Answer: Amazon's devices featuring Special Offers (now known as Ad-Supported devices), are devices like the Kindle ereaders and Fire tablets. They feature targeted lock screen ads, but at a lower price.
What are Kindle Fire tablet Ad-Supported Devices?
This article may be confusing to you. Let's explain the concept of Ad-Supported devices and Kindle special offers. Amazon first introduced devices with special offers a few years ago to lower the entry price into the Kindle and later the Fire Tablet ecosystems.
Amazon has always been able to offer relatively low-cost hardware, especially during major shopping events such as Black Friday and Prime Day. But it offered the Special Offers to offset these expenditures. Ad-Supported devices are lock screen/screensaver ads that are personalized for you based upon your Amazon shopping habits and preferences.
Generally speaking, an Ad-Supported Amazon device such as a Kindle Oasis ereader or a top-of-the-line Kindle Oasis ereader will help you save around $15-20 on the same product. Even for a relatively inexpensive media consumption device, this is a significant savings.
Amazon's revenue comes not from selling its devices, but from its ability to hook customers into its products and services. The company is right to conclude that if it can get as many devices into customers' hands at a low cost, they will be more likely continue to consume Amazon content and order products from Amazon.
You think lock screen ads are horrible? But not so fast...
Many people automatically shun the idea of having to pay for content consumption devices that have ads in the center. It's not clear why this is so offensive, since we often pay for ad-supported media directly or indirectly. Look at the magazine on your coffee table, or your favorite website. Advertisements support and subsidize content delivery.
These lock screen ads don't look too bad. You won't see ads for lentil soup or toilet paper most of the time. It's far less likely that you will see ads for books that Amazon's algorithms predict you'll like or new Prime Video series. I find it not objectionable (pun intended), especially because the media artwork is prominently displayed so they don't look like ads. Although you may see advertisements for physical products, such as Fire Tablets, these ads are customized based on your browsing habits and shopping habits.
Ad-supported Kindles once featured targeted ads on the device's home screen. However, this is no longer true. All ads from the Ad-Supported Kindle homescreen have been removed as of August 2021 and are only displayed when the device's in sleep mode. The only content that you will see now on the home screen is the recommended books. These are books that you have already read.
What's the best thing? You can pay through Amazon to have the ads removed from your Ad-Supported device. The balance between the Ad Supported and the version without ads is what you pay. If you aren't sure whether the ads bother you, you can try this method. This could save you a few dollars.
Which device should you buy?
This is obviously up to your personal preference and budget. However, I believe that you should not get the devices without ad-support. I have owned many Kindles, Fire tablets, and I have only ever purchased an Ad-Supported one. In truth, I didn’t notice any difference. I can honestly say that the lock screen ads didn't bother me at all and were a way for me to save $15-20 on each device.
The ads also proved to be accurate in guessing my interests or at the very least, non-invasive and non-offensive. These ads often include album artwork or cover art, which is a good thing to see when your device is locked.
