Verdict
With decent hardware , a tough case and first-class maternal controls , the Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids is the top pad for young children .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
parent will have intercourse that children are obsessed with lozenge , but nobody want to lease their toddler get their mucky and clumsy hands all over an expensive iPad .
The Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids ( 2022 ) is a enceinte remedy for this issue , with an affordable price point and a robust habitus designed for reckless younglings aged between 6 and 12 . The model reviewed here even make out bundled with a thick bumper case , and a subscription to Amazon Kid ’s service .
Those with slimly older children , older 6 to 12 , also have the option of theAmazon Fire HD 8 small fry Pro ( 2022 ) . This is essentially the exact same pad , but with a slimmer , more grown - up bumper case and tweaked software system .
So is the Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids ( 2022 ) worth a buy for your short ones ? Here are my thoughts .
Design
The most typical feature of the Fire HD 8 Kids has to be the chunky case . It adds around 2 centimeter to the height of the tablet in portrait fashion and roughly 4 cm to the width , while the case is over an in thick ( or 2.7 atomic number 96 ) around the edges and the corners .
The Fire HD 8 is already one of the tough pad of paper around , but with the case on it ’s a challenge to harm it . A good , unmediated electrical shock to a small domain of the CRT screen would probably do it , but otherwise falls to hard kitchen floors , down the stair and onto concrete are unlikely to go out a mark . Basically , your median child would have to put some serious effort in to really crush it up , though with no water or dust - resistance , you might require to keep an eye on it if taken in the john or used outdoors .
Even if your offspring did dish out enough punishment , Amazon provides a two - year worry free guarantee . If the Fire HD 8 shaver actually breaks , you’re able to render the tablet and Amazon will replace it free .
One of the long side of the tab houses a thick charge card hold on a very substantial hinge , which shut down out for carrying role or to play as a outdoor stage . It ’s very stiff and will only nurse the tablet at two angle , but it means you may plonk the Fire HD 8 Kids on a flat surface if its exploiter want to chill out and watch CBeebies .
The one downside of the case is that the cut - outs for the larboard and buttons on the pill can be tough for adult - sized digit to get into . I can just about prod the top executive button and the book buttons on the top of the tablet , but it ’s pretty tight , while the USB Type - C port and headphone socket have similar issues . Still , all but the chunkiest plugs went in and out without any difficulties and , unless you ’re planning to allow the tiddler light with your Grado or Beyerdynamic Hi - Fi headphones , you ’re belike going to be alright .
Screen
By the standards of aniPadorSamsung Galaxy Tab Stablet , the screen on the Fire HD 8 Kyd is n’t great . The resolution is trammel to an HD ( not Full HD ) 1280 x 800 , meaning video and exposure wo n’t look as crisp and you may see the pixel structure from around a foot forth .
What ’s more , while the screenland run clean undimmed ( I measured the max cleverness at 472 nits ) there ’s not a lot of line and colors bet flat and a little dull .
But , hey , are your child all that critical about this variety of matter ? Are they going to grump about inaccurate colours or do they just require something that have their apps , games , cartoons , YouTube picture and movies look skillful enough to watch ?
If the latter , the display on the Fire HD 8 nestling will be ok provided they ’re not endeavor to watch out of doors in bright sunshine or sit down with their back to a sunstruck window , at which point there ’s not enough luminance to punch through reflections on the screen . To be honest , I watched some Netflix shows during testing , and it did n’t irk me all that much , either . It ’s a darn flock better than the obtuse , lower - res covert on the cheaperFire 7as well .
One thing you might receive more aggravating is the sound . It ’s hunky-dory at low-toned volumes , if a second tinny , but gets thinner and rough as you press the loudness up . Some kid - safe headphones might be a skilful estimate , both for their enjoyment and for your sanity .
Software and performance
The Fire HD 8 Kids track down the same Fire oculus sinister software as the received Fire HD 8 tablet , but with an overlaid computer software experience project specifically for younger kids . Instead of the normal homescreen with apps , they see a topbar with expectant straight buttons for some basic apps and content category , then several rows of super - sized icons covering late and featured apps as well as content Amazon trust they might savor . It ’s an approach that piddle a wide reach of apps , game and videos accessible , while also creating a variety of walled garden that ’s under parental control .
A lot of this hooey total free with the Amazon Kids+ subscription , which is free for the first twelvemonth and £ 3.99 per month after that , and it includes a across-the-board range of a function of kinsfolk - well-disposed movies , TV shows , music , games and apps . parent will love the educational apps and message , while kids will be glad to see intimate faces like Hello Kitty , Horrid Henry , CBeebies plus boastful names from Disney and the Cartoon internet . In fact , Amazon Kids+ is arguably deserving it just for the kitchen stove of apps , games and books .
you could append any Amazon content you own to your child ’s profile – videos , Kindle books , Audible books or music – but you ca n’t add substance from your Amazon Prime Video or Music subscription , which is a bit annoying if there ’s something you call back your tike would like but is n’t on Amazon ’s existing lists . However , you’re able to research for specific Kids+ content and add together it through the parental splashboard , so you’re able to add things that fashion , if they ’re available through Kids+ .
There ’s no web web browser as such running within the Kids experience ; there are entanglement links that give within a qualified web browser example and make it nigh - out of the question to go elsewhere .
As the parent you get a robust band of paternal controls for apps and games , so you’re able to specify age restriction and decide whether you want Kyd to be able to download apps or supply - on content without your consent .
The solution to that is probably no , in which case your nestling either have no facility to add apps , game , books and DLC , or have to expect you first . The same goes for any pay - for depicted object not included with Amazon Kids . Pick the favorable reception required pick , and you ’ll get a prompt via e-mail to request your say so through the web web browser - based parent ’s splasher . It ’s quick , hassle - barren and safe .
As far as execution goes , the Amazon Fire 8 Kids is n’t what you ’d call a speed demon . The Fire HD 8 now has an upgraded six - core MediaTek MT8169A ARM CPU and 2 GB of RAM , but you would n’t want to run Call of responsibility : Mobile or Genshin Impact on this thing . Luckily , most small fry - friendly games are n’t as demanding , and the likes of Sonic Dash 2 : Sonic Boom and Cut the Rope ran perfectly well . There ’s even enough welly to execute the more intensive Asphalt 8 , though you will fleck the leftover saccade in the frame rate here and there .
Weirdly , I could n’t persuade Geekbench 5 to run a full Hz for either of the Fire HD 8 tike tablets , even though I pull off it on a standard Fire HD 8 tablet , where it score 178 ( undivided - core ) and 851 ( multi ) . afford that even introductory 8 - in tablets like the Nokia T10 can hit 305 and 1243 respectively , it only confirms that you ’re getting the spec you pay for ; nothing less and nothing more .
Battery life
The Amazon Fire HD 8 is one of the good modest - screen lozenge around for battery life history , and the Fire HD 8 Kids is no different .
Left to pelt television for an time of day at maximum luminance , the battery give out down by 10 % , and you could cut this to 7 % by slim down the brightness level to around two - thirds . In other actor’s line , you ’re definitely looking at around 10 to 13 hours of useful battery aliveness , and perchance more .
Games will hit the central processing unit and GPU hard , but you ’re not going to have to charge the pad of paper every day if you adhere to sensible levels of use .
Latest deals
Should you buy it?
With its beefy , damage - resistant example and excellent software , this is one tablet you wo n’t vex about leaving with kids ripened 3 to 7 . It ’s well stock up with clobber to cultivate and entertain them , and the screen , performance and shelling life are primed for design .
It ’s more expensive than the stock Fire HD 8 , so you ’re pay extra for the software package , content and typesetter’s case . It ’s also slow and the screen is n’t all that majuscule . Even the loud iPad is a well tablet , though it ’s going to cost you a lot more , especially with such a tough case .
Final Thoughts
It ’s not cool , it ’s not fast and the screen could be brighter , but as a tablet for young kids the Amazon Fire HD 8 child is fairly much in a class of its own . True , buying aniPadwould give you access to a wider ambit of apps and games and Apple ’s own curated experience and parental ascendence , but it ’s going to be you a lot more and it wo n’t be anywhere well-nigh as robust .
The Fire HD 8 kids move over your offspring easy approach to content that will keep them think of – and even learning – while gift you peace of mind that they wo n’t break it and that they wo n’t come in across anything you would n’t want them to . For an extra £ 50 , that ’s a bargain .
Trusted Score
How we test
Unlike other web site , we good essay every pad of paper that we critique . We use industry standard tests for compare feature properly . We ’ll always tell you what we come up . We never , ever admit money to look back a intersection .
FAQs
The only differences between the tablets are the type and software program . The Kids tablet is aimed at young children , while the Pro model aim those aged between 6 and 12 .
Yes you may . Although a tike will call for a parent ’s permit so as to download the app .
