Amazon Fire HD 8 tablet (newest gen), 8" HD Display, 3 GB memory, 32 GB, designed for portable entertainment, Hibiscus, (2024 release) – without ads

I bought my Fire 8 in the Prime Sale, and got it for £50, which is a proper bargain. I basically bought it to use as a colour Kindle mainly for recipe books because it’s cheaper than even the basic Kindle, and much much cheaper than the colour Kindle. It does this job brilliantly, I can see all my recipes in glorious colour, it’s just like having a colour Kindle.But then there’s everything else it does too, that a Kindle can’t do - there’s video, there’s web browsing, music, email, games, streaming platforms like Prime, Netflix, Paramount, Sky/NOW TV, BBC iPlayer and so on, audiobooks, Alexa, even photo tools. I have Word, Excel, MS Notes and Outlook on there too. Okay so the app range is quite limited compared to an iPad or Android tablet, but it has all the standard stuff most people use in their average week.For a very low cost tablet, the Fire 8 is unbelievable good value when in a Sale. It’s cheaper than a black and white Kindle and does far more stuff. Compared to the colour Kindle, it’s an absolute steal.Even though I own an iPad Pro, I still use this in preference when I’m reading books or cooking and need the recipe easily available. It’s also small enough to fit in my coat pocket, or slot into my bag, so I take it with me when I have hospital or Doctors’ appointments, or I’m on the train.Two thumbs up 👍🏼👍🏼

My severely visually impaired wife uses the Kindle to read because she can change the background colour and make the font of books big enough to see with the aid of a magnifying screen. She loves it and treated herself to a brand new one as her original one had seen better days. The tablet is responsive and the touch screen works faultlessly. The Silk web browser does the job and the device was easy to connect to WiFi. It is also excellent value.

My aging IPad gen 2 needed upgrading and I only seem to use the Kindle app and occasionally YouTube. This little tablet is absolutely perfect. It runs all the same apps that I had in the iPad with ease, no lagging. I’d forgotten how good an android performs. A fraction of the price of a new iPad and feels the same.

I reluctantly traded in my 10 year old(!) Fire HDX to take advantage of a £50 Black Friday deal on this newest gen tablet. Apps kept failing on the HDX (of course; it was a dinosaur), but the ads had also long since disappeared :) and I was still able to use it as a Kindle, to play games, music, browse websites, watch Netflix and Freevee, AND it still held a charge well! It was time to let it go, but I will really miss it.Why? Because the screen/picture quality of the HDXs of yesteryear were totally unrivalled at that price point, and Amazon has never made a tablet of equal quality again.The inferior display of this new HD8 is therefore quite jarring, but I expect I'll get used to it.I don't currently have a screen protector on, and wonder if that would make the picture even worse, or conversely, help to avoid so much glare, which is more of a problem on this model too.Possibly related, or just as a result of advances in tech, it is thinner and lighter than the HDX, which is particularly nice if you want portability. The colour options are also attractive.The interface is fine, the settings all customisable, and the charge lasts forever. The lock screen ads aren't intrusive at all. You can disable Alexa voice commands if you wish, but it's there for those who want it.The best thing about Amazon tablets is the option to link them to your account at the point of purchase, so right out of the box, all your books and music etc are ready and waiting for you. Unfortunately I did find that my "Actually Free" apps (remember those?!) were absent and I'd have to buy them again, which was a shame, but that was to be expected I guess.The Silk browser still isn't great, and has no ad blocker to my knowledge, so it didn't take long to decide I'd have to download an APK for a better browser + ad blocker, which is very easy to do. I don't feel the need to jailbreak further like some reviews suggest, as the selection of apps available from Amazon is more than enough for me.There's an extra dim.setting for viewing in low light, and a built in blue light filter negating the need for a separate app.One final gripe, though, is that even on the very lowest volume setting, it's much louder than I'd like. I don't want to have to wear headphones or feel like I'm being blasted with noise in the middle of the night, but hey ho.In summary, this is exceptionally good value at the deal price if you already use Amazon for books, music, TV, Alexa controlled devices, and so on - otherwise you might be a little disappointed at its limitations. But for those who cannot afford or justify the obscene cost of the latest tablet from other big brands, it's a really fantastic option. I just wonder if it will last as long as the HDX...

My daughter absolutely loves her Amazon Fire HD 8 tablet! It's super easy to navigate, and even with heavy use, the battery lasts a long time. The color is vibrant and looks great, too. I’m so happy with this purchase that I ended up buying another one. Highly recommend!

I had a HD10 which died after regular (Daily) use, so went with what I knew and bought the HD8 to replace it. I honestly don't understand all the mediocre reviews for this tablet by the tech sites. Yes, it's a limited and not very powerful tablet, but I don't need a powerful tablet. I mainly use mine to read via Kindle and to stream shows/movies. It does both of these things very well. The fact you can use a SD card to vastly increase storage space is great. The only thing I'm not crazy about is the speaker - music can sound tinny when streaming but link this to a decent Bluetooth speaker and it's no longer an issue. All in, if you are looking for a tablet for reading and watching Netflix, etc, then this is perfect.