Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile
  3. News

The latest Amazon Fire 7 and Fire HD 8 tablets are slimmed down and powered up

Christian de Looper
By
Holiday Gift Guide Banner
Image used with permission by copyright holder

This product was featured in our Holiday Gift Guide! Check it out to find gift inspiration for everyone in your life.

Amazon has taken the wraps off of its next generation of Fire tablets, which represent an incremental update to the Fire 7 and Fire HD 8 tablets. The company on Tuesday announced both the “all-new” Fire 7 and Fire HD 8, as well as kids versions of those two tablets — the Fire 7 Kids Edition and the Fire HD 8 Kids Edition.

Recommended Videos

The Kids Edition versions of the tablets are built to last. According to the company, Because “kids break things,” as the company says, the tablets feature a “kid-proof” case, as well as a two-year warranty that allows parents to send back a broken tablet and get a replacement.

Related

So what sets the new tablets apart from their predecessors? According to Amazon, the new Fire 7 is thinner and lighter, and comes with an “improved 7-inch IPS display.” It also has a better battery life of 8 hours. Very little has changed with the Fire HD 8, but it is available in a few new colors, and Amazon says it’ll offer “faster performance.” If you already have a Fire 7 or Fire HD 8 tablet, you probably won’t need to upgrade to the new one.

Apart from Alexa, Amazon’s digital assistant, the Fire 7 features a 7-inch display along with 8GB or 16GB of storage and a microSD card slot to expand upon that storage. The Fire HD 8 sports an 8-inch widescreen display, along with 16GB or 32GB of storage, and a microSD card slot. The tablets also feature unnamed quad-core 1.3GHz processors.

Perhaps the best thing about the tablets is their price. Amazon has never offered overly expensive tablets, and the Fire 7 starts at $50, while the Fire HD 8 comes in at $80 — matching the price of the previous Fire 7 and Fire HD 8 tablets respectively. Of course, Amazon isn’t aiming to make its money from the hardware — it’s banking on users having Amazon Prime subscriptions and getting their content through Amazon’s services.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

To get the stronger and bulkier kids versions of the tablets, you will need to pay a little extra. The Amazon Fire 7 Kids Edition comes in at $100, while the Fire HD 8 Kids Edition will cost $130. Of course, you’re also paying for the extra content — the Kids Edition tablets offer things like educational apps and games. As a parent, you won’t have to worry about your kids doing anything inappropriate on their tablet — the tablets feature FreeTime, Amazon’s parental controls service that helps ensure kids are only browsing through age-appropriate content.

You can get the Amazon Fire 7 for yourself here, or the Fire HD 8 here. If you’re looking for a device for your kids, you can get the Fire 7 Kids Edition here, or the Fire HD 8 Kids Edition here.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Christian de Looper
Christian de Looper
Contributor
Christian’s interest in technology began as a child in Australia, when he stumbled upon a computer at a garage sale that he…
How to set parental controls on your Amazon Fire tablet
amazon fire hd 8 2017 review 10

Tablets can be great devices for kids since they can play games, watch movies, read books, and a whole lot more. But, you need to be able to protect them from questionable content. The best kids’ tablet you can buy right now is the Fire HD 8 Kids Edition. One of the reasons that it’s our top pick is that Amazon tablets have some of the most comprehensive parental controls around.

Amazon’s parental controls work on any Amazon Fire tablet, so whether you have one of the Kids Edition tablets, a Fire HD 10, or an older Fire tablet, you can still use these controls. In this guide, we’re going to run through how to set up parental controls on your Fire tablet and highlight some of the key features you’ll want to take advantage of.
How to set up parental controls on a Fire tablet
We’ll assume that you’ve created your own profile and signed into your Amazon account on the Fire tablet in question. If you haven’t, then go to Settings > My Account and do so. Now, there are two ways to restrict access on your tablet. This first method is easier and quicker, but we recommend you skip ahead to the second as it's more versatile.

Read more
Amazon slashes prices of Echo and Fire TV devices for Prime Day
Prime Day Amazon Echo Deals

Prime Day is here. Okay, not quite. We still have a few hours to go until the event itself kicks off, but that hasn't stopped Amazon from discounting everything from Echo Dots and Fire TVs to Fire tablets to their lowest-ever prices. I guess when you run the show you can do as you please. Anyhow, the retailer has confirmed that Amazon device sales are in fact Prime Day deals -- as indicated by the small badge on the product pages -- and has reassured us that the pricing will remain the same through the end of the shopping bonanza on October 14.

The best single best deal? The retailer has the Amazon Echo Dot for just $19. This is the cheapest it has ever offered the puck-sized smart speaker, down $3 from the $22 we saw on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Of course, that's not the only offer to write home about. It's also offering the souped-up Amazon Echo Studio for $150, down $50 from the usual $200, and has the top-rated Fire HD 10 tablet for just $80. That's $70 under sticker. Oh, and did we mention the Fire TV Recast (500GB) is on sale for just $130. Wait for it... That's a savings of $100. Wowzers.

Read more
Latest Amazon Fire TV Stick down to $20 in early Prime Day Deal
Amazon Fire TV Stick and remote sit on a living room table.

Prime Day is the perfect opportunity to hunt for deals on Amazon's portfolio of devices, but if you are hoping to catch a bargain price for the Fire TV Stick, you won't have to wait until October 13. Early Prime Day deals on Amazon-owned Woot include the Fire TV Stick for only $20, for a 50% discount from its original price of $40.

The Fire TV Stick is a device that attaches to an HDMI port to stream content into any high-definition TV. Its installation takes only a few easy steps, and before long, you will be watching TV shows and movies from your favorite streaming services, such as Netflix and Disney+, on your HDTV.

Read more