Tablets can be a great investment for the whole family, whether it’s in burning through an evening on Candy Crush after a hard day’s work or setting your kids up with some educational apps. If you’ve only got simple daily tasks in mind, like streaming, playing games and web browsing, you needn’t go all out on the most expensive brands either.
Right now, you can grab the new Amazon Fire HD 8 tablet for just £49.99 (all prices are correct at the time of writing). That price will get you the 32GB with ads version — for an extra tenner you can get rid of the lock screen ads, and for an extra £25 you can double the storage on either version. They’re available in black, green or pink too, so you’ve got a few customisation options to choose from.
With an 8-inch screen, a 5MP rear camera, 3GB of RAM, and a decent chunk of storage even at 32GB, these tablets punch well above their price point. While you’re limited to apps available on Amazon’s own app store rather than the full gamut you’d expect on iOS or Android, you’ll find most of your favourite apps are covered.
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You’re not going to get the lightning-fast responsiveness you’d find with more expensive tablets, but you’ll nevertheless be getting a solid tablet that will be more than capable of streaming TV and films, acting as a smart home hub, playing simple games like Angry Birds and Candy Crush, browsing the web, showing recipes while you cook, and keeping the kids out of trouble with entertainment and learning apps.
The Fire HD 8 has a solid reputation among Amazon customers, with 4.5 out of 5 stars averaged from 285 reviews so far. “It was super easy to set up,” said one five-star review. “It’s just as fast and well-made as all the other devices that we have in the house. I would highly recommend people get one while Amazon is selling them for so cheap.”
“It is an ideal device for simple browsing, reading, viewing videos, listening to music and emailing, and it also works well as an Alexa device,” said another review awarding top marks. “Highly recommended.” Another added: “I got one with the ads, but they are pretty much low-key and in no way irritating. Thanks to Amazon for a great deal and a fast delivery during a busy period.”
However, others had a few more critical notes to share. “My only gripe is the low pixel density – with my glasses on, it’s not really a problem, but being shortsighted, I often read my Kindle Paperwhite without my specs on, and there, the 300ppi is perfectly fine, but at 189ppi, I can see literally every pixel,” said one review. “Not a huge problem at this price, but I wish a higher resolution version was available at this screen size.” Another said: “The device is super slow and takes ages to respond to basic gestures.”
If you’re interested in what else is out there, the cost does rise considerably when you start browsing the big names. The brand-new iPad Mini is £499 at Currys, for example, but it’s considerably more powerful than the Fire HD 8 and offers a much broader range of apps. The Samsung Galaxy Tab A9, meanwhile, is an entry-level Samsung tablet that offers decent performance at £119.99 (reduced from £169).
For less than £50, you really can’t beat the Amazon Fire HD 8 for value.