Amazon is now shipping out the all-new Fire 7 and Fire HD 8, expanding the retailer's well-known tablet lineup.
For the record, they're rolling out not only to those who placed an order in the United States but also in Italy, Germany, France, Spain, and UK.
Fire 7, Fire HD 8 Specs And Features
First things first, the Fire 7 and Fire HD 8 are basically refreshed versions, and there aren't that many upgrades across the board. Still, they fit in the affordable-tablet market.
On that note, don't expect anything in the same playing field as Apple's new iPad Pros.
With that out of the way, the Fire 7 has a 7-inch IPS display with a 600 x 1,024 resolution, a quad-core CPU that clocks in at 1.3 GHz, 1 GB of RAM, and either 8 GB or 16 GB of native storage, which can be expanded up to 256 with a microSD card.
Notable improvements include a heftier battery that's touted to go up to eight hours of mixed use, a better screen to push out a higher contrast and sharper text, and a dual-band Wi-Fi that allows it to connect to 5 GHz networks.
Meanwhile, the Fire HD 8 is more or less the larger HD-screen alternative to the Fire 7, measuring at 8 inches with an 800 x 1,280 resolution. It's powered by a 1.3 GHz quad-core processor too, but it can pack a slightly stronger punch with its 1.5 GB of RAM onboard.
If that looks familiar, that's because it's basically the same as the 2016 model, from the dual-band Wi-Fi to the storage options. However, it now comes in more color options: Black, Punch Red, Marine Blue, and Canary Yellow.
Both devices run on Fire OS 5, and for those who don't know, that's Amazon's "tweaked" version of Android 5.0 Lollipop. More than that, they are both equipped with a VGA front-facing camera and a 2-megapixel rear snapper.
Aside from their low price tags, their best selling point is arguably Alexa. That means users can expect to have a nice conversation with them.
Fire 7, Fire HD 8 Price And Availability
The Fire 7 and Fire HD 8 are budget tablets, so top-of-the-line performance isn't really their thing. However, they do stay true to their word as being affordable.
The 8 GB Fire 7 is available for $49.99, while the 16 GB variant for $69.99. These come with "special offers" (read: ads), though. Opting out of them will bring the prices to $64.99 and $84.99 respectively.
On the other hand, the 16 GB Fire HD 8 is set at $79.99 and the 32 GB version at $109.99. Again, those prices are for the ones with special offers, and steering clear of them will raise those figures to $94.99 and $124.99 respectively.
As mentioned earlier, they are available in Black, Punch Red, Marine Blue, and Canary Yellow.
It should also be pointed out that there's also the Fire 7 Kids Edition for $99.99 and the Fire HD 8 Kids Edition for $129.99.
Needless to say, anyone can now go ahead and grab these tablets and expect them to arrive without the long wait that early birds had to go through.
