Introduction and design
The Amazon Fire Phone might not be worth your time, but when it comes to tablets Amazon has become a real powerhouse. The retailer is back with its 2014 lineup and the runt of the litter is the affordable Fire HD 7. The Kindle name is gone, but there's still plenty that Amazon's bringing to the table.
Affordability is the key issue here and I'll be revisiting it during the course of this review. It's well known that Android makes money from services and so can deliver the hardware at extremely friendly prices. And yet, with the likes of the Tesco Hudl 2 out there, is Amazon's offering still worth it?
The 7-inch Amazon Fire HD 7 starts from £119 (US$139) for the 8GB version with special offers (ads). Bar the size, it's more or less identical to the Amazon Fire HD 6 which starts at £79 (US$99). The difference is the 6-inch model has a mono speaker, smaller pixel density and a lower weight.
The focus of this review is the 7-inch model but I'll mention these differences in more detail when it's relevant.
When it comes to the tablet essentials, the Fire HD 7 has everything in place. There's a 1.5GHz quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM and choice of 8GB or 16GB internal storage. It's not a bad roster sheet when you keep in mind the iPad mini 2 is over £100 more expensive and houses a dual-core 1.3GHz processor, 1GB of RAM and 16GB of storage space.
Like the iPad mini 2, the Fire HD 7 also shuns a microSD slot which means there's no expandable storage to be had.
Unfortunately, unlike the iPad mini 2, the LCD IPS display on the Fire HD 7 tops out at a 1,280 x 800 display. That means that while 720p HD is catered for, it falls short of the full 1080p experience offered by the likes of Google's Nexus 7.
The design language of the Amazon Fire HD 7 reaffirms its mid-level credentials. The screen is surrounded by a thick, black bezel and the plastic chassis is blocky and utilitarian.
Amazon has spruced it up with a few colours to choose from - my review unit came in the bright "citron" (yellow) hue. You can also get "cobalt" (blue) "magenta" (purple) and the more customary black or white.
The Fire HD 7 measures 191 x 128 x 19.6mm (7.5" X 5.0" X 0.4") and weighs 337g (11.9 oz). To give it its due, it weighs less than the blocky design makes it appear and it comes in lighter than Tesco's new Hudl 2 tablet which weighs 410g.
While you're going to need to hold it in both hands to navigate the menus and play games, holding it one-handed isn't a problem. I didn't feel my muscles pulling after a ten minute reading session holding the HD 7 in landscape mode.
However, the plastic backing is far from the nicest material for gripping the tablet. The soft-touch rubberised coating used for the Fire HDX 8.9 or Tesco Hudl 2 works much better.
The back of the tablet is also where you'll find the dual stereo speakers, situated along the top edge. Amazon has used Dolby Audio inside the HD 7 and the tablet can hit a decent amount of volume.
If you're holding it in two hands in a landscape position then you're going to be fine, but in portrait mode it's easy to block one of the speakers with your hand. The same goes for the rear-facing 2MP camera that's located in the top right hand corner of the tablet when in portrait.
The power switch, 3.5mm headphone jack and microUSB charging port are all on top of the tablet – again, if you're holding it in portrait mode.
You'll find the volume rocker on the left hand side, which becomes either the bottom or the top when you're holding it in landscape mode. The first Fire HD models had micro-HDMI ports as well but unfortunately this feature is no more.
It's fair to say that the HD 7 can take a few knocks, but the tablet as a whole is not what I'd call svelt. The design and materials used serve a purpose though, and that's keeping the costs down.
Although it doesn't feel like the cheap Android tablets from a few years ago, the design suffers because our quality benchmark has been raised by the likes of the Google Nexus 7 and the original Fire HD 7.
Similarly, this is not a power tablet like the Microsoft Surface Pro 3, but a lean-back content consumption device tied completely to the Amazon ecosystem.
There's no Firefly app installed but Amazon is putting a basic device in your hands in the hope you'll use its services.
Interface and performance
Amazon's ubiquitous carousel widget has become a recognisable, if not mainstream, user interface and the Fire HD 7 is based around it.
This iteration is the Fire OS 4 UI, which is built on top of Android 4.4 KitKat and is pretty much unrecognisable from Google's native version.
The carousel lets you scroll through your recently-used apps and content in reverse chronological order while below is the more traditional app icon grid.
Above the carousel is a menu of links taking you to Amazon's depository of physical goods and digital media. Scroll to the end and you'll find a couple of non-buying options like Web, Photos and Docs.
Everything about the UI, unsurprisingly, is about pushing content. If you turn the Fire HD 7 portrait then underneath a particular book, album or film appears thumbnail recommendations for similar purchases.
In one sense, the Fire HD 7 is supremely easy to use, with big friendly icons that can be quickly scrolled through and opened up. But key features like email, documents and settings are squirreled away behind the wall of content.
Like most Android tablets you can pull down the notifications panel from the top of the screen and quickly adjust things like brightness, Wi-Fi and access the settings. There's also a quick switch for something called Quiet Time that disables all notifications so as not to interrupt your reading time.
There's no way of customising the experience the same way you would with an Android or iOS tablet. There are no backgrounds to choose from and no widgets to install on the homescreen. If it's personalisation you're looking for, you won't find it here. That actually goes for advanced users as well – the Fire HD 7 is not a tablet to dig down into for those wanting a creative and social experience.
Amazon has effectively walled off Android, so there's no access to the Google Play store and no Google Apps to be had either. Instead, there's Amazon's own appstore; home to over 240,000 apps.
Pretty much all the big-hitters are available and Amazon also throws in a free app of the day as well as various seasonal giveaways to entice you.
Once you've accessed an app or piece of content, a small navigation bar can be called up by tapping the screen. It appears at the bottom of the screen in landscape mode and along the side in portrait mode, giving you the option to return to the homescreen, type out a search or go back a page.
The Kindle Fire HD 7 is equipped with a quad-core 1.5GHz processor and 1GB of RAM. In practice, I found the performance to be good, if not exemplary.
Apps and content loaded quickly in under a second, and swapping between landscape and portrait roughly a second itself.
On paper though, the performance is lacking compared to similarly priced tablets. The Geekbench 3 benchmarking app returned a multi-core score of 1476. By comparison, the Tesco Hudl 2 scored 2147 on the same. Even Google's aging Nexus 7 tablet managed a 1896 multi-core score.
But when running graphically intensive games like Real Racing 3, the Fire HD 7 kept up the pace. I didn't experience any lag or stutter during gameplay and, when holding the tablet the right way, the stereo sound was really impressive. Turn the volume all the way up and you can actually feel it through the tablet's plastic chassis.
You're never going to use the Fire HD 7 for anything more complex than 3D gaming or streaming video and for these types of features, the processor, RAM and Fire OS are more than capable.
Key features and battery
Unlike the Amazon Fire Phone, the Fire HD 7 doesn't have well-known Amazon features like Mayday, Firefly or Dynamic Perspective. What it does have though, is an extremely straightforward method of getting content delivered directly to your device.
That content all comes from Amazon and it's handily broken down for you into key areas: Games, Apps, Books, Music, Video, Newstand and Audiobooks. I'll delve into these in greater detail later, but it's the ease at which you can populate your device that's appealing.
Hit audiobooks in the navigation menu, for example, and you're taken to Amazon's Audible store complete with carousels for both bestsellers and new content. With each audiobook, you can buy it in a matter of taps through your Amazon account.
Moving away from content towards browsing and email and the Fire HD gives you the nuts and bolts experience. Email from the Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo can be added to Amazon's own email app and the tablet will also sync with calendar entries and contact details.
The interface is easy enough to use for anyone familiar with Android or iOS tablets. Emails run across the screen and you swipe right to archive or delete messages. You can edit messages in bulk and refresh the inbox at any time by pulling down.
Composing messages isn't a problem because Amazon's given the Kindle Fire HD a decent keyboard with solid word prediction. And like other Android tablets, you can use the swipe feature to type a word without lifting your finger from the screen.
Web browsing is handled by Amazon's Silk browser which offers a very similar experience to Chrome or the Android native browser.
Tabbed browsing, bookmarks and the ability to share pages via social network are all incorporated and you can access your history, bookmarks or downloads by clicking the menu button at the top right-hand corner.
Diving into the advanced settings, you'll find the option to configure the browser to accept cookies, save passwords and enable location access.
A particularly useful feature of the Silk browser is Amazon's Reading View, which strips out formatting, adverts and other distractions leaving you with just the text. The icon appears as a green box next to the web address.
Once hit this immediately expands to full screen. I used it frequently when skimming through the web and catching up with news articles or browsing Wikipedia entries.
These things aside, the real reason people will look at the Amazon Fire HD is because of its pricing. At £119 for the lowest configuration, the HD 7 offers a serious incentive in terms of a power-to-price ratio. It also means the Fire HD 7 is well placed as a secondary device that you can share with the kids.
Amazon is obviously aware of this possibility as, along with the brightly coloured cases, there's a feature called Kindle FreeTime. It's (another) subscription service tailored to children that brings together educational apps and games as well as TV shows and movies curated for the kiddies.
There's the option to set up individual profiles for each child as well as limit the amount of time they can use the tablet for. And, since your kid can't exit the Amazon FreeTime mode without a password, they can't access the rest of your apps or content.
Declining to give the size of the battery, Amazon instead insists the Fire HD 7 will see you through eight hours of mixed use and nine hours of reading. I found this to be pretty much on the money - the HD 7 did last me through a day at the office without a charge.
Heavy duty tasks like 3D gaming will take the battery out in about four hours, whereas with less-intensive use, you'll be able to hit Amazon's eight-hour estimation. There's also a SmartSuspend feature that ekes out more battery life by disabling the Wi-Fi when you're not using the tablet.
My testing consisted of using the tablet for an average day at the office during which I'd jump into it periodically to browse the web, play music while writing and watch some video and play games during lunch. Throw in a bit of social networking and you have a pretty standard use-case scenario. Starting from 100% at 9am, the tablet was down to 27% by 5pm.
Running a HD video for 90 minutes took the battery down from 100% to 67% which is a pretty large chunk. Admittedly, it's a heavy-use scenario but it goes to show that the battery life, while good for the price, isn't outstanding.
Camera
Early incarnations of Amazon's Fire tablet dispensed with the rear-facing camera but times are a changin' and the company has added one here.
It's not going to displace the likes of the iPad Air 2 or Samsung Tab S when it comes to photography as the results are sub-par.
The rear-facing 2MP camera has the bare bones when it comes to features; namely an HDR mode and a Panorama mode.
You can alter the exposure settings by tapping on different parts of your subject but the results are negligible. There's no flash and the HD 7 doesn't cope well with low-light situations.
Most of the time, the photos are grainy and lack detail. There's also a strong chance your finger will obscure the lens if you're holding the device in landscape mode. As Amazon points out, you can shoot 1080p video with the rear-facing camera but it's hardly going to replace the shooter on your smartphone.
Switch to the VGA front-facing camera and the results are pretty similar. It's acceptable for video chatting and does offer face recognition but the overall detail level is still way below what I'm used to seeing.
It's a plus point that Amazon has even decided to add cameras to the tablet, but it certainly isn't the Fire HD 7 strongest feature.
Scroll down for some examples of the Amazon Fire HD 7's photographical prowess.
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Media
Media is where this tablet really shines. It's really just a gateway to the 33 million movies, TV shows, songs, books, magazines, apps and games that Amazon is offering up for sale.
Like Google's Play services and Apple's iTunes store you can buy or rent songs, albums or movies but Amazon goes beyond this with its subscription services.
The best way to get the most from the Fire HD 7 is, unsurprisingly, to pair it with an Amazon Prime subscription. The retail giant will kindly give you the first month free but from there it climbs to £79.99 a year.
The benefits include next-day delivery on purchases from Amazon.co.uk, access to the Kindle Owner's Lending Library and unlimited streaming through Prime Instant Video – the artist formerly known as Lovefilm.
Amazon Instant Video still doesn't have quite as good a selection as Netflix, but you're not going to be struggling for things to watch. And, like Netflix, Amazon is putting money into original content like the Halle Berry-starring Extant.
A particular benefit of using Amazon Instant Video on the Fire HD 7 compared to other Android or iOS tablets is that you can download and cache the content for watching offline.
This is particularly useful because the HD 7 is Wi-Fi only, although bear in mind you only have 8GB or 16GB of storage space to work with.
I used Amazon Instant Video pretty extensively with the Fire HD 7 and was impressed with the result. Any films or TV Shows you watch will appear in the main carousel so you can jump right back in at the place you left off.
Video looks good on the HD screen and there's plenty of detail although if I had a criticism it's that dark scenes aren't as well contrasted as on other tablets. The 7-inch screen manages 216 pixels-per-inch which is slightly trumped by the 252ppi on the 6-inch model due to the smaller screen.
There are a couple of additional features designed to enhance the video experience, one of which is Amazon X-Ray. This brings up IMDB-powered information on any film or TV show you're watching.
It responds to each scene, telling you which actors are appearing and what other projects they've been in. For movie fans, it's a great help in connecting the where-have-I-seen-them-before dots.
Similarly, if you have an Amazon Fire TV or a PlayStation 3 or PlayStation 4 you can use a feature called Second Screen. It lets you use the Fire HD 7 as a remote control for content and a display for X-Ray while watching content on your TV.
Books and magazines are also supported through Amazon's online store which, with books in particular, is very well stocked. In both cases you can search for a particular title or browse through curated collections or check via genre.
Reading content on the Fire HD 7 isn't as easy on the eyes as the Kindle Paperwhite's e-ink screen, but the screen is nice and sharp and there's the added benefit of quiet mode and adjustable brightness.
Music follows the same trend, giving you an extensive collection to choose from as well as suggested artists you might like.
In an effort to tempt you in, Amazon offers also a free track of the week that you can have for nothing. It's like the free app giveaway and means you can build up a handful of songs without having to part with your cash.
Of course, you don't have to use Amazon's own music services because streaming clients like Spotify are available on the Amazon appstore. And, given the relative lack of space on the HD 7 tablet, streaming seems the better option.
Despite the walled garden approach to the Amazon Fire HD 7, this is still built on Google's Android platform and loading your own media onto the tablet isn't difficult. You can attach it to a Windows PC or Mac and copy files over without any hassle.
If you're a Mac user, you'll need to install the Android File Transfer program, but otherwise putting your own films and documents onto the fire HD 7 isn't difficult at all.
I touched on gaming earlier in the review, and like everything else, Amazon has a pretty decent selection to choose from. I spent a fair bit of time playing the likes of Real Racing 3 and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and noticed the HD 7 stayed cool to the touch throughout.
If there's an issue with media on the HD 7, it comes from the lack of storage space. With only a choice between 8GB and 16GB and no microSD card expansion, you're going to look to streaming for the majority of your content. The native space will fill up quickly if you decide to go heavy on games and apps.
Competition
Seating itself in the bracket of "affordable Android tablet" opens the Amazon Fire HD 7 up to plenty of competition from no-name brands peddling cheap, easy tabs running Google's free OS. But there are a few genuinely awesome tablets available at this price point, giving the Fire HD 7 a bit of a run for its money.
Google Nexus 7 (2013)
Google's Nexus tablets redefined what a budget tablet could be and even though the Nexus 7 has been superseded by the HTC-made Nexus 9, it's still worth considering. You're going to pay £50 more (£170 / US$199 / AU$308 for 16GB) for a tablet that's a year older but take a glance at the specification and you'll see why.
The Nexus 7's 1920 x 1200 screen resolution outperforms the 1280 x 800 on the HD 7 and Google's tablet also boasts twice as much RAM as Amazon's. Both use a quad-core 1.5GHz processor but Google's tablet trumps the Fire HD 7 with a 5MP rear-facing camera and a 2MP front-facing option.
Furthermore, the Nexus 7 is a much more customisable experience and doesn't exist simply to push content at you. You've still got the wealth of Google Play to exploit but it doesn't feel like you're forced into doing things a particular way. It's been updated with Android 4.4 as well, just to keep things running smoothly.
Google's tablet also wins on the design front. The soft-touch back is more comfortable to hold than the HD 7's plastic exterior and the Nexus 7 is thinner to boot.
Read our in-depth new Nexus 7 review
Apple iPad mini (2012)
With the arrival of the Apple iPad mini 3, the original iPad mini has been pushed further down the pricing tier to become Apple's budget option. At £199 (US$249 / AU$299), it's still more expensive than any of the other tablets here, but thanks to iOS 8, there's supreme usability and plenty of features to be had.
If keeping to a budget is really your prime concern, then stick with the Fire HD 7, especially considering the non-Retina 1024 x 768 display. However, if you don't fancy being constrained to Amazon's ecosystem (and would rather be constrained to Apple's instead) then the iPad makes sense.
When it comes to apps, the 500,000-strong Apple App Store takes some beating and there are plenty designed specifically for the iPad mini. Aside from the apps, the design and build quality of the iPad mini leaves Amazon's HD 7 in the dust.
It's not really worth the extra £80 if you're only after a basic tablet, but if you're set on getting into Apple's tablet world then this is your cheapest option.
Read our in-depth iPad mini review
Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 (2014)
Pick a tablet size and there's a pretty good chance that Samsung has a product for it. If not one or two. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 was released earlier this year in 7-inch, 8-inch and 10.1-inch flavours with the 7-inch, at £159 (US$169 / AU$288), a rival for Amazon's slate.
Look at the specifications on paper and its clear this is a mid-range tablet with few of Samsung's key features. There's no S Pen support and no AMOLED screen. But it does have two key features missing from the Fire HD 7; Google Play support and a microSD slot for expanding on the paltry 8GB of storage.
Performance is also on a level with the Fire HD 7. Although the quad-core processor inside the Galaxy Tab 4 is only clocked at 1.2GHz, it's got 1.5GB of RAM as opposed to the 1GB inside the HD 7. The screen resolution on both tablets is exactly the same at 1,280 x 800.
It's more expensive than the Amazon Fire HD 7 and arguably less well equipped when it comes to performance. But there's no denying that Google Play support and expandable storage are huge bonuses. If you don't want to do things Amazon's way then the Samsung Galaxy tab 4 offers a great alternative.
Hands on gallery
Verdict
Coming to a verdict on the Amazon Fire HD 7 is a remarkably simple task. There's no denying it's a piece of hardware that offers great value for money in terms of specs, if not overall design. However, unless you're prepared to attach yourself to Amazon's ecosystem, there's a limited amount of appeal.
If you want a more open experience, then (in the UK) you can buy the Tesco Hudl 2 for £10 more with better specs, features and design.
We liked
In terms of a content delivery system, the HD 7 is absolutely perfect. Getting to your favourite TV shows, films or books couldn't be easier and, if you're prepared to pay for a subscription, you can get even more from it. Likewise, the ability to have different profiles - some for the kids - through Amazon FreeTime is really helpful.
What's more, Amazon is fairly generous when it comes to giving you a taste of the content. It regularly gives away bundles of apps, free songs and there's even a free month of Amazon Prime subscription waiting for you if you want.
Other nice touches come in the form of Amazon-exclusive features like reading mode, quiet time and the X-Ray video feature. All of these accentuate the content rather than act as standalone features, but they're nice touches nonetheless.
We disliked
The Amazon Fire HD 7's internal specifications are good for its price. The outer design, less so. It's chunky, plasticy and there are some truly massive black bezels running along the outside of the display. Dual speakers are punchy and impressive, but the cameras aren't as good as the competition.
Also, there's no microSD card slot for upgrading the storage and Amazon has removed the Micro-HDMI port that used to exist on Fire HD devices.
The budget nature of this tablet is also slightly undone by the existence of the 6-inch model which is cheaper and has much of the same specs.
Final verdict
Perhaps the least useful of all Amazon's tablets, this is neither the budget Amazon Fire HD 6 nor the impressive new Fire HDX 8.9. Instead it's a conduit for Amazon's video and book stores on an admittedly impressive 7-inch screen.
The retail giant has done wonderful things for making good budget tablets, but it looks to me that they've been surpassed by the competition on this occasion.
If you're a heavy Amazon user then there's definitely something here for you, but otherwise the Amazon Fire HD 7 doesn't offer much you can't get elsewhere.
First reviewed: October 2014
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