The all-new Fire HD 10 tablet that was announced this morning is Amazon’s first tablet to feature hands-free Alexa capabilities. That means you’ll be able to belt out your Alexa commands without needing to first press and hold the home button, like you have to do with Amazon’s other tablets. For those of you with Amazon Echos and other Alexa devices in your home, you’ll be relieved to hear that the Fire HD 10 does come with Amazon’s Echo Spacial Perception (ESP).
ESP, which was first introduced when the 2nd-generation Echo Dot was released, allows multiple Alexa devices to determine which one is closest to you, so that only one device responds to your command. For anyone with two or more Alexa devices in their home, it is an absolutely critical feature that ensures Alexa act as a unified voice assistant.
An Amazon representative has confirmed to me that the Fire HD 10 does have ESP. So if you’re near the tablet and issue an Alexa commands to it, nearby Alexa devices that also happen to hear you will not also respond to the request.
I bought a Fire tablet a few years ago, 1st or 2nd gen, not sure. I never found a use for it. I do love my Echo though. It’d be great if I could use that old tablet as an upstairs hands-free Alexa, maybe paired with Bluetooth speakers.