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Amazon’s new Fire HD 8 tablet is now available. First announced in September, the latest version of Amazon’s 8 inch tablet has a faster processor and a lighter body than the previous-gen model. It also ships with the latest version of Amazon’s Fire OS software, for better or worse.
The new Amazon Fire HD 8 (12th-gen) tablet is available for purchase for $100 and up.
There’s also a new 12th-gen Amazon Fire HD 8 Plus that adds 50% more RAM and support for wireless charging. It’s available for $120 and up.
And the new Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids and Kids Pro tablets sell for $150 and come with a rugged case, a 1-year subscription to Amazon’s Kids+ service, and a 2-year worry-free guarantee.
All of the new tablets feature 8 inch, 1280 x 800 pixel LCD displays, MediaTek MT8169A processors with 6 ARM Cortex-A55 CPU cores and Mali-G52 2EE MC2 graphics. Amazon says the new processor brings a 30% performance boost over the chip used in the previous-gen Fire HD 8 tablets.
The new models have at least 32GB of storage, support up to 13 hours of battery life, and support 5W to 15W charging. Other features include stereo speakers, 3.5mm audio jacks, microSD card readers, and support for WiFi 6 5 and Bluetooth 5.2.
Like the 12th-gen Amazon Fire 7 tablet that hit the streets this summer, the new Fire HD 8 tablets ship with Fire OS 8, which is based on Android 11. The update brings support for a system-wide dark mode, a built-in screen recorder, and the ability to customize the Quick Settings panel, among other changes.
But folks interested in picking up an Amazon tablet as a cheap, hackable device should be aware that Fire OS 8 isn’t quite as hacker-friendly as the Android 9-based Fire OS 7 software that shipped with Amazon’s previous-gen Fire HD 8 tablets.
You can still use the third-party Fire Toolbox utility to customize some apps, settings, and features. But if you were hoping to install the Google Play Store and use the tablet like a cheap Android tablet, note that while it’s possible to install the Play Store, many users have had difficulty logging into their Google accounts in recent months, which makes the store pretty useless. And even if you do manage to get it working, many apps from the Play Store may not function properly on an Amazon tablet running Fire OS 8.
If you plan to stick with Amazon’s apps and services, or sideload apps from other sources (that aren’t the Play Store), then the lack of support for the Play Store and other Google Mobile services might not be a deal breaker. But if you do need those features, then you might be better off looking for a cheap tablet that comes with Google services pre-installed. The Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite is a popular option that doesn’t cost much more than an Amazon Fire HD 8.
| Amazon Fire HD 8 (2022) | Amazon Fire HD 8 Plus (2022) | Amazon Fire HD 8 (2020) | Amazon Fire HD 8 Plus (2020) | |
| Display | 8 inch, 1280 x 800 Dolby Atmos support | 8 inch, 1280 x 800 Dolby Atmos support | 8 inch, 1280 x 800 | 8 inch, 1280 x 800 Dolby Atmos support |
| Storage | 32GB or 64GB + microSD (up to 1TB) | 32GB or 64GB + microSD (up to 1TB) | 32GB or 64GB + microSD (up to 1TB) | 32GB or 64GB + microSD (up to 1TB) |
| RAM | 2GB | 3GB | 2GB | 3GB |
| CPU | MediaTek MT8169A 6 x ARM Cortex-A55 @ 2 GHz | MediaTek MT8169A 6 x ARM Cortex-A55 @ 2 GHz | MediaTek MT8168 4 x ARM Cortex-A53 @ 2 GHz | MediaTek MT8168 4 x ARM Cortex-A53 @ 2 GHz |
| GPU | Mali-G52 2EE MC2 | Mali-G52 2EE MC2 | Mali-G52 3EE MC1 | Mali-G52 3EE MC1 |
| Battery | Up to 13 hours | Up to 13 hours | Up to 12 hours | Up to 12 hours |
| Ports | USB 2.0 Type-C | USB 2.0 Type-C | USB 2.0 Type-C | USB 2.0 Type-C |
| Charging time |
|
| 5 hours (5W wired) |
|
| Audio | Stereo speakers 3.5mm headphone jack | Stereo speakers 3.5mm headphone jack | Stereo speakers 3.5mm headphone jack | Stereo speakers 3.5mm headphone jack |
| WiFi | WiFi 5 | WiFi 5 | WiFi 5 | WiFi 5 |
| Bluetooth | BT 5.2 | BT 5.2 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| Cameras | 2MP front & rear | 5MP rear 2MP front | 2MP front & rear | 2MP front & rear |
| Latest OS version | Fire OS 8 | Fire OS 8 | Fire OS 7 | Fire OS 7 |
| Dimensions | 202 x 137 x 9.6mm | 202 x 137 x 9.6mm | 202mm x 137mm x 9.7mm | 202mm x 137mm x 9.7mm |
| Weight | 337 grams | 342 grams | 355 grams | 355 grams |
| Starting price (MSRP) | $100 | $120 | $90 | $110 |
I bought my Amazon Fire HD 8 on 16-Dec-2018 (see below). Now in 2022 the Amazon Fire HD 8 costs $100 “and up”. That’s more than a 100% increase in 46 months and three days or approximately 26% increase per year. Yeah, it’s not the “supply chain”, it’s not “inflation” – a 26% per year increase is simply too much, even if there’s a slightly more powerful SoC and more storage. And after millions of ads forced on me over the years, don’t get me started on my large Prime annual subscription increases.
Also, AFAIK there’s no guarantee I’ll be able to add the Google Play Store on the 2022 model. At least not yet. Google Play is a must have for me, Amazon’s copy-cat app store is abysmal.
My actual Fire HD 8 purchase (yes I have an Amazon order number and invoice):
Order Placed: December 16, 2018, Qty.-1 All-New Fire HD 8 Tablet, 8″ HD Display, 16 GB, Black with Special Offers $49.99, Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc., Condition: New
You bought it when it was on sale for a discount. That model had a list price of $80 when it first launched. https://liliputing.com/amazons-new-80-fire-hd-8-supports-hands-free-alexa-better-front-camera-not-much-else/
And while I agree that Amazon’s tablets are much more useful with Google Play installed, this was always an unofficial, unsupported feature rather than a selling point. Amazon’s tablets are cheaper than most other tablets with similar specs because they ship with tight integration with Amazon’s apps, services, and app store rather than Google’s. Amazon makes money when you buy stuff from Amazon, but makes nothing when you buy stuff from Google.
When I bought my Fire HD 8 at $49.99 it had been $49.99 so many times and ways I considered $49.99 to be the REGULAR price. At least it felt that way. Now the stupid game is to not consider a new Fire tablet at all until a reliable hack is released to add Google Play and THEN start searching for one of the myriad ways to get discounted down to the real-world price. The whole process creates stress and fatigue, something Amazon is obviously OK with.
It’s for worse. Any idea what percentage of Fire tablets have been hacked? I assume it’s always been low, but it now drops to zero. A comparison of Amazon app store with Google Play store ca. 2016-2017 indicates the latter had five times as many apps and well over ten times as many publishers, but most of the links I found appear to be content-less ones (like that from Minitool) or cloaked advertising from Amazon. How many people who own tablets never install an app? I suppose most have no identification with Google Play or particular apps and will either use Fire tablets as supplied or be content with what they can find in Amazon’s app store. What justification is there for even calling Fire a separate OS from Android? Other than prodding users to purchase media from Amazon, locking down the user interface, and preventing access to Google apps, what other function or distinction from Android does it have, if any? Boo, Amazon! I look forward to the advent of cheap Linux phones and tablets — after the Revolution.