First Impressions
The case gives the tablet a more professional look and succeeds in making it pleasant to hold. Without it, the Fire 7 feels like a small slab of plastic.
The tablet itself is minuscule as ever, weighing a little over 10oz and standing at 7in long and 4.6in wide. This is a tiny tablet about the size of your average book—only thinner. It feels nice to hold.
The Fire tablet lineup has been small so far, and the seventh iteration isn’t breaking tradition. It’s easily suitable for travel in handbags or even your back pants pocket. I found its size great while reading, but generally detrimental to anything else.
Given that the Fire 7 is a $60 tablet, I can forgive it for not being high definition. Still, it’s a mark that makes it hard to consider using the tablet for reading comics or watching movies if the quality is something that matters to you.
Performance: Noticeable Lag
Nowadays, 5GB of RAM is about average for tablets, and while the Fire 7 is undoubtedly a wallet-friendly purchase, it shouldn’t lag as much as it does. I’d gladly pay a few extra dollars for a cleaner experience because it’d still be far more affordable than most popular tablets like the Lenovo Tab P11 Plus.
The storage situation is pretty routine. The Fire 7 comes in either 16 or 32GB, a current standard. If that’s insufficient for you, slot in a microSD card of up to 1TB on the side. It’s a solid storage size with some decent upgradability. If you want to take your Fire 7 for a long trip, you can easily load up on movies and watch them on your journey.
Battery: Long Lasting but Slow to Charge
The Fire 7 has a Li-Ion 2980mAh, non-removable battery that provides up to 10 hours of use. It, like the other internal parts, is better than the previous iteration. I’ve had it average around 9 or 10 hours under light use, and I noticed a significant drop while handling more hardware-intensive apps.
Charging from empty to full took somewhere in the range of four hours, which is pretty slow. There’s no real way to improve this regardless of the charger; it simply has no quick charging.
You can, however, sideload the Google Play store, which opens up a few more options—just don’t be surprised if your favorite app isn’t compatible.
Sound: Use Earbuds Instead
Camera: It Exists
Like the sound, the Fire 7 (2022)’s cameras are simply adequate. It has 2MP front- and rear-facing cameras with 720p HD video recording. They’re functional and good enough for a video call—but otherwise, you should just use your phone.
Everything needs to fall in line to get a half-decent shot with this camera. Too much light makes it appear washed out; not enough light makes it dim. It’s perfectly serviceable and about what you would expect for the price. Still, if you wanted your tablet to have a solid camera, you won’t find it here.
My experiences with the Fire 7 Tablet (2022) were positive overall. It’s a good place to read books or watch videos. As such, it’s still an excellent device for that, and it’s an affordable option for some entertainment while traveling. I just don’t believe you should be using this for your office.
