Amazon Unveil its All-New Fire HD 8 Tablets

Amazon has officially announced its next generation of Fire HD 8 tablets with the launch four new models: Fire HD 8, Fire HD 8 Plus, Fire HD 8 Kids Pro, and Fire HD 8 Kids. The all-new Fire HD 8, powered by a 30% faster processor and all-day battery life, provides customers with a premier entertainment experience and the ability to get more things done at home or on the go. And for the first time, customers can select a Disney Design bundle for the Fire HD 8 Kids featuring Mickey Mouse or Disney Princess cases.

Amazon’s All-New Fire HD 8 Tablets

Amazon has confirmed the following features for both the base Fire HD 8 and Fire HD 8 Plus:

• Enhanced performance—With a 30% faster Hexa-core processor, customers can do more, from web browsing to watching videos—or both at the same time. Enjoy picture-in-picture videos with apps like Prime Video and utilize the split-screen feature to send an email while joining a Zoom call, or look up a recipe while watching your favourite show.
• Sleek and durable display—Featuring an 8-inch, vibrant HD display made with strengthened aluminosilicate glass, Fire HD 8 is thinner, lighter, and even stronger than before, testing twice as durable as the iPad mini in tumble tests.
• A battery that lasts all day—Up to 13 hours of battery life for watching content, browsing the web, listening to music, and more. Fire HD 8 fully charges in five hours with the included USB-C cable and 5 W power adapter.
• Engaging entertainment—Movies, games, and web content look and sound amazing in vivid HD with Dolby Atmos. With screen mirroring, customers can project video, browsers, apps, photos, and more on larger screens compatible with Miracast technology, including select FireTV, Samsung, Sony, LG, and Phillips TVs.
• Better with Prime—Fire HD 8 powers unlimited hours of entertainment for Prime members, including thousands of popular movies and TV shows with Prime Video, exclusive Amazon Originals, and millions of songs and podcasts with Amazon Music. Plus, with Amazon Photos, Prime members get free, unlimited, full-resolution photo storage and 5 GB of video storage.
• Plenty of storage—With 32 GB and 64 GB options, and support for up to 1 TB of expandable storage via microSD, customers can download and enjoy a variety of books, videos, and games.
• Wide selection of content—Enjoy millions of movies, TV episodes, songs, books, graphic novels, apps, and games. Stream or watch downloaded videos with Prime Video, Disney+, Netflix, Hulu, or HBO Max subscriptions.
• Always-ready, hands-free Alexa—Ask Alexa to make a video call to keep in touch with family and friends, play a song, start an Audible book, launch a game, find your favourite movies, show your calendar, and more—using only your voice.
• Climate Pledge Friendly—Designed with sustainability in mind, Fire HD 8 tablets are part of the growing list of Amazon devices reducing their carbon footprint year after year. Fire HD 8’s device packaging is 100% recyclable in the U.S. and is also made of 99% wood fibre-based materials from responsibly managed forests or recycled sources.
• Personalized Display Sizes—The new display size feature can either magnify all on-screen elements for customers with low or impaired vision or reduce the elements’ size to provide extra space to do more on the display.
• Accessibility—With features like VoiceView screen reader, screen magnifier, closed captioning, font size, high-contrast text, colour inversion, colour correction, and conversion stereo to mono audio, Fire HD 8 was built with accessibility in mind. For customers who want to interact with Alexa through touch instead of voice, the Tap to Alexa feature is now available and compatible with Switch Access controllers. Fire HD 8 also features Text to Speech, so customers can type out phrases and have them spoken out loud.

For only a little more, the more premium Fire HD 8 Plus adds:

• Multi-tasking—With 3 GB RAM, you can switch seamlessly between apps on Fire HD 8 Plus, whether you’re checking off your to-do list, reading a book, or watching your favourite show.
• Faster USB-C charging—Fire HD 8 Plus fully charges in approximately three hours with the included 9 W power adapter.
• Hassle-free wireless charging—Fire HD 8 Plus is also compatible with Qi-certified wireless chargers, and when paired with the wireless charging dock (sold separately), you can seamlessly transition Fire HD 8 Plus from a portable tablet experience to a countertop smart display with hands-free Alexa access in Show Mode.
• Sharper images—Featuring a 5MP rear-facing camera, customers can capture vivid video and images.

All-New Fire HD 8 Kids and Fire HD 8 Kids Pro

The new Fire HD 8 Kids is built for kids ages 3-7 and powered by the included one-year subscription to Amazon Kids+, with thousands of ad-free books, games, videos, and apps from brands like Disney, Nickelodeon, and PBS Kids. The Fire HD 8 Kids is the perfect companion for kids to enjoy at home and on the go, bundled with a kid-proof case and a two-year worry-free guarantee. And for the first time, customers can select a Disney Design bundle including Fire HD 8 Kids and a Mickey Mouse or Disney Princess case for $159.99.

The all-new Fire HD 8 Kids Pro is designed for school-aged kids, 6-12, and comes bundled with a kid-friendly case, two-year worry-free guarantee, and a one-year subscription to Amazon Kids+ with fun and educational content, including from National Geographic, Rabbids Coding, and LEGO. In addition to Amazon Kids+ content, Fire HD 8 Kids Pro tablets come with access to a digital store where kids can discover and ask parents to purchase eBooks and apps or add their favourite games like Roblox and Minecraft.

Fire HD 8 Kids and Fire HD 8 Kids Pro models come with access to award-winning parental controls that encourage learning before play—so parents can limit screen time, set educational goals, and manage content for up to four child profiles. The Amazon Kids browser provides filtered access to the web for school projects and more, and built-in controls are designed to help filter out inappropriate sites. Parents or guardians can manage settings on the device or visit the Parent Dashboard at parents.amazon.com to view daily activity reports, allow or block websites, and easily adjust their child’s settings from any web browser, whether they’re on a mobile device or computer.

Specifications

Please note that these may vary slightly depending on the exact variant you choose.

Price & Availability

The all-new Amazon Fire HD 8 is available for pre-order today, starting at $99.99 in Black, Denim, and Rose colours. The Fire HD 8 Plus comes in a dimpled finish in Gray and is available starting at $119.99. Both tablets come in 32GB or 64GB, and accessory cases are available for Fire HD 8 and Fire HD 8 Plus tablets in Black, Denim, Gray, and Rose colours for $29.99.

Fire HD 8 Kids is available for pre-order today starting at $149.99 in Black and offered in 32 GB or 64 GB storage options with a Blue or Purple kid-proof case featuring an adjustable kickstand that doubles as a handle. These tablets are also available in a Disney Design bundle that includes Mickey Mouse or Disney Princess cases for $159.99. – The Fire HD 8 Kids Pro comes with 32 GB of storage at $149.99 with a kid-friendly case in Cyber Sky, Rainbow Universe, and Hello Teal. Both tablets come with a one-year subscription to the award-winning Amazon Kids+ with thousands of ad-free, age-appropriate books, games, videos, and apps, and customers can continue their subscription on a monthly basis, including at $4.99 per month for Prime members. Customers can use the same Amazon Kids+ subscription across any compatible device to access even more kid-friendly content, including Fire TV, Kindle, Echo, Glow, iOS, Chromebook, or Android devices.

Set for general release next month, should you wish to learn more, check out the link here! (NB. Only listed on North America at the time of writing, but we expect that other regions should open up within the next few days).

What do you think? – Let us know in the comments!