Amazon Fire 7 Tablet 2022: Worthy of an Upgrade?
Amazon’s range of hardware and software offerings certainly knows no bounds. The brand has left its mark on the consumer tech industry with its Alexa, Kindle, and Fire brand of devices and services, and as such has put out a consistent effort in refreshing its product lines on a regular basis.
With that said, Amazon has recently announced that a new and updated version of its entry-level Fire 7 Tablet is coming soon this month, and it features some interesting upgrades in comparison to its predecessor, which was the Amazon Fire 7 Tablet (2019).
The new tablet is set to launch later this June at a slightly more expensive price tag of £59.99 – but what can we expect from the new device? Let’s take a look.
Design
The 2022 Fire 7 Tablet shares the same design as its larger-screened brethren – you get an entirely polycarbonate matte casing, and particularly wide bezels surrounding the 7-inch screen. One change in design is that the newer tablet is meant for use primarily in landscape orientation, as opposed to the older 2019 model which was designed to be held in a “portrait mode” position. It now looks more like the Fire 8 Tablet, which is a nice move on Amazon’s part if they are going for a uniform design language in all their tablets. It’ll also be available in three colour variants.
The volume buttons, power switch, microphone, and charging port are all on the right-hand side of the device, while the top left edge houses the speaker grille. You also get a pair 2-megapixel cameras on the rear panel and front bezel, which are the same resolution as on the previous Fire 7 tablet. The bottom of the tablet houses the micro SD card slot for expandable storage.
Screen
As you’ve probably guessed from the name, the Fire 7 2022 will come with a 7-inch IPS display, with a 1024 x 600 resolution at 171 ppi. The low resolution and IPS screen technology are unsurprising, especially given the low price tag. We won’t be getting an AMOLED panel, Gorilla Glass, or high refresh rates on this tablet, so buyers should set their expectations accordingly.
On the other hand, for users looking for an affordable device to suit casual web-browsing, eBook reading, or media streaming purposes, the screen should be quite enough – “bare necessities,” so as they say.
Hardware Specs
Amazon says that the tablet is powered by a MediaTek MT8168V/B 64-bit quad-core processor, paired alongside 2GB of RAM. This is definitely an upgrade from the 2019 model which only featured a dreadful 1GB of RAM, but it would have been nice to see at least 3GB in the newer Fire 7 tablet – a lot of Android devices these days run on the bare minimum of 4GB, even.
In terms of storage, the tablet comes in a base model with 16GB of internal storage, and there’s also an option to get the tablet with 32GB of internal storage. While this might not seem like much, there is at least an option to use micro SD cards, up to a maximum of 1TB of storage.
As mentioned earlier, the cameras come with a low 2-megapixel resolution. However, they will be able to record up to 720p video resolution.
Software and UI
As for software, the tablet does run on Android, but it’s been modified to accommodate Amazon’s suite of software services and app selection. Instead of Google Play services and the Google Play Store, you get Amazon’s proprietary app store, Alexa, and Fire OS.
Fire OS takes a different approach to your standard Android homescreen and app drawer, and Amazon has taken the liberty of modifying the visual animations, icons, and such. This is something to consider fi you’re looking for a tablet to use primarily with Google’s software services and app ecosystem.
As for software support, Amazon says that the tablet will receive guaranteed software security updates for four years “after the device is last available for purchase as a new unit on our websites.”
Battery
In terms of battery life, the new Fire 7 Tablet will have up to 10 hours of mixed usage, which involves web-browsing, reading, as well as video and music streaming. Of course, you’ll run out the battery much quicker if you play a lot of games on the device, but moderate users should have little trouble extending the battery for prolonged use.
Another nice upgrade is that the tablet finally comes with a USB-C port, something which was sorely needed on its predecessor. The retail package will include a 5W charger, although it will take around four hours to charge the battery if you’ve drained it fully.
The Fire 7 Tablet is available for pre-order now, and will launch on 29th June. Keep following our website and official YouTube channel for more content!
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