Amazon’s new tablet line for 2015 adds tablets with different screen sizes to the Fire tablet family with new 8-inch and 10-inch models. They also add memory card slots, which is a big change from the way Amazon used to do things.
The Fire HD 8 starts at $149 and the Fire HD 10 starts at $229.
Both models basically share the same specs and features, with a few subtle differences between the two.
They are being marketed as Amazon’s thinnest tablets ever at 7.7mm thick. Amazon is doing a lot of comparing with iPads in the marketing material. They claim the new Fire HD tablets are almost 2x more durable than the latest iPad Air.
The Fire HD 10 has an optional Bluetooth keyboard case for an additional $99.
As far as ereading goes, Amazon says the new Fire OS 5 will have a new speed reading feature called Word Runner. According to the press release, Word Runner gradually builds to your preferred reading speed and algorithmically and automatically slows down for difficult words, punctuation, and paragraph breaks.
The most disappointing thing about these tablets it they both have 1280 x 800 resolution screens, which is pretty low by today’s standards. That’s only 189 ppi on the Fire HD 8 and 149 ppi for the Fire HD 10.
That’s kind of a bummer, and it negates some of the other good qualities and raises questions about the price.
In my opinion, the 10-inch Lenovo Tab 2 10 is a much better tablet than the new Fire HD 10. It has a higher resolution screen, Android 5.0, longer battery life, GPS, and it costs $30 less.
The price of the 8-inch model is a bit questionable too. There are lots of similar options in that price range for an 8-inch tablet. And for $50 more there’s the Asus ZenPad 8 with 320 ppi, 32GB of storage space, 2GB of RAM, and Android 5.1.
Compared to the new $49 Fire tablet, these ones just don’t have the same kind of low cost appeal.
Fire HD 8 Specs
- 8″ IPS Display
- 1280 x 800 (189 ppi) resolution
- MediaTek Quad-Core processor: 2 @ 1.5 GHz + 2 @ 1.2 GHz
- 1 GB of RAM
- 8GB/16GB storage space
- MicroSD card slot for cards up to 128GB
- 720p front-facing HD camera; 5 MP rear-facing HD camera
- Dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac
- Bluetooth
- Dual stereo speakers
- Microphone
- Accelerometer, gyroscope
- 3.5 mm stereo jack
- Colors: Black, Magenta, Blue, Tangerine
- Battery life: up to 8 hours
- Weight: 11.0 ounces (311 grams)
- Dimensions: 8.4″ x 5.0″ x 0.3″ (214 x 128 x 7.7mm)
Fire HD 10 Specs
- 10.1″ IPS Display
- 1280 x 800 (149 ppi) resolution
- MediaTek Quad-Core processor: 2 @ 1.5 GHz + 2 @ 1.2 GHz
- 1 GB of RAM
- 16GB/32GB storage space
- MicroSD card slot for cards up to 128GB
- 720p front-facing HD camera; 5 MP rear-facing HD camera
- Dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac
- Bluetooth
- Dual stereo speakers
- Microphone
- Accelerometer, gyroscope
- 3.5 mm stereo jack
- Colors: Black or White
- Battery life: up to 8 hours
- Weight: 15.2 oz. (432 g)
- Dimensions: 10.3″ x 6.3″ x 0.3″ (262 x 159 x 7.7mm)
So no kindle voyage 2?
Nope. No new E Ink Kindles have been announced yet, which is surprising, but according to Amazon customer reps a Kindle will be released by the end of the month.
Kudos to Amazon for adding support for expandable storage!!! They now support up to 128GB microSD cards. Awesome!!
Don’t understand why they would wait to announce a new Kindle Voyage 2. Part of the whole announcement hoopla is to build momentum and anticipation for it’s release weeks later after initial announcement.
There were rumors about a new Nook Glowlight 2 which never happened. B&N announced their new Nook Tablet and weeks ago and still not a word on their new dedicated e-reader.
I hope I’m wrong but something tells me there will be no new Voyage this year.
Nathan, not sure where to post this question. Do you know a reputable place to buy the onyx boox i86ml hd plus? Can’t seem to buy it from their USA distributor and Ebay sellers I am finding don’t take returns if I get a bad one. I guess I will play the waiting game if not. The refresh speeds aren’t too bad on this video. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RyfJEFx_gQA
No, sorry. The German distributor is the only place that sells the Plus version, as far as I know. Banggood has the i86 but return shipping would be expensive too. There really aren’t any good options for Onyx ereaders in the US anymore.
is the Kindle Fire HD 6 a better tablet, in your opinion?
Thanks
No, not really. It has the cheap vibe of the $49 Fire. The higher ppi of the screen is better, but other than that you don’t get anything extra for double the price, and the quality of the screen is better on the HD 8 aside from the lower ppi. The HD 6 is a cheaper quality tablet overall compared to the HD 8, and it lacks a memory card slot. I was just thinking the $99 price doesn’t really make sense anymore with the $49 version around. $79 would make more sense for the HD 6. Sometimes it goes on sale for that.
I have owned every Fire model and must say, the $49 Fire was a huge disappointment. Feels like an odd screen size but my chief complaint is the same as many others:that ugly yellowish screen bleed. The HD 6 feels like quality and has a beautiful screen display and,really important to me, is perfect for reading. In fact, I prefer the HD 6 for reading over the dedicated Kindle readers.