Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsPossibly the Best value 7inch Tablet on the market!
Reviewed in Canada on July 4, 2022
This is now my fifth Fire Tablet (of various types) since 2019 when I purchased my first Amazon Fire product during that Summer’s Prime Day. Before I continue, I will preface this by saying this review will go LONG!, but I feel that many things about Amazon Fire products need clarification as there is just so much disinformation and even falsehoods dished out about them. I hope I can provide some beneficial points for anyone taking their time to go through this. I had previously tried the prior generation of Fire7, which I admit I did not like much and had since settled on the FireHD10’ and HD8’s which I really like! Ok, lets begin...
I hate to admit that I am a former Apple fanboy and I cannot stress how much I have come to rely on all of my new Amazon Fire & Smart Products since my first 2019 purchases. I could go on forever about all of my new hardware but the bottom line is that all of these Amazon Fire and smart products are an outstanding value in relation to competing products and can literally save you $100’s or even $1,000's over Apple products!.
This newer Fire 7 definitely feels a lot “snappier” than the older Fire7 that I had tried. To me, the responses when using this new Fire7 are lightning quick vs. the prior release. This of course is due in part to the newer model having an additional 1GB of memory bringing the total to 2GB vs.just the prior 1GB. The CPU is now also a 2.0Ghz QuadCore vs. The prior 1.3Ghz. While this may not sound like much on paper to some, it makes for a HUGE leap in overall performance now and I most certainly noticed it. Also, you can now add a whopping 1TB of additional internal Storage via use of your own optional microSD cards. Previously, this was 500GB in prior versions.
Another very welcome change is the shifting of the internal front facing camera to the upper center of the unit from its previous side position (which now matches up with the case design of the new Fire HD8 and HD10 tablets). During the age of Global Pandemics, so many of us having gotten used to working remotely and “zooming” for multiple hours daily, so this simple little change makes teleconferencing so much easier and more natural. You are no longer having to twist and contort getting yourself properly framed for a call.
The screen resolution remains unchanged at 1024x600 pixels but it is remarkably clear on a 7inch screen. I should note that it appears much brighter than the prior generation which had a darker display (one of my priot pet peeves). For comparison, The Fire HD8 Tablet is 1280x800 and the Fire HD10 is “full HD” at 1920x1080 pixels. The front and rear facing cameras remain unchanged at 2MP units for both and 720p recording. Admittedly, Fire 7’s have never had a particularly good internal cameras but that may be completely irrelevent to many. They are more than adequate for “zooming”in my opinion.
Battery life is now outstanding!... Its now up to 10 hours where previously I believe it was around 7 or 8.
Now, a BIG change in my personal opinion... The charging port is now a USB-C over the prior gen’s Micro USB. This is a very welcome change as it ensures that you can now make use of just one single type of charging cable for all of your current Tablets/Phones making it much more convenient in day to day use. And...the USB-C charges at a much faster rate that the old MicroUSB.
If you are a Prime Member (and honestly if you regulary use Amazon how wouldn’t you be at this point at only $99 annually?) you cannot go wrong with any of the Fire Tablets as they are of course optimized for consuming Prime Video, Amazon Music and Prime Reading and will get you into Smart Home and camera control usage with minimal effort.
As with prior thoughts on my previous HD8 and HD10’s, my only real gripe with Fire Tablets is that they do NOT have GPS embedded, so they are therefore NOT suited for standalone external satellite navigation use, but I got over that! These are best suited for use within your home environment or taking on trips once you have locally downloaded all of the video, music and reading content to satisfy yourself or the wee ones while away. ((Remember that unlike iPads you have a microSD slot on Fire Tabs allowing you to add up to 1TB of your own additional internal storage!))
All in all, these are amazing pieces of hardware to satisfy the media consumption needs for your whole family. And, they make fantastic choices for giving to children for their “kids needs” because they are simple to operate, are relatively SAFE due to the ease at which you can set Parental controls and their buy-in costs relative to competing products is such that if your kids somehow manage to smash them.. and you know they eventually just might because..KIDS!,you are not going to cry too much about it. Now,try to say that about a $400 or $500 iPad!I got out of the Apple Tablet ecosystem due to the outrageous overall expense when having multiple units.
And now to a question that is on many a mind and the one relating to the most misinformation about these Fire products...for all those who think these are “too restrictive” and wont let me do this or that... "waaaaaah... waaaaaah... waaaaah..". It IS ABSOLUTELY POSSIBLE to unlock the Google Play Store with minimal effort on Fire devices! Among other things, I have been able to add Bell FibeTV,KODI, the official YouTube app, Ebay, Firefox, Home Automation apps, Microsoft productivity apps, Google apps and on and on. I have always been able to add the Google Store to ALL of my previous Fire Tablets as well. The ability to do this has always been available to you unlike what many out there try to claim. It is simply NOT true.
But, having said that it may not even be necessary. If what you require out of a Tablet is to simply just be able to do things like access your Prime Video and Amazon Music streaming, read your Kindle books, or check your Facebook page, use Messenger, Twitter, TikTok, watch Netflix, Disney+, play some games, etc., etc.,You can already do that just with what is already available in the Amazon Store and pre-installed on the Fire 7. Just remember that you CAN add the Google Play Store in future if you choose to.
In Summary, I think the new Fire7 is a perfectly sized, inexpensive tablet to give to kids because of the form factor, light weight and ease of use. They will be able to access Disney+ and sorts of kids apps along with being able to play a ton of fun games. If you acquire one during a Prime Sale, it is one of the best value small Tablets on the market and you won’t worry too much about the wee ones smashing them because of the low buy in point. However, if you are thinking of something more for yourself, I would recommend paying just a bit more and going for the Fire HD8 instead as that one will give you better screen resolution, better internal audio,5MP internal cameras and even more memory.
AAA+
Edit:
**Hint.. all you need to do to learn how to accomplish what I have I mentioned is to do a simple search with the following word string in while in YouTube..”Install Google Play Fire HD”. All you need to know will be contained within the first one or two hits you see. Note: This new Fire7 is the first Amazon tablet with the new FireOS 8 (which is a fork of Android 11 so there could possibly be compatibility issues with some apps initially). EDIT: I have now added two more pics confirming that I was able to install the Google play store on my new Fire7. So, I get all my normal, every day, basic apps from the Amazon App Store and for things not in there like specific banking apps or Bell FibeTV, Kodi and things like that...I use the Google Play Store.
Further, If you made managed to make it this far and you learned something new or found this review to be beneficial, I will make a request.. Please consider clicking the “HELPFUL” button. I obviously will in no way get anything out of this other than knowing I may have helped someone. HAVE A GREAT DAY!**
