Amazon may not be releasing a new smartphone anytime soon, but they have just announced they are to add to its range of Kindle Fire tablets. Amazon will release two versions of its new Kindle Fire HDX tablet; a 7-inch variety with a 1920×1200 screen, and a 8.9-inch model with a 2560×1600 display. Both devices will come equipped with a blistering fast 2.2 GHz Quad-Core Snapdragon 800 processor, and 2GB of RAM, enough for all your tablet needs.

On specs alone it looks like the new Kindle Fire HDX range will give competing devices a run for their money, but Amazon has also focused on designing a highly useable, thin and light device. At only 13.2 ounces the 8.9-inch Fire HDX is 34% lighter than Amazon’s previous generation Kindle Fire HD tablet, and is only 0.31 inches thick. The 7-inch model weighs in at meagre 10.7 ounces, and is now only 0.35 inches thick. Amazon says both models will also deliver a stunning 11 hours of battery life with standard use, and up to 17 hours when reading as a result of a newly implemented low-powered mode.

Amazon’s new tablets will come equipped with Fire OS 3.0 “Mojito”, the company’s own forked version of Android. Amazon’s version of Android shuns Google’s store and application offerings (Play Store, Play Movies, Google Maps) in favour of its own branded versions (Amazon App Store, Kindle Books, Prime Instant Video/LoveFilm). They are much more limited in terms of what they have on offer, a large drawback of buying into Amazon’s ecosystem. The new OS update however includes a new email client, an update to the Silk web browsing engine, and a new “Mayday” button that promises on device, real person tech support in under 15-seconds, 24×7.

Pricing for the 7-inch Kindle Fire HDX starts at $299 for the basic model, and $329 for the 4G version. The 8.9-inch device will start at $379, going up to $479 if you want 4G included. UK pricing is yet to be announced. Both devices will be available in 16Gb, 32GB, and 64GB capacities, are available to pre-order now, and will start shipping on 7 November.