Is Amazon's £50 Fire Tablet the retail giant's best deal EVER?

Amazon Fire Tablet, which carries a price tag of just £50, ships with a redesigned FireOS

AMAZON is preparing to launch a new bargain tablet in the UK for LESS than £50.

 

The tech giant has confirmed the £49.99 tablet, with seven-inch IPS display, a quad-core processor, front and rear-facing cameras and a microSD slot for up to 128GB of expandable storage, will go on sale later this month.

The budget gadget is also twice as durable as an Apple iPad Air in "tumble tests" and has a seven-hour battery life, Amazon has claimed.

 

As with previous Fire Tablets, the Amazon-branded gadget will ship with the latest version of the US retail giant's Android-based operating system, FireOS.

Dubbed Bellini – the latest update ditches the carousel App Switcher in favour of a clear grid of apps, sorted into categories.

The new Fire Tablet also comes with all the latest features and functionality from the Amazon ecosystem.

 

FireOS Bellini has a cleaner, modern look – and ditches the infernal app carousel

The online firm is particularly proud of its new On Deck feature, which intelligently downloads TV shows and movies in the background for Prime customers.

Amazon says On Deck will only use the available storage on your tablet – and will clear any automatic downloads if it looks like you need the storage.

If it works as well as Amazon claims it does, the On Deck feature should ensure you never board a flight without the next episode of your new favourite TV show ready to watch.

Despite its budget price-tag, the Fire Tablet comes with Mayday Screen Sharing – which lets an Amazon expert guide you remotely through any feature on your screen, available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Express.co.uk Technology Editor, David Snelling went hands on with the Amazon Fire Tablet this week –

"The Fire Tablet is a real bargain.

If you're looking for a budget tablet, this is now the one to beat

David Snelling, Technology Editor

"Despite having a price tag similar to the firm's Kindle eReaders, the new Fire sports a colourful seven-inch IPS display.

"Its surprisingly sharp and has great viewing angles when compared to other bargain-bucket tablets.

"FireOS feels fast and responsive and should be able to cope with most users' needs.

"Whether it will be able to take the strain of some bulkier productivity apps remains to be seen.
 

The display is surprisingly bright, colourful and has good viewing angles (especially for the price)

"Amazon's new Fire Tablet feels robust and well-built, but far from premium.

"Its also smaller than you'd think with a footprint not much larger than a phablet.

"Still, if you are looking for a budget tablet, this is now the one to beat.

"Just be warned – as with all Amazon hardware, Prime Subscribers and Amazon aficionados will get much more bang for their buck."

• The Fire Tablet comes on sale on Amazon UK for £49.99 on September 30th.
• Dixons, John Lewis, Argos and Tesco will also stock the Fire Tablet later this month.