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(Pocket Lint) – Where Apple dominates the premium tablet market with its iPad range, Amazon has made big strides at the affordable end of the market, offering budget-friendly Fire tablets in a variety of sizes and prices, but with easy access to popular apps. and services.
With the 2022 update to its popular 8-inch model, Amazon tried to make it a faster tablet, and – as usual – there are several models. There’s the regular Fire HD 8 and HD 8 Plus, but there’s also a Kids edition. We’re looking at the regular HD 8 version here, but let’s take a quick look at the differences so you can decide which version is right for you.
The biggest strength of the new Fire HD 8 is what made the Amazon Fire tablet so appealing in the past: it’s an affordable and easy way to access movies, TV shows and games.
It won’t give you the performance or feature set you’d get from a much more expensive Samsung or Apple tablet, but it gets all the basics right.
It is definitely considered as a device to access Amazon’s popular services. So if you want something that you can carry with you and still get your fix of Prime Video, enjoy fun casual games, Kindle books, and Alexa smarts, but don’t want to pay a little more for the privilege, the Fire HD 8 is the tablet for you.
- It’s really easy to install and use
- Access popular streaming services
- Very cheap
- Battery life is good
- Could do with more internal storage
- Not super fast performance
- No biometric authentication
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Fire HD 8 vs HD 8 Plus: What’s the difference?
There really isn’t much of a difference between the regular and ‘Plus’ variants of the Fire HD 8 – let alone the £20/$20 difference between them. From a purely aesthetic point of view, the Plus stands out with its gray back, while the regular model is completely smooth. In addition, it is available in three common colors: black, pink and navy blue. Plus is available in gray only.
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Otherwise, the only real differences are internal. The HD 8 Plus has wireless charging, so you can mount it on an optional wireless charging stand and even turn it into an Echo Show when docked. However, the regular Fire HD 8 can also be used in Show mode, but not with the wireless charger. Honestly, it’s not a huge loss, since it’s not the most convenient way to charge it anyway. Charging stands are usually too small to line up the charging coils with those on the back of the tablet.
Finally, the Fire HD 8 Plus has extra RAM. You get 3GB of RAM and 2GB in regular mode, but both have the same upgraded Hexa-core 2.0GHz processor and are available in 32GB and 64GB configurations.
No fancy design
- 201.90 x 137.34 x 9.60 mm – 337 g
- 35 percent is recycled plastic
- 3.5 mm port – USB-C 2.0
There’s nothing particularly fancy or premium about the design of the Fire HD 8 tablet, but then, at this price, you wouldn’t expect it to be. It’s about being practical and giving you a device that’s easy to hold and use. Whether you get the Plus or the regular version, the body of the device is made of partially recycled plastic and is relatively compact.
Being an 8-inch tablet means it’s smaller than your typical “full-size” tablets like the iPad or Fire HD 10. In other words, it is easy to carry only in your bag. At a push, it can even fit into a large coat pocket.
Rounded edges on all four sides make it easy to grip, and thick, even bezels that surround the display allow you to accommodate your thumbs without touching the display area.
The emphasis on practicality means you get a 3.5mm headphone port for those who prefer wired personal audio to wireless. It sits on the same edge as the USB-C charging port, power button, and volume up and down. Which one is up or down depends on the orientation of the device, which adjusts to how you’re holding it.
However, there is no form of biometric authentication. You don’t get any fingerprint scanner and certainly no facial recognition. So you will be forced to enter the PIN every time you unlock the tablet.
Display and software
- 1280 x 800 resolution
- LCD IPS panel
- Fire OS 8.3
Not much has changed on the display and media front for the Fire HD 8 family in the last couple of years. That means you get an HD resolution screen, or – technically speaking – a 1280 x 800 panel with a density of 189 pixels per inch.
It’s not sharp by any means, so if you look closely you’ll see that elements like small text and curves are a bit rough around the edges. The same goes for all the games you play. It’s bright enough for indoor use and the colors are natural and a bit muted. The only downside is that the display doesn’t have an effective oleophobic coating, so you may have to wipe it more often than your smartphone.
Still, considering what you’re paying for a tablet, that’s not surprising, and in fact, it allows you to enjoy your content without any problems. Amazon’s software lets you watch anything you want, thanks to support for the most popular streaming services.
You can download popular TV streaming apps such as Disney+, Netflix, YouTube and – in the UK – All 4, Now, ITV Hub and Freevee. You’ll need to download most of these from the Amazon Appstore, but if you’re happy with Amazon’s services, the tablet comes well installed out of the box.
Apps like Prime Video, Kindle, Goodreads, Amazon Music, Amazon Kids, Audible, Amazon Photos and Alexa come pre-installed, giving you instant access to Amazon products. What this means is that once you’re signed in to your Amazon account, you can quickly and easily shop on Amazon, read from your Kindle library, or watch movies on Prime Video.
It’s this simplicity that makes Fire tablets so appealing. It’s ready to use right out of the box. Just turn it on, connect to your Wi-Fi network, create or sign in to your Amazon account, and that’s it. You don’t need to go through multiple setup screens to use it. All that is really required is an initial login and you will have Amazon services at your fingertips.
This – as we’ve said before – involves using the Fire tablet as an Echo Show. It has a Show mode, Alexa built-in, and by default it can respond to voice commands just like the Echo. So if you want to ask it something while you’re using the tablet, you can. Or, if you want to control your smart home from your tablet, you can.
While the tablet is best used as an access point to Amazon services, you can also use other popular third-party apps. The Appstore has thousands. There’s a whole suite of Microsoft apps like Outlook, OneDrive, and OneNote, plus Zoom if you want/need video conferencing with friends, family, and colleagues.
Hardware, performance and features
- Read/review up to 1 p.m
- 2.0GHz hexa-core processor
- Standard: 2GB RAM – 32GB or 64GB storage
- Plus: 3GB RAM – 32GB or 64GB storage
- Expandable up to 1 TB via microSD
- 5 MP rear camera – 2 MP front camera
Budget tablets aren’t known for iPad Pro-level power and speed, so the balance for Amazon is building a tablet that can do what it needs without being too slow to use. With the latest 2.0GHz processor in the Fire HD 8, that’s what you get – most of the time.
Amazon says it’s 30 percent faster than the previous model, and we tested it with a number of different apps and games. With everyday titles, the tablet was capable of handling graphics and animations.
There were two games that were a bit difficult. Asphalt 9 – as an example – often stutters a bit and the frame drops, but it never hangs or falls. However, Real Racing 3 didn’t have that much of a problem, but the resolution in this game is not that sharp.
Still, that didn’t stop us from enjoying using it when we wanted Crossy Road or a similar low-intensity game.
One of the things we often encounter when using Fire tablets is that storage space runs out quickly. Amazon continues to offer relatively small storage options at 32GB or 64GB, which isn’t a lot of space. However, if you buy a microSD card and it’s fast enough, you can expand that storage and treat the memory card as internal storage, where you can install apps and store photos and files.
The only problem we’ve found with using a microSD card and “receiving” it this way is that if the games are stored on the card rather than the internal storage, there’s a lot of corruption, so we’d like to see Amazon. Offer high capacities out of the box.
Battery life is strong. Amazon claims up to 13 hours of mixed use, which really means it should last you a few days between charges. With a few hours of daily use, you’ll only need to charge it once every 4-5 days. We experienced a similar usage pattern, draining around 20-25 percent battery per day.
Another thing worth mentioning: the cameras. It has one on the front and one on the back, but both have low resolution and aren’t great for taking pictures/selfies. In fact, they can use Zoom or Skype video calls anytime. This means you get this feature even if the visual quality of the lenses and sensors isn’t very good. The results lack color, sharpness, and dynamic range, so you’re much better off using your phone for photos.
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The biggest strength of the new Fire HD 8 is what made the Amazon Fire tablet so appealing in the past: it’s an affordable and easy way to access movies, TV shows and games.
Written by Cam Bunton. Edited by Verity Burns.
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