Oh, what an age to be alive. Every year, sometimes more often, tech companies upgrade their product ranges with something new, more powerful and more capable. But somehow, they often manage to keep the price the same.
So it is with today’s announcement from Amazon. Its entry-level tablet, the Fire 7, has just been updated but for the same price, just $49.99, £49.99 in the U.K. The same applies to the new edition of the Fire 7 Kids Edition which remains at the same price point, $99.99 or £99.99 in the U.K.
The thing about the Fire 7 is it’s an extremely affordable tablet, with impeccable credentials, especially for the price. Sure, there isn’t the wide range of apps of some Android tablets, or the irreproachably high-quality design of the Apple iPad, but as seven-inch tablets go, it’s hard to beat.
So, what’s new?
Until today, the Fire 7 had 8GB storage, now that’s doubled to 16GB. Unlike some tablets, there’s a slot for expandable memory cards and this slot is now compatible with cards of up to 512GB storage capacity. There’s also a 32GB version available.
The new tablet features a faster processor – still the 1.3GHz as before but faster none the less but with more memory bandwidth, apparently.
It also comes in new colors, the inevitable black but also plum, sage and twilight blue.
If this tablet was good yesterday, and it was, then it’s even better today.
Amazon also makes a Kids Edition version of its tablets. This is the same tablet inside but comes in a joyously fun protective bumper and has access to Kids Unlimited for a year.
The advantages are significant. The bumper – now available in purple as well as the previous blue and pink – is genuinely protective, but there’s also a no-questions-asked replacement policy if something goes wrong. Kids Unlimited includes books, audiobooks, educational apps and games, all geared to the right age group.
The Kids version is also faster and also comes with 16GB of storage.
These are cool tablets which are capable and fun. And very affordable.
Both go on sale today, with delivery from June 6.
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