Amazon’s Fire HD 8 tablet starts at $90 and goes up to $140 with a wireless charger bundle. It’s a Fire OS tablet that runs Android apps, but what it’s really meant for is watching Prime video, calling on Alexa, and reading Kindle books. It’s good at those things, but bad at everything else.
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Do you wish there were more Android tablets to choose from?
Yes, I wish Google would make a value Nexus 7 2021. I still use my Nexus 7 2013 for basic stuff but it's getting long in the tooth. I haven't bought an Android tablet for a long time because I haven't seen or read any good tablets for the price. The other hard thing with my experience with tablets in the past is the lack of software support. I don't know if Samsung might be the only one recently that might update their tablets; correct me if I am wrong. All I know is when Samsung released the Galaxy pro tab 8.4, I never received a single software update. I think the Nexus 9 and the Pixel slate didn't have any stellar reviews. Maybe in the future when foldables become affordable then maybe the software will be optimized to use bigger screens. Maybe the future of tablets supposed to be with Fuchsia; Google's OS that was supposed to be scalable for both small and big screen devices. Maybe Android 11 or the future of Android certain updates could be downloaded from the Play store directly instead of relying on OEMs to deliver updates OTA.
Yeah
not really ipads are the best
Yes!
No, but I actually want Alienware UFO, OneMix2S, OneGx, Surface Neo or LattePanda Alpha + joycons, to run XPA games and xCloud.
Honestly, I bought a Fire Tablet last summer just so I could watch Netflix and Disney Plus while in bed. I also thought it would be good for college. I was wrong on that last bit and now I'm gonna order an iPad Air 4. You know a tablet is bad when you can't even get the Microsoft Suite for doing work.
Just a video I was looking for. Cleared all my doubts
Not sure if I will still buy it after the prime day deal. I might just keep using my iPad 4 from 2012. Lmao.
Amazon=Good Amazon=Bad Amazon=Amazon actually really good.
I have this and its terrible i accidentally pushed it litteraly it fell so close to the ground and the LOOK LIKE IT CRASHED AND IT CANT OPEN While my Samsung tablet Have alot of cracks and the back is abit broken and still working ○-○ i was shocked to see it works after it fell from the stairs
For a $120.00 for basic net surfing and online shopping? It's not bad for this is what most people do with their computers.
Used Fire toolbox and had play store and an android launcher in 5 minutes. Disabled ads. Now it's a fairly fast android 8 inch tablet for $75! Super easy. Not a pain at all! Try it!
I had a kindle fire gen 3 that recently broke it was a wonderful tablet in its time is this a good tablet to go to? I got a 7th gen a few years back as a gift and it was way worse than the old one. So bad that I continued to use the one from 2014
Its not entirely bad in everything else other than reading and videos. I play games on my HD 10 just fine. And N64 emulation is good.
Not only did you give an awesome review video, you praised Psych. I frikken love you!!
Device for people who are technically challenged and are easily brainwashed and manipulated.
Right now it’s $75 for prime day (today and tomorrow)!
I love my old hdx, dedicated Netflix, prime video, ROlabel, device Energizer bunny
Side loading google play is easy as hell but the ram is a problem but it’s cheap as hell so it is totally worth it
I got my Fire HD 8 2gb for $109 yes day I don't care for Prime membership
I love how nowadays if something takes more then 3 seconds to load its "slow".
Ikr 😅
Wait, there is no speaker on the tablet?
It has got two great speakers
I HATED my Amazon Fire Tablet. It was so slow, apps almost never worked, and the storage was terrible.
Whats the Android version?
I have the fire 7. I love it. I have had an iPad before and I honestly don't understand why mom gamers pay for flagship tablets. Unless you are a gamer, there is no real reason to pay more than $200 for a tablet to surf the web and stream. I love my Fire 7.
Typical verge video. Other apps arent possible without "a bunch of hacking" lmfao. Download 4 apks off a ytvideo press install on each, done. So much ultimate computer hacking knowledge needed
$120/year =/= Free
While I've used Android phones for the past 8 years, I couldn't get into my Fire 8 two years back at all - it was just so irredeemably painful to use. Got myself an used iPad Pro for 350 and haven't looked back since - that thing is a joy to use :3
Doesn't matter this is worth it over the 400$ ones and it basically does the same thing
Its ok I have it
All his complaints is that is doesn't do what it was not designed to do. It is an AMAZON tablet, designed for AMAZON PRIME. They also allow you to stream other content, for what it was designed for, it is perfect
I bought it for 59 dollars. Best deal in the world.
What's the capacity, 32 or 64?
So much snobbery in the comments. The tablet is fine for 99.9% of people. For the price is incredible. The ads are easy to ignore, you can install Play Store and it runs media well. It does exactly what it's supposed to.
Ew mediatek
um. lol. it took me maybe 5 minutes to install the play store. connect to your wifi, turn on install apps from unknown sources, bring up silk, type "install google play store in Kindle fire hd8 and install the four apks in order. Let it update. done. if you call that a bunch of hacking......lol. I think it's totally fine for the way i use a small tablet. reading. consuming content. social media. i have other things for gaming.
I really like the way you reviewed this tablet! Your one of my favorite reviewers on The Verge. So much energy and hand gestures. I'ma buy this tablet now 😂
I don’t want an iPad because I don’t like the floor by three aspect ratio which to me makes watching videos a terrible experience. I don’t need a productivity tablet so iPad is out the window as well. I just want a tablet that I can use to browse the Internet and watch Netflix and other video and movie streaming services and browse Facebook and Twitter and Instagram. I also wanna be able to do all that without having to use my phone while I’m at home. It’s because I prefer my phone to have all day battery life. On top of that, if I do get a notification from Instagram or Twitter or Facebook it comes through my Apple Watch and I can just open up the app on the Amazon fire tablet instead of pulling out my phone. When I’m at home I would much rather use a tablet instead of my phone. I also don’t care about resolution as long as it’s HD or full HD because again it’s not a productivity tablet. I’m not editing videos or photos so I don’t need that high-quality screen. I have that higher resolution on my laptop and on my desktop for video and photo work. I have watched movies and TV shows and Internet videos on 8 inch Amazon tablet before and I enjoy them just as much as watching them on my 60 inch TV in my living room or my 42 inch TV in my bedroom. Sometimes I just don’t wanna watch the TV in my bedroom and I just want to lay down in bed and watch on a smaller screen but also not as small as my iPhone 7 Plus.
iPad Mini?
It takes around 7 minutes to put the google play store app on this. That's not a bunch of hacking. But yes, why not buy a Surface anything and have full windows OS?
nobody asked you to review amazon tablet 110$ and you say hey you get what you pay for 0:43
6:37: a faster charger can get you an even faster charge Hmmm yes, the floor here is made out of floor
I love the 8 inch format for a tablet. It’s really like a book, great for travel and on sofa. Ipad mini user here since day 1. The problem is : not so much choice for 8 inch tablet and the latest ipad mini is kinda « meh »...same old same old...nothin new. At least this one is cheap...
i really wanted to see at the end that he is activated Alexa :D
I watched Psyche and Burn Notice! Both were enjoyable to watch if nothing else was on before streaming took over.
The lenovo duet though?
Only IF it's able to install a 3rd-party store like F-Droid and Aurora (and whatever) and IF it can side-load apps; because, for example, we need to have Firefox (ESR) on it - for the device to be useful. As opposed to being _useless_ which is what it is without these kinds of functions. :)
Put Google play store on here...took 5 mins. Great tablet....do some research before you comment.
that looks terrible!
Worst channel on ROlabel, they don’t support BLM
I got 10 inch version I don't find it to be all that bad I only use it because I'm a Prime member I use it for watching movies and music
Wow, this is horrendous. I'd rather just have nothing at all.
Lol.. in the rest of the world everybody is using Android tablets and if you get a respectable one they are great. I have a Samsung and it's a great tablet! I would not want to be caught dead using a dreaded apple product. They are absolutely horrible.
LLLLEXA
@06:32 - hey look picture-in-picture.. on a kids tablet. 😂 But why aren't they making this a big deal like they made for the iOS 14
Tab s6 lite n Shield tablet
waste of money
Galaxy Tab S6 is great tho and selling pretty fine here in my country
Need something to read , what do you think would be better between this and an old iPad mini
I think Prime's subscription is mainly for a single or a couple of services like the 2 day shipping and Prime Video (or whatever you prefer). The rest is useless. Actually, even if you have Echo devices you can't benefit from your Prime membership at all! You'll have to subscribe for Music Unlimited, Audible, and other subscriptions to really enjoy Echo devices. I believe same thing goes for the Fire HD tablet.
@M W I'm a Prime member. I also have Echo, Echo Dot, and Fire HD 8 Plus. I know what I'm talking about my friend. The music service for Prime is very basic and isn't working with Echo "Alexa" service. By the way, I'm talking about their devices and not about Prime membership alone. It's not enough to be a Prime member and use Amazon devices. You'll need to subscribe for other services, too.
Not true....Prime members do get the base music service with their membership....and free audio books. Prime member only discounts. I'm a Prime member....you really need to do some basic research and amend this inaccurate comment. You can sideload Google play services and use it as you would any other typical Android tablet. Having Prime is definitely a bonus but isn't necessary in order to enjoy using this tablet. Respectfully disagree with your assessments.
So its like the physical manifestation of Internet Explorer.
Samsung makes some good tabs
XDA DEVELOPERS WHERE ARE YOU
Two odd positives: (1) it supports Widevine Level 1.0, which is apparently essentially for watching Netflix in 720p (believe it or not the Galaxy Tab A 8 only goes to 600p despite having a 720p screen because its DRM is only Level 3); and (2) I believe that Amazon pushes out more security updates than any other Android maker. Lack of ROlabel official app and lack of GMail app are a huge negative. If it had 100% sRGB gamut I'd buy it in an instant. As it is, I'm stuck with a much larger iPad and the iPad mini is just too expensive.
boomer's tablet.
I've had 4 Amazon tablets before. Mostly the 10 and 8 inch. But the closed Amazon system pushing all amazon services on you all tj time and excluding Google play store apps were too much at the end. And yes, I installed play store and normal apps, but then the tablet becomes so slow it is not usable anymore. So last week, instead of buying the latest 8 inch generation, I found a much better alternative : the Lenovo tab M8 FHD. 1920x1080 Full high resolution, 3GB RAM, and a 2.3GHZ CPU. All for 120 USD. Cheaper than the 3GB amazon fire version. At least now I can use all apps I want, I am not locked in with Amazon pushing their stuff through my throat.
You totally left out that the Fire tablets are very durable, unlike an iPad.
Any tablet is more durable
Its great for light gaming like Minecraft and Pixel Gun and getting the play store ain't that hard. I am writing this comment on my New Fire HD 8
I still have my Nexus 7... 😅😅
Psych! Love that show, good choice.
Dieter, you activated Alexa in the outro when you were talking about trying not to activate it - the blue bar lit up at the bottom of the tablet screen to show this...
It's only terrible because it's slow and horrible. Other than that it's okay I guess
Maybe you haven't tried Galaxy Tab S6 ! It's on par with iPad pro
Great! Your reviews are really cool. will share this video and more.
The background music is very distracting to me. I had to give up after two minutes.I suppose it must benefit some people so I wonder what the balance is. I'm not actually complaining - I guess I have some undiagnosed mental illness that causes me to react differently than the sane majority, so I bow to their status before departing. I'm happy with the Verge's print content, so maybe I'm not missing too much.
So it’s terrible.
It's a great tablet for entertainment
I actually want to buy this because it's slow. It fits into a mindful life. It does what I need, can fit perfectly on my kitchen table, maybe I'll use it to read some articles or watch a video, + Alexa
How does it work if you format it for Basic/Original Android? Wondering if this would be good for a kids tablet (storybooks, games, taking pictures)
No, slow is not ok with me. After using a decent product i can't force myself to use something with such jitter and slowness.
I agree, the best Android tablet was the Nexus 7 gen2. I loved it so much. Been with me for five years until finally died.
Finally someone who has seen Burn Notice.. Miss Micheal Weston... You brought so many memories back..
Dieter is really trying not to alert Alexa devices 😂😂
I think the writing on the wall is that android tablets are going away. Please fast track touch chrome OS devices...
Its super alladin for the price😍
I’m just hoping that this thing finally getting USB C means that the regular kindles are going to be updated with USB C soon. I would love to upgrade my Kindle Paperwhite from 2014, but I have no real reason to until it’s USB C. It’s almost my last device forcing me to keep a micro USB cable around.
get a used ipad
Bro I'm using a hd8 and I had to jump through hoops just to get youtube😆 Good for angry Birds and stuff but it cant handle the more powerful things like clash royal too well
120...are you kidding me... I even don't pay 20 for a year's subscription...for 110...I'll get myself a new phone
Chutiya shakal hai saley ki.
meow
As a Mac and iPad user it's nice to see you reviewing other OS's I'm not familiar with. For a while now I've wanted to see some kind of review of Android apps on Chromebooks and how well they work. Like the the iOS Kindle app is way better than the web app, but is the Android Kindle app on a Chromebook any good? Does it have all the features missing from the web app? The Google Music web app doesn't let you offline playlists, but the iOS app does. Would the Android app on a Chromebook be able to do this? Similar question about the Netflix app. To just go down the list of major apps/services and review the capabilities of this new Chrome/Android OS.
Kids mode is literally so hamstrung it's pretty much useless for any child over 5 years old! So much so that setting up full adult accounts was the only viable option for our kids 10" versions.
I've side-loaded Google Play Services on my older Fire HD 10. Its quite easy to side-load. There r many step-by-step tutorials on ROlabel and Web. And now I'm using any android app I want. Only catch is that, my older fire HD 10 is based on fire OS, which is built on Android 7, so any app(like say the Chive) which requires android 8 or above, will not work on the tablet. The fireOS on newer fire tablets should be on newer android. So side-load Google Play and use it as any other regular android device.
Need a better mic
Get a Samsung Galaxy Tab A instead. I have the 10inch version, it's been a solid tool for me for several years now. I bought an Amazon Fire Tablet a few years ago, returned it in less than a week. Hardware performance was decent, but it's basically a sales platform trying to sell you stuff. I wanted a tablet not a marketing department. If amazon starts giving them away, I might take one for FREE, but I'm not paying for their marketing to be waved in front of my face.
You can’t put a cat in the video without a disclaimer on whose cat it is! Now I have to stalk (all) your social medias for more cat pics.
Samsung is the only company that producing quality Android tablets right now. I purchased their Samsung Tab A 8.4 (2020) and I'm excited to use it.
I really wish that Google would make another Nexus 7. It was the perfect size and the screen quality was great. I still use my Nexus 7 (2013) for reading ebooks and comics.
Nobody: Verge: its the best, the worst Its awesome, its terrible
Nobody: Diether: - Look...
A least a year or so ago it wasn’t that hard to get the Play Store on a Fire Tablet I had an HD 10. There are several You Tube videos on side loading. I replaced my Fire with an iPad Mini in 2019 and although the iPad was more than double the HD 10 for me it was a better investment. I quickly grew tired of the Fire not because it was bad, the hardware was fine, but there was no way to escape the fact that it was a giant Amazon ad.
he joking about android tablet not selling but he didnt even make video reviewing samsung tab s5, s5e, or s6. at least make short video review say "eh, just usual stuff. same old samsung tablet. just like ipad!".
Wireless charging is a useless and energy wasteful feature... And to put it on a 100 dollar device that is junk to jack up the price... LAME
You can also mention the tab s6 or s6 lite as a better Android tablet
I can feel Dieter’s struggle to talk about something that is dated in so many ways. It feels sad to consume media on this poorly spec’ed screen.