Side by Side Comparison of: Amazon vs AFUNTA vs Supershieldz

Wow. I'm really impressed with this tablet! I'm an Apple fan boy and have never touched an Android or Android-based device before, but I bought the Fire because I use a lot of Amazon services and just wanted a new gadget to play with. If you want a budget, cost-effective tablet, this is for you. If you want to compare this to an iPad, you'd probably be disappointed -- the screen quality is lower and the apps respond more slowly than on an iPad.PROS:-- Price -- I see a lot of generic, off-brand tablets advertised at this price that have specs that are inferior to this.-- Build quality -- nothing seems cheap or flimsy here. I haven't dropped it (yet), but I'd expect it to hold up well if I did.-- Amazon integration -- if you use Amazon services (Kindle books, music, Prime Video, etc.) then this is perfect for you because the links are built into the operating system-- Expandable storage -- one thing that Apple products are missing. 8GB will fill up fast, but you can cheaply and easily add more with a microSD-- Size -- if you want something for reading books or to use while traveling, this is nice. The form factor is easier to use with one hand versus an iPad mini-- Everything you'd expect in a tablet -- for the price, I thought that maybe corners would be cut or major features would be missing but that isn't the case. This has front and back cameras, decent speakers and Bluetooth.CONS:-- Honestly, when you consider that this costs just $50, I can't think of any reason NOT to buy this tablet. If you compare to an iPad, you'll probably see lots of places where the Fire is inferior. For example, the battery life isn't as good as my iPad mini, and the Fire display won't impress you if you're used to an iPad but it is perfectly good at this price point. The camera is usable but not great. Apps respond a bit slower than on my iPad, and the touch-screen isn't as precise. However, you'd really never notice any of those things if you don't regularly use a higher-priced tablet like an iPad.-- If you don't want to be locked into the Amazon ecosystem, this may not be for you. Although the OS is Andriod-based, you can't customize this as much as you can with a pure Android system. That isn't a problem for me because I do use Amazon services quite a bit.I was a little concerned that the "special offers" would be annoying, but they aren't a big deal at all. They only display on the lock screen and aren't intrusive. No big deal.Overall, I highly recommend this. If you need a budget tablet or if you're a first time tablet user, this would work very well for you. If you've already got an iPad and you want a second/backup tablet to use at work or for travel (which is how I'm using this) or as a dedicated Kindle device (which is how I thought I'd use this until I realized it can do much more), then you can't go wrong with this. The only reason not to buy it is if you're planning to use this as your main device and you want a high performance tablet like an iPad -- in that case, buy an iPad.

This isn't a very good $200 tablet. It's a better $100 tablet, but maybe not the best one out there.But it isn't a $200, nor even a $100, tablet. It's a $50 tablet!!! (Actually, when I pre-ordered this, if you had a need for 6 of these, they were only $41.66 each with their buy 5/get 1 free special, which seems to have discontinued due to the tablet's popularity).So how is this $50 tablet? In a word, awesome! I couldn't be happier with it. My wife got a Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 for Christmas. She loves it. When I told her I was ordering this $50 Fire tablet, she thought I was nuts! But I figured how could I go wrong for $50? I had so many ideas for it, I figured there was almost no downside. And I was right, at least so far.For example, leave it by the TV/home theater for a dedicated device to check IMDB, email, weather, etc. while you're watching TV. Leave your smaller phone for phone calls (shudder!). Set it up in the kitchen for recipes, shopping list, etc. Use it for home security. At $50, you can afford to have several of these around the house for convenience or dedicated/semi-dedicated applications.As for spending $15 more to get the Fire without ads, DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY! Seriously. If someone asked me if the ads annoy me, my answer would be "what ads?" There is one ad on the screen when you push the power button. Then you swipe the unlock icon to use the tablet, and the ad goes away. That's it. You won't see another ad until the next time you turn on the tablet and swipe to unlock. There's going to be something on the screen when you power a device up; why not have a throwaway ad that saves you $15? Really, it isn't at all annoying. It's not like they're interrupting you every few minutes for a commercial like TV does. By all means, DO NOT spend $15 more to get the Fire without ads. If you find that these drive you nuts, or you have enough money to light cigars with $100 bills, then you can upgrade later to get rid of the ads, but I doubt seriously you'll find them at all annoying.You can't access the Google Play Store from this. That's a downside. But again, it's only $50. Many apps I like, such as IMDB, Wikipedia, and Netflix, are available on the Amazon App Store (for free, just like at Google). YouTube is not available, I guess because it's too much of a direct competitor to Amazon Instant Video? Dunno. But you can download any of several YouTube wannabe apps that seem to work just fine. Just go to App Store and search for YouTube. You'll see what I mean. They work, so no problem.I could whine about screen size, screen resolution, wide bezels, etc. But it's a $50 tablet! If you want a snazzier tablet, go buy one. But for the price of a really slick tablet, I can have several of these scattered about the house and not cry if I drop and break one. I don't plan to take this all over the place with me or I'd probably have spent more on a better tablet and would also buy a case. But at $50/pop, this is a throwaway if I break it. Save the $15 to get rid of the ads, $15-$25 for a case, $18 on the protection plan. You'll double the price doing all that. Buy a second one instead! Yeah, it took me several hours to download apps, configure my email, try all sorts of combinations on my wi-fi password until I finally remembered what it was LOL. But it was fun, well sort of. Now it's set up the way I like it and I'm not regretting the purchase one bit.I can watch Netflix videos on it. Do I want to do that a lot? No. But I don't get why people want to do that a lot anyway. I have a 60" plasma TV and a killer 7.2 sound system in my family room, along with a comfy reclining sofa. I get it if I'm sitting in the service department of the car dealer waiting for my oil change, but for any serious movie/TV viewing, I don't care if it's an $800 tablet, it's not going to hold a candle to my home theater. But it's functional. I've already searched for something to watch on Netflix and it was a satisfactory experience. Better than reading a 5-year-old National Geographic. Well.... maybe that's debatable!So my conclusion is that it's hard to see how you can go wrong buying this if you have ANY use for it. If you already have way better tablets, and several of them, maybe there's no reason to buy it, but then there'd be no reason for you to have read this far in my review.Thumbs up, Amazon. Good job!

Really nice for less than fifty bucks! Snappy interface, GPU seems effective as well. I'm using it for my home theater controller connected to my Roku, Plex, SlingTV, etc. I installed the Google Play Store (Google Market) so I could install some apps that the Amazon Market didn't include. Also installed Google Chrome so I could sync all my bookmarks, tabs, etc across devices. Not that the built-in browser is bad, but having a unified bookmark/tabs across devices is something I can no longer live without. Anyway, not an issue installing non-Amazon market apps.The case is on the cheap side with a cheap plastic back cover. It would have been smarter if they made the back cover removable and then their soft cover would have replaced the back cover, instead of adding a second layer of plastic. But for the price, I wasn't expecting a titanium or magnesium case either.The screen is on the low-res side for sure. My phone is 5" with a 1920x1080 screen, so I'm used to a very high pixel density, which the Fire is not. But, for controlling my media center and surfing the web or looking something up on IMDB it works just fine. Amazon must realize that their market is the low end for tablets as they no longer even have high resolution tablets (highest is 1280x800). The Fire's pixel density is between the HD8 and HD10, so compared to other Fire tablets, it's right about in the middle. Anyway, that's Amazon's market and this tablet is right in line with Fire tablets that are almost 5 times as expensive.I got the Amazon cover as well which is also really nice (although expensive, half the cost of the tablet itself). I'd probably wait for a 3rd party $10 cover.In all, I'm very happy with the Fire. Using it for a media controller system is perfect. And with an SD card it also works well as a traveling media display device (I use it to play remotely from anywhere in the world to my Plex server at home).UPDATE 10/21/15I'm amazed by the battery life when not using it. I left it unplugged for a couple days without using it and when I woke it up the batter was still at 87%. In other words, I don't need to constantly have this tethered to a power source like is all too common with other tablets.

Updated review!Almost a week of getting to know the new Fire, and I'm really enjoying it. There's certainly a learning curve for someone like me coming from an exclusively Apple device history. However, with my iPad aging, and new ones not getting any cheaper, I started looking at alternatives. This Fire came along at just the right time and at better than the right price. I considered getting the HD6 for $99, and for under $50, I immediately preordered the Fire as soon as it was announced.I really like this tablet. It has a great feel in the hand. The weight and the size are really user friendly. It does have a larger bezel, which we've all had drilled into our heads by the lighter, thinner, higher resolution war of the brands is a bad thing, but its not. Anyone who has tried to hold an iPad Air or Mini with one hand knows what I'm talking about. It might look dated and feel cheap to have a wider bezel, but its just makes it easy to use. It might just be the shiny on the penny, but I've been using it more than my iPad, because it so easy to grab and start using.The content and operating system are really well integrated. Its nice when you want to see it, and nice when you dont. The home screen is a standard ho!me screen and the content is all on other "pages". The content is obviously where Amazon is making their money with this tablet, and thats fine with me. You don't have to see the content pages if you don't want to, and you don't have to buy anything. Some don't like all the featured content and ads, but I actually do. Having suggestions of things to do and enjoy is really nice. Especially with Prime, the music and video suggestions make a lot of sense, and it makes exploring new stuff a lot easier.Ok, the screen...there are complaints, but I think I'm with the majority in saying that the screen looks great. I would prefer a 1200 x 800 at this screen size, but really the quality of the screen is just fine for me. It's not a Retina or HDX by any means, but its fine. Totally adequate at a normal arms length distance. Especially for gaming and videos, it looks great. The color, sharpness and brightness are really nice.Battery life has also been great. I've been using it off and on all day (at full brightness) for emailing, browsing, streaming Prime music over my Bose bluetooth speaker etc, and I've only gotten it down to 25% at 1:00 am as I'm going to bed. Charging has not been an issue either. I didn't plug it in last night, was down to 20% this morning and I still got a couple hours out or it before plugging it in at 6%. I used my big iPad charger and it charged over dinner. You can and should invest a couple bucks in a 10W charger, or the Amazon 1.8 a 9W speed charger for previous generation Kindles. A lot faster than the regular 5W one that came with it, but that's the one I use for over night charging.A few cons: The cameras are nice to have, but won't knock your socks off. If your Fire is the only thing handy when you need to capture the moment, you'll still have a decent quality memento. The back seems a little cheap and plasticky at first. However, it doesn't seem to be very susceptible to scratches and it does feel good, with a nice texture. The screen does collect fingerprints and smudges and isn't great in bright sun. Somewhat limited software flexibility, i.e. no Google Play compatibility. However, I have been able to install a few non-Amazon-store, apps such as Square, Instagram and a couple banking app APK files. All of those are working great!The redeeming quality of this tablet is obviously the price. The minor shortcomings are put far out of the mind by making this sort of technology, entertainment and usefulness so affordable and so accessible at the $50 price point. This would still be a great tablet at $75 or more. A couple years ago, we would have expected to pay upwards of $200. Well done Amazon! I'm seriously considering the six pack for my Christmas shopping!

I pre-ordered this for my wife mostly to use as a Kindle E-reader as I figured the tablet would be slow and the display would be less than impressive. I was wrong. What a bargain this little beauty is! This model cost $49.00 but it comes with ad's displayed on the lock screen when your tablet is dormant. Once your screen times out, they disappear. You can pay $15.00 up front to get an ad free version so I assumed to unlock the tablet I'd have to spend 15 to 30 seconds looking at an ad for Amazon Prime, or a product from the daily specials section of Amazon.com I abstained from paying for Ad removal and was pleasantly surprised to find that the ads are only on the lock screen and that as soon as I unlock the tablet they disappear immediately.

Here are my pros and cons thus far.
PRO:
Perfect size for Ebooks, and web surfing to alleviate strain on the eyes from my 5" phone display
nice sturdy casing that gives it a nice heft but still weighs in as one of the lighter tablets on the market

Child Accounts- Amazon allows you to set up this tablet with age restricted access for kids making this a low cost piece of tech that is perfect for school kids and allows mom and dad to ration the amount of time lil Johnny can play Clash of Clans and how much he can hit the ol' Visa card for.

Battery life thus far; wife was on it for about 5 hours last night and battery was at about 46%

Kindle Integration -this goes without saying but having my ebooks and audible books synced to the tablet is awesome and my Kindle books look great

Price - it's a $50.00 tablet that looks and performs as well as ipad mini gen1

CON:
Screen resolution - if you're looking for a premium screen res on par with your latest smart phone or HD tablet look elsewhere. I'd say the resolution is on par with an Iphone 3G or the original Kindle Fire gen 1

Web browser
The built in "Silk" web browser isn't very nice and the interface is reminiscent of IE on mobile devices. I searched the APP store for Google Chrome or fire fox but apparently those aren't available.

Camera
This has a camera in the strictest sense but it's 2MP camera is slow to load and it's nowhere near on par with the 10MP most mobile devices are boasting these days

The weak ass speaker
OK. So I wasn't expecting a Bose sound out of this thing but the on board speaker is just not very good. Poor sound quality, and weak. My wife was attempting to listen to our Amazon Music library the other night and was underwhelmed with the quality. I haven't attempted this yet, but I'll be paring this to our SONOS bar or my Bluetooth headphones for music or ebooks.

SO there you have it. Despite some of the flaws in the design this is just a fantastic deal for $50.00. SO much so that I ordered a second one for myself and plan on purchasing a 6 pack as Holiday Presents next month for my nieces and nephews. If you are new to tech and want to familiarize yourself without spending a heft sum to get into the game, or if you're looking for a durable yet inexpensive piece of tech for your kids, or if you LOVE e-books then this is the unit for you.

The good:1. Cheap2. Works well for the purpose3. Easy to mod4. Nice enough screen5. Dual cams6. Has some weight and girth without being too fat7. Good battery life8. Comparatively ruggedThe bad:1. Cams could be better2. Could Amazon stop pretending this is not Android based and just give us the Play Store?3. Needs a blue filter for night time4. Mono speakerWhile the tablet is not perfect it is quite an amazing device. Even if the price is not taken into account it is still pretty solid and can hold up to any competing product.The features are solid and the CPU snappy enough to handle anything you throw at it.I think I have bought about 20 of these devices since it launched. Evertime someone sees one in action they want one.Family and friends all have Fire Tablets from me!Pictures taken are also not 1/2 bad when one needs a simple point and shoot to preserve memories. The fact that it has expandable storage is quite the plus.The tablet has also done what other devices have not: made me actually get back into reading. I never thought I'd like the screen over paper, but it has turned me.All in all not a bad device. A must have if you must have a tablet. So far none I have bought have failed. Even if they do the max use has already been gained for the price!If you need a tablet this is the one I'd suggest you get!

Okay, first up: I bought this for $29.99 on a special Prime sale, because I bought Amazon Prime for a year at $99.99. I did this partly for free 2-day shipping on many Prime items. but mostly for Prime video because I don't have regular TV. So I got this at a steep discount incidental to getting to watch TV shows and moviesLet me also add that I'm 59 years old, so I grew up in a house with a single rotary-dial telephone, no answering machine, and no voice mail, and a black-and-white Magnavox console television with mono sound. So modern technology\ seems quite impressive to me. Honestly the idea that I walk around with a telephone in my pocket still amazes me. So my review is colored by my experiences.To me, this is an AMAZING little device. I suppose it's not very fast by modern standards. Downloads are heavily dependent on the speed of your internet connection and are slow and often unreliable--my home internet connection is not the greatest. But the screen. for its size, is beautiful. There are many games, apps, and books available for free. I LOVE my Kindle Fire. It has wonderful, lean, fast apps for accessing email and Facebook. The graphic on games amaze me. If you want a basic tablet for not a lot of money, I think this is a great choice. I'm considering getting one for my sister.

What a great tablet, it has everything you need to stream video, play games, take notes, draw/sketch, read books and much, much more. The screen size and resolution is not a big deal either, compared to other tablets most people can't really tell if they're watching 720p HD or standard definition on a 7in screen. On a bigger screen the higher resolution does make a difference but not so much a 7in screen.The biggest complaint I have is the price, this tablet isn't really a $50 tablet. For most people 8 gb is not enough storage, even if you use the cloud, you still need room for temp cache, apps, backups, & updates. Plus the Fire operating sys takes up almost half of the 8 gb, leaving you with only 4.7 gb of usable storage. Anyone who owns a smartphone can tell you over time you consume more and more storage without realizing it. So you have two options: either pay $20.00 for additional 8 gb of storage or buy a micro SD card. The micro SD card makes much more sense because for $20 you can buy 64gb of storage. Additionally the $50 tablet comes with a lock screen with ads and to remove it costs another $15. But the ads are not a bid deal as the internal storage is, therefore you should think ahead. Also don't get locked into this idea that you don't need accessories. A cheap $10 case makes holding and using the tablet much easier. Most cases have a kick stand or flap to prop up the device. A stylus for a capacitive screen is another convenience to avoid the fingerprint smudges that will occur frequently without one. I have spent $37 on accessories so far, which is pretty close to the price of the tablet.Accessories I purchased:SD Card 64gb + $19.99SanDisk 64 GB micro SD Memory Card for Fire Tablets and All-New Fire TVStylus + $5.99AmazonBasics Executive Stylus for Touchscreen Devices - SilverCase + 10.99MoKo Case for Fire 7 2015 - Slim Folding Cover for Amazon Fire Tablet (7 inch Display - 5th Generation, 2015 Release Only), BLACKOther Notes:Offline video viewing only allows 25 downloads (TV shows or movies) from Prime for 48 hrs! (After 48 hrs you need to reconnect to the net)Google Play can be installed without rooting (I followed a pokemon go setup tutorial)GPS can be added via micro-USB GPS receiver $35 GlobalSat ND-105C Micro USB GPS ReceiverMint.com app from Amazon appstore has issues with password, download app from Google Play instead.You can create folders on the Home Screen, drag icons on top of each other to place them in a new folder.Enable the PIN on the lockscreen for added security.There is a hidden (fully featured) photo editing app in the tablet accessed through the camera settings.Lastly, the battery life is actually incredible! Turn off the wifi, bluetooth and lower the screen brightness and this tablet exceeds the 7hr. there is also a setting to turn off the wifi & bluetooth when on standby, which is great because this tablet consumes very little battery life on standby. charging only takes a few hours via the wall outlet, but using the USB takes forever!

I noticed a sale, so I just clicked, $39.99 for a Fire! I decided, why not. It now lives on the table in the living room. I can read books, listen to audio books, use it as a remote for the Roku. With the bluetooth, it links up seamlessly with my Plugable speaker stand.The screen's reading space on the screen is larger than that on the average paperback book, it's very clear and has all the adjustments,etc. that are available on my Kindle HD 7. The smooth glass screen is easy to wipe clean. The camera works quite well, I took a couple of photos just to try it. Love that it has the expansion slot for a micro SD card, but I haven't actually used that yet.I played GO on it, played an audio book, tried a couple of other apps, including the Roku controller. All work perfectly. I don't really notice the slightly lower resolution.The only drawback honestly, it NEEDS the Auto Wake/Sleep on closing of the cover feature that I have on my Fire HD. I miss that so much. Because of that, I probably wouldn't ever give this as a gift. Because of this, also, I might not even use a case for it. I worry that power button will become fatigued.Second drawback,

Oct 2016 update: Updated my review from 1 star to 4. Software updates now allow me to download my books to the SD card, YAY! I'm very happy having MANY books to choose from when I'm traveling internationally (and often offline). It also seems to download and process faster, since the last software update. 5GB of space left (after software) allows for very few app downloads, and I still have a limit to the number of movies I can download, but, c'est la vie. This unit is mainly for reading books, listening to books and watching movies, and it does those things just fine. It is now a great deal for $50.I am VERY DISAPPOINTED with this tablet. I own hundreds of Audible books and wanted to download a bunch of them for offline listening when I travel! Nope, they won't download to the SD card, so a couple of long audio books FILLS the internal memory! Downloading books, audio books and movies for offline use is the ONLY reason I bought this thing. I own thousands of Amazon books THEY won't download to the SD card, only main memory (I've already filled that up!). I was able to download some Prime movies to the SD card, BUT there is a limit to how many you can download at a time (limited by Amazon, NOT my 64gb card), and even after I deleted some, it will not let me download more (it continues to say I've reached my limit). VERY FRUSTRATING! Does this mean I'm limited to downloading 30, EVER???If they are going to tout the "expandable memory" in their advertising, they should be clear about what will and will not download to that memory. I would NEVER have bought a device with only 8gbs of storage if I had known that was all I would be able to use for my audio books. And since I've filled the memory with a couple of audio books, I can't download apps, and the ones I have are slow because it is full!Other than that, the tablet resolution is fine -- better than expected for $50. Same for the audio, as expected for the price, though it sounds better than expected when listened to through good headphones.I liked the tablet very much when I first got it -- apps were nice, response was great, easy, etc. It was only after I tried to download my content (the ONLY reason I bought it) that I started to hate it!

Received the Tablet at 4:30 this Afternoon. I am an 85 year old "BEGINNER" Your packaging was great..The shipping carton was easy to open..The Red package opened easily with the tab revealing the wrapped Tablet and charger. My Grand=son is going to instruct me...I know I will enjoy using it..Some more printed instructionwould be nice..THANK YOU

I bought two of these for my daughters. I should have gotten the one with more memory. You can barely keep any games at all on the tablet with only 8mb. It's not as user friendly as an IPAD. So annoying to have ads you have to swipe up to get rid of before starting to play.Also there is no button to press like the ipad when you want to get out of an app. You have to swipe up and then press the circle icon or arrow icon that comes up. My child that mastered the ipad still has to come to me for help with it. Which is annoying since I got it for her during car trips to keep her busy.I will say I've used it for reading and its perfect for that option, just not great for games.

I am extremely disappointed in this tablet. As a kids tablet, it works great. However, the self life of the product itself is about 3 months max, even if used with gentle care. I first purchased this in November 2016- Black Friday deal as a Christmas present for my daughter. Opened and charged it Christmas Eve- daughter loved it and enjoyed it till mid February. It had intermittent charging- then finally quit charging all together. I called CS. After troubleshooting, it was determined it was faulty. I was to return the product to them and they would send me a replacement. Nearly two weeks later, I get the "replacement" in the mail. Shocker, less than one week later it stops charging. Called CS- only to find out they had played around with my original and thought they had fixed it- they obviously had not- and sent it back to me. So, they sent me out a new replacement. I receive it two days ago- it went out this afternoon after being used for maybe a total of two hours. No ability to charge. I called CS and they are giving me credit to purchase a new one because " I wouldn't want you to get another refurbished one and have the same problem.".... I appreciate the CS department but Amazon should not be sending out multiple faulty products. I'm very disappointed. I will update my review when I receive my new one.Update: I've had the new replacement for a little over two months and it has again stopped charging. I will be requesting a straight refund.

The Fire Tablet with Alexa is a decent purchase for very simple tasks. This is the least most powerful tablet I have ever used personally. But at around $40 it's really tough to beat for it's purpose.I use it for the following purposes.1. Reading - It does this fairly well. Sometimes books take a dozen or so seconds to load. The screen is clear, and responsive. It also has the non-blue light feature which is easy on the eyes at night.2. Movies - No problem streaming them. Apps take longer to load than a new phone but remember... $40. The size seems just right for travel and bed side reading/watching.3. Email - Typing is very slow on this. I think it's something that amazon can improve in the software development of their UI. Additionally you are forced you use the web browser Silk which is ok but not always compatible for some sites.4. Social Media - It's ok... but the speed makes it difficult to play games or chat fast. If you're just browsing its ok for that.Overall if you're just looking for a tablet for reading and movies this would do the trick. Especially at the price point. If you're looking for a central hub to manage large tasks, communicate and various other multitasking efforts I would look elsewhere.

I ordered this tablet when my old HDX7 fell and broke. Rather than replace the 2013 Gen 3 HDX 7 with its 2.2GB processor, 2 GB RAM, and 64 GB internal storage, I decided to "upgrade" to a newer 2015 Gen 5 Fire 7 with a 1.3 GB processor, 1 GB RAM, 8 GB internal storage, and 128 GB Micro SD card. Words cannot express how disappointed I am to learn that books and music cannot be stored on the "external memory" Micro SD card, and how angry I am that Amazon did not make this abundantly clear to prospective purchasers. The internal memory is so pathetically small as to be nearly useless unless one is always connected to Wi-Fi, which is not always possible for me. The deciding factor in buying this tablet was the additional storage I wanted specifically to store books and music, but this tablet won't. All the hoopla about being able to add 200GB of external memory failed to mention that the external memory cannot be used for the traditional core competency of Kindle devices: books. This reeks of questionable ethics. Fortunately, I had second thoughts and ordered a used replacement HDX7, apparently the last one available with 64 GB and no spam screen savers. Now I am so glad that I did. I can hardly wait for it to arrive. Then I suppose I will keep this one as a spare, and hope that the rumored software upgrade will cure this sad shortcoming. I spent about $175 on this tablet, including a protection plan for the tablet and one for the card. It was an expensive lesson, and I cannot forgive Amazon for its unconscionably deceptive marketing of this tablet.Updated: I wrote the initial review before this tablet had finished about 6 hours of software updates. One would think that a brand new device would ship with all software current and up to date, but no-o-o. Anyway, after the updates, it now stores books, music, and photos on the SD RAM card. Alexa works now, too. It is still very slow, and thicker, narrower, heavier, and feels clunkier that my HDX7, which remains my favorite tablet. Did I mention how slow it is? I changed my rating from one star to three.

Update November 2015:Amazon customer service notified me that now you can download music to the micro sdcard. I appreciate their diligence in telling me, but....I'm now having difficulty downloading music to my offline library. I may not be doing it right since they changed the system. My new bottom line on this product is basically that for $65 you're probably getting fair value because it has some limited utility, but you should not expect much particularly in the user interface. iPad users will be frustrated, but it only cost 65 bucks! The Bluetooth and wifi streaming work fine. You can download movies (a lot of them) to the sd card. You can read your email. You can only download audiobooks to internal storage only, even though you probably bought them from audible, an Amazon owned company. This basically is an ok wifi only device. I have upped my rating. Recommended to those who can live with its limitations.Original review:My problem with this is that the description is not accurate. I wanted this to put all of my stuff on using the micro sd card. I bought a 64gb card for that purpose. The problem is that you cannot store, books, audible books, or music on the sd card, including items already owned by you. You are limited to the 8gb internal memory. It obviously also does not allow streaming, which was clear. Even the first cs rep I dealt with didn't understand this. It streams Amazon prime music and video fine over wifi and you can store some, if you can squeeze it on with your own stuff.I can already do that on my iPad so I don't need to add this. Price is good so I gave it a star, but otherwise utility is severely limited. I'm sending it back.

Buyer beware. If you read Amazon's advertising, it says you can store up to 128 GB on an external storage device. This is true, but they don't tell you there are limitations to what you can store on it. If you have a large Audible Library and want to carry it on your device, it loads on the internal storage, quickly wiping it out, which is what happened to me. The only way you can do it is download it when you want to listen to it. So if you're not near Wi-Fi and you want to listen to an Audible book that needs to be downloaded, you're out of luck. The only thing external storage will store are your videos, pictures and certain apps. Otherwise the device is OK, and the price is certainly right. But if you order a Fire with an 8 inch display for $150, you're still limited on what you can store on the external SD card. My wife returned hers. $150 is too much for a device with limitations.

Okay I tried to email Amazon but got stuck with the chat- they gave me a number which I called and got with several very nice Indian people- i'm from the US but they spoke very good English but had trouble understanding my problem. My kindle fire 7 port has always been too low- I bought it 6 months ago for my daughters birthday so I obviously wasn't sending it right back. We have had zero problems with it other than being a little "wonky" to charge. Until last night. It must have caught fire or got soooo hot it melted the port and the charger. Amazon offered me a 10% discount if I bought a new one but I told them I just wanted to send an email to let the company know. I'm glad our house didn't burn down over a $50 tablet. People need to know though. So they said I couldn't send an email but I could leave a comment 😜 I will post a picture of the low melted port vs my sons higher newer 8 port. I think this must be a problem that they are not talking about

We love Kindle Fires in our house. We have 5 (soon to be 6) of them, over several generations. The first few Kindles were fantastic. Quick browsing, great picture quality, good sound, and a user friendly layout. This latest "base model" Kindle is TOO base. It feels incredibly cheap compared to our old Kindles, both in physical form and functionality. In fact, it looks, feels, and operates almost identical to a cheap knock-off brand I bought a few years ago for my kids (back when the base Kindle Fires were still over $100) that I ultimately chucked in the trash. Since purchasing this Kindle, I have found that everyone in the house avoids it, and picks up one of our older versions instead. After having it for several months, I finally tried using it on a trip, and found I could not keep it connected to the internet. The problem persisted on our home wi-fi, even though no other devices were having problems. Invest in a higher model, or go with something else altogether. I have been recommending Fires to all my friends and family for years, but don't plan to anymore.

I bought this tablet in January, it's now November (almost December) and after only having this 11 months... the thing is basically unusable. There are a few reasons that I find this device very frustrating.Firstly, despite getting the correct updates for this device, the thing doesn't stream any kind of video service any more. YouTube, Hulu, Netflix, they all don't work. I'm not sure if the internal processor just... lost it after a year? I have no idea. All I know is I can't even watch a YouTube video on it any more, I have to rely on my iPhone for that when I'm away from my computer. This is also the case with Pandora and Spotify. If I click on Pandora it will sit there and load for about 60 seconds and then give me an error message that it couldn't load the app. I'll turn the Kindle off, turn it back on and try again. Same problem. I'll close all background apps, make any adjustments I can think of to get it to work... nothing.Even if I'm doing a basic google search it takes at least 60 seconds for search results to load, then the pages take 90 seconds+ to open.Second, they advertise that you can expand your space with an SD card. You can... but your limited on what you can actually load onto the SD card. For instance certain apps, for example I'm a big "Simpsons Tapped Out" fan, you can't download onto the SD card. This is especially frustrating because it's the larger apps that are nontransferable to the SD card. Adding in that yes, you have 8 gigs but the actually brain of the Kindle takes up a certain amount, this thing fills up pretty quick. I was getting "storage full" warnings after 2 days of having it because nothing would work with the SD card but my music.I give this two stars because I was in love with it when I first got it and it worked well for a couple months. Also I can still read books on it and it was only $50. I know it's a harsh review for a $50 tablet but I was a sucker and bought the recommended items (SD card, case, screen protector) as well and spent about $100 on a tablet that lasted me 3 months tops. I thought I was investing in items that would protect my tablet for a long time...I personally wish I had waited, saved up, and invested in a better quality tablet.

I've owned this tablet for a year and rarely use it. I had high hopes that I could use this like a regular tablet and it would make life easier. Apps that are not owned by Amazon are not maintained and it is very difficult to use things like Netflix, Evernote, or other non-Amazon supported apps. I did like using it with Kindle Unlimited to see magazines and different books, but this is not enough reason to own this device. I will probably just donate it unfortunately.

I def love my kindle! I like that it has cameras. In the front and the back. It is slim and comfortable in your hands. I use it for my school work and other things of course. When I turned it on I stated noticing that it had already information logged in already like my Amazon. Don't worry, its Amazon who does that. At first I was worried but then I called Amazon & they explained it to me. They make you an email based on the email you have on Amazon. For example if you have lovechocolate@gmail.com on your Amazon as your e-mail, then the one your kindle will come with will be lovechocolate@kindle.com.I didn't like that so I called Amazon to assure that I could remove it and use an email I wanted and they said it was ok, so I used my gmail. I assured questions and the gentleman answered them. I got the Kindle on Prime Day, so I'm excited. Now I want to buy a case with the keyboard.Update: July 22, 2017My tablet is not as loud as I thought it would be. Its pretty hard to hear movies or anything. My siiner has a Kindle and it louder than this.Update Sunday August 14thMy tablet started acting very weird so I called Amazon immediately. I was trying to do some work and tyoe meeting information and it would not let me. The keyboard was pressing things on its own, it was going on to different apps by itsef. Also it was typing random letters by itself. Amazon said they will be sending me a new one tomorrow Monday Aug 15th. However, I have to send the damaged one in. I now have to go through all the process of sending it in, and printing labels out to get the other one sent. I had to factory reset the one I have to send so that it has no information when they have it. Or I could have send it with all my info in it and they would have deleted the info once they received it, they said. Not to happy right at this moment as I could not get my work done.

I was very disappointed that the Fire comes with a bunch of apps loaded that I did not want and could not remove. It would have been nice at this price point to have a simple tablet running a browser and a few network apps without all the other junk and defined tabs and UI. Probably good for some that just wants that kind of thing. My bad for not knowing this was a "Locked Down" user interface that you must take it the way provided and cannot customize for other uses. Bought a Google Table instead, more expensive but does what I want.

This kindle is a disappointment. It will not hold a charge. I have followed all the instructions for rebooting, re-setting to factory default, a new Amazon charger, and now a replacement Kindle and STILL the same issue - will not hold a charge.I have never had so much trouble with Amazon customer service. I have been disconnected, have a hard time understanding their English and have had to re-call to try and find someone who can help.I have been a prime member for 11 years. This is very frustrating.

I purchased two of these for my kids. My impression after using this for one night is mediocre at best. Between the horrible UI, lack of options that are customizable, and the dead pixel on the screen. It is obvious that these devices are made as cheap as possible all while looking to charge your for services and push ads at you.First I did not realize that getting the cheaper model meant being forced to watch ads. $15 dollars later and its not the deal I thought I was getting and $70 dollars for a Samsung E Lite is not sounding to bad of an option. The worst part is, after getting the device unsubscribed I seem to keep getting ads on one of the two devices. I have contacted support three times, they have me restart and the ads go away for maybe 10 minutes then come back. I do not know what to do at this point.Second, Amazon app store is horrible. Something as simple as youtube kids is not on there, but I can get a paid subscription to freetime that Amazon happens to sell. I figure fair enough, I will side load google play store and install all the apps I already have purchased for my kids on my current tablet. I am able to side load and install the apps, great. However I cannot approve any third party app for the kids profile. This basically makes this device useless in my situation. Again the Samsung device would have had google play and the kids app would have allowed me to restrict any app on the device.Third, the OS feels like it is ten years old. Its not the look and feel that makes it feel so old, its the lack of customizable options that Amazon provides. They have this thing so locked down that it actually hurts the user experience.In hindsight I would not purchase these again and would have purchased the Samsung E Lite while it was on sale. I think I would have been much happier with my decision. If you are 100% in the Amazon garden, and want a cheaply made and cheaply priced device, maybe this device will work better for you.

First off this is my third kindle fire, first being the original kindle fire second being the same model as my third which is the current kindle fire.I purchased this kindle May 11th 2016. I bought a high end case for this kindle at the same time of purchase and was protected the entire 5 months this kindle was used.It stopped working/charging about a week ago (10/1/2016. Called customer service, whom which were very helpful. Walked me though about ten minutes of trouble shooting (holding on button and other such things). No success, transferred me to another are of the company, clearly out of the unit states which I have no problem with.They told me my 5 month old kindle was out of warranty (5 month old product like I just said).The guy asked me how long I thought my warranty on this device was, I kind of stuttard thinking it might 1 year factory warranty.He told me these new kindle fires only have a 3 month warranty.Well enough said my 5 month old kindle fire no longer worked and there was nothing they could do for besides offer my a measly $25 discount on a much more expensive model.Well lesson learned as I calmly told the customer service representative that you get what you pay for and that I was disappointed with the Amazon warranty. Anyways, my faith is lost with Amazons electronic devices and that's all I have to say about that.

Deceptive advertising of functionality of Fire Table 7" on Amazon website regarding capability to watch on a Big Screen: namely "Fling Amazon movies and TV shows from your tablet to your big-screen TV using Second Screen. This turns your TV into the primary screen, freeing up your Fire tablet to provide playback controls, a customized display for X-Ray, or simply to email, browse the web, and more while you watch a movie."This functionality does not work on the Fire Tablet 7" even though the Amazon description under "Watch on big screen" contains the above description for the Fire Tablet 7".I have registered several Wi-Fi enable TVs and enabled Video viewing for the Fire tablet 7" and TVs, but the Second Screen option is not available when I watch Amazon Videos. It appears that Second Screen is only available on the HD type Fire Tablets and not on the Fire tablet 7".Shame on you Amazon.Com for using a deceptive description on the Fire tablet 7". I bought the Fire Tablet 7" hoping to use the Second Screen option when viewing amazon videos.

I wanted to like this device, but the screen came damaged every time I ordered a replacement (2 of them). On the first, the bottom left side of the screen was white, just plain white. I could not watch TV or play any games because of this. I sent it back and got another one pretty quick. When I powered on the device, the same problem, just on the majority of the upper part of the screen. Told Amazon and they were skeptical because, "These types of problems do not occur twice." I had to beg to get a refund. By the way, this happened in a span of 1 week. Sorry Amazon, you lost a valued customer.

It sounds good from the beginning but upon arrival you'll soon discover it's a nightmare. It is absolutely crammed full of bloatware from amazon. If you use it, then great, but I don't know anybody that would possibly use the amount of Amazon, kindle,,etc apps crammed on this thing. The other issue is if its not on amazon apps then you aint using it. They block you from using other services (capital one apps, macys apps, google and google play store) and amazon apps has very little to choose from. Its like the old Blackberry world that has nothing you would use or want. If you want this for only surfing, then its fine, but if you want to do anything else at all. STAY AWAY.