Alexa Tablet Canada Price: Amazon Swaps Fire OS for Google Play

In August 2025 the most expensive Fire tablet Amazon sold, the Fire Max 11, cost about US$230, iPhone in Canada noted at the time. The cheapest tablet in Amazon’s new lineup costs US$229.99, or CA$299.99 here. That is the clearest way to see what changed on Oct. 8, when Amazon announced its Alexa Tablets: three models that run Android with the full Google Play Store, instead of the Fire OS and Amazon Appstore setup Fire tablets have used since 2011.

Amazon is careful about the word “replacement”. A spokesperson told TechCrunch that “these are an all-new product line with new hardware and a new OS, rather than a rebrand of Fire Tablets.” Quartz described the line as “replacing the Fire tablet line it has sold for more than a decade.” Amazon hasn’t said, in the coverage we read, what happens to Fire tablets already in people’s homes.

Preorders are open on Amazon.ca, and all three ship in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico on Wednesday, Oct. 14, according to iPhone in Canada and TechCrunch.

Alexa Tablet Canada price vs the US price

Here are the Canadian prices as listed by iPhone in Canada, with U.S. prices from TechCrunch. MobileSyrup’s launch story lists the same Canadian figures for the 11 and 12 Pro. The more expensive storage options are CA$359.99 for a 128GB Tablet 8 and CA$529.99 for a 128GB Tablet 11.

The pattern is unusual. Converting the U.S. price at about 1.39, Canadians pay slightly less than Americans for the 8 and the 11, and about 8% more for the 12 Pro. The CA$250 gap you get by setting CA$749.99 next to US$499.99 mixes two currencies. The real markup on the Pro is closer to CA$55. One caveat: we couldn’t confirm that the U.S. base models carry the same storage and memory as the Canadian ones, so treat the gap as approximate.

What Google Play fixes on an Amazon tablet

The old Fire tablet deal was simple. Cheap hardware, Amazon’s own app store, and no YouTube, Gmail or Google Docs unless you sideloaded them yourself. The Alexa Tablets install those apps directly from Google Play, iPhone in Canada reports, along with Netflix and the rest of the Play catalogue.

For a family that bought Fire tablets for the kids or the cottage, that removes the most common complaint: the app you need isn’t there. It also removes the reason those tablets were cheap. Reuters first reported the Android plan in August 2025, iPhone in Canada wrote at the time, with sources expecting a higher-end device at about US$400.

The specs moved up with the price. According to TechCrunch and iPhone in Canada:

• Alexa Tablet 8: 8.7-inch screen, aluminum body, 329 grams, Wi-Fi 6, up to 14 hours of video.
• Alexa Tablet 11: 11-inch 2.5K screen at 90Hz, 8GB of RAM, dual Dolby Atmos speakers, up to 15 hours of video.
• Alexa Tablet 12 Pro: 12-inch 120Hz screen in a 3:2 shape, 6.5mm aluminum body, Wi-Fi 6E, quad speakers, up to 16 hours of video. The Canadian base model has 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, with up to 16GB of RAM available. It works with a new Pro Pen and Pro Keyboard.

Alexa+ and On-Screen Intelligence: the privacy question

Every Alexa Tablet has Alexa+ built in. You can say “Alexa” or tap an Ask Alexa button. Alexa+ has been available across Canada since June, in English and French, and is included with Prime; without Prime, the unlimited version costs CA$27.99 a month, iPhone in Canada reported at launch. Non-Prime users get a limited, text-only free tier.

The feature to think about is On-Screen Intelligence, which lets Alexa read whatever is on your display and answer questions about it. TechCrunch’s example is asking which trail on a list suits you best. iPhone in Canada reports that it is off by default and needs you to opt in. Leave it off on a child’s tablet, and on any tablet where you read banking, health or work email, until Amazon publishes more on how that screen content is processed and kept.

Amazon’s latest e-readers, which we covered in our Kindle buying guide, remain the better pick for pure reading. The tablets’ Kindle app does mute notifications and cut blue light when opened, with up to 20 hours of battery in that mode, TechCrunch says.

Which Alexa Tablet to buy in Canada

1. For kids, travel or the cottage: the Alexa Tablet 8 at CA$299.99. Get the 128GB model (CA$359.99) if you download shows for offline viewing. For young kids, wait for Kids Tablet pricing first (see below).
2. For most households: the Alexa Tablet 11 at CA$449.99. It has the bigger, sharper screen and the 8GB of RAM, and costs CA$300 less than the Pro.
3. For work with a keyboard and pen: the 12 Pro at CA$749.99. Only pay the CA$50 extra for Nanomatte if you use it outdoors or under harsh light. Budget for the Pro Pen and Pro Keyboard on top.
4. If you own a Fire tablet that still works, keep it for now. Nothing in the announcements we read says Fire tablets stop working.

How do these stack up against a base iPad or a Galaxy Tab? We couldn’t confirm current Canadian prices for either before publication, so we’re not printing a comparison yet. Check apple.ca and samsung.com/ca on the day you buy. And don’t assume every Alexa+ feature shown in U.S. demos works here on day one: when Amazon launched its AI auto-buy tools for Prime Big Deal Days, Canadians got only part of the kit.

Amazon Kids Tablet price: not announced yet

New Amazon Kids Tablets in 8.7-inch and 11-inch sizes also launch on Oct. 14. TechCrunch says the bundles include a kid-proof case and a year of Amazon Kids+, with a soft bumper case for ages 3 and up and a slim case with a kickstand for ages 6 and up. MobileSyrup says it asked Amazon for Canadian pricing. As of Oct. 8, there was no number.

The UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain get the Alexa Tablets on Oct. 19. Canada, for once, is five days ahead.