Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsMany good and bad features - lots to share. Headset issues to be aware of.
Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2017
This is my first Kindle Fire. I'm a millennial and I work for a large open source tech company. I'm a loyal Amazon customer, because I believe in it's mantra, it's story, and it's vision of providing value through transparency (reviews). My first tablet was an iPad 2 - purchased 6 years ago, it finally stopped working. I recently bought a Lenovo tablet - I wanted to give it a chance. It advertised 8 hours of battery life. That was a JOKE - it lasts maybe (on a good day) 2 hours. All lies - don't waste your time or money, unless you want to see what "terrible" looks like. This tablet? Excellent, with some improvements needed. If you want a device that actually performs at the level it is advertised, you can trust this one. With that said, there are some major ups and some major downs - that are worth considering. I hope Amazon takes note of these negatives, and works to improve these critical features.
THE GOOD:
(1) The touch screen is far superior to any tablet I've ever used. My finger glides across the surface and it feels like magic. The image quality is phenomenal.
(2) The user interface is amazing. After a few hours playing with it, I would argue that this tablet is BETTER than the iPad. Navigating the UI is excellent. I cannot figure out how to delete native apps that come pre-loaded on the tablet. If this IS possible, it should be easier to figure out. Instead, I put all of them in a folder and hid the folder somewhere I won't look. I would much rather delete some of these apps, because they eat-into the 6-7GB of RAM that the OS takes-up on the device... Okay, okay, this is borderline something that should go into the section below, but keeping it here anyway--in case you don't get there.
(3) The ability to insert a micro SD card is HUGE. The inability to add more RAM to my iPad is the main reason I did not buy another one. As technology continues to evolve -- services and software will all require more RAM and Bandwidth. I simply will not buy a device that doesn't allow me to expand my memory, or add an SD card to provide a cheaper storage option. That sends a message to me that I need to keep buying that hardware, if I want it to work properly. I can't just apply a cheaper "patch" as a short term fix to memory issues. This is like asking a company that has all of it's datacenter on bare-metal hardware to all of a sudden move to the cloud ($$$$) -- and eat that huge expense. Providing an SD card slot is like allowing a hybrid cloud environment -- it tells the customer that the company values their business and is willing to work within the customer's means/needs. It provides a cheap patch, to allow the customer the ability to use the hardware just a little bit longer - to extend the life of the product. This is a HUGE selling point.
(4) Kindle books - Color Highlighting and Commenting, search and find + archive of highlights
I bought this tablet primarily as a way to read books on the Kindle. I (first) purchased (returned) a Paperwhite, because I thought it would be the best way to separate church vs. state -- what I mean by that is, pick up the device to perform the single task of READING. It is so easy to pick up a tablet and get distracted (this is the battle of the future). So I go out of my way to avoid this. Well, the Paperwhite was underwhelming to say the least. If you read books in the sun all the time, the Paperwhite is for you. Otherwise, the latency/lagging is horrific, and reminds me of my first Nokia phone -- archaic, like Windows 95. Okay, maybe not as bad as Win95. When I read a book, I like to highlight/mark ALL over it, because I reference the books later. I use 2 primary colors - yellow and pink. Pink = main idea, Yellow = supporting information. The Fire allows you to use up to 4 different highlighting colors when reading via Kindle. That is exactly what I was looking for. I can also make notes/comments in the book, which is awesome. I do this on PDF's at work -- highlighting and making comments, so it's fantastic that I can also do this on the Kindle...it certainly will make me use the device more, because I can apply the same process.
One of the main reasons I opted to try-out reading books on a tablet (rather than paperback) is the ability to search and find things that I've highlighted. I quote books all the time, and it is not possible to search and find a paper book. I either have to tab it up, or have some crazy code to keep track of notes -- that is not a functional solution for me. I also like to be able to quote more than one book at a time. If I'm at work, and need to pull quotes from 4 different books, I would need to carry them around with me -- nope, not going to do it. So the ability to carry my library with me, with an archive of my highlights/quotes, is AMAZING. I'm not sure how many other people do this, but there is something about highlighting with color that helps my brain to remember things better. I'm no psychologist, but this works for me.
DISAPPOINTING FEATURES TO BE CORRECTED/IMPROVED - ASAP:
Note: I hope Amazon reads these and appreciates the value in a devil's advocate, and implements change. I also hope to provide awareness to other customers - for important features to advocate for, and issues to be aware of.
(1) Bluetooth connection to headphones with built-in microphone
Yikes. This is a big faux pas. If I had known about this before-hand, I would have bought another iPad. This tablet does not support headphones that have a built-in microphone. If you have a set of headphones (likely very expensive) that you use as a way to listen to music and/or take phone calls/conference calls at work, it will NOT work with the Kindle Fire HD 8. This is terribly inconvenient and really makes me wonder WHY. Well, perhaps it's because Amazon doesn't have the ability to control the headset microphone....and they don't like this. they control the tablet mic, but perhaps they cannot control the headset mic. Not sure -- just a guess. Well, that sucks. That sends a pretty powerful message to the user: "since I cannot control your microphone, it's not supported at all." Why not improve your technology to ONLY support the audio features of the headset, but not the mic? I honestly don't care about the microphone issue. I don't take conference calls on my tablet (although I'm sure some do - or would). I use my Sony MDR-XB650BT headphones with built-in microphone for conference calls at work, and also to listen to books on Audible. The fact that I cannot use these headphones on my Kindle Fire is pretty devastating. I do not think I should have to buy another separate set of headphones JUST for my Kindle, because Amazon doesn't want to support my headphone+mic combo. I won't do it. I would like to know the rationale behind WHY this technology is not supported -- the real reason. I work for a tech company, and it is totally not plausible for a company like Amazon - that releases software every 7 seconds, to not be technologically advanced enough to figure this out.... so, what is the real reason for this? I would really like to know. Transparency is one of the reasons that I love Amazon--the company. Not supporting the microphone+headphone units really makes me think twice about Amazon's "WHY/Mantra" (re: Simon Sinek). I have tried to assume positive intent, but I really cannot think of a reason why all other technology devices that I own (iPhone, iPad, Lenovo Tablet, ThinkPad) DO support this headphone+mic combo, but my Kindle Fire HD 8 does not... please prove me wrong, Amazon -- give me a reason to continue admiring the company and it's values.
(2) Advertising on the lock screen.
I think this may have been a recent software update to the OS...yikes, another strike to the Transparency mantra...I had to pay Amazon $15 to make the ads go away. That is highway robbery. I would rather pay $15 more for this tablet - and I would maintain loyalty to Amazon, rather than have to pay them $ to stop the ads. If this is some kind of psychology test, to determine the extent to which people hate advertising, this is an excellent strategy. However, I think it comes at the cost of consumer trust, confidence, and loyalty to the brand. IMHO, when consumers start to realize just how much they are being used by companies and ISP's, they will lose confidence in these companies. Apple, in contrast, gathers the least amount of information about their customers -- holding true to their values -- their "WHY". IMHO this is a short term gain at what will be an extremely high cost: consumer trust and confidence. The latter is more valuable to a company than anything.
