The Amazon Fire HD 8 is a middle-sized tablet that hits the sweet spot in terms of cost, power, and functionality. Amazon’s tablets have a history of being surprisingly good for their low costs. Even while the new 2022 model has several nice improvements over the previous iteration, that remains the same.
With around 30% more power than the previous model, the 12th-generation Fire HD 8 tablet helps to reduce some of the lag spikes we noticed when testing the older hardware. Although Amazon claims that it is more durable than before, it is also lighter. Yes, it costs $10 more now than it did before.
Yet, if you can get beyond the average speed, as well as more pressing annoyances like lock screen adverts and the restrictions of Amazon’s software ecosystem, this is an exceptionally good tablet for the price ($100).
Review of the Amazon Fire HD 8 (2022): Cost and specifications
For an additional $15 up front or the same amount afterwards, you may completely avoid the advertising. For an additional $30, you can quadruple the internal storage. As a result, the most expensive option will cost you $145 and come without adverts and quadruple the storage. Amazon also sells the Fire HD 8 in Denim (navy blue) and Rose (pink), in addition to the black model I reviewed.
The advertisements are often unobtrusive. They mention Kindle novels, Amazon Prime Video programs, mobile games you can download from the Amazon Appstore, and more.
In other words, they support Amazon’s business model, which relies on offering incredibly cheap hardware in exchange for your money spent on content. In my opinion, it’s a fair offer, but $15 is also an acceptable sum to pay to turn off the constant assault of commercial messages.
Remember that Amazon also sells the Fire HD 8 Plus edition, which starts at $120 and comes with features like higher-resolution back cameras, wireless charging, and more RAM for smoother performance. Again, it’s a tiny fee to pay for maybe beneficial changes, but consumers on a budget will likely be satisfied with the base Fire HD 8 model.
Review of the Amazon Fire HD 8 (2022): Design
At first sight, Amazon hasn’t made many changes to the Fire HD 8’s design from the previous version, and few people would realize that it weighs somewhat less than 12 ounces thanks to this. The front camera was moved, and a USB-C port was added last time instead of a microSD port, but otherwise not much has changed.
The Fire HD 8 seems thin and convenient to carry around given its lightweight design and small size (7.94 x 5.4 x 0.37 inches). It’s simple to tuck away in a purse or tote around your house. It might even fit in a jeans pocket with more room.
It doesn’t feel as high-end and sophisticated as Apple’s iPad Mini because of the plastic backing, but that similarly small iPad is five times more expensive. So remember that. However, according to Amazon, the Fire HD 8 is twice as durable as Apple’s smallest iPad, making it potentially more shock- and drop-resistant.
The majority of the controls and ports on this Fire HD 8 model are still located on one side of the frame, which is the right side when held in landscape orientation with the camera perched atop the display. On that side, you’ll find the power button, volume rocker, 3.5mm headphone jack, and USB-C charging connector. In the meantime, the bottom of the device has a tethered cover over the microSD socket for additional storage (up to 1TB).
Review of the Amazon Fire HD 8 (2022):
Given the cost, it’s reasonable to have low expectations for the Amazon Fire HD 8 screen. Fortunately, for a tablet of this size, this 8-inch LCD touch display is completely reliable.
The iPads and even more affordable Android competitors easily outperform it in terms of resolution (1280×800), but it is sharp enough to support 720p HD movies, and even text is quite good when you aren’t looking for specific pixels.
In terms of pixel density (measured in pixels per inch, or PPI), it’s just around 10% sharper than the less expensive Amazon Fire 7, but the difference is enough to be noticed. Given that we recorded 474 nits of brightness during lab testing, this display is likewise quite bright.
By comparison, it doesn’t appear as lifeless or drab as the Fire 7. With the Fire HD 8, we observed 88% of the sRGB color gamut, compared to roughly 67% on the Fire 7, as well as 62.3% of the DCI-P3 color space, compared to 47.4% on the Fire 7.
Review of the Amazon Fire HD 8 (2022): Performance
The Fire HD 8 offers adequate performance for browsing and entertainment requirements. With only little compounded sluggishness, it manages web browsing across numerous tabs, and it can run casual games like Candy Crush Saga and Subway Surfers rather effectively. It is the perfect portable screen for watching videos in bed or during your commute.
Having stated that, be careful with your expectations. It’s not particularly smooth to navigate the interface and switch between apps on Amazon’s hardware because it isn’t even close to as powerful as the entry-level iPad. There are a few little lags and hangs here and there, but they are far less annoying than on the Fire 7 because they are less obvious.
The Fire HD 8 achieved a Geekbench 5 multi-core score of 854, which is a significant improvement over the 540 score we recorded for the most recent Fire 7 tablet. The advantages of this improvement in daily use are clear.
But, Apple’s iPad Mini scored 4,540, which is roughly five times as powerful at five times the cost. With a Geekbench 5 multi-core score of 1,405, Samsung’s old Galaxy Tab A7 cheap Android tablet still outperforms the Fire HD 8 while the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite comes in little lower at 1,291.
Naturally, the Fire HD 8 has trouble with games and applications that demand a lot of power. On my evaluation unit, the glitzy 3D racing game Asphalt 9: Legends was sluggish and frequently crashed. Strangely, when comparing them side by side, I found that it runs a little smoother on the Fire 7. Every time I tried to play the battle royale shooter PUBG Mobile, it crashed as well. Moreover, the Fire HD 8 has inconsistent performance when playing Roblox games.
Review of the Amazon Fire HD 8 (2022): battery power
The Amazon Fire HD 8 tablet has great uptime on a single charge for both an inexpensive and small tablet. The Fire HD 8 lasted 13:41 in our battery rundown test, which involves the tablet continuously browsing the web over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness. In contrast, the iPad Mini takes 10:56, and the Samsung Tab A7 takes 13:13.
You’ll probably reduce that estimate by a few hours while using full brightness and adding more resource-intensive apps and games. Even so, there is a highly accommodating window to allow for a long day of travel or perhaps days of casual, irregular home use. However, the Fire HD 8 charges slowly, gaining only 13% of a charge in 30 minutes.
Review of the Amazon Fire HD 8 (2022): Verdict
Although while the Fire HD 8’s 2022 version is $10 more expensive than its predecessor, the final result is much the same: for $100, this tablet is really enticing and may be the best overall choice in the Amazon range in terms of combining price and features.
It boasts a fantastic screen, superb audio, a long battery life, and adequate performance for online surfing, video watching, and social networking app use. On the other hand, the lack of power makes it difficult for powerful games and apps to run, the cameras are only average, and the selection of Amazon apps is paltry in compared to those on competing tablets.
Still, this deal is unbeatable. The Fire HD 8 accomplishes the majority of its tasks for a fraction of the price of an iPad, and it is noticeably superior to Amazon’s less functional Fire 7 ($60). The Fire HD 8 does the trick if you’re looking for a reliable, little tablet that won’t break the budget.
