You can not only control the assistant exclusively using touch, but pair with a supporting Bluetooth switch or use text-to-speech to have commands spoken for you. The company has introduced new Fire HD 8 models that introduce a "Tap to Alexa" feature. I do wish the screen was 1080p, but you apparently can't have everything at this modest price.Amazon is revamping its 8-inch tablets for the first time in two years, but their biggest improvement might rest in the software. So for me the HD 8 Plus with the dock bundle is the way to go, especially if it goes on sale. I think you'll end up using the tablet more because it does double duty as an Echo Show it's basically always charged and ready to go when you want to use it outside the dock. I like being able to wirelessly charge the Fire HD 8 Plus and the dock is nicely designed. (There's also a $130 Kids Edition that bundles in a protective case and a year of Amazon's Freetime Unlimited all-in-one subscription service that gives kids access to thousands of age-appropriate books, videos, apps, Audible books and games). It's a good value and it'll be a bargain when it goes on sale. If that's who you're buying this for, the standard HD 8 is going to be just fine. The Fire HD 8 is popular with parents who want an affordable tablet for their kids. But some people may feel intimidated by the process. That would allow you to run a lot more apps. And while Amazon doesn't encourage it, you can install the Google Play store by following some instructions on the internet. The Fire HD 8 runs on Amazon's latest Fire OS, a customized version of Android P, which was released in the fall of 2018. But you wouldn't be able to wirelessly charge the tablet at the same time. You could get a cover with a built-in stand - Amazon sells plenty of those, including its own nicely designed but expensive covers - and create the same set-up for watching videos. There happens to be a Spectrum app that gives me all my channels on the Fire HD 8 or HD 8 Plus so long as I'm on my home network (you get a reduced number of channels when you're away from your home network). I put the dock in my kitchen and used the HD 8 Plus as a mini TV because I have Spectrum TV as my cable provider (like the Fire HD 10, the HD 8 now has a picture-in-picture mode for watching video in a small window in the corner of the display while using the tablet's other applications). You could wirelessly connect a Bluetooth speaker to augment the sound. But it works well enough and the sound is OK (it's fine for watching video but not so great for music). It's still using the tablet's internal speakers instead of a real speaker and the tablet doesn't have a more extensive microphone array for picking up your voice like an Echo speaker does. That's because one of the big appeals of the Fire HD 8 Plus is that you can drop it in the dock and it automatically goes into show mode, essentially turning your tablet into an Echo Show 8, complete with hands-free access to the Alexa voice assistant. But you really want the charging dock that Amazon bundles in for an extra 20 bucks. The HD 8 Plus seems to wirelessly charge on any Qi-enabled charging pad - at least the ones I tried with 7.5 watts or greater charging power. But some people are looking for a smaller, lighter tablet and the HD 8 is a significant bump up from Amazon's cheapest tablet, the Fire HD 7. When that model goes on sale for $100, it's probably the best value in tablets. That said, the 8-core processor and GPU - the graphics processor - are faster in the 10-inch Fire HD 10, which also has a sharper 1080p display. It isn't as responsive as an entry-level iPad, which is often on sale for about $250, but it's overall pretty smooth and I didn't have any problem running games like Asphalt 9: Legends. At 355 grams, the new Fire HD 8 weighs a touch less than its 363g predecessor.Ī few years back, the HD 8 seemed sluggish, but its performance has steadily improved and now it's pretty zippy (Amazon says the new HD 8s are 30% faster than the 2018 HD 8 thanks to the new processor and software optimization). It's fine for watching videos but it's not nearly as sharp as the screen you get with, say, an iPad, which is why you're paying a lot less for this. The screen is technically HD but it's basically 720p and not 1080p. David Carnoy/CNETīoth new Fire HD 8 models have the same 1,280x800-pixel resolution display as the previous HD 8. The Fire HD 8 now features USB-C charging.
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