The Kindle Fire HDX 8.8 and the Apple iPad Air are definitely two of the hottest tablets out in the market today. If you are dying to buy a tablet as a gift for a family member, a special friend, or even for yourself, it is very likely that you'll find these two as the best options to choose from. But which tablet is the better choice for your needs (and demands)? Is it the Amazon Kindly Fire HDX 8.9 or the latest Apple iPad Air?

Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 over Apple iPad Air

Starting at the display quality of the two devices, we can say that Kindle Fire HDX 8.9's display is sharper at 339 pixels per inch. In contrast, the iPad Air's 264 PPI display is not far behind in terms of color accuracy and brightness.

Construction-wise, the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 looks and feels lighter than the iPad Air since it is narrower in width and a little bit smaller than the latter.

When it comes to performance, we can't really say that one device blows the other out of the water. The major upgrade in the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 is indeed very delightful to consumers, who want a better and less-laggy IU. The new Kindle Fire HDX comes with a superb Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, so it's safe to say that it is one of the fastest ARM-based tablets in the market today. Contrariwise, Apple's iPad Air is up to par with its 64-bit A7 processor. Anyhow, both tablets are extremely fast and fluid in carrying out processes and in running mobile games and whatnot.

Finally, there is no doubt that in terms of affordability, Amazon's Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 is the better option. It stars at $380 for the 16GB Wi-Fi only model while the Apple iPad Air begins at $500.

Apple iPad Air over Kindle Fire HDX 8.9

From the get-go, Apple has always produced 9.7-inch iPads, so we are not really surprised that the famous company is sticking to the same screen size for its latest instalment, the iPad Air. Obviously, the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 comes with 8.9-inch screen size. Hence, for consumers who like and prefer bigger display for optimum viewing, the iPad Air is the better choice.

In terms of design, the Apple iPad Air and the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 are very different. The latest iPad still boasts that premium metallic look through its anodized aluminum body, but this time Apple has trimmed the edges on the screen such that the bezel of the device is significantly decreased. On the other hand, the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9, similar to its predecessors, come with matte plastic body. Although it doesn't feel flimsy or cheap at all, if you don't like a device that is not clad with plastic this tablet device certainly doesn't make the cut.

For battery-conscious consumers, there's nothing much to worry when you are using any of these two devices. The Apple iPad Air and the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 are built to last for the entire day with just a single charge. But this is of course possible if you are not really the heavy user type. According to GizMag, the iPad Air can last up to 10 hours and 50 minutes if you were to stream videos over Wi-Fi with brightness set at 75 percent. On the other hand, the Kindle Fire HDX can last up to 10 hours with the same type of usage.

Another thing that gives the iPad Air an edge over the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 is its app selection, which is obviously unmatched by any other application store. Amazon's AppStore is nowhere near the IOS App Store and it is not even up to par with Google's PlayStore. What's good about it though is that all the core and standard apps are available for download. Hence, you don't need to worry at all if you are just looking for Facebook, Netflix, Angry Birds and other standard apps.