As expected, Amazon has announced refreshed versions of their Fire 7 and Fire HD 8 tablets, as well as an updated Fire 7 Kids Edition tablet and an all-new Fire HD 8 Kids Edition tablet. The new tablets are good, but not dramatic, updates to the tablets they’re replacing. If you purchase any combination of 3 tablets, regardless of which you select, you can receive 20% off if you use promo code FIRE3PACK at checkout.
The Fire 7 tablet, which is Amazon’s best selling tablet, is still priced at just $49.99. The new model is thinner and lighter than the previous model. While it maintains the same 7 inch screen size and resolution as the previous version, the screen in the new model is completely new with improved contrast and clearer text.
The Fire HD 8, which is Amazon’s mid tier tablet, is remaining mostly the same as the previous version. It still has an 8 inch screen with HD (720p) resolution. The biggest change is the price. What was already a great buy at $89.99 is now even more affordable at its new price of $79.99.
Both the Fire 7 and Fire HD 8 still have quad-core 1.3 GHZ processors, but they’re new CPUs with the Fire HD 8 being slightly more capable. They both now offer dual-band 802.11 a/b/g/n WiFi, which is new for the Fire 7 tablet because the previous model only had single-band wireless. Both tablets still come with microSD card slots for up to 256GB of expandable storage, which is best used for storing games and Amazon Videos for offline viewing.
Just as before, Amazon is offering a Kids Edition of the Fire 7 tablet. For $99.99, which is $50 more than the regular Fire 7, you get the exact same tablet, but it comes with a 2-year worry free replacement guarantee. No matter what happens to the tablet, Amazon will replace it for free in that 2-year period. Additionally, the tablet comes with a 1-year subscription to Amazon FreeTime Unlimited, which normally runs $2.99 per month for Prime members or $4.99 per month for non-Prime members. You also get a kid proof case to protect the tablet from drops.
What’s completely new this year is Amazon is now offering a Kids Edition of the Fire HD 8 tablet as well. For $129.99, which is also $50 more than the non-kids version, you get the same 2-year replacement guarantee, the same 1-year FreeTime Unlimited subscription, and a similar kid-proof case as the Fire 7 Kids Edition, but you get it with the better Fire HD 8 tablet.
All four tablet options are available to pre-order today and will be released on June 7th. They all come with Alexa capabilities built-in by holding the tablet’s home button. Remember, if you order any 3 of these new tablets, and use promo code FIRE3PACK at checkout, you’ll receive 20% off the entire order.
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Still too under-powered from HDX. Pass!
720p in 2017 Ha don’t make me laugh.
for a company that touts its 4k programming…
Some people love their Fire tablets. I think they are cool, it’s a shame they don’t make them like the HDX models now though, don’t they still offer the expensive 10″ odd HDX one though with high end specs?
They offer the expensive 10″ one…with the same specs and resolution as the HD8. No joke. We bought one for my mother-in-law, and the screen is atrocious. 720p stretched to 10″, and washed-out to boot.
Yeah! I still have my 7″ HDX. I thought Amazon would at least have one HDX model. Mine is already showing signs of wear (earphone stops working after a while – I need to use a peg near the jack in order to listen on both channels). Unfortunately, it seems I won’t be able to replace my Fire so soon.
Me, too. The combination of excellent screen, excellent speakers, origami case, and still-speedy processor continues to serve me well after 3 years. Battery life is still amazing, too. Days on standby, many hours of screen-on time. Every time I hear anything about a new Amazon tablet, I anxiously hope it’s an updated HDX. One of the best tablets ever made.
Really, just a waste of money. Get an IPad.
great tablet for the $$$, who needs more than 720p on such a small screen?
We have three Fire 7 tablets in our household (previous generation), one each for the kids and one for me which replaced by Kindle and obviously can do a lot more besides.
We’ve got on ok with them, and personally I don’t think it’s worth upgrading. The ones we have do the jobs we want good-enough, and are certainly amazing value for money. I certainly wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them to friends (and have indeed done so on many occasions!).