Amazon Fire HD 8 with ads review. More ads than led to believe

I bought an Amazon Fire 8 HD tablet on Amazon Prime day for $50. I didn’t have any other tablet at the time and I get tired of using my phone to web browse and look stuff up. I also wanted to get some books and start reading some more.

This is not a full review of the tablet, but I will say I think the Fire 8 HD is great for most people who want to do as I said, web browse, look stuff up, read and even watch movies on with the HD display. So if you’re not looking for a laptop replacement like an iPad go for it!

This article is about the ads (or “Special-Offers” as they call it) on the version I got for $50.

My general understanding of the ads on these devices was they would be on the lock screen. When you wake your device you see the ad and swipe it away and you are done with the ads.   This is true – kinda.If your device includes Special Offers, you see them as a screensaver when your device is in sleep mode. Connect your device to Wi-Fi to receive the latest offers.

From Amazon’s help page about Special Offers – “If your device includes Special Offers, you see them as a screensaver when your device is in sleep mode. Connect your device to Wi-Fi to receive the latest offers.”

You also get ads as notifications. Like your phone, you get notifications of updates, stories, or what ever indicated by a number at the top left of your screen. You pull down just like any android device and see them.

I think you get 1 ad as a notification at a time.  Not bad I guess and I don’t really mind for the discounted price. If you use the tablet multiple times a day you will get different ads.

I often go days without using it though and can see multiple ads in the list. Again not bad, but it can start to get annoying swiping away several ads a day.

But on the home screen, you have 26 icons for the built in or included apps. Many of them I will never use.

You can not remove them!
You can not move them around!
They are essentially ads for these aps.

Kind of annoying also.  Luckily they have a  “For You” page you can use as your “Home” and see the most recent apps you used.

It is up to you if the price is worth the inconvenience of the notifications and home screen ads in addition to the lock screen ads you expected.