Amazon's All-New Fire 7 And Fire 7 Kids Edition Tablets: Faster CPUs, Doubled Storage, Same Price

Amazon's Fire line of tablets have always been a popular staple for looking for a cost-effective way to consume videos, read books, play games and surf the internet. At the bottom of the range has been the Fire 7 family which today is getting a major overhaul.

The Fire 7 is all-new and comes with a new, faster 1.3GHz quad-core processor (with 1GB of RAM) and twice the storage of its predecessor. That means that base configurations now include 16GB of internal storage, and you can pay $20 more to get 32GB (previous versions came with either 8GB or 16GB of internal storage). If the internal storage is not enough for your needs, there's a microSD slot that will let you add up to 512GB of internal storage.

Those are the major changes for the tablet, which still comes with a 7-inch IPS display that features a rather lackluster resolution of 1024x600. The plastic housing is still built to withstand abuse, and Amazon claims that it is twice as durable as the aluminum-clad iPad mini. As for battery life, the new Fire 7 is rated for up to 7 hours of reading, browsing the web and watching movies. There are front- and rear-facing cameras, and the device comes with onboard dual-band Wi-Fi. Speaking of Wi-Fi, the Fire 7 supports hands-free Alexa when it's on a wireless connection.

For those that need an even more robust tablet that can stand up to constant abuse from children, there's an all-new Fire 7 Kids Edition that is only available in a 16GB configuration. It comes already ensconced in durable case that allows the tablet to sit up in stand mode. The Fire 7 Kids Edition also comes with a 2-year worry free warranty just in case your kids manage to somehow destroy it. Its features are otherwise identical to the standard Fire 7.

The new Fire 7 is available now for pre-order and will ship on June 6. It's priced from $49.99 and comes in Black, Sage, Plum and Twilight Blue. Amazon is also throwing in a $10 digital credit (can be applied towards games, apps, movies, etc.) if you pre-order before June 6th. The Fire 7 Kids Edition is priced at $99.99 (also shipping on June 6) and comes with a free year of Amazon FreeTime Unlimited; you can also purchase two for a total price of $149.99. The Fire 7 Kids Edition is available in blue, pink and purple.