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Amazon Fire HD - kinda, sorta Android

ChaunceyK

ChaunceyK

Member
I see that the Amazon Fire HD 7 is currently on sale for just $29.99, and I'm thinking of getting it. I know it runs Fire OS, but from what I've read I can easily install Google Play Store without rooting or hacking, and I'll still be able to use everything I've ever bought on Google Play since Fire OS is more/less Android based.

Is that about right? Because all I really want is a wifi Android tablet to play my games on (and maybe watch tv/movies) without worrying about using my cell phone. And a 7-inch tablet that runs well for $30 sounds pretty darned good.
 
First of all, I don't think that is the HD version at that price. Second, it's only 8 Gb and has no expandable storage. Count on half of that being OS and it doesn't leave much room for your games. Just something to think about.

Edit: Apparently it does have an SD slot. Not sure if you can move apps to it though.
 
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In terms of the bangs for your buck... You get an amazing amount of value from the amazon fire devices.

I bought one last year for my daughter... And having played with it first I bought another for my wife.

If it worked with our corporate office 365 account I'd have bought one for me as well.


I haven't installed the Google play store, as everything I need it to do can be done from the play store...

It runs a forked version of android... And so the sdcard works for installing anything on it automatically... The way that most android fans wish it would.

It's responsive, durable, reliable and works really nicely for streaming video and playing games.
 
We have one for the little one and they are great for kids, spec wise a little to slow for adults and the screen quality are crap.

The fire os is ok, but you will find annoying legacy issues when using the SD card for videos/apps. If you ever have to remove the card you have to unmount it first and once put back in can take anything for 10 to 20 minutes for the content to be viewable and usable. (If your lucky)

Apart from that they are good. Be aware of the cheaper fire tablets as they are ad-supported. IE it's cheaper because you have said you want adverts for a cheaper device. Once you have picked the device you want select configuration and pick without-special offers. Unless you want ads. :goofydroid:
 
True, I hadn't noticed that originally. The 7-inch is not HD. Only $20 more for the 8 which doubles the hard drive space and is HD. Probably easier than and similarly costed to buying an SD card.
 
TBH @ChaunceyK your better of going for the 32Gb 8inch HD version without special offers if you are using it as a daily tablet as 16gb will disappear quickly!!

It's only £59.99 and a bargain for that price.
 
I have the 32GB HD8 and I'd recommend getting that or larger if you do go the Fire route. The 7's are good, but I think you will find yourself wanting in short order with only 8GB of INTERNAL storage. While a lot will move to an SD Card, you will probably find yourself short on room quickly, especially once you get into installing Play.

Speaking of Play, it is a piece of cake to set up. Honestly, out of the box I had Play installed within ten minutes of receiving my tab.
 
Google Play is quite easy to install on the Fire, but in my experience it's not ideal. The system didn't seem to recognise any of the apps I installed, and refused to display them in its (admittedly clunky) UI. It tends to organise things in a chaotic manner at the best of times.
 
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I got a Fire 7 as a gift. It has an ad on the lock screen. I don't mind it. There is no way to root this one so far... The Fire OS is okay for games. But I can't change the launcher. Mine has 8 GB storage, and a 32 GB class 10 SD card. I had moved all my apps to the SD card, but the tablet became slow, so now that SD card is of not much use... I should have purchased a USB Flash Drive with that money I think...
Now I use that tablet mostly for games, sometimes for browsing, and I watch videos on that...
 
Daniel Fernandes said:
I got a Fire 7 as a gift. It has an ad on the lock screen. I don't mind it. There is no way to root this one so far... The Fire OS is okay for games. But I can't change the launcher. Mine has 8 GB storage, and a 32 GB class 10 SD card. I had moved all my apps to the SD card, but the tablet became slow, so now that SD card is of not much use... I should have purchased a USB Flash Drive with that money I think...
Now I use that tablet mostly for games, sometimes for browsing, and I watch videos on that...
Click to expand...

To be honest I think the SD card is most useful for storing media files, as you found out the performance of games is affected. And in practice, moving apps to the SD card isn't that effective, as you still retain a significant chunk of memory on internal storage. But that's an Android characteristic in general, not specific to the Fire tablet.
 
How intrusive are the ads, aside from the unlock screen?

Using half the internal storage for the OS wouldn't be so bad if the apps on my external storage didn't also take up internal storage. To me, it's ridiculous that it still works that way (probably my only complaint about Android devices).

The price of the Fire was caught my eye, but now hearing Google Play apps may be wonky or not load at all is disappointing.

I really didn't want to spend much, are there any other Android tablets recommended based on my needs?
 
Seriously...I doubt you'll notice the apps.... And as far as tablets go your looking at tripping or quadrupling your cash
 
ChaunceyK said:
How intrusive are the ads, aside from the unlock screen?
Click to expand...
Lockscreen ad is all I see. Any ads beyond that are app dependent. If the app is ad supported, there are ads. If it is ad free either by design or a paid ap, there are no ads other than the lock screen.
 
I doubt your going to find a cheaper tablet with those specs TBH. I payed £89.99 nearly 2 years ago for our 7 inch just to compare..
 
JAy3001 said:
I should have added that our fire tablet is still receiving regular OS updates. The last one was some 2 weeks ago. :thumbsupdroid:

More than my bloody S8+ which is still stuck on 7.0 and security update August!! :maddroid::maddroid:
Click to expand...
Yep. I have to check to see what version of Android it is currently on.
 
JAy3001 said:
I should have added that our fire tablet is still receiving regular OS updates. The last one was some 2 weeks ago. :thumbsupdroid:

More than my bloody S8+ which is still stuck on 7.0 and security update August!! :maddroid::maddroid:
Click to expand...

That's a point. I should re-connect mine to the network to get some updates.
I can live with the ads. It's a great tablet for the money.
 
I bought my sister the HD10 when it was on sale. I fell in love with it, especially at $99 with real HD aspect ratio. I didn't use it long enough to tell if I would prefer the size.
 
ChaunceyK said:
I see that the Amazon Fire HD 7 is currently on sale for just $29.99, and I'm thinking of getting it. I know it runs Fire OS, but from what I've read I can easily install Google Play Store without rooting or hacking, and I'll still be able to use everything I've ever bought on Google Play since Fire OS is more/less Android based.

Is that about right? Because all I really want is a wifi Android tablet to play my games on (and maybe watch tv/movies) without worrying about using my cell phone. And a 7-inch tablet that runs well for $30 sounds pretty darned good.
Click to expand...

I have had one for over a year. For $30 bucks, it is a good deal It does have an expandable micro-SD card. It is great for reading and watching videos. It has Alexa.
 
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