Amazon is refreshing its affordable Fire 7 tablet for the first time in three years, alongside a durable Fire 7 Kids model with a two-year warranty.

I love portable technology—if you can put it in a pocket or a bag, I’m probably into it. I’ve covered phones and tablets of all shapes and sizes, and reviewed everything from game consoles to laptops in my decade-plus career. Prior to joining PCMag, I wrote articles for Android Authority, How-To Geek, MUO, New Atlas, Tom’s Hardware, and plenty of other tech publications.

In the world of affordable tablets, Amazon’s stalwart Fire 7 has long been the deal to beat, but until today the most recent model hadn't been updated since 2019. Thankfully, the company just announced a new Fire 7 tablet that starting at $59.99. That's $10 more than its predecessor, but it brings significant updates in terms of battery life and RAM. 

Amazon is making some notable improvements to the Fire 7 tablet over the previous generation. The company has given its budget-friendly tablet double the RAM, bringing it up to 2GB. While that’s still on the low side for a modern slate, the extra power should make a noticeable difference if you own an older model.

While Amazon hasn’t provided details on the processor, it says the Fire 7 has a 30% faster quad-core chip than the 2019 model. Of course, we’ll need to get our hands on the tablet to see how the extra RAM and processing power translates to real-world performance, but for around $60, you can’t expect too much.

The new Fire 7 also features 40% longer battery life, which Amazon says will provide the tablet with up to 10 hours of juice for browsing the web, playing games, watching videos, and so on. It also features a USB-C port and a 5W charging adapter (included in the box, which isn’t always the case). The tablet comes in black, denim, or rose.

As you might expect for the price, the cameras aren't too exciting. You get 2MP front- and rear-facing cameras with the ability to capture 720p video. If you need to record something in a pinch or you want to use the tablet for video calls while connected to Wi-Fi, these should do the job, but they almost certainly won’t replace your phone or dedicated digital camera.

There’s no support for cellular data, so you need to connect the tablet to Wi-Fi to access the internet.

Amazon is also releasing a Fire 7 Kids for $109.99 (once again a $10 increase over the previous verison). The tablet hardware is exactly the same, but it comes with a rugged case (available in blue, purple, or red), a one-year Amazon Kids+ subscription, and a two-year hardware guarantee.

In addition to lots of kid-friendly content, the Fire 7 also gives you access to Amazon Parent Dashboard, which lets you manage screen time, set educational goals, and access other parent-minded features.

The 2022 edition of the Fire 7 is available to preorder(Opens in a new window) now for $59.99, and Amazon says it will ship on June 29. The $109.99 Fire 7 Kids is also available to preorder(Opens in a new window) now, again with a June 29 shipping date.

There aren’t many quality slates around $100 out there, so we’re looking forward to getting our hands on the new Fire 7 tablets and testing them out. Check back soon for our full reviews.

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I love portable technology—if you can put it in a pocket or a bag, I’m probably into it. I’ve covered phones and tablets of all shapes and sizes, and reviewed everything from game consoles to laptops in my decade-plus career. Prior to joining PCMag, I wrote articles for Android Authority, How-To Geek, MUO, New Atlas, Tom’s Hardware, and plenty of other tech publications.

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