Bumping up the rear camera from 2 megapixels to 5 megapixels makes a noticeable difference, but you’re still not going to be taking great photos on the Fire 8 HD+, nor do I imagine most people would want to. Speakers weren’t one of the features Amazon explicitly singled out as having been upgraded, but they got very loud without distortion or fuzziness, they just lacked depth on the low end. Other hardware upgrades are helpful, but not exactly revolutionary. The USB-C port, power button, and volume button on the Fire 8 HD+. How important these docks will be to people actually purchasing a new tablet remains to be seen, but clearly, Amazon is on to something here. Google’s new Pixel Tablet, launching in 2023, will come with a dock that turns it into a Nest Hub, and Apple is rumored to be building a dock of its own for future iPads that could do something similar. The final interesting thing about Show Mode is how it's fast becoming a must-have tablet feature. Amazon’s been rolling out both features on hardware where it makes sense, and like more RAM, it goes a long way to make the Fire 8 HD+ feel more modern and more convenient to use. Show Mode was first introduced in 2018 on the Fire 8 HD and Fire 10 HD tablets, but both wireless charging and USB-C are new to the Fire 8 HD+. The Fire 8 HD+ also doesn’t have far-field microphones like a standalone Echo speaker/display does, so you might have trouble triggering Alexa from across the house, but I got it to work pretty consistently as long as I was in the same room. Smart display graphics were slower to load and switch between responses on the Fire 8 HD+ in comparison to one of Amazon’s dedicated smart displays, though that could have as much to do with the quality of my internet connection as the speed of the tablet’s processor. It’s super handy to have another Echo Show without having to buy a whole other device, and a Fire tablet is inherently more mobile too - you could easily carry it from room to room, with docks in each room. Show Mode works best in the wireless charging dock you can buy bundled with the Fire 8 HD+ (for $169.98 versus the usual $119.99) but I was able to achieve the same effect with a long USB-C charging cable and the Fire 8 HD+ case. With the Fire 8 HD+ connected to power and propped up in a case or on a stand, Show Mode displays the usual graphical accompaniments to any question or command you can lob at Alexa without having to buy an additional device. Where the Fire 8 HD+ comes up short as a versatile tablet that can replace most laptop tasks, it makes up with unique Amazon ideas, like Show Mode, which lets you turn your tablet into a smart display like the Echo Show 15.
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