Amazon today unveiled the next generation of its Fire 7 tablet and Fire 7 Kids Edition, speeding up the devices and adding more storage and features.
The latest version of the Fire 7, the top seller among Amazon’s line of tablets, features a faster processor and 16GB of storage — double the capacity of the previous model — for $50, the same price as the prior generation.
The new Fire 7 includes hands-free activation of Alexa, a feature that was first introduced with the Fire HD 10 in 2017. The virtual assistant can be on and listening for the wake word at all times, and users can activate the digital brain without having to press the tablet home button.
The $100 Fire 7 Kids Edition is a bundle that includes an updated tablet, a year of Amazon FreeTime Unlimited, a kid-proof case, and a 2-year guarantee. FreeTime, which Amazon says is used by more than 10 million families, lets parents load up tablets with age-appropriate books, videos and other content.
Both devices will begin shipping June 6. Amazon last updated Fire 7 almost exactly two years ago. The company has since refreshed the rest of its low-cost tablet lineup, starting with the Fire HD 10 in late 2017 and continuing with the Fire HD 8 last September.
