Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I own both the Samsung Tab A 8in 2017 version and the Amazon Fire HD8 2017 version. Here is my review of them both and which is better. NOTE: the newest HD8 2018 version is also REALLY close to the 2017 model as well. Here is my comparison: And my quick synopsis, I don’t like being locked down to Amazon. But pretty much it is a wash on choosing between the 2 devices. The only big issue is the price difference. Screen Size/Resolution – Same size of 8in on both units and both units are 1280x800 and 189ppi Memory – Same memory of 32gb. But the HD8 also comes in a 16gb version, which I do not recommend as you can run out of space quickly. The Tab A and HD8 2017 supports external 256gb memory card versus 400gb on the HD8 2018 model. 256gb is massive, so 400gb is better but not really needed. Battery – 15hrs on the Tab A versus 12 for the HD8 2017 or 10hrs on the new HD8 2018 model. And these times can vary depending on what you are doing. So between the Tab A and HD8 2017, I would say they would be close. Bluetooth – They both support Bluetooth Charging – Tab A uses the newer USB C charger – HD8 uses the old-style USB Micro. Not a big deal, most everything will eventually convert over to the USB C charger eventually. The Tab A comes with a wall charger and cable. Amazon sells the USB C cables and they are cheap. And I like the USB C charger better because it doesn’t matter which way you plug it in, unlike the USB micro. Operating system – Tab A uses Nougat 7.1.1 and HD8 uses the Fire OS, which equates to Google 5 Lollipop. Not the most up to date OS, but they do auto upgrades from time to time. I think you have better control with the Nougat OS. Processor – 1.4Ghz Quad Core versus 1.3Ghz Quad Core, not really a big deal on this. They are very close Camera – 8mp rear camera vesus the 2mp HD8. Unless you are going to use this a lot for video or pictures, I don’t see a great benefit. Most of us will use this to read books and play games. Speakers – Tab A has one tingy single speaker (What a disappointment) versus Dual speakers on the HD8 and they sound good. This was a huge disappointment for me as the price is $70 difference. I would say this was the most upsetting. But normally I use Bluetooth headphones, so I do not disturb people around me. Warranty – 1 yr on the Tab A versus 90 day on the HD8 Price - $177 for the TAB A versus $109 for the HD8. Overall, I chose the Tab A to get away from being locked down to just Amazon. Amazon does not let you access Google content at all, so I was finding a few programs that I needed that required Google Play Services and of course I could not load them. You would have to JailBreak the Fire to do this, and that is not easy for the common users. With the Tab A, I can access programs from Google that I cannot on the Fire HD 8. BUT, I can access Amazon content from the Tab A. So I have Prime Video and Kindle Unlimited, which I have no issues accessing from the Tab A. I did not care for the price difference, I know Amazon cut their price just to get HD8 out there. They make up their money from content. If you are strictly looking at cost, I would stick with the HD8. If you want to break away from being locked down to just Amazon, I would spend more on the Tab A. I know for a fact that Google has way more games/programs then Amazon. And I was loading a few games from Amazon and had noticed in the last 2 years, they were no longer available on the Amazon store.