Useful, durable, reasonably priced Tablet 7 inch comfortably at night - special gift for mum's Fire amazon (black) 34.99 P

 Deal Price: £34.99 & FREE Delivery in the UK.

I have been using my Fire tablet for a couple of months now and really like it. Whilst many of the features can be found on any android tablet, there are some features specific to the Fire that are really nifty.
I love the blue shade feature; I don't know whether it significantly reduces the amount of blue light or not but I have found that reading using the blue shade doesn't hurt my eyes as much as reading a "normal" backlit screen and I felt a bit happier reading a bedtime story to my son using the kindle app on the Fire last night (when he decided that none of his book were good enough and he "must" have a Paw Patrol story.)
Another useful feature with children is the "Fire for Kids" app which allows children to look at age appropriate content without accidentally opening other apps such as accidentally sending emails or bidding for things on eBay.
I do like the "on deck" function which automatically downloads video content (as long as you have enough storage) that can be watched offline for times when you're at a loose end with no internet. If you have set up different accounts, Amazon will choose age appropriate content, e.g. it downloaded "Bosch" on my account but "Just Add Magic" for my daughter's account.
I have tried the "word runner" function on the Kindle app where you keep your eyes focused on the same place on the screen and the tablet will "run" the words in front of your eyes; it's quite fun but I'm not sure it is better than reading as you normally would.
I don't think that the screen is quite as crisp as other tablets and I prefer watching programmes on my other tablet (although I prefer reading book on my Fire) although this is reflected in the price of the Fire.
I have the 8Gb version of the Fire and loaded a 32Gb microSD card (which cost around £10) and so far, haven't had any issues with storage space and can get most things to download to the microSD card. I have been able to connect my bluetooth keyboard to the Fire to type documents quickly. I have also been able to connect a USB stick and read files from the USB stick on the Fire, although this requires an OTG USB to microUSB adapter.
I have found the Fire to be very durable. My son accidentally knocked it down the stairs a few weeks ago with no dents or damage (admittedly it was in a good quality case). The same could not be said for my phone which completely smashed when knocked off the kitchen worktop onto the floor (also in a case).
I like the Amazon appstore, in particular Amazon underground, although you can also download these apps onto android tablets so don't necessarily need a Fire tablet to access these stores.
I have read some reviews that talk about the lack of Google Play store and thus not being able to download certain apps. I have found that I have been able to download all the apps I need. If you go to "settings" on the Fire and then into "security", you can click the box that says "allow installation of applications that are not from Appstore." You can then download the "apk" file directly onto the Fire tablet, although be careful in downloading files from less than reputable sources.

Overall, this is a useful, durable, reasonably priced, day-to-day tablet and I have been using it a lot at work and at home. I bought the Fire when it was on offer last month; at this price it was definitely a bargain. At the current price, there may be other tablets that are comparable.
By Customer Amazon on 14 Mar. 2017