Amazon Fire HD 8 (2022) review: An amazing budget tablet that's on sale for just $55
Looking for fun? Look to a tablet, which can serve up movies, TV shows, books, games, music and lots more. Amazon's Fire models are basically entertainment-slinging screens, and every few years they get a modest update.
So it goes with the Fire HD 8 and Fire HD 8 Plus, just refreshed for the tail end of 2022. These were already great tablets for the money; now they're a bit better, with faster processors, more storage and slightly longer battery life.
And a price bump. Starting at $100, the Fire HD 8 costs $10 more than the 2020 model. That's to be expected these days; inflation is hitting everything. But here's good news: The previous Fire HD 8 went on sale a dozen times in the last dozen months, sometimes dipping as low as just $45. And the new Fire HD 8 just got slashed to $55, meaning now's the time to scoop one up.
Fire HD 8 and Fire HD 8 Plus: Which one should you choose?
The Fire HD 8 and HD 8 Plus have 8-inch screens (both fingerprint magnets, alas) with a display resolution of 1,200 x 800 pixels. Although that's far below what you get from modern iPads, it's definitely sharp enough for the likes of books, games and movies. It's also noticeably better than the Fire 7's 1,024 x 600-pixel screen, which I found so grainy that I ultimately couldn't recommend that tablet.
Similarly, while the Fire 7 is a fairly sluggish device, the Fire HD 8's newly upgraded hexacore processor affords the horsepower needed for basic tablet tasks.
This is where I pause to recommend spending an extra $10 (normally $20) for the Fire HD 8 Plus, which offers three key advantages: 3GB of RAM instead of 2GB (that helps with performance and multitasking), support for wireless charging (via Amazon's $50 Wireless Charging Dock or any Qi charging pad) and a much better rear-facing camera: 5 megapixels, to the Fire HD 8's 2 megapixels.
In fact, if you add that dock to the mix, you can better take advantage of something called Show Mode, which effectively turns the Fire HD 8 Plus into an Echo Show 8 smart screen. Although you get hands-free Alexa voice controls regardless, Show Mode turns it into a full-screen experience.
Returning to the cameras, they're...fine. Good for kids to mess around with, decent in a pinch for Zoom meetings, that kind of thing. iPads offer vastly superior cameras, but ask yourself if you're really going to take photos with your tablet anyway. I do so once in a blue moon.
The tablet's built-in stereo speakers are, as you might expect, tiny and tinny — fine for listening to podcasts and watching videos, but ultimately you'll be happier with a paired Bluetooth speaker or headphones. (There's also a traditional headphone jack if you prefer something wired.)
As noted, the Fire HD 8 Plus supports wireless charging, but both models have USB-C ports and actually come with both a USB-C cable and an AC adapter (unlike certain Apple tablets, cough). Amazon promises up to 13 hours on a charge, which is extremely good battery life, and my informal testing bears that out.
The two tablets include 32GB of onboard storage, though you can opt for 64GB at the time of purchase for $30 more. My advice: Save your money. If you need more storage for movie and game downloads, you can pop in an inexpensive microSD card. (Example: Here's a 64GB card for just $10.)
Let's talk about the ad elephant in the room...
Like other Fire tablets and Amazon's Kindle e-readers, the Fire HD 8 shows ads on its lock screen. I honestly don't mind this, and in fact barely notice it, as the ad disappears the moment you swipe to unlock. But if you find it objectionable, you can pay a one-time $15 charge to banish the ads forever. (On the HD 8 Plus, it's a $25 charge. Don't ask me why.)
The other cost consideration here is Amazon Prime. While a subscription to the service ($139 annually) isn't strictly necessary, it does afford quick and easy access to mountains of movies, music, books and TV shows. But even without Prime, you can install apps to access Netflix, Spotify, TikTok and more, and read any books that are already part of your Kindle library.
Thus, I don't agree with the common refrain that "Fire tablets are good only for Prime subscribers." If you already have a subscription, great; you'll no doubt like all the extras it affords. But will you find this tablet wanting without it? I don't think so.
The bigger caveat is that Amazon limits you to its own app store (which, again, has nothing to do with Prime). Although most popular apps are available for Fire, a few aren't — most notably Google's YouTube. There are ways around this limitation (starting with: just access YouTube in the tablet's web browser), but you shouldn't have to jump through hoops to use the world's most popular video app.
Another gripe: Amazon's Fire OS isn't the most intuitive operating system. For example, if you increase the font size for better visibility, many app names get abbreviated because the text no longer fits. And I'm not sure I follow the logic behind the For You, Home and Library screens, because there's so much duplication between them and not much organization within.
The warranty remains a sticking point, too: It's just 90 days. That's kind of a head-scratcher; Amazon's Fire HD 10 is covered for a full year, like most modern electronics. Finally, the Fire HD 8's color choices have shrunk to just three: black, rose and denim. The HD 8 Plus comes only in gray.
Let's remember, though, that we're talking about $100 and $120 tablets that are currently discounted by nearly 50%. So a few nitpicks are easily forgiven.
Indeed, if you want a ton of entertainment at your fingertips, in a size that strikes the right balance between visibility and portability, it's hard to beat the Amazon Fire HD 8 or HD 8 Plus. For the extra $10 I'd choose the latter, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with the former. These are value-packed tablets.
If you have Amazon Prime, you’ll get free shipping, of course. Not yet a member? No problem. You can sign up for your free 30-day trial here. (And by the way, those without Prime still get free shipping on either of these tablets as well as any other order of $25 or more.)
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