Amazon Fire Tablet: Which storage size should I buy?

Which Fire Tablet storage size should I buy?

The first thing you need to know about buying an Amazon Fire tablet (or any modern mobile gadget, for that matter!) is that the listed (or advertised) storage capacity is not actually representative of the usable storage space you'll end up with. Amazon's tablets use a version of the Android operating system, which itself requires a decent chunk of storage for core system functions, as well as for all of Amazon's apps and services that come preinstalled on these devices. 

Now, you can look at your options, especially when considering a tablet that offers 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB storage sizes. That low-end 16GB tablet will, in actuality, only give you about 12GB of usable storage. Depending on your plans for downloading games, movies, and other media, you're probably going to want as much storage as possible.

The Fire 7 tablet comes in 16GB and 32GB variants, so spending an extra $20 to double the storage size is a no-brainer. It's also worth pointing out that Amazon recently updated its line of kid-friendly Amazon Fire devices. While the previous 16GB Fire 7 Kids Edition may have offered enough storage for your tiny tech wizard, Amazon now offers the Fire HD 10 Kids and Fire HD 10 Kids Pro tablets, both of which double the storage space to 32GB.

Things get trickier (and pricier) when you consider the newer Fire HD tablets. The latest Fire HD 8 model, which is still our pick for the best Amazon Fire Tablet on the market right now, is available in 32GB and 64GB options, as are the Fire HD 8 Plus, Fire HD 10, and Fire HD 10 Plus. The 32GB size is quite a reasonable choice here, and depending on how you plan to use the tablet and the prevalence of media streaming services these days, you might not even need to opt for the 64GB variant.

Then there's the recently launched Fire Max 11, which comes in 64GB and 128GB storage sizes, with the latter being the largest storage size that's ever been offered in a Fire tablet. Apart from the usual things like media consumption, the Fire Max 11 is also intended for productivity-centric workflows. Even then, the 64GB option is going to be more than sufficient for everyone's needs.

Expand your Fire Tablet's storage with a microSD card

Of course, if you do decide to save a bit of money and go with the lesser storage size for your new Fire Tablet, the good thing is that you won't be stuck with that amount of storage.

Amazon has always included a microSD slot on its Fire Tablets and the latest models are no exception, so you can always expand their storage capacity as needed. This can come in handy if you plan on loading up media you've previously downloaded or ripped from your DVD collection on these devices, without using up their internal storage.

It also helps that there are some great deals on microSD cards for Fire Tablets, so you can add an up to an astounding 1TB of storage to these tablets. That being said, the best value option is probably going to be a 128GB microSD card, as you can get one for under $20 these days.