Amazon announces new Fire 7 and Fire 7 Kids Tablets with more speed, memory, and battery life

Amazon has announced an all-new Fire 7 tablet and an equivalent new Fire 7 Kids tablet. These new tablets are upgraded in many ways compared to the outgoing Fire 7 that was released 3 years ago. THey have faster processors, double the RAM, longer battery life, and, finally, a USB-C port.

The new 12th-generation Fire 7 tablet is powered by a quad-core MediaTek MT8168V/B clocked at 2 GHz and a Mali-G52 3EE MC1 GPU. This is nearly identical to the chip in the Fire HD 8 and Amazon says it’s good for a 30% performance improvement over the previous Fire 7. Paired with the new SoC is now 2 GB of RAM which is double the memory found in the outgoing model. More so than the better processor, the extra RAM should make a significant difference when going in and out of apps and scrolling through large content-rich web pages.

The old Fire 7 was the last Amazon tablet still using micro USB and that has thankfully changed with the new version which now finally has a USB-C port. While the modern port will make connecting the tablet to chargers easier, Amazon says that the new tablet will also last up to 40% longer than the outgoing Fire 7 on a single charge, which makes the battery life climb up to 10 hours. Unfortunately, there’s no “Pro” version of the Fire 7 that adds wireless charging, as we see with the Fire HD 8 Pro and Fire HD 10 Pro tablets.

While the new wired connection is great, equally great is the move up to 802.11ac WiFi 5, since the old tablet topped off at 802.11n WiFi. Bluetooth is also improved from version 4.1 on the old tablet to version 5.0 on the new one. That allows for a much larger range for things like Bluetooth headphones. The new Fire 7 will also be the first Amazon device to debut with Fire OS 8, which is based on Android 11. That’s a significant step up from Fire OS 7, which is based on Android 9.

Aspects of the new Fire 7 tablet that have stayed the same include the 7″ screen which still only has a resolution of 1024 x 600. Internal storage is still limited to 16GB and 32GB options, but there is still a microSD card slot that can now accept up to a 1TB card. The new tablet also still uses 2MP cameras both in front and in the back that can capture 720p video.

As you’d expect, Amazon is continuing to offer a Fire 7 Kids version of the new tablet. While the kid’s tablet is identical to the non-kid’s tablet, the extra $50 you pay for the kid’s version gets you a 2-year worry-free guaranteed that replaces the tablet with no questions asked, a kid-proof case, and a 1-year subscription to Amazon Kids+. The subscription, which normally costs $36/year for Prime members or $60/year for non-Prime members, provides access to apps, games, books, and videos tailored for kids. Strangely, Amazon has not released a Fire 7 Kids Pro version of the new tablet, since the only one listed on Amazon is the older model.

The new Fire 7 tablet costs $59.99 for the 16GB model, which is $10 more than the outgoing model. It’s available in Black, Blue, and Pink colors. For $20 more, you can get the 32GB model for $79.99, which, again, is $10 more than the previous generation tablet with 32GB of storage. The Fire 7 Kids tablet is $109.99 with 16GB of storage and is available in Blue, Purple, and Red. For the first time, Amazon is also offering the Fire 7 Kids tablet with 32GB of storage for $129.99. All versions of the new Fire 7 tablet will be released on June 29.

6 comments
  1. Craig says:

    So… Fire OS 8 will be pushed out to my HD 10.1 2021 when, exactly? We don’t just ship with one firmware and call it a day! We update Android builds here! Lazy SOB’s! Anyway… Still awaiting Matter Casting, Elias…

    • Shirley Dulcey says:

      Probably never. Amazon has never, to my knowledge, pushed out new major versions of Fire OS to any of its devices, even when the hardware of the updated version is nearly identical to the previous one. Security updates and some feature updates DO get sent to the older versions, however.

  2. EmoBrianEno says:

    Are these prices introductory or will this be the ‘regular’ price for all non/current Prime subscribers? In other words, should I pre-order or wait for next sale?

    • Jim Smith says:

      This will be the regular price. Remember though, Prime Day will be coming up in July. Expect this tablet to be on sale if you can wait.

  3. Lisa llyod says:

    Hi could I please ask if this vision of the Amazon fire HD tablet comes with avg install or can I download it thank-you

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