A "Paper-Like" Screen Built with Corning Etching Tech Debuts on Amazon's 12-Inch Alexa+ Pro Tablet

A screen that feels like paper—that's the detail Amazon really wants people to notice this time. The flagship Alexa Tablet 12 Pro offers an optional display technology called Nanomatte. According to Amazon, it was co-developed with Corning to etch precise textures at the sub-pixel glass level, sidestepping the issue where traditional matte screens scatter light unevenly due to inconsistent manufacturing processes, sacrificing color accuracy in the process. When writing with the Pro Pen, the Nanomatte version creates a paper-like friction, and it also claims to be more readable in any lighting condition when flipping through Kindle e-books.

Amazon is rolling out three tablets at once this time, in 12-inch, 11-inch, and 8-inch sizes, all with unibody aluminum construction and Alexa+ built in at the core. The 12-inch Alexa Tablet 12 Pro is positioned for productivity, with Amazon claiming it's three times faster in processing and nine times faster in graphics performance compared to previous tablets. It packs a 4nm octa-core chip, up to 16GB of RAM, Wi-Fi 6E support, four Dolby Atmos speakers, and up to 16 hours of video playback battery life. The display features 280 PPI resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate, and a 3:2 aspect ratio. The standard version with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage starts at $500, while the Nanomatte version starts at $550. Amazon also launched exclusive accessories for the 12 Pro: the $90 Alexa Tablet Pro Pen and the $150 Alexa Tablet Pro Keyboard, which attaches magnetically without Bluetooth pairing.

The 11-inch Alexa Tablet 11 leans more toward entertainment, featuring a 2.5K display with a 90Hz refresh rate and a 16:10 cinematic aspect ratio. It's powered by an octa-core processor with 8GB RAM and 64GB storage, also comes with Dolby Atmos speakers, and offers up to 15 hours of battery life. It's available in Graphite, Amethyst, and Matcha, starting at $330. The smallest model, the 8-inch Alexa Tablet 8, has an 8.7-inch display and measures just 7.95mm thick, weighing only 329 grams—making it the thinnest and lightest in the lineup. It runs an octa-core processor with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage, available in Graphite, Rosette, and Teal, starting at $230.

All three models come with a new Kindle experience built in: notifications automatically turn off when you open a book, blue light is reduced, and power consumption is lowered. There are three display themes available, including a soft paper tone and a pure grayscale mode. Alexa+'s On-Screen Intelligence feature lets users have Alexa read on-screen content to answer questions directly—for example, if a page shows event dates, you can ask Alexa to add each date to your calendar, or if a video shows a product, you can ask it to find the same item on Amazon. This feature is turned off by default and must be enabled manually by the user.

The new Alexa tablets will be available starting October 14 in the US, Mexico, and Canada through Amazon and other retail channels, with the UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain following on October 19.