After an announcement in mid-May, the newest Amazon Fire 7 is finally available for purchase – this is the follow-up to the Fire 7 (2019) and the newest generational version of the company’s cheapest slate.
This cheap new tablet has more RAM, a longer-lasting battery and, finally, a USB-C port for faster charging over its predecessor, although the flagship feature of the range – the 7-inch 1024 x 600 display – lacks seen no changes.
See how much slate costs in your region:
You can spend more to increase storage from 32GB to 64GB and also to remove the built-in software ads, but we don’t find them invasive enough to be a problem. That said, you don’t have to make your ad decision right away as you can pay anytime to have them removed.
The price increase could make it harder to sell the tablet given the limited changes from the 2019 model, but Amazon Prime Day on July 12 and 13 could bring discounts to offset that increase.
The tablet was released alongside a children’s version, which is more expensive but comes with a protective cover and age-appropriate built-in software.
Opinion: the first test results are in
I haven’t tested the Amazon Fire 7 long enough to write a full review, but I’ve used it for a day now in its eye-catching pink – oh sorry, pink – version, and it is the 32 GB model.
While we at often rate the Fire HD 8 and Fire HD 10 tablets higher than the Fire 7 because of their larger, higher resolution screens, my testing time shows that there’s a place for the budget option.
In fact, I quickly found myself using the Fire 7 instead of my Kindle when traveling on the subway. Its small screen matches my Kindle Oasis (2019) in terms of inches, but its longer, thinner aspect ratio made it more pocket-friendly.
The tablet’s low resolution doesn’t exactly matter when I’m just reading books. This gadget costs a lot less than the $249.99 / £229.99 / AU$399 Oasis, but it can also stream content on Prime Video or Amazon Music and play some games.
Sure, the Oasis and other Kindles have some ereader-specific features that make them technically better for reading, but between their size, price, and feature set, I can really see why some people might prefer the Fire 7 over a Kindle for reading.
I’ll see if that opinion stays the same after a few weeks of testing when I’m ready to write a full Amazon Fire 7 review, but as it stands I’m finding the slate a lot more useful than I expected. Maybe this makes it onto our list of the best tablets after all…