Amazon Fire 7 Kids Edition Tablet Review: New Case, Same Hardware?
The Amazon Fire 7 Kids Edition is more than just a normal Fire tablet encased in a foam protector. Although our Amazon Fire 7 Kids Edition Tablet Review proves that this tablet is not that different from its forerunners in terms of hardware and performance.
The tablet still offers value because it is a gateway to a plethora of kid-friendly content from books to games to videos, all curated by Amazon . In addition, it comes with a two year no-questions-asked warranty.
FEATURES
Review Price: $99.99
- 7-inch 1024 x 600 LCD touchscreen
- 16GB storage + microSD slot
- 1-year Fire For Kids subscription
- 2-year warranty
- Kids Edition case
- 8-hour battery life
- 2-megapixel rear camera, VGA front camera
DISCUSSION
When you cram the Kids Edition tab into the rugged case (that comes in yellow, pink and blue), the device improvements become clear. Of course, the ruggedized case piles on significant weight to the tablet but it actually makes gripping simpler, especially for small hands.
This new design offers a sense of assurance that the tablet could go through almost whatever and come out still functioning. However, It was disappointing to find that a screen protector wasn’t part of the package. Bearing in mind the extra cost being paid, one would not expect to have to pay additional $9.99 for a screen guard.
Nonetheless, the case still performs efficiently at protecting the screen from being damaged should the tablet crash face down to the ground. Another comfort is the two year no questions asked replacement warranty.
The last extra payment regarding the Fire 7 Kids Edition is the premium charge for Fire For Kids app as well as a full year subscription to the service. The app offers a wide array of kid friendly content (books, games and videos) as well as solid parental controls.
You won’t notice much difference between this and the very first Fire model, aside from the addition of the Alexa digital assistant.
There isn’t too much disparity between this Fire 7 Kids Edition and the first Fire edition other than the Alexa add-on.
The Amazon Fire OS is built on Androids framework but it doesn’t follow the regular Android pattern. This basically translates to you getting most popular Android apps but you cannot, for example, get Sky Kids. Have that firmly at the back of your mind.
As long as you’re not expecting too much for your money, the relatively low-resolution screen and slightly slow performance shouldn’t bother you. The eight-hour battery life is a little disappointing, though, and means you’ll have the Fire 7 on charge more than you might like.
The battery life is also slightly below par and that means one would have to spend more time than usual charging the Fire 7.
The Fire 7’s cameras are really low quality. But the kids would enjoy using it to snap random not-likely-to-be-kept-long photos.
Now, the edge the Amazon Fire 7 Kids Edition Tablet has above the rest of the non-Amazon tablets is its full year subscription to the Fire For Kids apps. Essentially, its child friendly overlay and access to tons of kid targeted content makes the app a winner.
Fire for kids, based on our Amazon Fire 7 Kids Edition Tablet Review, is set up like most apps. You have the choice to create profiles for all the children who would be utilizing the tablet. Their name, age, gender and profile pic are the basic information required for the profile. You can also choose whether to give them a regular Fire for Kids account or a Teen profile (for kids 11 and above). There really isn’t too much of a discernible difference between both.
Once setup is complete, your child (ren) will have a selection of different content – apps, books, videos – and if your grant them permission – the Web. They can use titles or the camera to search. All the sections on the app are bursting with content that even you the parent, can recognize. Not like some child targeted tabs that have more low quality/cheap filler content than known brands.
Sadly, the categorization lists are somewhat unorganized so content such as videos can be overwhelming to your kid causing them to lose out on a lot of good stuff.
Books download quickly, unlike apps that take up quite a long time to download. Videos stream almost immediately though this requires constant Wi-Fi.
Conveniently, standard Fire OS apps can be downloaded via your adult account and simply added to your kids approved list of apps.
Within the Fire For Kids Settings page, you can also set daily goals and time limits. You can specify what time of day your child’s profile can be accessed, for how long per day, and whether you want to set them a goal, such as a minimum of 30 minutes reading books
You can set what time of the day and how long your kid’s profiles stays open; as well as if you want to give them a goal to, for instance, spend not less than half hour reading books.
CONCLUSION
In terms of hardware, the Amazon Fire 7 Kids tablet is awfully unexciting. It appears to be the same old device encased in colorful rubber. But the two year warranty and Fire For Kids awesome content is where your money’s worth shines through.
The fire 7 is a good value buy if you’re short on cash; however the HD 8 Kids Edition with its better battery, better screen and extra storage is the better option to spend extra cash on.
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