At a glance
 Amazon Fire HD 8 |
 Amazon Fire HD 10 |
|
|---|---|---|
| Price | £89.99 | £149.99 |
| Screen size | 8-inch | 10.1-inch |
| Resolution | 1280x800 | 1920x1200 |
| Storage | 16GB/ 32GB | 32GB/ 64GB |
| Weight | 369g | 500g |
The Fire HD 8 and HD 10 are both improvements on their predecessor - the Fire HD 7. They have better screens, faster processors and longer battery-life.
Choosing between the two is largely a matter of budget. If you're looking for sheer value, the £85 Fire HD 8 is difficult to beat.
However, those who can afford to spend a little more would be better off with the Fire HD 10, as it provides a richer overall experience.
Price
Winner: The 32GB Fire HD 8 is significantly cheaper than the 32GB HD 10, at two thirds of the price.
The 32GB Fire HD 8 is currently on offer at just £85, which makes it nearly half the price of the Fire HD 10, and at the time of writing, actually cheaper than the smaller 16GB Fire HD 8.
For anyone who wants more storage, only the Fire HD 10 comes with 64GB, and is £30 more than for the smaller 32GB version.
However, opting for a lower storage version is a reasonable decision, given that both Fire HD's come with a microSD slot for up to 256GB of extra space.
It's important to note here that the above prices are for devices that ship with what Amazon call "special offers". These are, in reality, adverts that are displayed on the lock screen and in the notification pull-down. If you want a device without these, it'll cost £10 more.
Side-by-side the Fire HD 8 vs 10
Battery
Winner: The Fire HD 10's battery lasted much longer in our test, despite Amazon's claims to the contrary.
Amazon say that the smaller Fire HD 8 has up to 12 hours of battery life, whereas the Fire HD 10 can only manage up to 10 hours.
In our tests, we streamed a 60-minute video at full brightness. We found that in this time, the Fire HD 8's battery dropped by 19%.
The Fire HD 10, by contrast, lost 11% of its battery.
If we extrapolate these results, then the Fire HD 8's battery would last a total of nearly five and a half hours, while the Fire HD 10's would last nine hours.
It's worth noting here that because both Fires suffer from overly reflective screens, you'll normally need the brightness on full during the day (which obviously drains the battery much quicker).
Display
Winner: The Fire HD 10 has a bigger screen, with better resolution and a greater pixel density.
| Fire HD 8 | Fire HD 10 | |
|---|---|---|
| Screen size | 8-in | 10.1-in |
| Resolution | 1280 x 800 | 1920 x 1200 |
| Density | 189 ppi | 224 ppi |
The Fire HD 10's screen is 2.1-inches bigger than the Fire HD 8's. Though this difference might not seem like much on paper, it makes the Fire HD 10 feel far more immersive when watching movies.
Screen resolution and pixel density are also greater on the Fire HD 10, resulting in crisper images and darker darks.
The Fire HD 10 offers a larger screen with more pixels per inch
Hardware
The Fire HD 10 has more computing power of the two, with a faster processor and extra RAM.
Both Fires have quad-core processors, but the Fire HD 10's is the faster of the two at 1.8 GHz.
The Fire HD 10 also has more RAM - 2GB compared with the 1.5GB offered by the Fire HD 8.
In use, the Fire HD 10 feels marginally quicker and doesn't suffer from the same confusion when multitasking with various apps.
Using the Geekbench 3 benchmark app, the Fire HD 8 scored 1,854, whereas the HD 10 did much better with a score of 2509.
Storage
Winner: The higher spec version of the Fire HD 10 has more on-board storage than the Fire HD 8.
The Fire HD 10 comes in two versions - the 32GB and the 64GB. The Fire HD 8 is more limited, with a 16GB and a 32GB version.
Nevertheless, both devices can be expanded to 256GB via a microSD card.
Both Fire HD 8 and 10 accept a 256GB microSD card for extra storage
Size & weight
Winner: The Fire HD 10 offers a bigger screen without adding too much extra weight or thickness.
| Fire HD 8 | Fire HD 10 | |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | 369g | 500g |
| Dimensions | 214 x 128 x 9.7mm | 262 x 159 x 9.8mm |
Both devices feel relatively heavy for their size. Nevertheless, the Fire HD 10's weight feels more reasonable.
While both devices are the basically the same thickness, the Fire HD 8 feels too thick for its more diminutive size.
The Fire HD 10 is the same thickness as the Fire HD 8
Summary
Winner: The Fire HD 10's bigger and better screen are worth paying the extra money for.
If you plan to do a lot of streaming, then the Fire HD 10 is the obvious choice. As well as a bigger screen, the image quality is better than that of the Fire HD 8.
However, if you're just looking for a general use tablet - perhaps for use by children - then the Fire HD 8 offers very good value.
Both devices are an improvement on the Fire HD 7, which came equipped with an inferior screen, smaller battery, non-stereo sound and a 32-bit processor (as opposed to the 64-bit processor found in the Fire HD 8 and 10).
Given that the Fire family are designed to encourage the use of Amazon apps, it's no surprise that Google apps still aren't readily available on either device.
If you do want Google Play and the like, you'll need to allow change your settings to allow "Apps from Unknown Sources". While this poses a potential security risk, it is at least easier than it used to be with the Fire HD 7.
In all, the seventh generation of Fires contains two solid tablets. While the Fire HD 10 is undeniably better, the fact that it costs £50 more will be off-putting to those looking for the ultimate bargain.
Comments