It’s safe to say we love technology in our house. I spend countless hours a day attached to tech of one type or another and both hubby and Ava enjoy time with their laptop or tablet.
We were so excited to get to put the Amazon Fire tablet through its paces. The new Fire tablet 7” was launched in June 2017, it’s an improved version of Amazon’s bestselling tablet, but thinner, lighter and more durable, which is perfect for families. It also now has Alexa (voice assistant) for quick access to information.
Our first thought was how good the price point was, at £49.99 it really is awesome value. We decided it would be used mainly for me for times when taking a laptop is not convenient and also for Ava to focus on educational apps, but some fun viewing too!
My first task was to load the apps I use for blogging, with Camp Bestival on the horizon the tablet will make my job so much easier than my phone when blogging from a field! It also means I can watch shows on the go! I also added a few apps for Ava; a maths one, BBC iPlayer Kids, Barnyard games and CBeebies Playtime, so she has a selection of entertainment and learning. There is such a wide range of apps and games, including PAW Patrol Pups Take Flight, Peppa pig, Toca Life, BBC and Disney apps too all from the Amazon App store.
The Look
The Fire has a sturdy appearance, which is great for little hands and Ava LOVED that it was red. Amazon claim the screen is 1.8 times more durable than the iPad Air 2 which is great news for someone who just paid £150 to replace the screen on her iPhone 7……
The Fire has a quality appearance and you would be forgiven for thinking it cost more than its £49.99 price tag. The screen has great clarity and the unit is thin and lightweight.
The vital ‘tech’ statistics
- Beautiful 7″ IPS display (171 ppi / 1024 x 600).
- Available in four colours, black, blue, magenta or tangerine.
- Fast 1.3 GHz quad-core processor and rear- and front-facing cameras.
- Amazon Underground: All-new, one-of-a-kind app store experience where thousands of apps, games and in-app items are actually free — including extra lives, unlocked levels, unlimited add-on packs and more.
- Enjoy more than 38 million songs, movies, TV shows, books, apps and games
- Free unlimited cloud storage for all Amazon content and photos taken with Fire devices. Add a microSD card for up to 200GB of additional storage
Battery life
The stated battery life on the Kindle Fire is 7 hours (of mixed usage). After the initial charge the battery died quicker than this, but I think that was due to us downloading apps etc. After the initial charge I think the estimate was about right. Since that initial charge however, we’ve not had any further issues.
Amazon Prime
There are so many benefits and options for Prime Members within the tablet. You don’t have to have Prime, there are plenty of options to go Prime-free, however you do get access to lots of great stuff if you do. Prime members can stream thousands of Prime Video titles, access over a million book titles, thousands of audiobooks and two million songs. They can also download thousands of Prime Video movies and TV shows to watch offline anywhere, which is pretty epic.
Reading
As the Fire 7 is a Kindle tablet the Kindle app is pre installed. It’s lovely to read on, the screen has a lovely clarity and it’s definitely more pleasant than trying to read on my iPhone. The Goodreads app is also included.
Final thoughts
We LOVE our Amazon Kindle Fire. Ava adores the games and it is so helpful for me to have an alternative to my MacBook Pro, something that is easier to use for ‘work’ than my iPhone. The price point makes it a really affordable choice too. You can read more and grab yours here.
Disclosure: I was gifted this tablet by Amazon and the Amazon Appstore in return for an honest review.
Comments 1
I’ve been thinking about getting one of these because they’d be so useful for trips away.