Amazon is going in a different direction with its most recent tablets. The $229.99 Alexa Tablet 8 runs full, Google-certified Android 16 with the Google Play Store, rather than Fire OS and its much smaller app selection. It's the entry model in Amazon's all-new tablet line, alongside the Alexa Tablet 11 and flagship Alexa Tablet 12 Pro.

That software change and the new, more premium designs come with a much higher entry price, though. The Tablet 8 starts at $229.99 with 64GB of storage and lock screen ads, or $249.99 without ads, while a fully maxed, ad-free configuration costs about $320. The 2024 Fire HD 8 cost $99.99 to $129.99, and the Fire HD 10 cost roughly $155, so getting a new, Amazon-built tablet now costs over $100 more.

So, is it worth the cash? People bought Fire tablets specifically because of their low price. Sure, the better specs and software are appealing — but are they convincing enough in a world with a solid number of reasonably high-end tablets?

The design is perhaps the most striking difference between this tablet and any of Amazon's previous-generation models — at least until you turn the screen on. An aluminum unibody replaces the plastic construction of Amazon's Fire tablets, helping give it a much more premium look and feel. It's a huge step up and reminiscent of the build quality of iPad models.

The Tablet 8 weighs 329g, or 11.6 ounces, with a thickness of 7.95mm. It measures 8.23 by 5.22 by 0.31 inches, which fits the one-handed reading pitch nicely. Held in its vertical orientation, it's taller than the iPad mini, but about as wide, so it's designed to be very portable. You can buy the Tablet 8 in Graphite, Rosette (which is pink), or Teal.

Based on online images, they all look quite good, but I really like the Rosette model that I'm reviewing. There's no official IP rating, which isn't surprising for a tablet — but it does mean that you'll want to be careful if you're looking for something to use in the bath or near the kitchen sink.

Much of the design isn't necessarily all that surprising or unique, which is a good thing. Amazon has largely followed Apple's playbook here. When you hold the tablet vertically, there's a power button on the top right, along with volume buttons on the right edge. On the bottom, there's a USB-C port. In that orientation, the front-facing camera is embedded in the right bezel, which is where it should be.

That means that when you hold the tablet horizontally, it's in the top bezel. There's no headphone jack, which isn't uncommon in 2026.

What is somewhat annoying, though, is the fact that there's no fingerprint sensor or biometric authentication to be found. The power button doesn't house a fingerprint sensor, so you're stuck using a PIN code. As a whole, though, the tablet is well designed and premium feeling, even if it lacks some of the features that I would have expected to see, even at this price.

The display is the first compromise that you might notice from the device. It's not that it's completely subpar, but it's just nowhere near what the competition offers. The device has an 8.7-inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 1340 x 800.

No one would expect an OLED screen at this price, especially given the fact that Apple only just recently added an OLED display to the iPad mini, but the resolution is pretty low; images aren't quite as detailed or crisp as they could have been.

The rest of the display doesn't help either. It has a 60Hz refresh rate, which is fine for most viewing, but means that things like scrolling and animations aren't going to be as smooth as they could be. And then the brightness only hits up to 400 nits, which is relatively dim and means that it'll be hard to see the screen if there are a bunch of reflections in the room or you're trying to use the tablet outdoors.

Again, most of this is what you might expect for the price, but that doesn't change the fact that the display is underwhelming at best.

Powering the Alexa Tablet 8 is a MediaTek MT8189, also called a Kompanio 540, which is firmly a budget chip. It combines two Cortex-A78 cores for more demanding work with six Cortex-A55 cores for lighter tasks and efficiency. Graphics come from a Mali-G57 MC2 processor running at 880MHz.

All that to say, this tablet is not built for gaming. It's built for things like reading, watching videos, and other basic entertainment or media consumption. Even multitasking heavier productivity apps is likely to cause some slowdowns while you work.

To be fair, that's somewhat expected at this price point, but it's still worth keeping in mind if you're looking for a device that you can use for more demanding tasks.

The bigger long-term concern is the 4GB of base RAM. The RAM crisis has made RAM pretty expensive, so it's not all that surprising to see only 4GB on this device. But it does mean that multitasking might be a challenge. To be clear, there is an upgraded version with 8GB of RAM, so if you're looking for something to multitask with a little more often, it might be worth upgrading to that version.

The Alexa Tablet 8 also offers 64GB or 128GB storage options, which is probably plenty for most casual users, but the lack of a microSD card slot is a legitimate limitation.

Again, in day-to-day, basic use, the tablet should perform decently. It just won't perform well for even moderately demanding tasks. I was able to do things like read my emails, watch videos, and so on, which is what this tablet is really…