Amazon Announces New Fire HD 8 Tabs

[tubemonkey]

Thinner, Lighter, and Faster: Amazon Introduces All-New Fire HD 8 Tablets Built for Entertainment

All-new Fire HD 8 features an 8-inch HD display, 30% faster performance, and up to 13 hours of battery life with USB-C charging for $99.99

Fire HD 8 Plus delivers even more with 3GB RAM, easy wireless charging, and improved 5MP rear-facing camera for $119.99

Fire HD 8 Kids and Fire HD 8 Kids Pro come with one year of Amazon Kids+ providing access to thousands of ad-free games, videos, books, and educational content, a case built for kids, a two-year worry-free guarantee, and robust parental controls for $149.99

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep. 21, 2022-- Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) today announced the next generation of Fire HD 8 tablets, launching four new models: Fire HD 8, Fire HD 8 Plus, Fire HD 8 Kids Pro, and Fire HD 8 Kids. The all-new Fire HD 8, powered by a 30% faster processor and all-day battery life, provides customers with a premier entertainment experience and the ability to get more things done at home or on the go. And for the first time, customers can select a Disney Design bundle for the Fire HD 8 Kids featuring Mickey Mouse or Disney Princess cases. The new Fire HD 8 tablets are available for pre-order today and will begin shipping next month. Learn more at www.amazon.com/firehd8.

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[tomsem]

I guess we will never see a display upgrade on these. Still only 1280 x 800.

T

here is apparently no corresponding Plus model (with wireless charging and 3 GB RAM), which I have. This is still available for $109. It seems fast enough to me.

Actually there is a Plus model is $119.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by tomsem

I guess we will never see a display upgrade on these. Still only 1280 x 800.

There is apparently no corresponding Plus model (with wireless charging and 3 GB RAM), which I have. This is still available for $109. It seems fast enough to me.

It would have been nice to have a full HD screen.

[haertig]

I turned on my Fire HD8 a few days ago, having not used it for well over a year. I had forgotten what a dog it is. That thing is SLOW. For watching movies you have copied over to the device it's fine. Even for streaming from my PLEX server it seems OK (but I've only played with that, not used it "for real", so it may not be good for streaming in actual real world hard use). But using as a web browser? Grab a pillow so you can take a nap between clicks on the webpages. If Amazon is advertising "30% faster", that's not going to cut it. I don't even think 300% faster would make it usable for web browsing.

The thing is, these tablets are really cheap. And they are great for things like Zoom meetings or entertainment (reading, or movies) while traveling. Email is fine too, if you're not in a giant hurry. I actually recommend them for these other uses. Just forget about browsing the web though. Even my inexpensive $250 smart phone blows the Fire HD8 away for web browsing, and that phone web browsing is absolutely nothing to write home about. At least I can use the phone for browsing "emergencies". The tablet? Not really. You want to see what time a restaurant closes? It will BE closed by the time the webpage loads to check it.

[issybird]

I’ve got the 2020 Fire HD 8 and it’s not as slow as all that; it’s fine for web browsing. However, I’ve noticed that they get slower over time; it replaced the 2018 version which had gotten awfully pokey by the time I traded it in. That one’s performance was akin to that described above.

If speed’s important, you could always spend $20 more for 3 GB of RAM, but I doubt it would be worth it to me. I think they’re great devices for the money once you put Google Play on them.

[haertig]

Originally Posted by issybird

I’ve got the 2020 Fire HD 8 and it’s not as slow as all that; it’s fine for web browsing. However, I’ve noticed that they get slower over time; it replaced the 2018 version which had gotten awfully pokey by the time I traded it in. That one’s performance was akin to that described above.

If speed’s important, you could always spend $20 more for 3 GB of RAM, but I doubt it would be worth it to me. I think they’re great devices for the money once you put Google Play on them.

Google Play Store is an absolute necessity to be installed on a Fire Tablet IMHO. If Amazon ever blocks that, I would never recommend their tablet to anyone. If you're going to force people into your ecosystem, you better have a very good one. And Amazon does not, not for getting apps for a Fire Tablet.

I have a Gen 7 2017 model and a Gen 8 2018 model. I'm probably done with tablets after these. Fine for what they are, but if I want more speed and power I'll probably go for a little-bitty laptop that I can run Linux on. One that has a regular keyboard. I hate trying to type on the virtual screen-based "keyboards" on a tablet. Even more than I hate the trackpads on laptops (but you can buy an external mini-mouse cheaply).

[fjf]

Don't know if this has been posted here, but this toolbox:

https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/w...v28-9.3889604/

makes the kindle fire tablet like any other android tablet very easily, including installing the google play store, and removing amazon adds and most of amazon control over it.

[tomsem]

I like having a Fire tablet around, because it is the only device that supports text to speech for Kindle books (not counting Alexa devices). That's pretty much all I use it for. The 2020 Fire HD Plus is easily the best Fire I've had, but it mostly gathers dust.

I also still have a Fire HD6, which was really sweet for reading, though a bit heavy. Wish they'd at least upgrade the Fire 7 display to 1280x800 (like the HD6); I'd definitely grab one when it gets discounted, but it seems they must have ordered too many cheap panels that they need work through, and we'll have to wait until 2025 to see any display upgrades.

Over the last several years I've pretty much gone 'full Apple', and the app ecosystem is vastly better than Google Play for the more specialized interests I have (music creation, drawing), and I have iPads. So I don't need or want my Fire to do anything other than what it does out of the box. I've installed exactly one app from Amazon App Store (Goodreads, as the built in Goodreads app is worthless).

I also installed Apple Music and Beats from APKMirror so I could connect my Beats headphones with Fire and confirm that it supports Dolby Atmos / Spatial audio, whereas my horrible Samsung Galaxy Tab does not. Cool. But it was just an experiment (BTW unlike the iOS Music app, the Android Apple Music app supports crossfade and gapless playback.)

[emellaich]

Originally Posted by tomsem

I like having a Fire tablet around, because it is the only device that supports text to speech for Kindle books (not counting Alexa devices).

I think all Kindles (not sure about the basic) support text to speech. I use mine all the time. What they don't have is a built-in speaker. For text-to-speech you need a bluetooth speaker.

I use earbuds when I am working out and on long trips where I have a passenger. When I drive alone, I use a bluetooth to FM transmitter -- the Kindle's bluetooth does not appear to register directly with my car bluetooth.

Michael

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by emellaich

I think all Kindles (not sure about the basic) support text to speech. I use mine all the time. What they don't have is a built-in speaker. For text-to-speech you need a bluetooth speaker.

I use earbuds when I am working out and on long trips where I have a passenger. When I drive alone, I use a bluetooth to FM transmitter -- the Kindle's bluetooth does not appear to register directly with my car bluetooth.

Michael

They have VoiceView screen reader. I do not regard that as a good text-to-speech substitute.

[tomsem]

I found myself buying a Fire HD 10 Plus in the Black Friday promotions (wound up being about $62 after Trade-in discount and credit).

(The only other tablet I had of this approximate size is an iPad Air 2 (I took it off my mom's hands when I gave here a newer iPad), which will remain on iPadOS 15, doesn't support newer features like Universal Control and extended display, won't work with a Bluetooth stylus I had for the newer iPad, and white backgrounds have some weird rainbow tinting, but otherwise still works fine. It should work with Luna Display as a desktop extension and a Wacom Bluetooth stylus (pressure sensitive with some apps) that I still have around.)

It has better DPI than my Fire HD 8 Plus, and it is faster than the iPad Air 2 (which after all is 8 years old). And it will probably at least temporarily stop me from looking for deals on a newer iPad Air. I probably won't be using the Fire HD 8 Plus any more as it is redundant.

I suppose they'll be coming out with a new one in a few months (unless Fire is under fire with all the layoffs and cutbacks in that division), but not a bad deal.

Hmm. It's not letting me remove a Sample that I 'removed from library' on a different device, and also using Manage Digital Content. Sync, Force Stop didn't help, either. Bummers. Okay, so I added the Sample again, and then was able to remove from library on the Fire.