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While the likes of Apple and Samsung dominate the high end of the tablet market, the budget arena is firmly Amazon’s, and the new Fire HD 8 (2022) is no different. This latest update comes with a slight increase in price, but a slight improvement in performance and battery life to compensate.
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Despite these advances, it’s still a budget tablet, so performance feels heavy compared to most modern smartphones, and the display is dated. Still, it’s hard to complain too much at this price; If you’re looking for an affordable tablet for occasional use or an entry-level device for your kids, the Fire HD 8 (2022) is a great bet.
Amazon Fire HD 8 (2022) review: What you need to know
Iterative advances are usually par for the course with Fire tablets, but even by this standard, the Fire HD 8 (2022) feels very familiar. The 8-inch display is the same 1,280 x 800 resolution and is about the same size as before, slightly lighter at 337g, wrapped in a matching large matte plastic bezel. Both the front and rear cameras remain at 2MP, and despite the nice bump in endurance, the battery takes another five hours to recharge.
The most notable upgrade comes from the new Hexa-core chipset, which is 30% faster than the 2020 version. This is paired with the same combination of 2GB of RAM and either 32GB or 64GB of storage, with a microSD slot once again allowing for further expansion up to 1TB.
Amazon Fire HD 8 (2022) review: Price and competition
In line with its 2020 predecessor and the Amazon Fire 7, which was updated earlier this year, the 2022 refresh of the Fire HD 8 is expected to see a £10 price increase. That means the base model with 32GB of storage now costs £100. You can double this to 64GB for £130, and you also have the option to remove ads from the lock screen on both models for £10, making the most expensive iteration £140.
Despite these price increases, the Fire HD 8 still has no competitors, with the only real problem stemming from its predecessor. There’s not much difference then, but if you want to save an extra £10, you can get the 32GB 2020 Fire HD 8 ad model for £90. Expect to sacrifice battery life and performance for convenience.
Amazon Fire HD 8 (2022) review: Design and key features
Amazon’s tablets have never won awards for style, and with the Fire HD 8 (2022) that trend won’t change. The matte plastic body and thick bezels around the screen don’t create the prettiest aesthetic, but the build at least feels sturdy enough to survive an accidental drop or two. Color options are more limited than the previous generation, with black, denim and rose.
In line with the previous Fire HD 8 and the latest Fire 7 tablets, the 2022 Fire HD 8 is primarily landscape-oriented, with a 2MP selfie camera mounted on one of the long edges. With the camera at the top, you’ll find the power and volume buttons on the right, along with the USB-C charging port and 3.5mm headphone jack. The top edge houses a pair of upward-firing speakers, while the bottom edge houses a MicroSD slot that accepts cards up to 1TB.
Amazon Fire HD 8 (2022) review: Display
While the rest of the design has received a few tweaks and tweaks, the 8-inch display is the same as the previous generation, with a resolution of 1280 x 800 and a pixel density of 189ppi. Compared to modern smartphones and more expensive tablets, it’s low quality, but good enough for casual viewing of things like YouTube, Prime Video or Netflix.
While the mechanics of the display are unchanged, the Fire HD 8 (2022) at least sees a slight increase in color reproduction, covering 78.7% of the sRGB gamut instead of 2020’s 70.8%. It’s still not amazing, mind you, so don’t expect the richest and most vibrant colors. The contrast ratio also scores high, measuring 1,826:1 in our tests, and the peak brightness of 457cd/m2 is a notable improvement.
Amazon Fire HD 8 (2022) review: performance and battery life
The biggest change in the Fire HD 8 (2022) is the new hexa-core 2 GHz MediaTek MT8169A processor, which provides up to 30% faster performance than the previous model.
Geekbench 3 CPU test results certainly seem to support this, with the Fire HD 8 (2022) showing a roughly 27% increase in single-core performance over the 2020 version. Multi-core performance also sees a big jump – two extra cores help – with a 59% edge.
In practical terms, the Fire HD 8 (2022) can still feel sluggish in use, with slightly too long pauses when opening apps. More importantly, the standard Fire HD 8 (2022) performs almost identically to the more expensive Plus variant, meaning you won’t be compromising on performance by choosing the cheaper model.
Due to some issues with app availability in the Amazon Fire app store (more on that later), the GPU capacity of the Fire HD 8 (2022) can’t be assessed with our standard GFXBench test, but you should temper your expectations. here. A high-end 3D game isn’t possible – as you’d expect from cheap stuff – but simple titles like Candy Crush work well.
Battery life is another area where the Fire HD 8 (2022) shows notable improvements over the 2020 model. In our standard video test, it lasted an impressive 19 hours and 33 minutes, about 24% longer than the 2020 version. Even better, the Fire HD 8 Plus (2022) lasts half an hour longer.
Unfortunately, charging speed hasn’t seen as much improvement as battery life, with the supplied 5W charger taking another five hours or so to recharge the battery from empty.
Amazon Fire HD 8 (2022) review: Fire OS and Alexa
Like the rest of Amazon’s tablet family, the Fire HD 8’s software is based on Android – in this case, Android 11 – on top of the brand’s own Fire OS 8 launcher. All the usual advantages and disadvantages of Fire OS are there and rightly so, so how well you’re immersed in the Amazon ecosystem will determine how well you’ll get along with it.
From the home screen, you can swipe left and right to access your Kindle content, Prime Video favorites, Amazon Music tracks, and more. Hands-free Alexa also returns from the 2020 iteration, offering all the regular features of the Amazon voice assistant, like weather updates or TV show recommendations, without the push of a button, just like on an Echo device.
All of these benefits carry over from the previous version and, unfortunately, solve the problems. Amazon’s app store is a major culprit, with games and apps readily available on the Android and Apple storefronts missing. As an example, we use the GFXBench app to test GPU performance, but the version available on the Amazon app store is too outdated to run. Also notable is the lack of Google apps, meaning you can’t carry bookmarks or saved data from your Chrome profile.
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Amazon Fire HD 8 (2022) review: What about the Fire HD 8 Plus?
As with the 2020 iteration, the Fire HD 8 (2022) launched alongside a slightly more powerful Plus version. This model uses the same hexa-core 2GHz MediaTek MT8169A processor, but paired with 3GB of RAM instead of 2GB. You also get a slightly improved 5MP rear camera, wireless charging support and a faster 9W power adapter that can fully charge the device in around three hours – which is still a long time in my opinion.
You get the same range of options, from the cheapest (32GB storage and lockscreen ads) at £120, to the most expensive (64GB storage without lockscreen ads) at £160. Unlike the standard Fire HD 8 (2022), there’s only one color option, pairing black bezels around the screen with gray plastic on the sides and back. The rear is also slightly textured with a cross hatch effect that feels a bit more premium than the standard model.
Amazon Fire HD 8 (2022) Review: Verdict
There are plenty of negatives about the Fire HD 8 (2022) – the Fire OS is still overly restrictive, the screen feels dated, and charging speeds remain sluggish – but despite these flaws, you’ll be hard-pressed to find one. It’s a better tablet for less.
Just about worth the £10 price hike and a significant jump in battery life, the Fire HD 8 (2022) is the best choice for this budget. You can go even cheaper and get the Amazon Fire 7 for £60, but if you’ve got £100 to spare, the Fire HD 8 (2022) might be better spent.
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