The $60 Fire 7 Tablet holds appeal if you want access to Amazon’s content ecosystem on the cheap, but you should keep your expectations in check.
Read more about the Fire 7 Tablet right here!
Buy it here:
00:00 – 00:28 Intro
00:28 – 01:02 Overview of tablet
01:02 – 02:57 Amazon tablet OS
02:57 – 03:53 Using different apps
03:53 – 04:55 Screen and processor
04:55 – 06:15 Watching videos and reading
06:15 – 06:52 Camera
06:52 – 07:40 8-inch version
07:40 – 09:12 Rating
09:12 – 09:41 Wrap up
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(gentle instrumental music) – Hello everyone. This is ”PCMag’s” ”1 Cool Thing” With the new Amazon Fire 7 Tablet. It is small, it is lovely, It is cheap, it is cheerful. And I am Sascha Segan, And this is Dave LeClair, Who has reviewed the Fire 7 Tablet for us. Dave, so you’ve spent a couple of days With this little tablet, And how do you feel about it? – I feel that it is a decent tablet That is meant for people Who don’t wanna spend a
lot of money on a tablet. It is one of the only tablets you can get In this $60 price range
in the United States From a reputable brand like Amazon. So if you’re looking for
a tablet in that range, You really don’t have any other options. So, why are we even here? Just go get this one if
you wanna spend 60 bucks. It’s really cheap. It’s about the price of a
video game for your Xbox And you can get a tablet. The case is not included though, So don’t get too excited about the case. – There’s a couple of things That people aren’t used to Amazon tablets. I think we need to walk people through What is going on here, Because most people are used to Apple, They’re used to Android, But there’s a different software situation
Going on here right? Show us the interface And is this Android or not? – So it is Android and that it is running A heavily modified version of Android. It is Amazon’s own version, Which means you do not get Google Play, Which is a big drawback
for a lot of people. You’re limited in the app selection To the ones that are available
on the Amazon Appstore Unless you’re willing
to do some sideloading, Which is actually quite easy. We did sideload during the review process, Because some of the apps
we used for benchmarking Are not on the Amazon Appstore And it literally took me like two minutes To put them on there. So if you’re a little bit tech savvy, Don’t let the fact that you’re
limited in terms of apps Be a deal breaker for you, Because you can get a little creative And get pretty much
whatever you want on there Easily enough. But outside of that, It feels a little bit
like you’re navigating An Android operating system. You have all your apps on the home screen. You can flip over to your Amazon section, Which is basically where Amazon attempts To sell you on all of
its various applications, Its various books, and
its subscription services Because at the end of the day The reason Amazon is willing
to sell you a tablet for $60 Is because they want you
to sign up for Prime,
They want you to sign up
for Audible, Prime Reading, All their other good stuff. So that’s kind of what the
end game is for Amazon here. And another thing to
know is the $60 version Does have ads on the lock screen. So that’s something you’re
gonna wanna keep in mind too. The one they sent us, of course, Is the more expensive one That doesn’t have the
ads and all that stuff. But if you do spend $60, be prepared. There’s gonna be Amazon Basically trying to sell you on stuff Every time you turn on your tablet. – So now this is very Amazony, But if people wanna use
competitors to Amazon, If they wanna use Netflix, or Hulu, Or for that matter, YouTube, Are the options on this tablet Or you’re stuck just using Amazon content? – So, you’re mostly stuck
using Amazon content, Though you can go to, As I mentioned, you can sideload Or you can go to YouTube’s website In the Amazon Silk browser And watch YouTube videos
through the web browser. You can’t get the YouTube app officially Through the Amazon Appstore, Nor can you get any of the other stuff You may be used to on Android Like the Google services. But you can go to Google
Drive’s website, you can use it, Or as I mentioned, you can
sideload them on there. And if you really wanna get creative, You can even install
stock Android on this.
Though that’s a whole nother can of worms That you’re probably
not gonna wanna get into On your $60 tablet. You’re probably better off
just sticking with the OS That comes with it. – Okay, so spec-wise, It’s a seven-inch tablet. What’s the screen resolution And is the processor fast enough
to run any games at all on? – So the screen resolution is 1024 by 600. So it is not a high res screen By any stretch of the imagination. And you can see the low res. I mean, obviously, we’re
looking at it through a camera. You’re not gonna be able to really tell, But when you’re looking
at a video and stuff, You can see that it’s a little bit Not as pretty as you might
expect from a high-end tablet, But it is what it is. And in terms of the processor,
it’ll run basic games. You’re not gonna run any 3D type of stuff. Don’t even think about ”Genshin Impact” Or something on this thing. You might as well, it’s gonna explode If you try to do that or something. Please note in asterisks it
might not actually explode, But it’s definitely not a gaming device. You can run very simple games And, again, limited by what’s
on the Amazon Appstore, But you’re not gonna be running
anything with 3D graphics. You’re gonna have a bad time if you try. – So a lot of people are
buying these tablets for kids, For small kids, especially. And they’re primarily probably
going to be video players
For those small kids, And maybe reading
children’s books or comics. How is this tablet for
those kinds of uses? – Yeah, for those kind of
uses it totally does the job. It’s a little small, But for a kid Who’s probably used to
like stealing mom’s phone And watching videos, Seven inches is bigger than
your average smartphone. So it’s gonna be good for that. Again, the resolution is low. So you have to keep that in mind When you’re watching videos, But again, is a child gonna care That it’s not 1080p? Probably not. It’s probably gonna be like, ”Wow! I can watch my cool videos on here.” That’s all that it matters. And reading, I mean, reading is a great… That is what Amazon is really pushing here Besides its basic services, Is that it’s a reading device. It is a great reading device. You can put on kids mode
and limit everything. Well, you could sign up for Amazon Kids+, Limit everything, lock it down So your kids can only look
at stuff you want them to, Including books, comics,
any other type of stuff. So it’s very cool for that. For reading, I definitely
would recommend it. Again, not a huge screen,
but decent enough size. – Now, it has cameras, But we should probably
pretend it doesn’t right?
– Two megapixel cameras. You can take a photo if
you need to, you know, If your dog does a cool trick And you wanna get a quick photo of it, But if you have any other
device that has a camera on it, It’s probably better than this. Though I did hop on a quick
video call with our boss And it turned out he was able
to see and hear me just fine. I could see and hear him just fine. So if you need to use
the front facing camera To hop on a video chat and have a meeting, Or you wanna pretend you’re at work While you’re out at the golf course, I won’t judge. – Now, of course, this is
Amazon’s least expensive tablet, At $60. They also have an eight-inch
tablet for slightly more. Are there situations where
people should consider The eight-inch instead
of buying the seven-inch? – I would say almost all situations You should consider the
eight-inch if you can afford it. The main reason to go with this one Is if you’re just worried
about giving it to your kids And you want something
that if they break it It’s not the end of the world. But you really hung up on that $60 price And you don’t wanna go up
and get the eight-inch, You could definitely
do worse than this one. But if you can stomach the extra money, The eight-inch has a higher
resolution, a better processor. It’s just in all-around better device That is worth the extra
money in my opinion. – Okay, great. So, what did you rate this
And why aren’t we giving it
the Editors’ Choice award? – Yeah, so I rated in a 3.5, Which is a good rating. I mean, it’s a good device. It does what it sets out to do. It’s meant to be a cheap tablet That is able to handle basic
tablet day to day usage, And it does that. The reason I don’t give
it an Editors’ Choice Is mainly just because It doesn’t have any competition, really, To fairly compare it to. It’s almost like it would get
the Editors’ Choice by default Just because it’s the only
tablet in this price range, Unless you’re willing to go
with one of the off brands That I don’t know if I would trust. – Most of the competition out there Is really abysmal RCA
tablet sold at Walgreens, Or these incomprehensible Chinese brands That are all consonants That come and go on Amazon. So it’s- – And who knows what the
privacy situation with those are In terms of what they’re
doing with your data? You’re kind of rolling the dice When you go with some off
brand device that you… There’s a reason that
they’re $50 or whatever. – Yeah
– Because you know… So it’s on the fringe of
being the Editors’ Choice, But at the end of the day I would say, Because the eight-inch version exists, That would be the one that
would really be the one That you should go for If you could afford it.
– Okay, great. So, yeah. So, this is ”1 Cool Thing” with pcmag.com. I’m Sascha Segan, this is Dave LeClair. This is the Amazon, The new Amazon Fire 7 Tablet. We like it. It’s the cheapest, decent
Android tablet in the U.S. But if you can spend a
little more, you’ll get more. Thanks a lot for watching, folks. You’ll find more on pcmag.com. (gentle instrumental music)
