Amazon Fire HD 8 Review: a Good, Cheap Tablet with One Big Compromise

Since these are largely the same tablet, I found myself utilizing them both interchangeably. Amazon (or other retailers using the Silk browser app) and occasionally playing by way of a couple of levels of Candy Crush. The latter was made higher by Game Mode, which mutes and hides notifications so you’re not interrupted whereas you’re taking part in. The tablet mainly lived on my sofa and that i picked it up any time I wished a bigger display to work with than my iPhone XR. Sometimes I didn’t even have to select it up thanks to arms-free Alexa, which helps you to bark questions at the tablet when it is sitting idly next to you. I additionally barely needed to cost the thing: Amazon estimates up to 12 hours of use on each the Fire HD 8 and the HD 8 Plus. I used it for hours one night and woke as much as it with almost the same quantity of battery life as I left it.

Also, each tablets lasted roughly 21 hours when faced with the battery test we usually run on Android devices. TheFire HD 8 ran smoothly when I was utilizing an app or taking part in a sport, but navigating the Fire OS interface and doing issues like turning on and off Show Mode produced a number of seconds of lag time. The latter is Amazon’s method of turning a fire pill into an Echo Show — the standard app-grid interface disappears and you’re met with the identical display that you’d find on one of many company’s sensible displays. If you purchase a tablet stand or find one other option to prop up the Fire HD 8, Show Mode makes it an excellent substitute for a standalone Echo device. However, the extra I reached for the Fire HD 8, the extra inconveniences I discovered — not with the bodily tablet, however with its software. The Fire HD eight technically runs Android, but Fire OS is actually one thing completely completely different — set your expectations accordingly.

The Google Play Store isn’t natively obtainable on Fire OS. Instead, you’ve Amazon’s «AppStore,» which has applications made specifically for Fire tablets and a smattering of Android apps — however Google apps are disregarded. This has been a problem for the entirety of Fire OS’ existence. Instead of utilizing Google Chrome, you have got to make use of Amazon’s Silk browser; as an alternative of Gmail, you’re left with a faintly-branded Amazon Email app, and the checklist goes on. This won’t be a huge problem in case your life isn’t managed by Google companies, but being pressured to use Amazon’s imitation apps is just not an ideal expertise. To make things worse, many Android apps aren’t obtainable in any respect in Amazon’s AppStore. So choosing an electronic mail app like Spark isn’t potential. And sure, while you may sideload the Play Store onto Fire tablets, that’s not something most customers will wish to deal with. And we’ll in all probability never see the everyday Android expertise on Fire tablets.

Fire OS is designed to keep Amazon services prime of thoughts for the person — that means these tablets turn into a lot more helpful if you’re entrenched in Amazon’s ecosystem. The homepages on the Fire HD 8 (Books, Video, Shop, Music, and so on) are designed to ensure you’re using as many Amazon companies as attainable — even those you’re not currently paying for. Amazon Prime members will find they can do probably the most on Fire tablets just because their Prime membership contains issues like free ebooks with Prime Reading and entry to all the Prime Video library. If you possibly can keep your expectations in examine, you won’t be as dissatisfied if you go to look at a YouTube video to seek out that it’s a must to download a wierd, third-get together YouTube app or use the Silk browser. In fact, you could be pleasantly shocked by how succesful Fire tablets are. I’d venture to say that most people can do most of the things they’d want to do frequently with an Amazon tablet. Within the case of the Fire HD 8, the expertise is made higher by its refined design, HD display and USB-C charging. It could very simply turn out to be your e-reader, tiny Tv and good speaker all in one. That’s an important deal for $90, and one that makes playing by Amazon’s rules a bit simpler to swallow.

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