Fire HD 8 Tablet (2020, 10th Gen) (S&D)

So much has already been said about the Fire HD 8 Plus, but I was really trying to decide between the Fire HD 8 Plus and the Echo Show 8, and I couldn't find a very comprehensive overview of the difference, so I decided to try out both to see the difference. First, the screens are virtually identical in size and shape. Side-by-side, when the screens are off, it's somewhat hard to tell which one is the Fire and which one is the show. The most telling difference is the placement of the camera, which is top and center of the Fire and top and right on the Show (more on the cameras later). The screen specs are the same (8” high-definition touchscreen; 1280 x 800 resolution), but the Echo screen is considerably brighter. I wouldn't notice if they weren't side-by-side, but it's a marked difference (see photo). The Show also has more customizable wallpaper options. On the show, you can select from a number of different wallpaper options, but on the Fire, you an only customize by selecting your own photos. This may not be an issue for many, but it's one more small perk of the Show. The camera on the Fire is considerably better (2 MP vs 1 MP on the Show), but for the purposes of dropping in on another Echo device, that is pretty minor. Certainly for the purpose of using it as a tablet, this is better, but I suspect most people will have a cell phone with a better camera than that, so I don't see the 2 MP camera being a deal-breaker for most people. The placement of the camera on the Echo is a bit awkward as it is to the right of the screen, so when you're looking at the screen, it always looks a little like you're looking to the left. If you are getting this device for the purpose of having regular phone conferences, that could be a deal-maker for the Fire. However, for me, one major win that the Show has over the Fire is the physical privacy shutter. You can close it and even if someone could hack into the Show, they could still not see you because there is a physical piece of plastic in the way. This is especially comforting if you are going to have this in a bedroom or somewhere else where privacy is especially important. By far, the biggest difference for me in these two is the sound quality. As some have said, the sound on the Fire is worse than most cell phones, and much worse than any speaker on the Echo line. And, in the opposite direction, the Echo Show speaker is spectacular. The volume is extraordinarily loud (to the point where, if it is on full volume, it actually hurts my ears to listen to). The attached video shows the difference in volume. The first few seconds are of the Fire at full volume, and then it switches over to the Show, and then back. On a different song, the max dB reading for the Fire was 67.1 dB, whereas the max for the show was 89.5 dB. The bass on the Show is substantial, and the overall quality, though not the best speaker you will ever hear, far outstrips the quality and volume of the Fire. There are a few other differences that are possibly somewhat minor to some. For example, Spotify is not native to the Fire Show screen, so if you want to play music on Spotify, it will switch you to the Fire OS, where you will have to install Spotify and play from there. Not a big deal, but it's somewhat nice that Spotify comes out of the box for the Show. There are other similar things, and I haven't explored them all, but it is to say that the Fire version of an Echo Show is not 1:1 of the actual Echo Show. As far as the tablet itself, again, this has been reviewed somewhat exhaustively, but I'll say (as many others have) that it pales in comparison to a higher-end tablet such as an iPad. I got my iPad 7 for $250 new at Best Buy, so for a little over double the price, I was able to get 10x the performance over the Fire HD 8 Plus and double the screen size. There are definitely things to like about the Fire, and for a budget e-reader/video streamer/audiobook player, then this could be a great deal for you. But, then again, you could get all of that from the Fire 7 for half the price. It's all about your priorities and your budget, but the wireless charging and more RAM didn't win me over enough to justify this tablet in my arsenal of screens. It might for you, though. Bottom line, if you are looking for a Fire tablet that also works as an Echo, this may be what you're looking for. It is a nice enough tablet (if you know what you're getting into), and it definitely functions as an Echo to do things like turn on smart home devices and tell you the weather. However, if you are looking for an Echo that is also a tablet (as I was), I highly recommend going with the Echo Show 8 instead. There are a lot of other good tablet options out there, and the speaker difference alone gives the Show much more value in my opinion.