They aren’t really much to look at, since once you’ve seen one black rectangle with a screen in the middle, you’ve seen them all, but above are thumbnail images of the new Amazon Fire and Fire HD 8 tablets that are very likely going to be announced as early as tomorrow. These are the new Amazon tablets that passed through FCC approval a couple of weeks ago.
The new tablets will be more of a refresh of the existing models, as opposed to a major redesign. This is especially true for the Fire HD 8, since the current model was introduced less than a year ago. Screen size is expected to remain the same at 7″ for the Fire and 8″ for the Fire HD 8. While overall screen quality will improve, especially with the Fire tablet, screen resolutions will remain the same as the models being replaced.
The Fire tablet should remain the same price at $49.99 but see a spec bump in certain areas, like dual band WiFi over the existing model’s single band wireless. The base Fire model might now start with 16GB of internal storage, instead of 8GB, but that’s the fact I’m most unsure about.
The Fire HD 8 should maintain nearly all the same specs as the current model, but the biggest change will be its price. At $89.99, the current 2016 Fire HD 8 already slashed the $149.99 price of the 2015 model it replaced. The new 2017 Fire HD 8 will continue that trend by dropping the price another $20 to $69.99.
Update
5/17/17 The new tablets have now been announced.
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I just bought the HD8 for my son in January for his b-day. Through the warehouse deals, I paid 66 which I thought was pretty good. Now you can get them for 56. I know my son loves his, but still uses his old (4 years maybe?) Walmart HP $100 Christmas special, because the ‘Silk’ browser blows compared to Google. But he does use it for Skype with my ex-wife or anytime he wants to play a game.
You can install the Chrome Browser from the available apk directly from one of many sources on the web without rooting or jumping through hoops to install the Play Store. Very easy to do and takes less than 4 taps on your screen. Search for ‘Chrome APK Installation’ for instructions
I would advise against getting random APKs online unless its from a verified source.
Obviously this method wont update the APK either.
I would just install something like ES file explorer on the HP to backup the Chrome APK then install that on the Fire Tablet.
There are very simple instructions available to install the Play store and Google apps on the Fire. I installed Chrome, Gmail, etc. on all my Fire tablets with 0 issues.
While it is possible that the Fire tablets will launch this week, it’s also unlikely.
For one thing, it doesn’t fit with Amazon’s history, and the FCC filing has removed any pressure to do so.
Amazon’s last two Fire tablet launch events took place in the fall – in September 2016 and September 2015, to be exact. Furthermore, Amazon placed a six-month embargo on the FCC filings for the two new tablets, which means they have until 28 October before the spec sheet, user manual, and teardown photos are revealed to the public.
The safe bet is that Amazon will launch the new tablets some time in September rather than this week. (Sorry!)
the new tablets are up on amazon and available june 7
I know!
I could not have been more wrong, LOL
You are right though they have always released in sept/october. I wonder why they are doing it so early. The new echo show is being released in june also. So I wonder if Amazon has anything up their sleeve for the Christmas quarter.
I think the tablets are being refreshed now, instead of in sept/oct, so they have new devices for Prime Day in July.
For the Christmas quarter, I’m expecting new Fire TV, Echo, the waterproof Kindle, and possibly Fire HD 10.
For Christmas I BOUGHT The AMAZON 7 For! My Wife & She loves IT. The AMAZON 8 Would Be A Good Surprise For Her Birthday ( June – 19-1957 ). Question? Would IT Be on the MARKET On Time For Her BIRTHDAY?
It says it will be released June 7. You can preorder from Amazon and they should give you a ship date.