Pros: Great example of how to make a docking station. It's heavy enough and has rubber pads to keep in position if someone snags the cable. The embedded magnets in the case and dock do an excellent job of centering the case in the dock so the charging contacts line up.
Cons:How not to make a case. The back is completely smooth.It will slide away on smooth and/or polished surfaces that have more than 10-15 degrees of slope. It doesn't have a cover It's also a little more challenging to hold onto with one hand. The Amazon tablet case doesn't slide away, AND HAS A COVER!
Amazon, it actually hurts me to ask this question. Why didn't you add the power circuit and magnets to the existing case, as an upgraded tablet case? You could leave the cover closed, or flip it over the back of the dock.
Update 8/13: I will change back to the tablet case and cover when it leaves the house with me. It's annoying, but I like having the cover.
Update 11/9/2018: I got tired of switching cases. This is now sitting in a corner gathering dust. I'm hanging on to it for now, just in case Amazon releases a charging case with a cover.
I already own a Fire 10" tablet, but I wasn't using it as often as thought I would. It was usually dead when I wanted to use it but didn't feel like keeping it constantly charged. Problem solved -- with several very neat extras. The PROs: It costs less than a Show, duh! It's a whole lot larger than a show. (Download the Alexa skill - Aquarium screensaver without sound. It is just BEAUTIFUL!.) You can have Alexa report the weather. You can have Alexa turn on the lights. You can have Alexa tell you the formula for the volume of a sphere. (Really cool!) The CONs: It doesn't make or give reminders. Ouch! That's disappointing. Although you can play music, the sound is even worse than the Dot. BIG BUT -- you can hide a nice Bose portable speaker behind the unit and it's beautiful. I just installed a Blink video camera security system -- AN AMAZON COMPANY. I can see the Front Door on my SHOW, but not on this Show MODE. At least not yet. That would have been nice. I'm being picky now, but look at the picture. The temperature runs just slightly into the time. A slight adjustment from the Amazon engineers will take care of that - soon. Altogether, 4 stars.
Update: the Amazon device team called me and provided a solution to my issue. I had to turn off the voice cast settings on the tablet. Making this change solved the issue. Rating changed to 4 stars
I don't have an Echo Show, but in my home I have multiple Echos and the Fire TV cube, which largely functions like an Echo. The problem with the "show mode" for the tablet, is that anytime I ask Alexa a question or any other request that results in a pop up appearing on the tablet screen, it kicks the tablet out of show mode, and I have to give the "alexa, switch to show mode" command to start it up again. It seems like the pop up screens should be disabled if you put the tablet in show mode. I hope this gets written into the next update for the tablet. This will always have limited functions compared to the other echos (most significantly the lack of the far field voice recognition), but overall I think it has a lot of potential. I'd give it 4 stars if not for the pop up problem.
No drop in, no multi-room music, echo options not accessible from the alexa app and the speakers suck. BUT I STILL LOVE IT.
I knew when I ordered the docking station that it would come with some limitations; it's a new release device! It takes my otherwise unused Fire HD 8, keeps it charged and makes most voice activated Alexa features immediately available with a beautiful HD screen. I can control my smart home devices, make hands-free phone calls, SEE and hear my calendar/ schedule, make my shopping and to-do lists, set reminders, use it as a timer, set alarms, and play video and music with the help of a blue-tooth speaker ... pretty much all the things that I actually use my echo devices for anyway. When I want my tablet back, I pick it up off the dock and walk away. The case makes the tablet heavier, but I don't find it to be so awkward that I won't use it.
I've chosen to place it on top of a short cabinet in the kitchen so that I no longer have to walk into the living room to add things to my shopping list. I often use a tablet there for recipes and cooking videos and if I want to listen to the radio or watch video while I tool around in the galley, it's there.
The only thing that I feel like I am missing is the video drop in feature. I'm hoping that they will eventually be able to integrate that into the programming.
My kids have used Kindle Fires for a few years now, the ones that came with the two-year warranties. They've been good except for one major issue. THE USB PORT DIES. Seriously, I think we've had Amazon replace them about 8 times. Each time, it's a refurb and the USB port starts to wiggle and then dies within a few weeks of receiving it. It's incredibly frustrating.
This time, when buying a new Fire HD8, I noticed this new Show Mode charging doc was available and decided to give it a shot. It's nothing fancy, it wraps the Kindle in a hard plastic case, but it solves the Fire's biggest problem. No more plugging and unplugging the USB port. Once the case is plugged into the tablet you don't ever need to unplug it. The tablet charges just by setting it down onto the charging dock. Magnets help make sure it lines up correctly when set down. It works great, and there's no more fear of wearing out the USB charging port. This is the best accessory you can buy for the Fire HD8, well worth it as it will likely extend the life of the tablet by several years.
Feature Product
- Transform your tablet to an immersive, full-screen Alexa experience optimized for visibility across the room. Just ask Alexa to show trending news, timers and alarms, movie showtimes, weather, and more.
- Dock your tablet to automatically switch to Show Mode. Enjoy movies, TV shows, books, apps, and games while your tablet is docked-or pick up your tablet to take your entertainment on the go.
- Now you can ask Alexa to start a hands-free video or voice call while your tablet is docked, then pick up your tablet to take the call with you.
- Stream music from Spotify, Pandora, TuneIn, and iHeartRadio and listen to audiobooks from Audible. Just ask Alexa to play a song, artist, or genre, see lyrics with Amazon Music.
- For richer sound, connect your tablet to external speakers via Bluetooth or 3.5 mm audio cable.
- Attach the shell to your Fire HD 8 tablet and magnetically dock to the adjustable stand for convenient charging.
- Perfect for stationary use, and small enough to place on a kitchen counter, nightstand, or desk.
- Includes a shell, adjustable stand, power adapter, and USB cable. Show Mode Charging Dock is compatible with 7th and 8th generation (2017 and 2018 releases) Fire HD 8 tablets, and will not work with 6th generation tablets or prior.
Description
This device attempts to turn an existing 10 inch 7 gen Fire Tablet into the Show display with some success. You insert the tablet into a rigid holder and it is magnetically held in place in a separate rigid support bracket to charge the tablet when in use. It is difficult to remove the tablet from the holder, however, when the Show format is no longer required (such as traveling). A second problem is that it is somewhat difficult to place the holder in the support bracket so that it is properly aligned. A simple design change would include a small bump in the holder and a recess in the support bracket (or vice versa). Otherwise it does mostly what was intended with all of the peculiarities of the Fire Tablets themselves. Fair value.
I don't have a lot to say about it. It was a black Friday impulse buy. I now have more Echo's than I have rooms in my house.
In my opinion, the Echo show is missing something very important - the ability to control your devices on the touch screen.
The Fire HD8 with the dock sort of solves that problem. When it's in the dock, it's just like an Echo Show, but with a terrible little speaker. What makes it better that a Show despite the poor speaker, is that you can use a voice command to launch apps. Even though the Fire app store is limited, there are still a few apps that I use such as Sonos (my whole house audio system), and Amcrest (the app to view all of my security cameras). I can say "alexa, Launch Amcrest" and it will launch the Amcrest app and show me all of my cameras at two houses.
The dock has a strong magnet that centers that Tablet in the dock and securely holds it in place. I don't think it's an inductive charger, it looks like it uses two contact pins for charging.
For the price, I'd highly recommend this combination. I don't use it as a tablet, I much prefer my iPad. But my iPad was $1000. So for a little over $50 that I paid for this combo, it's a steal.
I also have an Echo Spot. It's a beautiful little device, but it's not much more useful than a Dot. The Fire HD8 with the charging stand is awesome. If you plan to listen to music, then you'll need to buy speakers for it.
Solidly built, wireless charging is great. Turns my HD8 into a nice bedside alarm clock on steroids. A couple of hopes for future updates:
1) A way to have the blue shade feature shut off automatically if docked. I use my HD8 to read at night and love the blue shade function, but when docked it makes the Show Mode too bright and unreadable. It would be great if docking the tablet switched it automatically to regular color mode.
2) A way to turn off the docked/undocked chime sound effect without turning off all system sounds. At night it’s rather loud when your partner is asleep next to you.
This is a handsome docking station and is aesthetically a lot more pleasing than just using a normal tablet stand. I feel like it's a bit overpriced for what it is though. It has some issues such as it not being very child or pet friendly. It wouldn't take much to knock the case out of the dock since there isn't anything locking it in. I also felt they should have made this work for both the 8 and the 10. If you can't just get an 8 tray and use it with the 10 dock, then I would give it 2 stars. Show Mode needs work and I don't feel like they tested it much. I have my display speed on Fast and clock on for when it's inactive, but it just sits there on the same photo endlessly and doesn't change the screen unless I ask it something, and I've only gotten the clock to come up twice. The rest of the time I have to exit out of Show Mode eventually and just let the lock/home screens turn it off after a minute. Hopefully they will do an update soon and fix this problem. They also need to put In some kind of sleep mode (Alexa, sleep) so you can shut it down without the clock being on when it's inactive. I do like that it speaks some Klingon though! :P That's the Trekie in me. How about some Vulcan too!
Update: I’ve had it for a couple of months and I’m upgrading it from a 3 to a 5. My orginal issues were with my fire 10. Either it has a hardware issue or the show mode download was faulty. Once I switched to my other fire 10, all my problems disappeared. It actually works better with my pets than a normal tablet stand. They tend to leave this stand alone. I still think it’s a bit overpriced though, but all in all I’m happy with the purchase.
So far it's okay. The dock or HD8 keeps making a "clicking/tapping" sound every now and then. Not sure what it's doing. Otherwise it works good and still getting used to it. Price is good for what you are getting. Wish the sound was a little better. The Dot sounds better for sure. We use it more for on our kitchen counter to see weather, cameras, timer, etc. Works great for that.
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