Amazon's Fire tablets are some of the most popular Android tablets in the world. While the OS looks nothing like what you'd find on an Android phone, it is indeed Android. The latest generation of the Amazon Fire HD 8 tablet was announced today with minor updates. The tablet is shipping with Fire OS 6, which is based on Android Nougat, and was originally launched on the Fire TV.

The main specs are identical to last year's model: 8-inch 1280x800 display, quad-core 1.3GHz processor, 1.5GB of RAM, and expandable storage. The big hardware update is the 2MP front-facing camera. On the software front, this is Fire OS 6 Android Nougat. Permissions need to be checked at runtime now. Adoptable storage is now present and Doze will help improve battery life. Amazon reminds developers to not use Google services on Amazon Fire Tablets. They must use Amazon's Apps & Games Services SDKs. Alexa can also be used hands-free now, which does take a hit on battery life.

Specs and software features are not the reason why people buy Fire tablets. They're cheap and you can access a wide variety of books, movies, TV shows, and more from Amazon. The Fire HD 8 only costs $79.99 There is also a Kids Edition with a big easy to grip bumper case. The specs are nothing special here, but if you're looking for a cheap Android tablet to tinker with, the Fire HD 8 looks decent.


Source: Amazon Fire OS 6 Info