tablet, which was first introduced in September, comes with the same specs we’ve seen before. It has a quad-core processor, front- and rear-facing cameras, up to 128GB expandable storage, 8-hour battery life and an 8-inch display, which Amazon points out is the similar to the size of many books. It can be used to run apps, surf the web and do everything else you would expect from a tablet.
Amazon also points out it comes complete with all the reading-centric features the company builds into all its devices, like the “Blue Shade” filter designed for night-time reading and the Word Runner speed reading tool.
The bundle debuts during what has already been a record-breaking holiday shopping season for Amazon devices, which saw sales triple in the weekend following Thanksgiving.
