Amazon's Fire HD 8 tablet is back at its Black Friday price

SAVE 50%: Amazon’s Fire HD 8 tablet is a solid budget tablet if you already use other Amazon services. As of Jan. 21, it’s on sale for $44.99 — that’s 50% off its regular price of $89.99.

If you’re in the market for a new tablet, the iPad is not your only option. If you already use other Amazon services, Amazon’s Fire HD 8 tablet might be a good budget pick for you — and it’s on sale.

The Fire HD 8 has an eight-inch screen (it’s about the size of an iPad mini) and supports Amazon’s Appstore. (It does not support Google Play or Apple’s App Store.) Performance-wise, it’s not a star, and it doesn’t play well with third-party apps, according to Mashable tech reporter Alex Perry. But if you frequently stream content on Amazon Prime Video or read books on Kindle, it’ll likely give you what you need.

Conveniently, you can use this tablet hands-free with Alexa. Even while it’s asleep, the tablet will recognize voice instructions. Plus, Amazon Kids (which comes with any Fire tablet) provides parental controls, in the event you lend your child the tablet to keep them occupied. And at $44.99, the stakes are significantly lower if they smear jam on it.

Only the ad-supported, 32GB version of the Fire HD 8 tablet is 50% off, but there are great discounts available on other versions of the tablet as well.