Battle of the dirt-cheap tablets: Amazon Fire HD 8 vs. Walmart Onn 8
The world's two richest retailers also sell some of the cheapest tablets you can buy. We put their latest 8-inch slates head-to-head to see what a sub-$100 tablet gets you in 2025.
Can they be flashed with Linux?
Please, just don't. At least unless there's a reasonably not shady ROM on XDA that you feel comfortable flashing.
I'm reading this on my 8" Onn right now .. (I normally use a fold but my screen finally failed, and I like having a large screen for reading, be it books, manga/manhwa, or Lemmy). I used to be into flashing a while back but I haven't bothered recently. I agree it's a good idea, but it's low on my current list of stuff I need to get done. (Like moving from Windows to Linux on my main pc).
Edit I do have the Amazon one also, but explaining why I bought the Onn when I already have a Fire HD 8 is just going to make me look worse...
I recently bought cheap refurbished 10" Amazon Fire specifically for web browsing. The author is spot on when he says it's "obnoxious to the point of hostility."
Amazon places a huge "Register now" nag across the launcher that can't be removed without registering, and even the calculator won't work until you do. Wigets aren't supported by Amazon's launcher and it is impossible to load an alternative. There are a host of other deliberate annoyances Amazon has created to make sure the tablet is used for their purpose rather than your own.
It was only $35, but it's not worth even that much. Amazon has truly made enshittification an art form.
Are there dirt cheap versions on amazon (but not made by Amazon) i can use?
Battle of who do you want to give all your usage data to so they spam you with ads?
There's a reason why they're cheap, never used Walmart ones but the Amazon tablets required extra fees just to not be a permanent billboard on the lock screen.
And it’s a piece of shit. The only thing the Amazon fire tablets ever did well was shop Amazon. And I stopped shopping on Amazon years ago. These are a waste of money at any price
Eh, they're pretty good for kids IMO. Put some restrictions on them so they can only use them for a certain amount of time, and they feel happy that they have their own device without monopolizing/breaking your nicer ones.
Old Amazon Kindle was amazing, I read tons of books on it. New Kindle was so clunky to get books on it, set up different accounts, constantly suspicious you were up to something. A totally non-intuitive piece of shit. Amazon design has all the charm of their warehouses.