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Amazon Fire HD 8 review: A good, cheap tablet with one big compromise
Despite the hype around the latest iPad Pros, there’s something to be said for cheap slabs. Amazon's Fire tablets are the most affordable options out there and the new $90 Fire HD 8 is a good value -- if you can stomach Amazon's software.
Amazon offers Black Friday pricing on most Fire tablets
Don't fret if you wanted a basic tablet but missed out on holiday sales. Amazon is running a limited-time sale that has dropped prices on most of its current Fire tablets to Black Friday levels. The Fire HD 8 has dropped from its usual $80 down to $50, while the flagship Fire HD 10 has dipped from $150 to an easier-to-handle $100. You can also get the Fire 7 Kids Edition for $60 (normally $100), its Fire HD 8 equivalent for $80 (usually $130) and the kid-ready Fire HD 10 for $150 (typically $200). The regular Fire 7 slate isn't discounted as steeply, although it's still on sale at $35.
Amazon's latest Fire HD 10 tablet finally has a USB-C port
Amazon has just updated its most popular tablet with new internals. The company's latest Fire HD 10 tablet features a new octa-core processor clocked at 2.0GHz that's supported by 2GB of RAM. Amazon claims the updated processor makes the new Fire HD 10 30 percent faster than its predecessor. When it becomes available later this month, you'll be able to buy the Fire HD 10 in two configurations, outfitting the device with either 32GB or 64GB of internal storage. The two models will be priced at $149.99 and $189.99 respectively. If that's not enough space, you can add up to 512GB of additional storage with a microSD card. Other notable hardware features include built-in Dolby Atmos support and WiFi 802.11ac connectivity.
Amazon gives Fire TV devices a section devoted to live television
Fire TV devices now have access to plenty of live television services, and Amazon wants to be sure you know what's playing regardless of what services you prefer. The internet giant is rolling out a dedicated Live tab that showcases whatever's playing across a host of apps, whether it's a free offering like Pluto TV, a cable substitute like PlayStation Vue or an over-the-air broadcast picked up through a Fire TV Recast.
Amazon's $50 Fire 7 tablet is faster and packs twice the storage
Amazon is giving its starter Fire 7 tablet a much-needed upgrade after two years. The revamped Fire 7 and its Kids Edition counterpart share the familiar 7-inch design, but now include faster processors (still quad-core 1.3GHz chips, though) and twice the storage with either 16GB or 32GB of expandable space. They should be decidedly more futureproof, then. You'll also get a long-overdue 720p front camera (the 2017 model is just 480p) and the obligatory new color options, including Plum, Sage and Twilight Blue.
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Amazon slashes the cost of its Fire Phone to £99
Amazon's Fire Phone has been a huge flop, and it seems like the company is just about ready to throw in the towel. Following multiple fire sales in the US, Amazon has dropped the price of its first smartphone by up to 75 percent in the UK. That puts the 32GB model at £99 off-contract, down from £400, and the 64GB variant at £149, which is £330 cheaper than before. The reductions expire at the end of the day, however, so if you're intrigued by the handset's unique Firefly and Dynamic Perspective features, you'll have to act fast. Of course, such a heavy price cut doesn't solve the Fire Phone's larger problems, such as its underwhelming Fire OS software, and the fact it's still locked to O2, even without a contract. More importantly, this is an early sign that Amazon is waving the white flag in the UK -- it's a sure fire way to move stock while it focuses on perfecting its successor.
Goodreads and Second Screen integration finally hitting Kindle Fire HD and HDX
Today marks the debut of two features we've been waiting for since Amazon first announced its new Kindle Fire line lo so many weeks ago. Goodreads and Second Screen integration will be rolling out to Fire HD and HDX owners over-the-air in the next couple of weeks - or you can just go to Amazon's site and download Fire OS 3.1 right now. Goodreads brings social book reading features to the tablet, so you can rate and review books and find out what your friends are reading. Also, good news for those who like showing off their virtual bookshelves - you can actually import all of the print and e-books you've bought from Amazon over the years. Second Screen, meanwhile, lets you "fling" shows from your Fire to Samsung TVs and sets with a PS3 attached (PS4 support is coming before year's end). Also new for OS 3.1 is added enterprise support, Cloud Collections for organizing content off-device and voice diction. You can download the above in the source link below.
Amazon Kindle Fire HDX review (8.9-inch): a high-end tablet at a mid-range price
It's worth noting just how far Amazon has come since the early days of the Fire line. With the first generation, it was tough to see the tablet as anything more than a content-delivery device designed to keep users locked into the Kindle ecosystem. It was an uninspired bit of hardware that seemingly arrived off the same factory line as the BlackBerry PlayBook. Granted, Amazon's new HDX tablets still aren't the sexiest devices around, but the company's taken great pains to ensure they're some of the best. That means a stellar screen, some zippy internals and a slimmed-down body. Starting at $379 for the 8.9-inch model, the price has come along for the ride as well. It's hardly expensive, but we've long since stopped using the word "budget" to describe it. Still, Amazon's managed to keep pricing down thanks to its content-centric business model, which assumes you'll continue buying stuff long after you open the box. This comes with some drawbacks, of course -- namely, an ecosystem that's far more closed-off than regular Android would be. But as long as you're stuck with Fire OS, the company's going to do what it can to provide the best experience possible with the addition of some compelling features. Does all that add up to a truly competitive device? Or has Amazon strayed too far from its budget roots?
PSA: Amazon's 7-inch Kindle Fire HDX now shipping
The holidays are still a ways off, but the wait is (soon to be) over. The seven-inch version of Amazon's Kindle Fire HDX just started shipping. With a starting price of $229, the slate brings a new version of Fire OS (the update formerly known as "Mojito"), a lovely 323 ppi display and, of course, some on-screen customer support in the form of MayDay. That'll help with the inevitable troubleshooting for those friends and family members who can turn the thing on, but can't figure out much else. We reviewed (and really liked) the latest addition to the Fire family earlier this month. Video evidence of that can be found after the break, just above an extremely enthusiastic press release.
Amazon Kindle Fire HDX review (7-inch)
There was surprisingly little fanfare surrounding the announcement of Amazon's latest Fire tablets. Where last year's unveiling involved renting out an airplane hangar at the Santa Monica airport, the new tablet trio was quietly shown off to a small gathering of journalists at the company's Seattle headquarters. Asked why Amazon opted for something so low-key, a rep answered, that CEO Jeff Bezos "just likes to mix things up." (Those wacky billionaires.) Indeed, there was little rhyme or reason to the scaling back. After all, the new HDX tablets, available in 7- and 9-inch sizes, bring a number of key upgrades to the Kindle Fire line on both the hardware and software fronts. And that's a good thing: between the Nexus 7, iPad mini and a seemingly endless parade of pocket-sized tablets, Amazon has more competition to contend with than ever. But while the company's acknowledged that its tablets are basically just content delivery vessels, it's chosen to compete on specs as well, with a 1,920 x 1,200, 323-ppi display, a quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor and new software features that include baked-in video customer support and a "Second Screen" TV feature. So is that enough to keep the Kindle Fire competitive?
Amazon's Fire OS 3.0 'Mojito' arrives just in time for those new tablets
New hardware without a software refresh? Don't make Jeff Bezos laugh. Today's arrival of three new slates also marks the unveiling of the company's latest tablet operating system. And this time, it even has a name. See, Amazon's been using "Fire OS" internally to describe the software powering its tablet line, and now we get to use it as well, with the arrival of version 3.0. As ever, Bezos and Co. have based the OS on Android (Jelly Bean, this time out), with this year's codename being "Mojito" -- a move from candy names to sugary cocktails. The operating system will ship on the new HDX and HD devices. We weren't able to confirm that it will roll out to older devices, but an Amazon rep we spoke with implied that there's a good chance of that, given earlier precedents. First thing's first: there's still no Google Play access. No surprise there, of course. After all, the company's in the habit of subsidizing the cost of its hardware based on future content sales. Still, as ever, the company was quick to point out the speed with which its proprietary app store has grown in recent years. UI-wise, things look familiar. Content is still king, with the home screen built around a river of apps, games, movies, music, et cetera. The company did respond to customer concerns, however, by adding a more familiar grid-style layout that you can access with a swipe up, which should appease all you Android users out there. Swipe from the right, and you'll see Quick Switch, which lets you switch between different recently used pieces of content.
