This new 2022 model is virtually indistinguishable from the 2020 model, but is now more expensive. Everything is more expensive, yes, but it grates to pay more for a new device with little in the way of real upgrades.

We called the Fire HD 8 a “brilliant combo of function & value” in 2018, a “budget tablet no brainer” in 2019 and said it was “still fine value” in 2020.

But now, in 2022 with essentially the same limitations, same poor cameras, same screen, slow charging and no perceivable increase in performance, it’s much harder to recommend it.

Features & design

Plastic buildHeadphone jackSame old design

The buttons and USB-C port have been rearranged slightly, but other than that, this is the same tablet with a chunky bezel around the screen and a cheap-feeling plastic frame and back.

There’s a handy headphone jack, ideal for when kids want entertaining on long journeys, and two speakers in the top edge for when you don’t want to use headphones.

If there’s a highlight it’s that the Fire HD 8 has the best battery life of the Fire tablet range at “up to” 13 hours. That’s one more than the Fire HD 10 and three more than the Fire 7.

How long you actually get between charges depends on what you use the Fire HD 8 for. Watching downloaded videos is fairly power efficient so should get close to the claim, but playing Roblox or other games will seriously shorten the battery life.

And the bad news is that it takes five whole hours to charge from empty.

Both versions are available with either 32GB or 64GB of storage, and you can still add a microSD card to expand that by up to 1TB extra.

Screen

1280×800 pixels, 189ppiIPS LCD

One of the reasons we’ve traditionally recommended the HD 8 over the Fire 7 is because it has a larger, higher resolution screen. Most phones these days have screens almost as big as the Fire 7, but with much higher resolutions.

Even now in 2022, the HD 8 still has the same screen it’s always had, with no upgrades. This means a resolution of 1280×800 pixels which equates to 189 pixels per inch.

I didn’t have the 2020 model to hand for direct comparison, but the screen on the new version looks lower quality.

It isn’t particularly bright, the backlight isn’t very even across the screen and brightness and colours change as you move the tablet in your hands and look at the screen at an angle.

Colours are fine and, overall, it’s acceptable for a budget tablet, but it’s disappointing that there’s no improvement, and possibly even a slight decline in quality.

Software

The key difference is that there are no Google apps or services. No Gmail, YouTube, Maps, Photos, Drive or anything else. And that includes the Google Play store.

As long as you don’t need to do online banking or use specific smart home devices from a Fire tablet, you’ll be ok.

Entertainment is well covered with apps for most of the big-name streaming services in the Appstore.

You can control many smart home gadgets with Alexa on the Fire HD 8, but only if you have another device such as an Android phone or iPhone on which to install the app and connect it to Alexa.

You won’t find apps for Google Home, Nest, Philips Hue, TP-Link Tapo, WiZ or Samsung SmartThings in the Appstore.

Unless you pay extra when you buy a Fire HD 8, you’ll see adverts for such products and services on the lock screen, and they change every time you turn on the tablet. If these will bother you, then it’s $10 /£10 extra to not see them.

There’s a For You screen that also has a list of recently used apps along with “Watch next” for Prime Video and suggestions for other apps and games you might want to download.

Swipe down from the top and you’ll find a brightness control, various shortcuts to settings such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, plus a toggle switch for Show Mode.

Enabling it turns the Fire HD 8 into an Echo Show, displaying rotating home screens with news, weather, recipes and other things.

Performance

Hexa-core CPU, 2GB RAM

With previous Fire tablets, I haven’t run our usual Geekbench and GFXbench tests. There are two reasons for this. First, it used to be awkward to install these apps because they weren’t on the Appstore. Second, the results would have been meaningless to most people looking to buy a cheap tablet.

Both apps are now on the Appstore, but neither would work properly or give any results. Geekbench 5 crashed at the end of each test and didn’t record a score, while GFXbench refused to connect to the back-end servers to download the benchmarks.

What I can say is that this tablet still feels underpowered. Even swiping around the home screens and the notification shade can leave you waiting for the screen to catch up, and apps take longer to load that you’d expect.

The Silk browser ground to a halt every time I  tied to go to any complex web pages, such as Google Photos. It crashed a good few times and quit back to the home screen, too. A less than ideal experience if you’re trying to use Google services.

Show Mode works ok, although it isn’t as responsive as a real Echo Show. If you have other Echo devices, you’ll probably find they answer first before the Fire HD 8 has got its act together.

Cameras are the same 2Mp ones found in the Fire 7 and many Fire tablets over the last few years. It’s hard to overstate how bad they are. The rear one captures smeary photos and jerky video, while the front one is adequate for video calls, but not selfies.

The bottom line is that this is still a cheap tablet and has accordingly entry-level performance.

Price & availability

Starts at $99. 99/£99. 99Ad-free model is $10/£10 more64GB of storage adds $30/£30Fire HD 8 Plus is $20/£20 more than equivalent non-Plus modelKids Editions cost $149. 99/£149. 99

Where the Fire HD 8 used to cost $89.99/£89.99, it’s now on the cusp of $100/£100. And you’ll pay $10/£10 more for the ad-free model.

If you think 32GB isn’t going to be enough storage for apps, games and downloading videos to watch, the 64GB model is an extra $30/£30.

Opt for the Fire HD 8 Plus and you get an extra 1GB of RAM (which makes almost no difference) and wireless charging. That’s $20/£20 extra.

There’s a choice of black, denim (blue) and rose (pink).

Both cost $149.99/£149.99 and comes with a protective case. The Kids model has a chunky bumper case that is easy to hold and offers excellent protection.

For older kids, the Pro has a slimmer case in a selection of more grown up designs, and a more grown-up interface too.

In the UK, the kids tablets have 32GB of storage in the UK, but in the US you can opt for 64GB if you’re willing to pay an extra $30.

As ever, they come with a two-year warranty that covers accidental damage. The regular Fire HD 8 (and Plus) has a single year of warranty that does not cover damage.

You won’t find a great budget tablet for much under $200/£200, but you’ll find some recommendations in our roundup of the best budget tablets.

Verdict

Fire tablets may be cheap, but the new HD 8 – especially if you go for the extra storage and choose the ad-free model – is getting quite expensive.

It offers similar performance and build quality, but will at least have all the usual Google apps, including the Play store.

Fire OS (based on Android 11)8in 1280×800 HD IPS touchscreen, 189ppi2. 0GHz hexa-core processor2GB RAM32/64GB storage (microSD up to 1TB)2Mp main camera, support for 720p HD recording2Mp front-facing camera802. 11ac dual-band Wi-FiBluetooth 5202 x 137 x 9. 7mm (7. 94” x 5. 40” x 0. 37”)335g / 1. 88oz

Jim has been testing and reviewing products for over 20 years. His main beats include VPN services and antivirus. He also covers smart home tech, mesh Wi-Fi and electric bikes.