As noted earlier, the front of the Kindle Fire, shown in Figure 4, is devoid of buttons and/or other controls. This causes one dilemma. When you want to turn the Fire on, it is often hard to tell the top of the device from the bottom, which has the on/off switch. You will note in Figure 4 that the black screen border is slightly larger on the bottom of the device. That is the only way to visually find the bottom when you are looking at the face of the device.

click to enlarge
Figure 4: The front of the Kindle Fire

The bottom of the device holds the only controls, which include a 3.5 mm headphone jack, the micro-USB port, and an on/off button, as shown in Figure 5. While some reviewers have complained about the location of the on/off switch, saying that it could be pressed inadvertently, in several weeks’ use, we didn’t encounter any accidental presses.

click to enlarge
Figure 5: The bottom of the Kindle Fire

The back of the Kindle Fire is covered in a dull soft-touch black finish with the Kindle name embossed in the middle, as you can see in Figure 6. There is no opening for the battery which, like the Kindle reader, the iPad, and many others of today’s devices, is not user-replaceable.

click to enlarge
Figure 6: The back of the Fire

The dull black finish of the back meets the shiny black finish of the front on the sides of the device. Although two different materials come together on the entire surround of the Fire, as you can see in Figure 7, there are no gaps or breaks. This adds to the solid feel of the device.

click to enlarge
Figure 7: The side of the Fire