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What do you get when you combine a cheap tablet with access to a company’s ecosystem of different services? A tablet that keeps making money on Amazon, no matter how Good The device actually. And that brings us to the all-new Amazon Fire 7 tablet.
The Fire 7 has always been one of those devices that you tossed in your cart because it’s on sale for $20, or in one of the “bargain boxes” in Best Buy’s checkout line. But, unlike previous iterations, Amazon has already made some sense and, dare I say, useful Improvements to the cheapest tablet.
However, just because the Fire 7 seems to offer good value on paper, does the device support it? Let’s dig a little deeper to see if the 2022 release of the Fire 7 is really worth it.
Amazon Fire 7 (2022): Price and Availability
Amazon has a somewhat odd release “schedule” for its various tablets, and the company’s lower-cost option was updated in May of 2022. This marks a three-year gap between releases, with the Fire 7 (2022) now available from many of our favorite retailers. You have three colors to choose from; The Fire 7 (2022) comes in black, denim or pink.
There are several configurations to consider if you’re in the market for an Android tablet, with a base model and 16GB of storage priced at $60. The maximum amount of 32GB of storage is $80, with both options mentioned coming with an “ad-supported lock screen.” If you want to get rid of lock screen ads completely, Amazon offers that as an option with a 16GB version priced at $75, and a 32GB model priced at $95.
Amazon Fire 7 (2022): What do you like
When it comes to pretty much any of Amazon’s best tablets, what helps set these options apart from the competition is the price. As you’d expect, the most attractive and interesting reason to pick up the Fire 7 is its incredibly low price at $60. And although this is an increase of US$10 over the previous generation, this time around a price increase is already guaranteed.
For example, Amazon finally realized that many people enjoy content in landscape mode, as the Fire 7 sees the 2-megapixel front camera move to the side frame, rather than leaving it at the “top”. It’s a trend we’ve seen in Android tablets for years, and one we hope Apple gets a hint about when it comes to The best iPad Models. If you find yourself using the Fire 7 for video chat, it is definitely a more hands-on experience overall.
Thanks to this major change, Amazon has placed all the buttons and ports on the right side (when in landscape mode). The only omission from this is the microSD card slot, which can be found on the “bottom”, and is easily accessible without the need for a dedicated SIM card tool.
| Amazon Fire 7 | |
|---|---|
| Show | 7 inches |
| Precision (PPI) | 1024 x 600 (171 dpi) |
| Healer | Quad core 2.0 GHz |
| RAM | 2 GB |
| storage | 16 GB / 32 GB |
| Expandable Storage | microSD card, up to 1 TB |
| battery | up to 10 hours |
| Shipping time | 4 hours |
| cameras | 2MP front and back camera |
| My voice | Mono speaker, 3.5mm headphone jack |
| ports | USB-C, 3.5mm headphone jack |
| Connection | 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth LE |
| Colors | Black, Denim, Rose |
| Dimensions | 180.68 mm x 117.59 mm x 9.67 mm |
| Weight | 9.9 ounces (282 grams) |
Another thing we’re very happy to see with the Fire 7 is Amazon’s acknowledgment that the microUSB port should be buried for good. Yes, it still shows up when looking at the best Fire TV Stick, including the company’s latest Fire TV Stick 4K Max, but we wouldn’t be surprised if that changed over the next round of hardware reviews. With the Fire 7, Amazon made the same move as it did with the 2020 Fire HD 8 and the 2021 Fire HD 10 revamp, bringing USB-C to its less expensive tablet.
From a display perspective, nothing has really changed here, as you still have the same 7-inch, 1024 x 600 panel. We’ll touch more on that in the next section, but then, once you take the Fire 7 out of the box and up and running, you’re presented with the tried-and-true Fire OS interface The real one from Amazon.
Naturally, this puts all of the various Amazon services in your face; From Kindle and Audible to Amazon App Store and Prime Video. The nice thing here is that you have quick and easy access to the entire Amazon ecosystem, including Alexa. One feature that kind of surprised me was the ability to turn the Fire 7 (2022) into a portable Alexa speaker. It’s one of those features that I really enjoyed with the Fire HD 8, and I’m very happy to see it come to the less expensive tablet.
Provided you enable hands-free mode, you can just say “Alexa, turn on the living room lights” regardless of whether or not you have other Alexa speakers at home. Even with so many smart speakers around my dorm, I’ve turned to the Fire 7 on my desk more times than I can count when it comes to needing a quick answer, or controlling my various smart home devices.
Much of this is made possible by the updated 2.0GHz chipset found in the new Fire 7, along with an additional 1GB of RAM. I’d also like to commend Amazon for making these changes, as they’ve definitely improved performance compared to the 2019 version, even with some stumbles and hiccups when trying to jump quickly between different tasks.
Amazon Fire 7 (2022): What you won’t love
Amazon has made a lot of the right moves when it comes to changing the overall design of the Fire 7. There are three different colors to choose from if you really want to add some spice to things. But the fact remains that in 2022, the display resolution of 1024 x 600 will be very bad. When you do anything but read a book, looking at a screen can start to hurt your eyes.
I’d almost like to see the $70 Fire HD 7 released, or somewhere between the $50 Fire 7 from 2019 and the $90 Fire HD 8 from last year. But there isn’t much space between the bottom of Amazon’s tablet lineup and its next “best” option.
And while I’d like to give Amazon as much praise as possible for not only switching to USB-C but also for including a charging brick in the box, there is a limit to my excitement. That’s because you won’t find any signs of fast charging anywhere with the Fire 7. The tablet is limited to reaching maximum charging speeds of 5W. This is not a typo, because I definitely checked myself twice and thrice. Five full watts.
what does that mean? While the Fire 7 is rated for 10 hours of battery life, up three hours from the last iteration, it will take about half as long to go from 0-100%. In a world where we can get a phone charging from 0-50% in less than 20 minutes, getting a device that takes three to four hours to charge back up is pretty bad. It will probably be a slight ache for some, but something about that 5W power stays with me.
It’s really hard to complain too much about a cheap tablet that actually works. If Amazon wants to improve its user experience, it should really consider getting rid of the huge number of ads that are out there. I mean, they are everywhere. Everywhere you look is another ad for a game you’ve never heard of, or a reminder to watch a show you don’t care about. It’s the same issue I’m having with the Fire TV Stick 4K Max, because it ruins the user experience.
But in the case of the Fire 7 tablet, even with the improved processor and extra RAM, there are still bottlenecks and stutters that you have to deal with. Maybe if Amazon reduced the ads a little or ten, it would be a more fluid experience. Don’t turn it off completely, that’s not the point, just stop trying to shove it in our faces with every swipe of the page.
Amazon Fire 7 (2022): Competition
The only real competition for the Fire 7 comes directly from Amazon. The Fire HD 8 retails for $90, but it’s also on sale on Prime Day for less From the Fire 7. From there, the closest tablet you might want to consider is the Lenovo Tab M8, which is still under $100, but barely. It’s also still Android 10, and a decent successor model hasn’t been released at this price point.
So does the Fire 7 really have any competition? Not right. This is what makes it so popular, especially during various holiday times like Prime Day or Black Friday/Cyber Monday when it drops to just $20 or $30. Amazon does not have any reliable competition in this corner of the market.
Amazon Fire 7 (2022): Should you buy it?
You should buy this if…
- You want the cheapest Android tablet.
- You are well established (or interested in) in the Amazon ecosystem.
- You want a lightweight, portable tablet to take with you anywhere.
You should not buy this if…
- Pay attention to the specifications.
- You need Google Play Store without sideloading.
- You plan to do any multitasking or use processor-dependent applications.
I know I’ve spent quite a bit of time on all the different changes, and why these upgrades require a slightly higher price tag for the cheapest Fire Tablet. But there are good reasons for that.
If you remember that this wouldn’t compete with the world’s Galaxy Tab S8s, or even Apple’s base iPad model, the Fire 7 is a bit more capable than you think. One of the reasons I keep carrying my Galaxy Z Fold 3 instead of the Pixel 6 Pro is the ability to easily pick up where I left off from the Kindle app. And despite the Fire 7 having no cellular connection, and despite the lower resolution screen, I found myself reaching for the Fire 7 more and more.
There are some good things to be found here
I’m starting to realize that the lack of a Play Store, while still frustrating, isn’t the greatest amount of damage as I once thought. I can’t go and find all the different apps and games I install on any of my other Android devices that are designed to kill time. Instead, I “kill time” by focusing on the book I wanted to read, or taking advantage of Amazon’s massive content library.
Sure, it definitely takes forever To recharge, the screen resolution is comical in 2022. But that’s not the point of this tablet. It is a gateway device to the Amazon ecosystem and does not break the bank in any way or way.
If you want to use it for reading, it’s as good as it gets, short of a traditional Kindle grab. If you want to take part in the final season of The Marvelous Mrs.Maisel while you’re at your desk, that’s great too. But it also doubles nicely as a smart speaker that goes with you anywhere in your home.
Ad placement is also underwhelming, as is the case with the Fire TV Stick 4K Max (which costs more than the Fire 7). But really, what more could you ask for than a very serviceable and portable tablet? There’s still something quite like that, even with all the knobs we have.
