3 reasons to buy the Amazon Fire HD 8 - and 2 not to

Not everyone is willing to splash out on one of the best tablets in the world, and not everyone actually needs to either. 

Amazon's range of Fire tablets is stripped back and simple, which makes them well-suited to kids and teens, as well as to anyone who wants a slate for occasional web browsing, casual streaming or reading. 

The Amazon Fire HD 8 2022 sits in the middle of the range and sports an 8-inch display which is why it's likely to be one of the more popular options of the set, you can also buy Fire tablets with a larger 10-inch screen or with a smaller 7-inch display if you prefer. 

Ultimately there are 3 key reasons why I would recommend buying the Amazon Fire HD 8, as well as 2 things about it that might put you off. 

The Amazon Fire HD 8 is cheap

The price is likely to be the biggest draw to the Amazon Fire HD 8 2022. You can buy it for $99.99 in the US and £99.99 in the UK with 32GB storage and ads as the screensaver. If you're not a fan of that then there's also an ad-free version that you can buy for $109.99 / £109.99. 

If you want something similar but with a bit more power, a slightly better camera and a more powerful charger in the box, the Amazon Fire HD 2022 Plus will set you back £119.99 / $119.99. 

It's easy to use

Everything about the Amazon Fire HD 8 2022 is straightforward, whether that's the step-by-step setup, the layout of the home screen or the intuitive app store that comes loaded onto the device. 

The design of the slate is equally as simple and easy to get to grips with, there's just a power button and volume rocker. And because it only weighs 337g and measures 201.90 x 137.30 x 9.60 mm, it'll fit nicely into small bags or even some big pockets.

The battery life is impressive

In comparison to some top-tier tablets, the Amazon Fire HD 8 2022 has a very strong battery life. 

Amazon claims it'll last 13 hours of casual use, but in actual fact, we found it lasted more than that having survived over 19 hours of video playback in our tests. That will get you through weekends away and most long-haul flights.

But it can't run Google apps

Now this one could be a deal breaker. Because the Amazon Fire HD 8 2022 runs on Fire OS you won't get access to the Google Play Store which means your choice of apps will be somewhat limited, and you won't be able to download Google apps like Gmail or Google Photos. 

You will still be able to access them on the tablet's browser but that seems like a lot more hassle than just opening up a dedicated app, something to consider if you intend to use those services a lot.

The performance is subpar

Given the price, you probably wouldn't expect to be blown away by fast speeds anyway but the Amazon Fire HD 8 2022 really is very slow in comparison to its more expensive counterparts. 

While it'll be able to cope fine with uncomplicated tasks like surfing the web or opening up an ebook, it will definitely struggle with anything more demanding than that such as gaming and photo editing.