I have a 2013 Nexus 7, and we just got the $50 Fire for the kids while it was on sale. The Nexus 7, even for the "2013", is still a perfectly credible Android tablet, with "full HD". The $50 Fire is 720P, so the display is noticeably worse, but, that probably actually helps with its performance. Otherwise, that $50 Fire is really only slightly slower than the Nexus 7. I even played some MinecraftPE on the Fire, and it was just fine. I didn't have an FPS meter but it was at least 20-30. (I wouldn't be surprised for battery reasons that the game is capped at 30 anyhow. Given the nature of the game and the input I can't tell if the FPS is going much higher on any of those two devices or my last-year's Moto X, the most powerful Android device I own; not enough action.)
It may not meet a techy's high-end needs, but the $50 is perfectly credible now. Not like a $50 tablet two years ago, which was slow, had an immediately-noticeably-crappy touchscreen, and was latent in everything it did. I suspect Amazon's still subsidizing it a bit even at that price, but probably not that much. Those SoCs are really pushing things along. (Pity they're so proprietary.)
It may not meet a techy's high-end needs, but the $50 is perfectly credible now. Not like a $50 tablet two years ago, which was slow, had an immediately-noticeably-crappy touchscreen, and was latent in everything it did. I suspect Amazon's still subsidizing it a bit even at that price, but probably not that much. Those SoCs are really pushing things along. (Pity they're so proprietary.)