The Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Edition is Amazon’s newest tablet for teenagers , but faraway from its first – the web retail giant has been making chunky, colourful, affordable tablets aimed toward youngsters for several years now, and it seems to possess got excellent at it along the way. Find more in Fire HD 8 Kids Edition Tablet 8 HD Display 32 GB Review.
This new 8-inch model replaces the old 8-inch model, with a faster processor, more memory, and longer battery life, plus an update to support USB-C charging at an equivalent time – therefore the newer chargers you have already got lying around should work with it.
The Good This low-cost tablet is good enough for most video, game, app and social needs, plus its onboard storage is expandable via microSD card. The Kids Edition includes a wealth of extras, including deep parental controls, a no-questions-asked two-year warranty and Amazon’s excellent FreeTime Unlimited service.
The Bad The Kids Edition costs significantly more than the otherwise identical standard version. There are the same app store limitations as the other Amazon Fire tablets, and no kid is going to prefer this to a (much more expensive) iPad.
The Bottom Line The kid-friendly version of the excellent Amazon Fire HD 8 costs a lot more, but offers a big package of worthwhile extras for preteens.
Features – Fire HD 8 Kids Edition Tablet 8 HD Display 32 GB
The single 32GB storage option remains an equivalent , which should be enough room for you and your kids, but if you would like more you’ll squeeze a memory card. It’s essentially the quality 2020 version of the hearth HD 8 tablet, with a chunky colourful case on top.
On the software side, there also are tweaks: you’ll found out profiles for your children very easily, and therefore the tablet comes with a good range of apps, games and other content suitable for your youngsters. Read on for our complete Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Edition review.
One of the features that hasn’t changed from the previous Fire HD 8 Kids Edition (or the previous Fire HD 8) is that the screen – that stays at an 8-inch, 800 x 1280 pixel LCD display, which is not the best within the world but does everything that it must . If you would like a super-sharp, super-bright, gorgeous-looking panel, then you’ll buy an iPad Pro; for something for the youngsters to fiddle with, there’s this.
It’s perfectly fine, and therefore the same are often said of the remainder of the tablet’s design. The move to USB-C may be a welcome one, as of all the chargers and cables we have got lying round the house, there are much more USB-C ones nowadays. The bezels are a touch on the thick side for 2020 standards, but it doesn’t really matter – you get exactly what you buy , which may be a cheap and solid tablet for the youngsters .
The biggest design difference once you buy a Kids Edition tablet is that the thick, rubbery casing you get – yours in blue, pink or purple – and it’s really one among the strengths of this tablet. It’ll take all types of knocks and drops, it keeps kids’ sticky fingers off the hardware itself, and it comes with a very useful kickstand inbuilt (something we wish the grown-up Fire HD tablets had, actually).
Amazon is constant its very generous offer to exchange your tablet for free of charge , no questions asked, if your children manage to interrupt it within the primary two years. You’d need to be really trying to manage to interrupt this, but the guarantee adds some extra peace of mind, just just in case anything happens. Overall, it’s once more hard to fault anything about the planning of the Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Edition.
You wouldn’t expect the Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Edition to interrupt any performance records or come full of features – its appeal lies in other areas, just like the one year subscription to fireside for teenagers Unlimited that comes with the tablet. That subscription (normally £1.99 a month) gives you access to a wealth of content across movies, TV shows, apps and games, and in our time with it seems to be an excellent deal – there’s stuff here from CBeebies, Disney, Nickelodeon and more.
Setting up a toddler account on the tablet is extremely straightforward, and you’ll specify the child’s age in order that relevant content is organised and promoted. Switch back to the adult account, which needs a PIN, and you’ll use the tablet a bit like a typical Fire 8 HD (with Amazon Prime Video, the online then on). It’s all very simple and easy , and that we think most youngsters will have an excellent time with this tablet.
Do bear in mind that nearly as good because the Fire for teenagers Unlimited deal is, it does tie you to a different subscription once the free year expires – and it is also worth noting that the Amazon App Store isn’t quite also stocked because the Apple or Google equivalent. counting on the age of your child, it’d be worth considering the choices before you accompany Amazon, with iPads particularly good when it involves parental controls (they’re also costlier of course).
Amazon claims 12 hours of “reading, browsing the online , watching video and taking note of music”, and in our one-hour video streaming test the battery level dropped from one hundred pc to 91 percent – that roughly works out as a touch over 11 hours of battery life, so it sounds as if Amazon is about right in its claims. you will not need to stop to charge this tablet during the day.
If you are looking to urge your younger kids an electronic gadget which will keep them entertained, you cannot really fail with the Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Edition. It’s full of content, the parental controls are simple to know and apply, and therefore the rubber casing is ideal to guard the tablet from any accidents which may happen. The two-year warranty really sweetens the deal, as does the one-year subscription you get to fireside for teenagers Unlimited.
While it’s fair to mention that the selection of apps and games is bigger on iPads and Android tablets, most youngsters won’t notice the difference – especially younger kids – and once you think about the low price of the Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Edition, you’ll see why this continues to be an appealing choice for folks . With quite 5,000 apps and games to select from, your children won’t get bored quickly.
Part of the appeal here is that the way that you simply can just found out a toddler profile on the device then configure the parental controls the maximum amount or as little as you would like to – your youngster is put during a safe, self-contained environment that they can not get out of without your PIN code. If you would like to, you’ll set limits in terms of screen time, or set goals in terms of paying time inside educational apps
The small spec bumps that are applied to the present 2020 edition of the tablet make sure that apps run with none problems, and therefore the device keeps everything that made the previous editions so popular – you’ll even switch to your own account and use it as a traditional Amazon tablet, if you would like to. for many youngsters and most parents, this is often the youngsters tablet you ought to be buying.
Fire HD 8 Kids Edition Tablet 8 HD Display 32 GB use
How to set-up Amazon Kids
Although the service is now called Amazon Kids, you’ll still find regard to Fire for teenagers or FreeTime ablaze devices (at the time of writing). Amazon Kids may be a safe area where you’ll control all the content, set deadlines and daily goals, close up the online browser, close up the camera and gallery then on.
Here’s what you would like to do:
- Setup a toddler profile in your Amazon Household – you’ll find that in your Amazon Account settings, under Amazon Household
- That child profile will appear on your Fire tablet, you’ll switch users by tapping the icons on the lock screen, or by swiping down from the highest to vary the user.
- In your (the adult’s) profile, click on the Amazon Kids icon on the house screen and pick the kid profile you would like to edit, by tapping the settings cog.
- You’ll get the menu to vary goals and deadlines , manage content, remove content, close up the online browser, close up the camera, show or hide the profile on the lock screen.
- You’ll be prompted to setup a password on your own profile – or your child can just exit the protected area and switch to your profile instead.
- As Amazon Kids is meant for youngsters , it is a safe place and instantly recognisable, turning the background blue, so you’ll see at a look that they are within the right zone.
To exit Amazon Kids, they will prefer to exit a profile, returning to the lock screen with all the user profile icons thereon . this is often why it’s essential that you simply have a password on all the adult accounts, to prevent them then entering your area and getting full access again.
Children aren’t getting to vary settings themselves, in order that all has got to be handled from the adult profile.
Importantly, when in Amazon Kids mode, there is no access to buying from Amazon Apps in the least .
Note that you simply do not have to possess a separate Fire tablet to try to to this, you’ll use Amazon Kids on any existing Fire tablet you would possibly have.
Adding apps and content to Amazon Kids
One of the items you will need to try to to within the regular Amazon Kids app is nominate the content that your children will have access to. this provides you complete vetting, as you will be liable for allowing access to varied apps and games – unless using Amazon Kids+, which we’ll get to during a second.
It’s easy enough to feature content, but you’ve got to follow these steps:
- In the adult profile, head to Amazon Apps and find the app or game you would like , download and install it.
- Open the Amazon Kids app, and open the profile of the kid you would like to grant access to.
- Tap “Add Content” and you will get the choice to share content on your tablet, add websites or add videos from the online .
- Select the content you would like to feature . If it’s content you’ve got , you will get to select apps, books, Audible; if it’s websites you get to feature the URL; videos takes you to YouTube so you’ll select videos to permit access.
- Sign back to the child’s profile to access the app or content.
- This arrangement gives you many freedom to feature belongings you want your child to possess access to. While Amazon Kids has some access to content included, divided into themes or characters, you will probably have some content you would like your child to possess , especially as they grow old . Allowing access to apps and games is within your control, so you’ll make a choice about what your child has access to – beyond the protections that Amazon provide. there is no access to in-app purchases, however.
Note that if you put in something sort of a movie streaming service so your child has access thereto , you will have to be liable for setting any parental controls – for instance within Netflix.
The option to feature websites or videos from the online means you’ll find content they specifically like. which will allow you to add, for instance , an academic website, or YouTube you would like them to possess access to without giving open access to everything on YouTube. Note that you simply need to do these individually, so it can take a while.
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