The Amazon Fire HD 8, a budget tablet, is somehow better for video calling than the iPad Pro, a slate designed for professionals.
The new Amazon Fire HD 8 is a budget tablet designed as a lightweight and portable entertainment machine – it’s a little curious then, that it has one small but useful feature you won’t find on any iPad or Samsung tablet you can buy, not even the top-end iPad Pros.
This feature is the placement of the front-facing camera – something so minor it’s hard to even call it a ‘feature’ – but the implications of this move are pretty big when it comes to video calling, something many people do daily on their smartphone, tablet or laptop.
Simply put, the Amazon Fire HD 8’s front-facing camera is above the display when holding the tablet landscape, the orientation you typically use for video chats, but when holding any other tablet this way (including the iPad Pro, which is my go-to slate), it’s to the side.
Does this sound like an incredibly tiny feature that barely makes a difference in the way you use your tablet? Maybe, but hear me out.
Video chatting is impersonal, and not only because you’re not talking face-to-face – when you’re on an online call, you’re looking at your screen to see who’s talking, and this means you’re not looking at the camera.
