How much storage do you need in an Amazon Fire Tablet?

Best answer: The simple answer is, no one has ever complained about having too much storage on a tablet. Given how affordable Amazon Fire Tablets are, your best bet is to always go for the largest storage option available.

Which Fire Tablet size should I buy? Bigger is almost always better

The first thing you need to know about buying an Amazon Fire tablet is that the listed storage space is not actually representative of the usable storage space you end up with. Amazon builds its tablets on the Android operating system, which requires a decent chunk of storage for core system functions and Amazon's apps and services. This is worth keeping in mind, especially when considering a tablet that offers 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB options. 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 onto your tablet, 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.

Things get more tricky (and pricier) when you consider the newer Fire HD tablets. The Fire HD 8, which is our pick for the best Amazon Fire Tablet you should buy, is available with 32GB and 64GB, as are the Fire HD 8 Plus and Fire HD 10. 32GB is quite reasonable here. Depending on how you plan to use your tablet and the prevalence of media streaming services these days, you might not even need to opt for the 64GB variant.

Remember that you can expand your Fire Tablet storage with a microSD

Of course, if you decide to save a bit of money and go with the lesser storage for your Fire Tablet, you're not stuck with that amount of storage.

Amazon has always included a microSD slot on its Fire Tablets, which is always a convenient feature that lets you add to your device's storage as needed. MicroSD cards are ideal for loading up your favorite devices with media you've previously downloaded or ripped from your DVD collection without using up all that precious internal storage.

It also helps that there are some great deals on microSD cards for Fire Tablets. Amazon lets you add up to 1TB of storage via microSD for its best tablets, but right now, your best value is probably found with a 128GB card that you can find for as little as $20 these days.

Best valueAmazon Fire 7 Tablet (32GB)

$70 at Amazon$70 at Best Buy

The most affordable Fire tablet

With hands-free Alexa, multiple fun colors, and access to tons of great content, the Fire 7 Tablet is a fun gadget to have around for all ages.

A solid mid-range optionAmazon Fire HD 8 (64GB)

$120 at Amazon$120 at Best Buy

The Goldilocks tablet

The Fire HD 8 makes the right tradeoffs with the screen, storage, and price to earn our recommendation as the Amazon Fire tablet to get.

Go big or go homeAmazon Fire HD 10 (64GB)

$190 at Amazon$190 at Best Buy

Full on fire

The Fire HD 10 is the perfect entertainment device. With its full HD screen and Dolby Atmos stereo speakers, it's like a little TV in your hands!

For the kidsFire 7 Kids Edition (16GB)

$100 at Amazon$100 at Best Buy

Great display with tons of kid-friendly features

Get this one if you have young kids and want to monitor their screen time and usage easily. Also, the included case and warranty will protect the device!