10 Cons of Amazon Fire HD 8 (Review 2024)

Let’s talk about the Fire HD 8. It’s that recognizable budget tablet from Amazon that many people toss into their virtual carts without too much thought. Plenty of folks praise its affordability, easy access to Amazon’s content, and that handy little form factor—just eight inches, roughly the size of a paperback novel. Yet there’s a lot that doesn’t quite add up when you take a closer look. The model’s long been marketed as a no-fuss, good-enough device for everyday tasks. But here’s the truth: the Fire HD 8 feels like it’s aiming for 2019 while the rest of the tablet world has moved on.

I’ve spent some time fiddling with it, watching shows, reading magazines (or at least trying), and poking around the menus. The result? A growing suspicion that Amazon’s holding back real innovation, possibly to keep prices low or just because they assume we’ll put up with it. Let’s dive into the specific drawbacks—really tear them apart piece by piece. Maybe I’m being picky, maybe I’m too used to smoother hardware, but if you’re going to spend money on a tablet, even a cheap one, you deserve to know where it stumbles.

1. Dropping the Ball on Wireless Charging

Picture this: you had a previous version, the Fire HD 8 Plus, that allowed you to plop it onto a wireless charging pad and go about your day. Now, with this supposedly “updated” model, that convenience just evaporated. Poof. Bye-bye wireless charging. Why regress? Wireless charging has become pretty commonplace—even the coffee shops near my apartment have wireless charging spots built into the tables now. It’s baffling to see Amazon yank that feature out. Maybe they wanted to push users toward another model or maybe they didn’t want to pay the extra manufacturing costs. Whatever the reason, losing wireless charging in 2024 feels like trading in your car’s power windows for manual cranks.

For me, it’s a small but meaningful detail. I love the laziness of dropping a device on a charging mat. Without it, I’m just fumbling for cables again. And I admit it: I’m lazy. I like creature comforts. If that makes me sound spoiled, so be it. But it’s 2024, and tech should be moving forward, not holding still—or worse—rolling backwards.

2. Reflective Screen and Lackluster Display: A Grinning Vampire

The Fire HD 8’s display: calling it “underwhelming” might be too kind. With only 1280 x 800 resolution, it feels more like you’re peering through a smudged window than gazing into the crisp digital playground tablets should offer these days. Colors fade. Text can look a tad fuzzy at times. And, oh, that reflective surface! This screen bounces back more glare than a shop window on a sunny afternoon in Barcelona. It’s like the tablet’s a vampire grinning wickedly at you—while you’re just trying to watch your favorite show without getting your eyes seared by reflections of your overhead ceiling lamp.

I’m not asking for a cutting-edge OLED panel with brightness so intense it could blind a bat. Just a stable, decent display that won’t make me feel like I’m living in some early 2010s tech throwback. In brightly lit rooms, I find myself angling and re-angling it to dodge the glare, which is about as fun as trying to balance a bowl of soup on a wobbly coffee table. This should not be an olympic event.

3. Five-Hour Charging Marathons: Waiting for a Snail

If you want fast charging, well, keep walking. The Fire HD 8 takes around five hours to charge from empty. Five hours! That’s the length of some international flights, or two Lord of the Rings films, and way too long for a tablet battery refill in an era where even budget phones can power up in an hour or two. I mean, come on, it’s not the early 2000s anymore. Those drawn-out charging sessions feel like waiting for a snail to finish crossing a busy freeway. You have time to brew coffee, drink it slowly, read a newspaper (if people still do that), and it’ll still be juicing up.

I remember one afternoon I plugged it in and thought, “I’ll just quickly top it off while I step out for lunch.” Two hours later, I’m back, and the tablet’s still poking along. Let’s just say it’s not a device you can rely on if you suddenly need some power before a spontaneous trip. If patience is a virtue, consider this a chance to prove how virtuous you truly are.

4. Cameras That Make Flip Phones Look Good

Alright, maybe I’m being dramatic. But the Fire HD 8’s 2MP front camera and 5MP rear camera feel like a blast from the past—and not in a cool, retro Polaroid sort of way. They produce images reminiscent of those blurry party pics from a 2009 flip phone. Grainy. Dim. Just plain sad. No flash, minimal features, and colors that seem to get lost in translation, like they took a detour through a washed-out filter and never came back.

If you wanted to quickly snap a note from a whiteboard or show your friend something interesting on a video call, be prepared for the visual quality of a basement security cam. I once tried to capture a nice sunset through a window—only to end up with a smudge of pale orange and gray. It’s as if the camera’s motto is, “Well, at least I exist.” This is a tablet. In 2024. Can’t we do better?

5. Dated Software, Just as Exciting as Stale Bread

Fire OS, the Amazon-infused version of Android, has always been a bit quirky. That’s not inherently bad. But what stings here is how old-fashioned and clunky it feels. There’s a stiffness to the layout, a certain “we designed this once years ago and never really gave it a second thought” vibe. The notification shade looks and operates like a time-traveler from simpler software eras. It’s serviceable, sure, but it’s kind of like wearing yesterday’s socks. Uncomfortable, a bit musty, and definitely not fresh.

Don’t expect nifty new features or an interface facelift. Amazon seems content to stick with what it has. While the world of Android tablets and iPads keeps on evolving—friendlier interfaces, smarter multitasking, slicker animation—the Fire HD 8 stares blankly, unchanged. If that appeals to you, great, but most of us prefer software that’s at least pretending to keep pace with modern standards.

6. The App Store Desert: Missing the Tunes You Crave

Here’s a kicker: the Amazon Appstore just isn’t robust. Compared to Google Play’s bustling metropolis of apps, it’s a provincial town with one main street and a handful of shops. Need a specialized productivity app? Sorry, maybe not here. Craving your favorite art tool or a certain game that’s on every other device you own? Good luck finding it. Without Google services, you’re left installing workarounds or making do with whatever scraps Amazon’s got on offer. Is that what you want from a tablet?

It’s not just about quantity. Even some core apps run strangely or appear half-baked. International users get hit harder—some local apps never show up at all. It’s almost like shopping in a supermarket that only stocks the cheapest generic brands, while everything you really want remains locked behind a door you can’t open.

7. Performance With All the Zest of Cold Oatmeal

The Fire HD 8’s performance has improved slightly over older models, or so Amazon claims. Yet, in real-life usage, it still feels a bit like trudging through knee-deep mud. Sure, scrolling is adequate for reading a few articles or checking emails. But open a few tabs, switch between apps, or try a heavier game, and you’ll feel the tablet dragging its feet.

Lag. Stutters. Occasional hiccups that remind you this hardware never aimed at anything more demanding than low-key streaming. It’s passable if you’re super patient or only need to do the absolute basics. But don’t expect a snappy, vibrant experience. This baby’s got all the zest of cold oatmeal. Bland and slow to go anywhere interesting.

8. Lopsided Audio: The One-Sided Band at a Dull Party

Both speakers are on one side. Let’s reflect on that for a moment. Stereo sound usually means you get some sense of direction, some spatial awareness in your audio. Not here. Everything funnels from one side, making the tablet feel lopsided. It’s not exactly catastrophic, but it’s distracting, kind of like a band playing just off-stage where you can’t see them.

And the sound quality? Meh. Nothing to write home about. It’s loud enough for casual viewing, sure, but lacks richness. It’s like having instant coffee when you were hoping for a freshly ground artisan blend. You can live with it. But you won’t be impressed, and the imbalance makes certain content feel weirdly skewed. Consider headphones or external speakers if you actually care about immersive sound.

9. Incremental Updates: Treading Water and Confusing Names

You know when a friend says, “I’ve changed!” but when you meet them, they’re wearing the same clothes, talking the same talk, and acting like the exact same person? That’s the Fire HD 8. Slight RAM bumps, maybe a new color option, a subtle tweak here or there. But when you actually use it, it’s basically the same old device, dusted off and labeled “12th generation 2024” to make it sound fresh. It’s not fresh. It’s that leftover pizza from last night—still edible, but definitely not as good as when it was hot and new.

And the naming conventions: good grief. The labeling “12th generation 2024” can be baffling if you haven’t been following Amazon’s timeline. It feels like someone tried to make sense of random puzzle pieces but ended up just slapping a year and a generation number together. For newcomers, it’s confusing, and for returning buyers, it just raises questions: “What’s actually new here?” The short answer: not much.

10. The Price Problem: A Deal Only When Heavily Discounted

The Fire HD 8 retails around $100, but let’s be honest—at that price, you start to notice every flaw. If you pick it up during a huge sale, maybe for 50 bucks, the flaws feel more forgivable. But paying full price in a market brimming with more versatile Android devices and older iPad models that still run circles around this tablet? That’s tough to justify.

In some countries, after import fees and random markups, you might be shelling out more than its worth. Better displays, better app stores, better performance are available just around the corner if you’re willing to consider alternatives. At half off, the Fire HD 8 might be a tolerable “spare” device—something you keep in the kitchen for recipes or in the kid’s room for cartoons. But at full price, you could do better. Way better.

Final Thoughts: Stuck in the Amazon Bubble

The Fire HD 8 is comfortable being what it is: a humble portal into Amazon’s world of Prime Video, Kindle e-books, and shopping. It’s as if the tablet’s entire identity revolves around keeping you pinned inside that ecosystem rather than giving you a decent, forward-looking tablet experience. It’s a shame. There’s a kernel of potential here—Amazon knows how to serve its own content very well. But beyond that walled garden, this tablet stumbles.

You might still enjoy it if you’re knee-deep in Amazon services, or if you snag it during one of those big flash sales where the price drops so low that you say, “Eh, why not?” Just know you’re getting something rough around the edges, lagging behind modern standards, and sometimes frustrating in ways that are hard to ignore. In a world spinning faster toward sleek displays, snappy software, and balanced audio experiences, the Fire HD 8 sits oddly motionless, like a piece of outdated décor collecting dust in the corner of a digital showroom. If that’s cool with you, grab it. If not, keep looking. You deserve better.

Nevertheless, if you’ve weighed all these drawbacks. Still wish to go with the purchase, congratulations! You’re making a considered decision that you won’t regret.

Reference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHf91Le8Zeo&pp=ygUJRmlyZSBIRCA4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQnFahIlAoE&pp=ygUJRmlyZSBIRCA4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRzKoZJdDOg&pp=ygUJRmlyZSBIRCA4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv59n_QaemM&pp=ygUJRmlyZSBIRCA4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOGiuacmDjk&pp=ygUJRmlyZSBIRCA4