Yet, there are two key ways this model is better than last year’s: Alexa can now be activated without a tap (just with your voice), and the new slate’s selfie-cam is much better than before. Unfortunately, the Fire HD 8’s battery life is noticeably shorter than that of last year’s model. At the end of the day, though, the new slate’s not just one of the best cheap tablets, but its low price makes it one of the best tablets overall.
No more taps: Fire HD 8 lets you control Alexa with just your voice.The 9 hours of battery life is decent, but it’s less than last year’s model had.The selfie-cam photos are a lot better.
Design At 0.8 pounds in weight and 0.4 inches thick, the Fire HD 8 is a pretty light and slender piece of tech. The 9.7-inch Apple iPad (1.1 pounds, 0.3 inches) is both slightly heavier and slightly thinner, while the 8-inch Lenovo Tab 4 (0.7 pounds, 0.3 inches) is both lighter and thinner. A headphone jack on the top of the Fire HD 8 allows you to listen to music and movies privately, and a microSD reader on the right of the slate lets you to expand the device’s memory by up to 400GB. Display Watching an episode of Netflix’s Ugly Delicious on the Fire HD 8, I noted decent color quality, slight pixelation and overall dullness. As tomatoes danced in a stop-motion animation circle on a blue background, I admired the strong reds and blues, as well as the yellows of tortilla shells. Also, that image – as well as interviews performed by famous chef/restaurateur David Chang – appeared slightly washed out. In short, this screen is pretty good for $80, especially since consuming content is one of the most important things you do with a tablet. According to our colorimeter, the Fire HD 8 produces 80 percent of the sRGB tablet, a score that’s less than the 106 percent tablet average, as well as the ratings from the iPad (119 percent) and Tab 4 8 (90 percent). The Fire HD 8 produces up to 307 nits of brightness, which is less than the 411-nit tablet average. The 489-nit iPad is brighter, as is the 427-nit Tab 4. The Fire’s 8-inch screen is not bright enough for group viewing, though, as I saw images get cloudy and dark when I viewed the HD 8 from 30 degrees to the left or right. Scrolling through web pages in the Silk browser in the Fire OS app switcher and swiping between home screens, I noted that the Fire HD 8’s screen was plenty responsive, though its animations felt a little slow. Software: Alexa done right If you’re wondering how Alexa wasn’t voice-activated before, you’re not alone. I’m still surprised that the 2017 Fire HD 8 shipped with tap-to-trigger Alexa, making that device more like an Echo Tap than a traditional Echo speaker. Alexa worked well on the Fire HD 8, clearly interpreting (and correctly answering) questions about my local forecasts, suggesting nearby pizza restaurants and setting timers. I noticed a slight pause, though, between when it received questions and when it answered them. If you’re using the Fire HD 8 while you’re in the same room as another Alexa-enabled device, there’s one setting you’ll need to understand. In Settings, under Alexa, you’ll notice an option called Tablet ESP Behavior, which is followed by a lengthy, slightly confusing explanation. Turning this setting on means Alexa triggers will activate the nearest Alexa device that isn’t the Fire HD 8. One reason to enable this option is if you want Alexa to play music on a better-sounding device in your home, such as the Echo Plus, Echo Dot or Echo Show. MORE: The One Alexa Feature You Need to Turn Off Performance The Fire HD 8 (powered by a quad-core, 1.3-GHz processor and 1.5GB of RAM) isn’t exactly speedy, but it has enough kick for casual productivity. I saw slight pauses while moving between tabs and longer, significant ones when moving between apps, such as from Netflix to the Camera app. The Geekbench 4 general-performance test gave the Fire HD 8 a score of 1,678, which is similar to the 1,847 earned by the Tab 4 (Qualcomm MSM8917 Snapdragon 425 with 2GB of RAM). The tablet average is a higher 3,819, and the iPad (Apple A10 Fusion chip with 2GB of RAM) notched an even-higher 5,983. The Fire HD 8 fared similarly on the 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited test, posting 5,815, which is below the 20,120 tablet average. We saw higher scores of 37,117 from the iPad and 6,029 from the Tab 4. Battery life Webcam: Improved In our review of the 2017 Fire HD 8, we noted that its 0.3-megapixel, front-facing selfie cam shot images that contained a “green cast that made human skin look sickly and that the front lens is extremely zoomed in.” You get similar quality out of the 1.9-megapixel rear camera. When I shot a still-settling cup of nitro-based cold-brew coffee, the Fire HD 8 accurately captured the gradient created by the nitro bubbles. Audio The Fire HD 8 starts at $79.99, for the model that has 16GB of storage, with only 9.6GB available to the user. You can increase the available storage to 23.8GB for an extra $30, with the 32GB model. For another $30, you can buy either Fire HD 8 with its Show Mode dock, which enables the tablet to function like the Echo Show. MORE: Alexa Can Now Send Texts: Here’s How Bottom line The affordable Fire 8 provides decent picture quality and battery life for its price, especially when competitors cost more, with the price increases ranging from $50 (Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 4) to $250 (Apple’s iPad). Still, though, we’re sad to see the Fire HD 8 drop nearly 2 hours in battery life from last year’s model, even if the new slate’s selfie cam is better and Alexa is easier to activate. For only $50 more, you can get another hour of battery life and a brighter screen with the Lenovo Tab 4 8. Dollar for dollar, though, the Fire HD 8 is still a solid budget tablet and definitely worth considering. Credit: Laptop Mag
