I tried Amazon’s new budget Fire tablet and can’t believe three big changes they’ve made

The latest device refresh comes to the dinky Fire 7, in what is the 12th version to be released now.

And as ever, there are small but noticeable changes.

The first big difference we can't go without mentioning is off the spec sheet... price.

And sadly, it's not a decrease.

The device now comes in at £59.99 - which is up by £10 compared to the last version, which isn't too bad.

With everyone tightening their belts at the moment, a price increase is not ideal though - in Amazon's defence this is still way cheaper than anything else out there for what you get.

So how does the Fire 7 (2022) hold up?

Tough stuff, rough stuff

The look and feel of the Fire 7 really hasn't changed much.

A simple black plastic body with a huge border around the screen doesn't ooze beauty, but has gone down in size.

It's thinner than before too, while remaining sturdy and durable.

There's a denim or rose option if black isn't your thing.

Mean screen

The display is pretty small at 7-inches, but what did you expect, it says so on the tin.

To my delight, it is pretty bright but don't expect high resolution.

This is just an SD screen - given the size of it, it does the job for browsing apps, watching stuff and reading books.

Content wise, you can get pretty much everything you'd expect to see on any Android tablet (remember, this is Amazon's 'Fire OS' which is built around Android 11).

Except some big name apps are missing - YouTube being one of them, at least an official app anyway.

As before, the Fire tablets are best if you're already a Prime subscriber, with things like Prime Video pushed heavily.

And don't forget voice assistant Alexa - arguably one of the best around - is built-in too.

The good thing is, Amazon are pretty solid when it comes to providing software updates years after release, meaning you won't be forced to buy a new one anytime soon.

Performance

One of the other big changes Amazon has made is in terms of performance.

There's a new chip and more RAM than before, which should make things faster.

Well, don't expect to be flying through loads of apps at the same time.

Performance is functional for general needs but this is not something you would use for big games - and there aren't any big hitters to download anyway, not even Fortnite.

Responsiveness when you touch and slide about is also a bit on the slower side.

Ch-ch-chargers

The final big difference with the all-new Fire 7 tablet is that it now uses a modern USB-C port, like just about everything else these days, meaning it's one less wire to pack on your next holiday.

You can recharge the device from zero to 100% within about four hours, which isn't speedy but isn't to be sniffed at either.

The Sun says: The Fire 7 is proof that you don't need to splash the cash to own a tablet.

Yes, it's gone up a little in price and it's nowhere near as fancy as an iPad - but an iPad would cost you so much more.