After my aging Nook HD+ bit the dust last year I took a gamble on a cheap NextBook Ares 8 at Walmart and lost. Utterly horrible experience – slow, buggy and a sporting a two hour battery life. I freely admit that I had never thought about buying into the Fire line of tablets since walled garden ecosystems tend to make me twitchy but a chance encounter with a Fire HD 6 changed my mind. I was seriously impressed with the overall Amazon experience but the 6” screen was just a touch too small for these old eyes. I read just about every review available for the 2016 version of the HD 8 and decided to gamble once again. These are my thoughts:
The Good Stuff
It starts with price. It’s certainly not high-end but at $89.99 the solid hardware was a pleasant surprise. Low cost MediaTek processors are becoming more mainstream these days and the quad-core MT8165 offers well rounded, if not stupefying, performance. Coupled with 1.5 GB of RAM and a Mali-T760 GPU the HD 8 goes about it’s business in a smooth and refined manner. Do some heavy-duty multitasking or uber-demanding 3D gaming and the modest hardware quickly shows its limitations but for average day-to-day tasks it works quite well with few hiccups.
Storage is largely adequate with 16 GB standard and 32 GB available. The addition of a 200 GB capable microSD slot is most welcome but be aware that transfer speeds are decidedly low-end and best used only for media storage. The few apps I was able to load onto a SanDisk 64 GB Class 10 microSD card ran consistently slower than the on-board storage.
Amazon Prime and the HD 8 compliment each other extremely well, to the point of not having a Prime account reduces its usefulness considerably. The entire experience is slick, smooth and well executed with the majority of the interface dedicated to Prime content. Without a Prime subscription, however, most of the launcher would be unused, showing nothing but blank screens and empty pages. Side-loaded content works just fine and the media player had no problems with 1080P .mkv or .avi video files or .aac encoded music files.
The So-So Stuff
As others have noted the low-tech, low-res screen is merely adequate and at only 183 PPI it certainly can not compare to higher spec tablets. That said, text rendering is very well done and I’ve had no problems reading Kindle, Wikipedia and Nook content. However, magazines that don’t support an expanded text mode – Vanity Fair I’m looking at you - are all but unreadable due to the small text size and low resolution screen. The overly glossy screen is, of course, a fingerprint magnet so a matte screen protector is necessary. Videos look mostly decent but tend to have a dull and bluish overcast. Not a deal breaker but hardly inspiring.
Battery life is, for the most part, simply outstanding. I log several hours of daily mixed media usage and average two or three days on a single charge. Charging is the HD 8’s weak point. The under-powered 5W 1A charger takes at least five to six hours and there is no external indication of when the charge is complete. Switching to a 12W 2.1A charger made very little difference in overall charging time which leads me to believe that the internal charging circuit is to blame. Again, not a deal breaker but an obvious cost-cutting measure.
Sorry Amazon but Alexa is mostly a gimmick and of little use to me. Using an eight inch tablet as a glorified remote seems silly and I can generally find what I’m looking for faster than using Alexa. Do I really need a one pound slab with an internet connection to turn the lights on or fire up the boombox? I don’t think so.
The Not So Good Stuff
It has two speakers. They’re predictably terrible. The less said about them the better. Bluetooth earbuds or external speakers are mandatory. Same for the laughable cameras though I doubt people buy tablets for photographic expeditions.
The limited Amazon app cupboard is bare folks. While it is better than the old B&N app store most of what I consider essential apps – the Nook reader, the official Wikipedia app, Chrome, Gmail, Tumblr and Marvel Unlimited - are either not available or hopelessly outdated. Amazon Underground is unique but the barrage of ads and constant data slurping is irritating. Thankfully it’s a five minute task to install the Google Play Store and I’ve had no problems in doing so. Both stores, however, contain apps that will download but refuse to install, failing with -507 errors which indicates incompatibly with the 64-bit ARM v8 architecture. This seems mainly limited to utilities and benchmarking apps though and not to general apps.
Apple has been justly criticized for their dinky warranties and Amazon’s 90 day limited warranty is no exception. 90 days? Seriously? All the other Fire tablets have a one year warranty at no additional cost. Square Trade’s pricey extended warranty programs are available but have a checkered history and are much maligned. No thank you.
Overall
Minor quibbles aside, I’m very impressed both with the Fire HD 8 itself and the Amazon ecosystem. I’ve spent a considerable amount of time researching low cost tablets and the consensus opinion is the Fire HD 8 hits all the right buttons. Granted there are tradeoffs given the low price point but I’m very impressed on how many things it does well. Amazon seems to fully support their tablet line – lousy warranty aside – with frequent updates and added features so I look forward to using it for a long time.
First off,i appreciate you reading this review :)
Just so you get a little background on me, we are major tech users. We have multiple tablets from apple,samsung,and asus. This fire tablet is comparable in a different way. This tablet uses a amazon based operating system, Fire os. So no play store or itunes...
As a prime member however, this tablet is an incredible value because you get instant access to all of your prime benifits.
Ive had a chance to really put this product thru its paces over the past 2 days. I ordered 2 of these tablets so me and my wife could really put these to use. We have Gone thru 3 full power cycles (fully charging and fully draining the battery thru use) it does get 10-11 hours of hefty use so battery life is a plus!
This tablet is a keeper. Screen looks fantastic. Colors seem to be just slightly dull however the resoloution for everyday use is perfect for this price point.
Speed is snappy enough for basic use and handles more complex tasks and games without much issue. On a passmark benchmark test i got a score of 3377. However the second HD 8 constantly grades about 30-35 points lower. So it is a possibility that even tho you have the same exact tablet,they might be built slightly different so performance will vary. At this price point I didnt expect them to come out exactly the same.
This tablet is bassically the same specs as the samsung tab a at half the price! Oh and the hd 8 actually offers a slightly better resoloution then the samsung!
Minus one star for the wifi connection. I have lost connection several times on both tablets. Seems to only happen on my 5g connection.
Also the screen being so reflective,it is impossible to use at all outdoors.also sadly is a fingerprint magnet.
I did a unboxing the day it was released on youtube. Feel free to give that video a view. Just search "all new fire hd 8 2016 release"
My channel is LMMProductions. I will be doing several videos on this tablet as i fully intend to put it thru its paces. Leaving no stone unturned!
Feel free to give this review a like as I will continue to update this review as I spend even more time with this tablet.
Update 9/26/16 We are coming up on 4 full days with 2 of these tablets. No problems yet and it is still performing great! On a side note one of the tablets does get warm while using and the other does not? This is also the same tablet that tested slightly higher in benchmark testing over the other HD 8.We are talking 20-30 points higher almost on every test. So for some reason the one tablet is performing higher then the other. But as I mentioned the same tAblet does run slightly warmer. Maybe this means something,maybe it doesnt. Just wanted to give you that little bit of info and to keep you updated:)
I was looking for a budget tablet to take with me when I travel so that I could leave my high end tablets home. The 6th Generation Fire HD 8 serves that purpose well. Despite its low price, it has some nice features and seems well built. The tablet runs on Fire OS which is a neutered version of Android. Amazon still does not include any Google Applications or the Play Store. You must download your apps from the Amazon Appstore. You can sideload most apps that the Amazon Appstore doesn't have though, and you can also easily install the Google Play Store manually.. The Fire HD 8's HD screen is good. The IPS screen is bright and clear. Colors are good. Performance is snappy. Despite the modest specs it is very smooth. Battery life is excellent. The cameras are fair at best. I didn't like the "Special Offers" on the lock screen, so I paid the $15 to unsubscribe. All around, this is a very good budget tablet. I give it a solid 4 Stars.
What I like:
Price.
Excellent battery life.
Good performance for the price.
SD Card Expansion.
Solidly built for the price.
Decent IPS HD Screen.
Integrates well with you Amazon account.
Alexa compatible.
What I don't like:
Comes without Google Apps or Play Store. (Can be sideloaded though)
Unwanted Amazon applications that can't be uninstalled.
Fire OS is limited compared to unmodified Android.
Limited configuration options.
Poor to Fair cameras.
No GPS.
I normally don't write reviews but I had to for this particular product.
First, the price- I got this during the cyber week sale for $59.99. Even at 90$ it's a great deal.
I originally got this for My daughters as Christmas gifts. After opening and setting up for them(I was too curious to wait) so it'll be good to go for the big day I couldn't get over how smooth it ran.even web prodding with multiple apps open ran perfectly. As a prime member it is a must have for the whole family. I ended up getting one from my mother in law As an early Christmas gift. Now I can use my tablet to set the kids parental control options like adding apps,games,music, etc.
Now I want to address all the complaints about the special offers. It's only a lock screen advertisement that can be purchased to have removed. My son has played games and used many apps for several hours without getting adds interrupting. I think it's well worth it to save the extra 15$ but if it bothers you it can always be removed for the extra cost. Check out amazon.com frequently asked questions to find out how. Also want to clear up the fact that it DOES have Bluetooth and connects to my Iphone/ Bose speaker just fine. It simply ships with it off and needs to be turned on in the settings.
I've done a lot of research and comparison on this product and have yet to see any true negatives. I am primarily an apple user so this was my first venture away from the iPad. I would pick this over the iPad mini any day!!I would Highly recommend this tablet to anyone, especially any amazon prime members.
I just received this tablet today so thus far I've only used it for a few hours. If I should need to update this review later I will, but so far so good. I am not new to Amazon devices as I have a 1st generation kindle fire and a kindle paperwhite. I love both of them. I also have an ipad2 which is practically unuseable anymore cause it crashes all the time which is very annoying and why i began looking for a new tablet. I didn't want another ipad and after searching and reading reviews I narrowed it down to a Samsung tablet or this Fire HD 8. I have a galaxy s7 phone and love it so I am also a Samsung fan. Alot of the reviews on this device and honestly the price point convinced me to give this a try. For my purposes I really couldn't justify spending a great deal more on a Samsung. So far I have loaded my email, some shopping sites, overdrive for my book borrowing, a couple favorite games, and facebook and messenger. All have performed fine. I tried movies on Netflix and Amazon Prime and the Youtube version and all worked perfectly. I see nothing wrong with the speakers and I think the screen display is beautiful. I was afraid I would find the screen size lacking, but I actually love it. I charged it to full and have been using it for about 5 solid hours and I still have 70% battery.
In conclusion I am very happy with it and I am thinking of getting another for my son.
Feature Product
- Fire HD 8, now with up to 12 hours of battery life, 2X the storage, and 50% more RAM for faster performance
- Stunning 8" HD display, a 1.3 GHz quad-core processor, and Dolby Audio. Available in four colors.
- Now with the Alexa cloud-based voice service - just press and ask
- Enjoy millions of movies, TV shows, songs, Kindle e-books, apps and games
- Prime members get unlimited access to a huge selection of songs, books, videos and more
- 16 or 32 GB of internal storage and a microSD slot for up to 200 GB of expandable storage
Description
All-new Fire HD 8, now with up to 12 hours of battery life, 2X the storage and 50% more RAM for faster performance – made for all day entertainment.
Engineered by Amazon
Fast and responsive
Enjoy your entertainment with a fast 1.3 GHz quad-core processor. Fire HD 8 now delivers faster performance thanks to a 50% increase in RAM over the previous model.
Beautiful HD display
Fire HD 8 features a widescreen 1280 x 800 high-definition display with over a million pixels (189 ppi) and a bright, vivid picture.
No more worrying about storage space
Now with 2X more internal storage, Fire HD 8 comes standard with 16 GB. Expand your tablet’s storage by up to 200 GB using a microSD card, and keep photos, movies, and compatible games and apps with you.
Power when you need it
Now with up to 12 hours of mixed-use battery life, Fire HD 8 gives you the flexibility to go where the day takes you.
Capture life's moments
Fire HD 8 features a 2 MP rear-facing camera for taking photos or shooting 720p video. The front-facing VGA camera is perfect for Skype calls with friends and family.
Stands up to everyday life
Amazon engineers Fire tablets to hold up against everyday life. As measured in tumble tests, Fire HD 8 is 2X more durable than iPad Mini 4 (and costs a lot less too).
Designed for Entertainment
Read
Choose from millions of Kindle e-book and magazine titles. Connect with the largest online community of book lovers on Goodreads. Discover over a million titles with a Kindle Unlimited subscription. Also, listen to your favorite books with Audible.
Watch
Enjoy all your favorite movies and TV shows on Amazon Video, Netflix, HBO NOW, and more. Discover hundreds of thousands of TV episodes and movies, plus fling Amazon Video content to your TV using Second Screen.
Play
Over 300,000 apps including favorites like Facebook, Twitter, and Spotify. Plus Amazon Underground, a one-of-a-kind app store experience where over 2,000 apps, games, and even in-app items are 100% free. Play great titles like Frozen Free Fall, Angry Birds Slingshot Stella, and Sonic Dash from developers like Disney, Gameloft, Rovio Entertainment, and more.
Meet Alexa
Alexa comes to Fire Tablets
Alexa provides quick access to the entertainment you want, including music, games, audiobooks, and more. You can also ask Alexa questions, check your calendar, get news, find sports scores, and even control your smart home. All you have to do is press and ask. Alexa will be available via a free over-the-air software update in the coming months.
One Press. Millions of Possibilities.
When connected to Wi-Fi simply press the home button for 2 seconds then ask. Alexa will respond to you and will even show visual responses to certain questions.
Everyday tasks made easier
Alexa on Fire tablets helps make the everyday easier. Just press and ask to set alarms and timers, check traffic, your calendar, to-do or shopping lists, and more.
Be Entertained
Whether you’re looking for your favorite playlist on Spotify or need a quick joke, you can ask Alexa. Just press and ask for a song, artist or genre, and stream directly over Wi-Fi. Alexa also provides voice control for Pandora, Spotify, TuneIn, IHeartRadio, and more.
Stay Informed
Now you can ask Alexa a question and get an immediate voice response. When you press and ask, Alexa can pull up your flash briefing, Wikipedia articles, news, sports scores, and more.
Control your smart home
Alexa works with devices such as lights, switches, thermostats, and more from WeMo, Philips Hue, SmartThings, Insteon, Nest, ecobee, and Wink. Switch on the lamp before getting out of bed, turn on the fan or change the temperature on your thermostat while reading in your favorite chair, or dim the lights from the couch to watch a movie—all voice controlled from your tablet.
Fire OS
Fire OS 5.4 - coming soon
In addition to Alexa, our next Fire OS update will also allow you to quickly access great game play directly from the Games tab with Twitch, the world’s leading social video platform and community for gamers. Fire tablet owners will also have easy access to over 65,000 recommendations from ComiXology, which provides an unrivaled library of comic books, graphic novels, manga and more.
Find the things you love easier
Fire OS is the best entertainment experience on a tablet with quick access to the things you do most. The home screen includes dedicated content pages for books, games, and apps, video, music, audiobooks, and Newsstand, making it quick to pick up right where you left off. Powered by Amazon’s recommendations engine, you can quickly browse books, movies, TV shows, music, apps, and games suggested just for you.
Apps that are actually free with Amazon Underground
Fire tablet owners have access to a one-of-a-kind app store experience where over 2,000 apps, games, and even in-app items are 100% free. Experience titles from top developers including Disney, Rovio Entertainment, Gameloft, Zeptolab, and Sega of America without ever having to pay for the app or in-app purchases.
Share content with Family Library
Family Library links your Amazon account to that of your spouse or partner so you can easily share apps, games, audiobooks, and books, and it now allows Prime members to share their Prime Video content. Access your family's content across devices—both Amazon devices and free Amazon apps for other platforms, including iOS and Android.
No more waiting
With ASAP (Advanced Streaming and Prediction), Amazon movies and TV episodes are ready for you to watch instantly. ASAP dynamically adapts to your viewing habits.
On Deck automatically downloads Prime Video (for Prime members) and the first episodes of Amazon Original Series while your device isn’t in use, ensuring that there is always something new to enjoy instantly, even when offline.
Integrated on-device tech support
Screen Sharing brings Mayday-powered customer service to Fire tablets. Simply call customer service and Amazon experts can connect to your Fire tablet to co-pilot through features by drawing on your screen, walking you through how to do something yourself, or doing it for you—whatever works best.
I have owned every generation of the fire tablets, I have gifted and recommend many times. This is the first I ordered the day it came out and being a long time prime member I knew it would go on sale in November. The price was so reasonable I didn't want to wait. My thoughts, the screen resolution for watching videos is very good the sound is loud and clear. Web browsing is fast and games run smoothly. I read on a paperwhite, however with blue shade I could read on this tablet. What you need to be aware of to avoid disappointment this is a Amazon fire tablet it doesn't have goggle play store I find Amazon app store to have more than enough and Amazon underground is totally free apps which keeps the grandkids happy and saves me money. Alexa is now on the tablet I find it useful and once again my grandkids love it and by the way these tablets are priced so everyone in the family can have their own. I would also mention the parental controls are exceptional. This is a great tablet for entertainment power users might not be happy. This tablet would work great for most people you don't need a Prime membership to use but having one really makes this tablet shine, check out all the benefits of prime it's a 100 dollars well spent and worth every penny. Buy one for yourself your children, grandchildren parents and with parents permission buy one for a child in need. They are worth it. And just so you know I have bought one for a blind friend the accessibility works great and I didn't have any problems teaching them to use it. So I'm sure by now you know that I highly recommend I personally like the the bigger screen and better speakers but the fire 7 kids tablet is a unbeatable value and the regular fire 7 which I also like makes a affordable tablet for almost everyone. Good job Amazon. One other thing if your a prime member or have a audible account you can now get audible channels on the tablet a 60 dollar value a very nice update. And check out the rapids app for children 7-12 it encourages independent reading it cost 2.99 a month or 29.99 a year children will love the short book that look like text messages. This tablet just keeps getting better
If you don't need something as fancy or high tech as an iPad, this Fire HD 8 tablet by Amazon works wonderfully. The Amazon ecosystem is very straightforward, giving you easy access to your emails, amazon video, apps, and shopping. The app store is not as extensive as Android or iOS but you'll find many commonly used apps are available and lots of free apps as well through Amazon Underground. The lock screen displays ads when you wake the device up which promotes various products or services available through Amazon. Some people find it annoying, I personally don't mind. Charging the device does take time (at least 2 hours or so) to go from low 10% to full. The speakers are located on the left side of the device which I prefer. If you have a case that has a kickstand function, watching a video in landscape mode with the speaker side facing the case creates a nice stereo surround sound environment. Aside from the volume rocker and power button, there are no other hard buttons on this tablet. The back, home, and switching between windows buttons are on-screen. At the basic level of what a tablet should do, the Fire HD 8 does it all; watch videos, view photos, shop on amazon, play games or apps, view emails, etc. Get a quality case and screen protector and the Amazon Fire HD 8 is a great choice for someone who doesn't need the most fancy tablet.
The only negative I have is occasionally when I'm watching a video, the screen will suddenly turn black and remain that way. The device isn't frozen but rather the display is turned off. The only solution I've found to remedy this is to restart the device by holding the power button for 30 seconds to power off the device, release, and then hold for another 30 to turn it back on. Works every time but a bit annoying. Aside from this, the tablet has functioned as described and expected.
My first generation Kindle just doesn't have it anymore so when a promotion price was placed on the Kindle Fire 8, I ordered it. When I discovered it would not come in time for our vacation I canceled the order. I did, however, do an online chat with a rep who forwarded my concern on to someone else. That same evening another person emailed me, basically telling me that if I re-ordered now with 2-day shipping, I would get it before we left. I want to commend Amazon and their reps for expediting my order. The tablet is wonderful...it's so much faster and does so much more than I expected...I'm still getting used to it, but I do like it. Vacation pictures were a concern but I've practiced and look forward to stills and videos. Thank you.
First time buyer of Fire tablet. (I have Samung Tab3, Tab4, Tab S and Tab A)
Summary:
-install google play in a few min. Search from silk browser and download 4 apk. Just run them. No rooting needed.
-since the account setting refers to Amazon account, it does not allow multiple Google play accounts. A remedy is to uninstall Google play services each time before accessing a different Google play login.
-Kindle reading app is bad, even worst than Kindle app for Android in other tablets.
-you dont need 32G version which I have. 16G version is good enough. It allows you to install apps or download Kindle books to mirco sd card.
So plenty of storage.
Overall, I like this tablet. I had the 7" for awhile, and didn't think the extra inch would matter much, but it does make a bit of a difference. For the price, you really can't beat the Fire's overall performance and dependability.
My three main complaints about this particular model are as follows: 1) The screen is very reflective, which makes watching it during the daytime an exercise in finding just the right angle to cause the least amount of ambient light reflection. 2) Full brightness level is still quite low whenever a "dark scene" is playing during a movie or TV show. 3) The stereo speakers, which is one of the main reasons I decided to upgrade to this model, are located on the top edge of the tablet (in horizontal mode). I'm sure the ceiling appreciates the wonderful sound, but it doesn't carry all that well to the person in front of the tablet. Extra note: I accidentally "locked" the tablet somehow, and thought it had burned out on me after only a few weeks of use. Luckily, I decided to just hold down the power button for an extended period and it suddenly rebooted. I'm not sure how I locked it (what button combo), but if yours suddenly "dies" on you try a reboot before tossing it in the trash.
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