Amazon Fire HD 8 (2024)

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The $99.99 Amazon Fire HD 8, refreshed for 2024, functions about as well as you should expect for the price. It provides enough power to run basic streaming apps and games and has enough battery life to get through a day. However, its below-average screen and muddy speakers keep it from being our top recommendation in Amazon's lineup. The $139.99 Fire HD 10 has a sharper display, better performance, and longer battery life, so it remains our Editors' Choice for cheap tablets.

Design: A Basic Tablet

There are three versions of the Fire HD 8: the standard model for $99.99, and the Fire HD 8 Kids and Fire HD 8 Kids Pro, both of which cost $139.99. The kid-focused versions include a carrying case, a six-month subscription to Amazon Kids+ for age-appropriate content, and a two-year worry-free warranty.

At first glance, it's difficult to tell that the new Fire HD 8 is any different from the 2022 model. It measures 7.94 by 5.40 by 0.37 inches (HWD) and weighs 11.88 ounces, making it identical in size and weight to its predecessor. New colors are the only visual indicator: Emerald (green) and Hibiscus (pink, pictured in this review) join black, for three different options. The Fire HD 10 is predictably larger and heavier (9.69 by 6.49 by 0.34 inches, 15.29 ounces), while the $59.99 Fire 7 is smaller and lighter (7.11 by 4.63 by 0.38 inches, 9.9 ounces).

When held in portrait orientation, the power button, volume rocker, USB-C port, and 3.5mm headphone jack are all on the top edge of the tablet. A slot for a microSD card is located on the right side. Two speaker grilles line the left edge, around the corner from a front-facing camera for video calls. A small, round camera module sits in the corner on the back. The rear panel is made of textured plastic that does a good job of preventing smudges and fingerprints, but the tablet can still be a bit slippery to hold.

The Fire HD 8 has the exact same 1,280-by-800-pixel 8-inch LCD as the 2022 model, with the same pixel density of 189 pixels per inch (ppi). The bezels are rather thick. The Fire 7, which hasn’t been updated since 2022, has an even lower resolution of 1,024 by 600 pixels at 171ppi. In comparison, the Fire HD 10's 10-inch screen has a resolution of 1,920 by 1,200 pixels with a density of 224ppi, making it the sharpest of the bunch. The Fire HD 8's screen is bright enough to be clearly visible indoors, though it can be difficult to see under direct sunlight thanks to glare. An anti-reflective coating would go a long way here.

Like most other inexpensive tablets, it doesn’t have an IP rating for dust and water resistance, so you’ll need to be careful when using it around water.

A USB-C cable and a 5W charger are included with the tablet.

Performance: Good Enough

The Fire HD 8 relies on a six-core, 2.0GHz ARM processor, though Amazon doesn’t specify the manufacturer or model. The tablet is available with 3GB of memory and 32GB of storage ($99.99) or 4GB of memory and 64GB of storage ($129.99). The outgoing model was offered with 2GB or 3GB of RAM, so the 2024 model is slightly improved in that respect. I received the 3GB/32GB model for testing.

I found that the tablet did a decent job of powering through day-to-day activities. I didn’t notice any lag when switching from app to app, even when I had multiple apps open at once. Some apps did occasionally freeze, including the camera, which necessitated a full reboot. This tablet isn't built to run intense games; it just doesn’t have the power to handle the load. That said, Hungry Shark ran fine, and I didn't encounter any issues streaming video content from Amazon, ESPN, Hulu, or Netflix.

On Geekbench 5, a benchmark that calculates basic CPU performance, the Fire HD 8 scored 192 on the single-core test and 901 on the multi-core test. These aren’t impressive numbers, but they represent a huge improvement over the 2022 model, which couldn’t run the test without crashing. The Fire HD 10 fared better, with scores of 515 and 1,516, while the $229.99 Fire Max 11, Amazon’s premiere tablet, scored 691 and 1,914.

Battery and Connectivity: They Get the Job Done

The Fire HD 8's battery should last most of the day. Amazon doesn’t specify the size of the battery in its devices, but the Fire HD 9 lasted 9 hours and 41 minutes in our battery test, which involves streaming HD video over Wi-Fi with the display at full brightness. The Fire HD 10 did even better (10 hours and 18 minutes), while the Fire HD 7 came in last (9 hours and 30 minutes).

The tablet requires a lengthy five hours to recharge if you use the included 5W charger. If you have a 15W brick handy, the charging time drops to two hours. Like most tablets, the Fire HD 8 doesn’t support wireless charging.

The Fire HD 8 connects to the internet and other devices using the older Wi-Fi 5 spec and Bluetooth 5.2. Using a Wi-Fi 6 router for testing, I saw good download (318Mbps) and upload speeds (22.5Mbps). These are comparable with the results from an iPhone 14 Pro tested on the same network, though I would prefer to see a Wi-Fi 6 or 6E radio on board for futureproofing.

The speakers aren't impressive. It was hard to distinguish the bass in our test track, “Silent Shout” by The Knife. Moreover, the speakers don't produce much volume, though you should be able to hear a TV show in a small room. You’ll want to connect some wired or wireless headphones for a better audio experience.

Cameras: Use Your Phone

Cameras are not usually a selling point for tablets, and that is certainly the case here. The 5MP rear camera had a difficult time capturing detail even in full daylight. The branches on the trees below are dark and blurry, and it’s impossible to make out individual pine cones.

The 2MP selfie camera is worse. Photos are completely washed out, and details are almost entirely lost, as you can see in the image of my dog. Prepare to look grainy and pixelated on video calls.

Software: Locked In Amazon’s World

Like all Fire tablets, the Fire HD 8 runs Amazon’s Fire OS. This locked-down version of Android is designed to encourage you to buy other Amazon products and services. You’ll encounter ads on the lock screen every time you pick the tablet up (unless you pay $14.99 to remove them), and sponsored content appears on the home screen. This is the same across all Fire-branded tablets.

The home screen consists of two tabs: For You and Home. The For You tab is populated by many rows of movies, games, and TV shows that Amazon thinks will interest you. Some are free, but many are paid. There’s a separate section for special offers on subscription services. The Home screen houses all of your apps but prominently features a bar of suggested apps across the top. The first two suggestions are your most recently used apps, but the rest are sponsored, along with even more books, movies, and TV shows.

There’s no way to remove or change the sponsored content, and it appears to be the same set of recommendations from the For You tab.

Amazon’s Silk browser is your only avenue to the internet, and Amazon’s Appstore is the only place to download apps. Many of the most popular streaming services are available here, but Google products (such as Calendar, Chrome, Docs, and Gmail) are missing. Popular apps like Alto’s Odyssey, Apple TV+, and Marvel Unlimited are also unavailable from Amazon’s store.

For reading, you can find titles in Amazon's bookstore and the Kindle app, listen to audiobooks on Audible, and use the Libby app for library books. You won't be able to find reading apps from competing companies like Apple or Barnes & Noble. Again, this is the same experience as on other Fire tablets from Amazon, and one that primarily directs you to Amazon products and services.

You can turn the Fire HD 8 into a  using Echo Show mode. This allows you to access Alexa voice control without using your hands, and the tablet shows the time, trending topics, weather, and more. It works well, but I find it to be of limited functionality.

Amazon doesn’t specify how many software updates the Fire HD 8 will receive, though it will get four years of security updates.

Verdict: A Minor Refresh of a Decent Tablet

The 2024 Amazon Fire HD 8 might be new, but it shares many of the same features and shortcomings as its predecessor (not to mention other Fire tablets). For only $100, it's small, fast enough to handle basic apps, and has enough battery life to make it through a long trip. But its screen and speakers are only so-so. For $40 more, the Fire HD 10 has a bigger, sharper display, more power, and even better battery life, so it remains our Editor’s Choice winner.