Amazon Fire HD 8 Plus in short review

At the end of September 2022, Amazon presented the Fire HD 8 Plus in addition to the new Fire HD8 tablet and its kids version. I took a look at the Plus version for you, which has an 8-inch diagonal LC screen with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. I got the specials version with 64 GB of storage space for testing.

If you’re worried about pushing storage space to its limits: pop in a microSD card and you can add up to 1TB. What does the Plus version have over the standard Amazon Fire HD 8? Well, here’s 3 instead of 2 GB of RAM on board, the tablet charges faster with 9 watts, and Qi wireless charging is also supported. In addition, the rear camera is equipped with 5 instead of a meager 2 megapixels. However, the front camera remains at 2 megapixels.

The Amazon Fire HD 8 Plus is on the left – the Fire HD 10 Plus is on the right.

So I would have thought that an upgrade to the front camera would have made more sense, as video chatting with the tablet is definitely an idea. However, taking photos or videos with the rear camera is only recommended in an emergency. In any case, you do not want to display the created images. If you compare the new Amazon Fire HD 8 Plus with the previous model, the processor performance would have increased by 30%. It also lets you access new features like picture-in-picture videos on Amazon Prime or smoother split-screen viewing.

Speaking of the screen: the Fire HD 8 Plus screen is protected by reinforced aluminum silicate glass. Incidentally, Amazon promises about 13 hours of battery life for the tablet, and the battery should be charged in 3 hours if you use USB-C. It takes much longer wirelessly. During setup, you are also clearly informed that you can use Alexa hands-free on the tablet, even if the device is locked. If you want to interact with Alexa using finger gestures instead of voice, touch control is now available. This is compatible with Switch Access controllers and also offers text-to-speech, so you can type in phrases and have them spoken out loud.

practical test

The Amazon Fire HD 8 Plus costs 134.99 euros with 32 GB of storage space (with special offers). The version I have with 64 GB of storage capacity changes hands from 164.99 euros. If you do not want to deal with advertising, there is a supplement of 15 euros.

Advertising can be annoying at times and was also turned around a bit for me – probably because I often jump between German and English language settings as well as foreign branches of Amazon. Despite the German region and language settings, French offers occasionally appeared.

I also noticed some minor bugs. After running an update, for example, if I checked again for new firmware, a message with some code snippets would still appear in the update information. This was reproducible, but then disappeared after a reboot.

I’m not a big fan of Alexa or voice commands in general, but hands-free use worked great on the tablet and my voice was reliably recognized, even with clear music playing in the background. Of course, you also have the option of activating show mode here. It might be nice if you also charge the device wirelessly.

The finish of the Fire HD 8 Plus is also impeccable. I really like the matte and ribbed back, because you always have the necessary grip. There’s room for improvement with the thick bezels around the display, there’s definitely room for improvement. What quickly annoyed me: Depending on the orientation, the volume keys change assignment. Depending on how you turn on the tablet, the same button sometimes increases the sound and sometimes decreases it. You should change that.

If I also find the screen of the Fire HD 10 Plus good and sufficient in relation to the price of the tablet, the situation is different with the Fire HD 8 Plus. The screen is visibly blurry because the pixel density is too low due to the HD resolution. The maximum brightness could also be higher. In any case, the tablet is not predestined for use on the terrace or balcony in summer.

Either way, the low resolution and brightness trade-offs would bother me in continuous operation. The performance, on the other hand, is decent in the system interface, but if you dare to play a small game, the device will quickly reach its limits. Then the 30% more power announced compared to the previous model is useless.

Otherwise, you can say you’re getting the Fire OS experience you’ve known for years: the Fire HD 8 Plus isn’t good without an Amazon Prime subscription. Because connecting to Cosmos Prime only makes sense for centrally integrated things like Prime Video or your media library.

Conclusion

The Amazon Fire HD 8 Plus is a solid tablet for its affordability, but I have a hard time recommending it due to the subpar display. Battery lives are good and the finish even exceeds expectations, but I’d recommend the Fire HD 10 Plus with the much more valuable display instead. You should only check out the Fire HD 8 Plus if you absolutely need it to be a bit more compact.

The prerequisite is that you are a Prime subscriber, otherwise most basic functions, such as the library, cannot be used or can only be used to a limited extent. A unique selling point is certainly the successful show mode, especially since hands-free operation via Alexa works very well. You don’t necessarily expect Qi charging in this price range. So if you’re in the Prime universe, step in and see what you need.

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