Why You Can Trust CNET Why you should wait to buy Amazon's new Fire HD 8 tablets
There's a lot to like about these new models, but patience will save you money.
Amazon's newest Fire HD 8 models add more storage and USB-C, among other features.
Amazon continues to make small but worthwhile improvements to the Fire Tablet lineup. Today, for example, the company announced two new Fire HD 8 models, adding a faster processor, more storage and USB-C to the mix. In fact, the Fire HD 8 Plus also supports wireless charging, a rarity among modern tablets .
Although you can preorder the new Fire HD 8 now, and even save $20 if you preorder two, I recommend waiting. Why? Because Amazon devices go on sale all the time. Let's go to the history books.
Specifically, the previous-generation Fire HD 8 with 16GB of storage had a list price of $94.99. (Incidentally, the new model starts at $89.99, but with 32GB.) As you can see in the following chart from price-tracker Camelcamelcamel, the tablet was discounted seven times in the past six months:
The previous Fire HD 8 was routinely discounted; the new models will be too.
You can find similar data for nearly every Amazon device: Echo smart speakers, Kindle e-readers and so on. The Echo Dot, for example, lists for $49.99, but routinely drops to $29.99.
So it's not a question of if the new Fire HD 8 will go on sale, it's a question of when. The tablet is due to ship on June 3, a couple weeks before Father's Day. Will Amazon offer a discount sometime within that window? My guess is yes, almost certainly.
Meanwhile, Amazon Prime Day historically takes place in July, always bringing some of the biggest Amazon-device discounts of the year. What form Prime Day will take this year, or if it will even happen at all, remains to be seen.
If you can be patient, then, don't order a new Fire HD 8 just yet. I'm definitely excited about some of the new features, but I'm willing to wait for a sale.
Your thoughts?
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