All New Fire HD 8 Tablet

My Old Chap ✨ Sascha ✨ experience Great Tablet!.

This is an excellent tablet. When you buy Amazon tablets, it should be known you’re NOT getting an Android tablet. You’re getting Fire OS. But, you can still get Google apps on this tablet by downloading an APK of the Google Play store (which doesn’t root it or mess with warranty). It was between the Fire 7 or this one, & I opted for the extra price for more storage, better screen, & bigger size. I bought this tablet at Best Buy to take with me on the go rather than my iPad Mini. This is an amazing little thing. It runs fast, has a decent screen, is responsive, & has a great battery life. Yes, it has ads on the lockscreen, but they don’t bother me. I use this tablet for drawing & it actually is very good for it. I also use it to watch YouTube videos, although the speaker is extremely weak (not a huge trade off for me, I use headphones the majority of the time). Bluetooth connects great. Has a decent display, could be better, but it’s a budget tablet. You could technically get 2 Fire 7s for the price of this, but this is worlds better. I see no reason to go to the 10 inch unless you want a bigger screen. This is a great tablet. Absolutely nothing to complain about except a subpar speaker.

My Fellow malevolentmuse experience It's just an Amazon delivery device, but it's a really good Amazon delivery device.

People who complain about the Amazon Fire are really just complaining that it's not a traditional tablet. They wanted an iPad or a Galaxy Tab, but didn't have the money or were too cheap to get one and for upset when they realized what they'd bought. If you understand what the Fire is, an Amazon digital content delivery device with some tablet capabilities, you'll be thrilled with what it can do. If you're trying to find a cheap version of a Samsung or Apple tablet, keep looking because that is not what this is and you'll just be disappointed.

My Old Fellow Fast Unboxer experience Great tablet (Amazon, why was my first review removed?).

 I enjoy reading books and watching videos on my new Kindle.

- Screen and Size:
I appreciate the form factors -- it has sufficient screen size for my use but also very portable to carry around. The display quality of the 8 inch screen is great, everything is crisp and sharp. For me it is the most important thing. It's a great content consumption device which provides excellent reading experience similar to my old Paperwhite.

- Speed
The marketing material says 30%. Honestly it doesn't matter for my use.
It is smooth enough for web browsing.

- Battery Life:
It claims up to 12 hours of battery life, which impressive for tablet this size.
Based on my initial impression, it is probably true.
I will come back to update this review later about my real-world usage.

- Charging
Type-C port! No more micro-USB!
According to the specifications, charging time is 5 hours.
Get a more powerful charger and I think this regular HD 8 will charge up just as fast as the more expensive Fire HD 8 Plus, if not faster!
In my video review, I used a type-c PD charger that delivers 14.12 watts of power when the tablet is around 68% battery. With the included charger, it was only able to deliver 5 watts. I won’t be surprised it can be charged from 0 to 100% under 3 hours!

- Storage:
It supports 1TB of additional storage! I I bought the 32GB version, put in 64GB SD card and plan to get a larger one in the future for movie storage.

- Capable of enabling Alexa, with on/off toggle.
It works but I don't use Alexa much.

My Buddy Kerri Hanse Talk Bad Costumer Service for a broken Kindle.

We bought this kindle for my son this past Christmas and the screen glitches. Whenever it’s turned on every few seconds the screen will go black and then turn back on. It doesn’t matter if it’s on the home screen or in an app. My son tried to use this kindle many times during “homeschooling” and it would not work. Because of COVID it took me awhile to get to costumer service as this problem has been going for a few months. Once I was able to talk with someone they told me that because it was purchased through Target they are not responsible for replacing it. This doesn’t make since to me as it’s an amazon product.
Years ago I had a problem with my iPad. I contacted Apple not the store that I purchased it from (which was also Target). They spent time on the phone with me and tried to fix my device. When they couldn’t they sent me a new device since the iPad wasn’t even a year old.
I guess you get what you pay for and I payed for junk and received crap costumer service. I know we’re I’ll be purchasing my kids next device from. I would give this Kindle 0 stars and Costumer Service a 0 rating as well for not even trying to trouble shot the problem. I wonder if I call Target if they have techs to help determine the problem. I doubt it since it’s an Amazon product.

My Fellow Thomas Mitchell say Nice Build.

I like the build and over feel of the device. Even though it is made out of plastic it still feels very rugged and durable. I recommend this product. I have had a Kindle before and it is still in perfect condition.

My Buddy T. Reid experience Trying to remain optimistic... - Update #2 is more positive.

My all new 8" Fire HD w 64gb storage arrived today. Joy! Went through the setup process... good, good. Then, I hooked it up to my PC via the provided SUB to load my non-amazon purchased library and find that there are no visible subfolders to transfer my collection of ebooks to. What gives? Did amazon go full on proprietary on us with this latest generation? One star until we get this sorted out... Will update the review if there's a solution. If no solution, it will be returned.

***update #1*** There's apparently no simple solution. Anmolpreet, the customer service guy, was trying to walk me through some complicated email method that was highly impractical. Why does amazon feel the need to take a simple data transfer by USB method and remove it? What a terrible design flaw! Why does amazon hate their customers? This is right up there with not being able to open .mobi files from the micro SD card with the kindle app. I've learned to live with that flaw, but this one is ridiculous. Stay away from this lump.

***update #2*** amazon's Seattle based customer service contacted me and provided a workaround. You can select the functional properties of the USB cord. It can be used both to transfer data and charge the device. Unfortunately, amazon's incomplete instructions provided with the tablet do not provide this level of information. Work on it and make sure your overseas tech support guys know how to fully assist a customer with the proper countermeasures. Adding another star to the review to bump it up to 2. Hopefully, there aren't any other problems.

My Old Man Rose Wheeler experience Does not have google play..

If you want an android device with all options and system controls open, this is not it. Buy something better, I regret buying it.

My friend ChicoCR experience Where are the cases?.

The tablets fine, no problems there. But where are the cases? Accidents happen and how many times have you seen people drop their smartphone/tablets and the screen cracks? I know we're going thru corvid-19 right now, but there is no mention on the webpage how Amazon is going to address this.

The one case listed on amazon has the access for the camera, power and volume buttons in the wrong place.

My Old Man Harlan Lebo say Very disappointing – this tablet is not worth an update.

Once again, a tablet billed as “all-new” is anything but. I suppose if you are buying an 8” tablet for the first time, the new Fire HD models may be worth considering (although there are better deals and features from other manufacturers – see below). However, if you’re thinking of an upgrade over your current Fire 8”, you may want to wait, or look elsewhere.

Yes, the new Fire HD 8 and 8 Plus are somewhat faster than previous models – but previous models work just fine for almost everything we do with a small tablet: email, video, and web browsing. The screen on the new Fire 8 is the same resolution and size as on previous models, even though the body of the new Fire 8 is now wider (which means you’ll need a new case, too).

So what do you get for $89 or (for the Plus) $109? You get a USB-C connection, and a modest speed increase. That’s it. There is nothing here that defines the new Fire 8 as “all new.” This tablet is billed as “allowing you to enjoy your favorite apps,” but you could already do that with previous models. And the heavily-touted battery life of 12 hours? That’s the same claim Amazon made for the Fire 8 in 2018!

A truly useful step would have been an upgraded screen, but we don’t get that feature on the Fire 8.

If you are eager to get a new 8” tablet, you may want to consider other products. For instance, the new Lenovo Smart Tab M8 costs $99, but for the extra $10 you get a tablet with the same size screen, RAM, and processor speed as the Fire 8, but the M8 is physically smaller, lighter, has a metal body (instead of plastic like the Fire), and ships with smart charging dock for no additional cost.

Someday, Amazon will create a tablet that is indeed “all new.” Today is not that day.

My Old Man Malia S. tell us Fire HD 8 Plus offers great technical specs at an affordable price.

I purchased this as a long overdue replacement for my 4th generation Fire HD 6. I primarily use my Fire tablets as Kindle devices because I'm a fan of the text-to-speech functionality. (Did you know you can also ask your Alexa Echo devices to read your Kindle books to you?) Aside from the improved specs in the new 2020 10th Generation version, I was especially looking forward to being able to Alexa in Show mode without having to be tethered to an outlet - this functionality alone is well worth the product price IMO. The Fire HD 8 tablet is a great choice for people who want to read or listen to Kindle books, watch streaming video content (Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, YouTube, etc.) or casually browse the internet. Both of my Fire tablets have had the 'Special Offers'; they don't bother me at all.

Favorite Features:
- Amazing Battery Life!!
- Alexa 'Show Mode' - like having a wireless Echo Show!
- Text-to-Speech functionality for Kindle
- Expandable Memory up to 1TB
- Dolby Speakers = decent sound quality
- Has a 3.5mm Audio Jack
- 3GB RAM & Wireless Charging (Plus model)
- Angreat 10W Wireless Charging Dock (sold separately) is well-designed

A few minor gripes:
- I wish the included charging cable were longer, but I ordered a wireless charging dock
- It would be great if the 'Plus' model came in more colors
- Camera quality could be improved
- Fingerprint Magnet
- Google Play Store not included by default