The brand new Amazon Fireplace HD Eight has been launched; this 2022 replacement of Amazon’s middle-sized pill household replaces the 2020 mannequin and has 4 different tablets in all.
These all change members of the Amazon Fireplace HD 8 (2020) household, although the upgrades are fairly restricted. To provide you with a thought as to what’s new, we’ll run you thru the brand new Fireplace HD Eight under.
Amazon Fireplace HD Eight worth and availability
The brand new base Amazon Fireplace HD Eight prices $99 / £99 for 32GB storage, which is a slight worth hike over the $89 / £89 beginning price of the last-gen mannequin. A 64GB model of the pill can also be occurring sale however TheTechnicalBuddy wasn’t offered the worth for that forward of time.
The Fireplace HD Eight Plus sells for $119 / £119, which is once more barely greater than the $110 / £110 asking worth for the earlier model of the slate.
Each of the Fireplace HD Eight Children, designed for youthful customers, and the Fireplace HD Eight Children Professional, designed for older youngsters, price $149 / £149 – these fashions are dearer as a result of they’ve protecting circumstances and particular software programs designed for kids.
Pre-orders for all these tablets begin on September 21, they usually absolutely go on sale in October.
Amazon Fireplace HD Eight vs Plus vs Children vs Children Professional
Earlier than we go on a deep dive into the usual Amazon Fireplace HD 8, we should always in all probability run via the variants, so you know the way they’re different.
Firstly, the Eight Plus is an extra premium model of the usual HD 8. It has extra RAM, wi-fi charging and a higher-resolution digital camera, however not a lot else. You should buy a dock for it, which works with the wi-fi charging to show the Fireplace HD Eight Plus into an Amazon Echo imitator in the event you like to.
(Picture credit score: Amazon) Each of the Children and Children Professional fashions is designed for youthful customers: the previous is aimed toward 3-7-year-olds, whereas the latter is for 7-12-year-olds. The tablets include huge protecting circumstances and the software program is sort of restrictive, locking the consumer to content material and apps that are applicable for this consumer group. A parental account might be linked to raised management of what the kid can enter.
Amazon Fireplace HD Eight design and show
Amazon’s tablets do not precisely have revolutionary designs, however, that is to be anticipated with the worth.
The slates, together with the brand new one, are giant plastic rectangles with a display screen on the entrance – hey, it is a pill, what did you anticipate? The brand new mannequin has a USB-C port for sooner charging, a 3.5mm headphone jack for wired audio, an influence button and a quantity rocker.
The brand new Fireplace HD Eight has seen just a few design tweaks from its predecessor because it’s thinner, lighter and, in line with Amazon, extra sturdy: the corporate says the slate was “testing twice as sturdy because of the iPad mini in tumble assessments.” However, the modifications are doubtless minor.
As with all Amazon Fireplace tablets, this one is known after its show, which suggests it has an 8-inch HD display screen. That is unchanged over the show on the 2020 mannequin, and we discovered that the display screen on that wasn’t nice, however, was high-quality for sure leisure duties.
Amazon Fireplace HD Eight cameras and battery life
(Picture credit score: Amazon) You are in all probability not shopping for the Amazon Fireplace HD Eight for its photographic prowess, however, it’s all the time helpful to have one thing for video calling.
The Amazon Fireplace HD Eight has a 2MP entrance and 2MP rear digital camera, and at that decision, these are a match for video chats but not a lot else. If you need some extra digital camera grunt, the Plus mannequin has a 5MP rear digital camera.
When it comes to battery life, Amazon cites the machine as lasting for 13 hours of use, which is a single hour up from the 2020 mannequin. That is for watching content material, however, you may get extra time in the event you’re simply studying an e-book or checking your emails.
The charging velocity does not appear to have modified although; so you may nonetheless be ready properly over an hour and a half for the factor to be powered to full.
(Picture credit score: Amazon) When it comes to efficiency, not a lot has been modified with the brand new Amazon Fireplace HD 8. The corporate says the processor is 30% faster, however, it’s nonetheless at 2GB RAM (3GB for the Plus mannequin), so the variations will doubtless be relatively minor.
Amazon’s tablets are typically fairly sluggish, as they’re designed for leisure functions like watching TV exhibits, listening to music and enjoying low-end video games, so you do not want that a lot of processing energy.
You may choose the tablets with 32GB or 64GB storage, but when neither of these choices is sufficient, you may be happy to know that there is an expandable reminiscence of as much as 1TB.
As for software programs, Amazon’s tablets are all locked to the corporate’s working system, which is a closely modified model of Android. This has heavy integration with the model’s companies like Prime Video, Prime Music, Kindle and so forth, so you’d higher be a Prime subscriber to profit from it.
That does not imply Amazon engages in anti-competitive measures although, and you may also obtain apps like Disney Plus, Netflix and Spotify, and use varied video games and apps which might be accessible on Amazon’s app retailer.
Whether or not they’ll make it onto our greatest low-cost pill roundup stays to be seen, however, they’re going to little question discover favour with these after a reasonably priced slate with some family-friendly performance, similar to all the time.
