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I bought 4 of the same tablet (Fire HD 10) on Black Friday 2021 for Home Assistant dashboards and a Fire HD 10 Pro (edit: actually Plus) I use as an E-reader/br

I bought 4 of the same tablet (Fire HD 10) on Black Friday 2021 for Home Assistant dashboards and a Fire HD 10 Pro (edit: actually Plus) I use as an E-reader/browser (with KOReader/Firefox). To save money I got the cheaper version with lockscreen ads pre-installed but before ever letting them online I ran Fire Toolbox to remove the ads, debloat, block updating and install Google services. Fire Toolbox is excellent: https://xdaforums.com/t/windows-linux-tool-fire-toolbox-v45-1.3889604/ https://xdaforums.com/t/windows-linux-tool-fire-toolbox-v45-... I've never had the problems OP describes but my tablets all came with FireOS v7.3.2.1 and I've never let them update. I think Amazon started locking down later firmware versions more but Fire Toolbox can still do quite a bit to tame and decruft later versions. The XDA forum for Fire Toolbox has a lot of posts covering exploits and workarounds for later FireOS versions. Once the Amazon cruft is tamed, I still haven't found a meaningfully better 10-inch thin/light Android tablet than the 2021 Fire HD 10 Pro. It has wireless charging, weighs 430g and at 247 x 166 x 9.2 mm no one makes a 10" that's much lighter, smaller or thinner. The only slight downside is FireOS 7 is based on Android 9 and new versions of a few apps are starting to require later APIs. I'd gladly pay ~$250 for a 10" Android 16 tablet with wireless charging that was as thin & light but had smaller bezels for overall smaller size.

drnick1 1mo ago
> Once the Amazon cruft is tamed, I still haven't found a meaningfully better 10-inch thin/light Android tablet than the 2021 Fire HD 10 Pro. It is shocking that no mainstream tablet manufacturer will let buyers exercise control over their device. At the very least, this means having root and being able to use it to purge unwanted software. Ideally, it also means being able to fully replace the stock OS with third party/open firmware.
- hahajk 1mo ago
  Doesn't the pixel tablet come with an unlocked bootloader?
  - drnick1 1mo ago
    Good point, this seems to be a real alternative, and it even supports GrapheneOS.
  - saidinesh5 1mo ago
    But Pixel tablet is fairly old these days no? 3-4 years old these days?
- KetoManx64 1mo ago
  The only one that does openly is Google at this point with their Pixel Tablet from 2024 or so, which I think they didn't do a second version of. I'm running GrapheneOS on mine, same with my Pixel phone.
  - someguyornotidk 1mo ago
    Sorry for the off-topic question but by any chance have you tried it with a stylus? I've read conflicting reports about how well this feature is supported. The pixel tablet is not available in my region and is _very_ expensive (for me) to import, so I really want to be sure it can replace my aging 6 year-old samsung tablet before I pull the trigger.
ck2 1mo ago
I think you mean the "plus" not "pro" The Plus model has more ram (memory) and wireless charging than the base model It only comes in Slate dark-grey color and is often resold on Amazon's Woot ("used like new") I have one, bought a year ago anticipating this would eventually happen, exciting times lol Now we'll get LineageOS on this with newer Android within another year * https://computers.woot.com/offers/amazon-fire-hd-10-tablet-2021-release-10 https://computers.woot.com/offers/amazon-fire-hd-10-tablet-2...
- yjftsjthsd-h 1mo ago
  > Now we'll get LineageOS on this with newer Android within another year I would very much like that, but do we have a solution to the locked bootloader? My recollection is that on previous fire tablets, the only way to get a custom rom was to do an ugly hack that still uses the stock kernel because that's the only thing that's signed in a way the bootloader will run. Which is still something but it's a big caveat.
  - ck2 1mo ago
    They've managed to unlock the bootloader on Fire tablets up until 2019 so just guessing give them a year, lol what will drive it to happen is Amazon is still selling hundreds of this tablet via Woot for $25-$35, they drop it in batches every few months as they refurb them Mine looks and works like brand new for $25 Just without LineageOS I cannot do tap-to-wake or dual-mode usb-on-the-go while charging like the pre-2019 tablets
- mrandish 1mo ago
  > I think you mean the "plus" not "pro" Yes, you're correct (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08F6FYN6B https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08F6FYN6B). Wireless charging and 4gb RAM vs 3gb. I think the 2021 Fire HD 10 Plus may have been the only ~10-inch tablet ever with Qi charging. For a thin & light e-reader/browser it's really perfect because it sits on the cradle on my nightstand always charged and ready to go. The display size feels like a hardback page. Now that it's been rooted, I'm really hoping for Lineage OS.

drnick1 1mo ago

> Once the Amazon cruft is tamed, I still haven't found a meaningfully better 10-inch thin/light Android tablet than the 2021 Fire HD 10 Pro. It is shocking that no mainstream tablet manufacturer will let buyers exercise control over their device. At the very least, this means having root and being able to use it to purge unwanted software. Ideally, it also means being able to fully replace the stock OS with third party/open firmware.

hahajk 1mo ago
Doesn't the pixel tablet come with an unlocked bootloader?
- drnick1 1mo ago
  Good point, this seems to be a real alternative, and it even supports GrapheneOS.
- saidinesh5 1mo ago
  But Pixel tablet is fairly old these days no? 3-4 years old these days?
KetoManx64 1mo ago
The only one that does openly is Google at this point with their Pixel Tablet from 2024 or so, which I think they didn't do a second version of. I'm running GrapheneOS on mine, same with my Pixel phone.
- someguyornotidk 1mo ago
  Sorry for the off-topic question but by any chance have you tried it with a stylus? I've read conflicting reports about how well this feature is supported. The pixel tablet is not available in my region and is _very_ expensive (for me) to import, so I really want to be sure it can replace my aging 6 year-old samsung tablet before I pull the trigger.

ck2 1mo ago

I think you mean the "plus" not "pro" The Plus model has more ram (memory) and wireless charging than the base model It only comes in Slate dark-grey color and is often resold on Amazon's Woot ("used like new") I have one, bought a year ago anticipating this would eventually happen, exciting times lol Now we'll get LineageOS on this with newer Android within another year * https://computers.woot.com/offers/amazon-fire-hd-10-tablet-2021-release-10 https://computers.woot.com/offers/amazon-fire-hd-10-tablet-2...

yjftsjthsd-h 1mo ago
> Now we'll get LineageOS on this with newer Android within another year I would very much like that, but do we have a solution to the locked bootloader? My recollection is that on previous fire tablets, the only way to get a custom rom was to do an ugly hack that still uses the stock kernel because that's the only thing that's signed in a way the bootloader will run. Which is still something but it's a big caveat.
- ck2 1mo ago
  They've managed to unlock the bootloader on Fire tablets up until 2019 so just guessing give them a year, lol what will drive it to happen is Amazon is still selling hundreds of this tablet via Woot for $25-$35, they drop it in batches every few months as they refurb them Mine looks and works like brand new for $25 Just without LineageOS I cannot do tap-to-wake or dual-mode usb-on-the-go while charging like the pre-2019 tablets
mrandish 1mo ago
> I think you mean the "plus" not "pro" Yes, you're correct (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08F6FYN6B https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08F6FYN6B). Wireless charging and 4gb RAM vs 3gb. I think the 2021 Fire HD 10 Plus may have been the only ~10-inch tablet ever with Qi charging. For a thin & light e-reader/browser it's really perfect because it sits on the cradle on my nightstand always charged and ready to go. The display size feels like a hardback page. Now that it's been rooted, I'm really hoping for Lineage OS.