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Amazon Fire HD 8 (2024) review: A cheap tablet hampered by outdated software

The newest Amazon Fire HD 8 adds more RAM and some new AI features for a still-dirt-cheap price, but Fire OS remains as messy as ever.

Pros Cheap, and frequently discounted Lightweight and comfortable to hold Improved performance over prior generation Good battery life Has a microSD slot and headphone jack Cons Fire OS is ad-heavy and Amazon-centric to the point of hostility Limited app selection Display needs a refresh Poor cameras Still only powerful enough for light gaming and media consumption All of these perform reasonably fast, but It’s hard to call them game-changers: The writing assist makes copy sound overly stilted, while the webpage summaries strip down most articles of their nuances (I beg you, just read the post.)

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