The Amazon Fire 7 Tablet Review
Available since last winter for the small sum of 49.99 £, Amazon’s small 7-inch tablet offers a limited but interesting experience. a complete test of the beast and full testing for the Amazon Fire 7 Tablet Review!
After reading interesting tests of this tablet, I decided to be tempted me too. I give you my impressions on the tablet Fire sold by Amazon.
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Amazon Fire 7 Tablet Review: Presentation and packaging
The tablet comes in a really light cardboard box. This is very disappointing as a Kellog’s cereal box looks more solid.
Nevertheless, the machine arrives in perfect summer because it is delivered in very solid cardboard. So there’s no need to worry about that.
Inside the package: three times nothing. A USB cable, a charger, a small booklet and the tablet in a small plastic bag. When the tablet is taken out of its case the first impression is surprising: the screen is very narrow and not in the usual 16: 9 format nor in the same format as the previous 7-inch tablet marketed by Amazon.
There is, therefore, a headphone jack, a micro-USB jack to charge the tablet, and a slot for a micro-SD expansion card.
On the slice, there are 3 buttons: an on / off button, and two buttons to adjust the volume. On the back of the machine are the large “Amazon” inscription and a small loudspeaker.
After this little turn, I find that the plastic seems correct. The buttons are a bit fragile and the whole lack a bit of rigidity. It is clearly a machine to be taken care of because I doubt its resistance in the event of a fall.
Here are the technical characteristics of this critter:
- IPS 7 “screen (171 dpi / 1024 x 600)
- Four-core 1.3 GHz processor
- 8 GB of storage (just over 5 available)
- Micro-sd port for storage up to 128 GB
- Wifi and Bluetooth
Still, considering the price it is perfect. You get what you pay for and you can turn on the Fire tablet to see what it offers.
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Amazon Fire Tablet review: use, screen, applications
The first ignition is very long: the machine connects to your Wifi network and downloads updates. It takes more than 30 minutes before you can have fun with it.
From the beginning, we are encouraged to enter our Facebook and Twitter IDs (why not), but I did not quite understand what it is for …
I chose to take the cheapest version. The counterpart is that this tablet displays advertisements on the home screen. The advertisements are related to the machine (stylus, protective case, etc.) or are related to cultural products (books for example).
Personally, I did not find these ads annoying: after all, we are bombarded and constantly solicited by advertisements on the Internet, in the street, on TV on the radio. The arrival of the advertisement on our shelves seems to be a logical evolution of this system.
What strikes me most is the screen: you can not say that the quality is top. It is even significantly lower than my iPad 2 or the previous Fire 7-inch. These two tablets offer brighter colors than Fire.
By cons, the Fire has a better definition than the iPad 2 and this feels immediate.
The screen format is a bit embarrassing with some websites that lack the width to display the information correctly. That said, after a few days of adaptation the format is not as boring as I thought.
The system used by Amazon is based on Android. On the other hand, they have changed it a lot. Thus, the Amazon universe (applications, books, shops, etc.) is at the center of the interface.
It combines applications by “universe”. So we go to the “App” tab to access an application, go to the “Games” tab to play, in the “Books” tab to read, and so on.
We also have a tab that brings together all the applications and another tab that highlights the most used applications. In use, I use almost only this tab.
It’s confusing when you’re used to classic tablets that let you organize things in your own way, but you get there too quickly.
If you are lost Amazon thought about adding a search bar at the very top of the page. This is practical and I find that the system is much simpler than a classic Android. However, it is virtually impossible to change its behavior. So the Fire system we like it or we leave it …
At the application level, I found everything I needed:
- Email: read my emails (the configuration was very simple)
- Calendar: I could sync my Google calendar without worries
- Silk Internet Browser: works well and is much more stable than the one I tested a year and a half ago. It’s a good surprise
- Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, and Evernote (available in the App Store)
I also had the opportunity to test video games thanks to the “Underground” system. These are applications that normally pay off. But, in return for the posting of advertisements, they are free. So I was able to play free and unlimited pinball games with this system.
Overall the performance (both graphics and speed) is correct for this type of tablet. Of course, do not expect a machine fast, but I was never bothered by any slowdown – even in a video game.
We feel that despite the “low cost” aspect of the machine, Amazon has taken care to deliver a fully functional tablet at 100%.
The autonomy is perfectly correct with about 4h30 in intensive use (video games, you feel the machine heated a little). It should keep 6 to 7 hours for basic tasks (a bit of web and emails).
Reading ebooks
Not surprisingly, the tablet reader application is identical to the Kindle application available everywhere.
This is a very good application. By connecting his Amazon account you instantly find his library with all his books. Just download the ebook to enjoy it again on the tablet.
The 7-inch format makes it easy to compare the reading experience to that of an Amazon Fire Tablet review. Obviously, the reader is more comfortable, but I must admit that great progress has been made in recent months.
On the one hand, the settings for customizing the text are always as numerous and effective. But this time there is a system called Blue Shade that adjusts the tint of the screen to suppress the blue light emitted by the screen. The goal is to have a less aggressive screen, especially at night before going to bed.
By playing on the Blue Shade setting and the brightness, you can find much more relaxing reading conditions than you could have a couple of years ago.
Obviously, it is very far from the comfort provided by an electronic ink screen, but this substitute reads from time to time wanting to tear his eyes after 45 minutes of nonstop reading.
The icing on the cake: this Blue Shade system works on the entire tablet including in applications and video games.
First of all, there is the case of PDF: that’s simple but I had to install the Adobe Acrobat Reader application. This application works well and did not pose any particular difficulties. So, in terms of Amazon ebooks, it’s perfect. But for the rest, it’s already more complicated.
For EPUBs it is already more complicated: it will be necessary to make a conversion of format with software like Caliber or to go through the application Aldiko to install via a manipulation a little twisted (read here).
With a bit of hack, we get out even if we regret that the format EPUB is not better recognized by the tablet …
The reading experience is therefore rather good for a tablet. But, as always, if your goal is mainly to read books you will necessarily have to turn to an e-reader.
Other: video, camera, etc.
As this is a touchpad, there are many entertainment possibilities. I was able to test video playback on Netflix.
There, the weakness of the screen is really felt: the contrast is not famous, the colors are a little pale and the lack of pixels is felt. I would not choose this tablet for this purpose.
The camera is really bad. I will not go further in the description: do not make pictures except to have fun.
On this subject, it should be emphasized that all your photos will be saved free on the Internet, in the Cloud of Amazon. Convenient in the case of loss or breakage of the tablet.
The apps are numerous in the Amazon store and I have already tested a dozen. I have not noticed any particular problem and it should be noted that the Kindle Underground system makes free of charge many applications for Apple or Android (games like Angry Birds, Monument Valley, etc. are free). The only drawback is that you are quickly stuffed with only 8 GB of storage. Personally, I do not keep applications that I do not use, but in the long term investment in a memory expansion card will not be superfluous (fortunately it’s a little expensive).
The only inconvenience is that you are quickly stuffed with only 8 GB of storage. Personally, I do not keep applications that I do not use, but in the long term investment in a memory expansion card will not be superfluous (fortunately it’s a little expensive).
Conclusion:
For our overall review: The Amazon Fire 7 Tablet Review. I admit that for less than 60 € it is an excellent product that should be suitable as an accessory for extra entertainment. The only fault is that this tablet does not excel. But to use, to consult these emails, to sail a little on the Internet, to play a few games, to read a little, and to watch a video from time to time it fits perfectly. I use it for about 20 to 30 minutes a day and I decided to conserve it as it keeps me from turning on my computer to send an email or watch a TV episode on Netflix when I have a free moment. So I recommend this small tablet for those who want a cheap machine to entertain themselves from time to time.
