Table of Contents
Amazon Fire 7 (2019) – Introduction
A fully functional tablet, with access to the most of the apps and features you expect, for only $50? If such a thing existed, it would probably be accompanied by many annoying warnings to justify its ridiculously low price. Well, if, and if. Amazon has recently updated its Fire 7 tablet, adding bullet points to impressive sound to all features of the budget tablet.
For $50, you can get a more storage space, a faster processor and Alexa hands-free support. Sounds good, does not it? The Amazon Fire 7 (2019) tablet is the perfect example of what makes Amazon such a hard-to-compete business. As a product, it is nothing special, but its price is so high that no other manufacturer can compete with its combination of features. Any competing product that they could theoretically produce would be manufactured at a loss.
Amazon Fire 7 (2019) – Design
The Fire 7 is made entirely of plastic construction that gives it the appearance of a cheap entry-level device. It seems pretty stable and durable, and I like that the back has a bit of grip, so I am less likely to drop it. The new Fire 7 is also available in pretty colors such as plum, sage, and twilight blue, and you can even get a matching case … but it costs $25 more, half the price of the tablet.
Like the latest model, this new Fire 7 features two fixed-focus cameras – one at the front and one at the back – as well as a microSD card slot, a single speaker and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Like all Amazon homebrew tablets, it runs its own (Android-based) software and app store, giving users direct access to Amazon’s music, video, e-book, and shopping services, while limiting access to Google Play.
Amazon Fire 7 (2019) – Display
Amazon Fire 7 (2019) tablet has one of the worst screens we’ve seen on a tablet. But it is to be expected. It’s a slate at $ 50/£ 50, so it’s unreasonable to expect much more than the 7-inch IPS LCD with a resolution of 1024 x 600. Although the screen is bright enough, it can be difficult to read outdoors in direct sunlight. This is not the most brilliant screen, either. Both the 8-inch Amazon Fire HD 8 and 8-inch Walmart Onn screens have larger, slightly sharper screens.
Amazon Fire 7 (2019) – Performance
Despite improved Alexa support, essential performance has not changed significantly. Under its thick plastic skin, the Amazon Fire 7 is equipped (although probably a word too secure) a quad-core MediaTek MT8163 1.32 GHz processor, with just over 1 GB of RAM.
It’s the same chip that Amazon uses in its Fire HD 8 tablet but with half a gigabyte of less memory. In other words, it is not a particularly reactive or fast combination of components. But, hey, he does the job of watching YouTube and Netflix and browsing the web. You can also play casual games without feeling too frustrated, and reading eBooks is clearly within reach of Fire 7. In other words, the performances are satisfactory: they are a little faster than the previous model and offer about the same performance as the larger models, HD 8 and HD 10.
Amazon Fire 7 (2019) – Battery
The battery life is disappointing. We had some problems with our battery test, which means that I can not give you an exact figure at the moment, but I know it will be in eight hours, which is way less than double the Fire numbers. HD 8 and HD 10 achieved.
Amazon Fire 7 (2019) – Camera & Storage
As I said before, everything was not bad. As mentioned, Amazon has increased the built-in storage to 16GB or 32GB, and it’s possible to add more with a microSD card up to 512GB. The 2-megapixel front and rear cameras now also offer video recording. 720p, which is progress over the 480p of the previous Fire 7. Nevertheless, I hardly use the cameras on tablets anyway, so it did not affect me differently, but it is good to have if you plan to use it for video calls.
Amazon Fire 7 (2019) – Conclusion
If I understand correctly, at $50, the Fire 7 will not be high-end hardware. This is intended for those who are concerned about their budget. But the fact is that you can get much better material if you decide to spend more. For about $30 more, for example, you can purchase the Fire HD 8, which has a slightly bigger screen, an HD display, Dolby Atmos speakers and a few extra hours of battery life.