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Amazon slashes price of the Fire HD 8 Tablet and Show Mode Dock bundle by half

If you’ve been on the hunt for the year’s best deal on an Amazon Echo smart display, your target is in sight. Amazon slashed the price of the Fire HD 8 Tablet bundled with the Show Mode Charging Dock by 50% for Prime members.

The excellent Fire HD 8 Tablet runs up to 10 hours on battery power. You can watch TV and movies, read books and magazines, listen to music, play games, and check in on your email and social media accounts. Amazon Prime members can access free media with the Fire HD 8 to enjoy online or download for unconnected entertainment with virtually millions of movies, TV episodes, songs, books, apps, and games. Hands-free Alexa support is built-in, but when you put the Fire HD 8 in the Show Mode Charging Dock, the tablet automatically converts to an Echo smart display.

The Fire HD 8 Tablet has an 8-inch diagonal 1280 x 800 resolution color touchscreen display. Powered by a Quad-core CPU with 1.5 GB of RAM, the tablet in this sale bundle has 16 GB of storage, expandable up to 400 GB with a micro SD card. Front and rear-facing cameras capture 2 MP photos and record 720p HD video. The Fire HD 8 has dual-band Wi-Fi for the best connectivity and Dolby Atmos audio support with stereo speakers and a built-in microphone.

You can enter Show Mode on the Fire HD 8 Tablet without the charging dock, by saying, “Alexa, switch to Show Mode.” The Show Mode Charging Dock’s added convenience pays off several ways. It’s more convenient to charge the tablet by placing it on the dock than finding and plugging in a Micro USB cable. If you use Echo devices for voice and video calls, with the Fire HD 8 tablet in the dock, you’ll be ready to take or make calls. The dock also holds the tablet in landscape mode at a proper angle for viewing content.

When you switch the Fire HD 8 to Show Mode, it can act as a desktop or bedside clock and media player as well as a smart display. You can use Alexa to show recipe steps, play news briefings and videos, and show the week’s weather. If you have other smart home devices in your home, you can use the Fire HD 8 in Show Mode to control, manage, and monitor them. For example, you could use the Fire HD 8 for a live view from an Alexa-compatible video doorbell or security camera and receive alerts with video and audio support.

The Fire HD 8 Tablet lists for $80, with occasional discounts to $50. The Fire HD 8 Show Mode Charging Dock normally sells for $40. From the $120 list price of both products bought separately, Amazon periodically bundles the tablet and the dock for $80, which is a good deal, saving $40. The current deal is even better, cutting the price to just $60. Amazon may have new products on the way — that could explain the deep price cut — but this is for sure a good time to save on this awesome deal.

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Bruce Brown
Digital Trends Contributing Editor Bruce Brown is a member of the Smart Homes and Commerce teams. Bruce uses smart devices…
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