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Amazon Fire Phone
- Thread starter iMi
- Start date
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I don't have one but I would not recommend that you get one. I suggest you look at Samsung, Google (Nexus), Motorola, LG, etc. if you're in the market for an Android smartphone.
As much as I love deals. As much of an Amazon fan I am. (Prime member obviously).
I just couldn't even pull the trigger on the $159 deal 2 days ago. Hard to justify a purchase for that phone.
I guess for a budget good starter phone for someone I could have purchased on. But I would rather buy a $230-250 windows lumia 640-645 phone than the Amazon fire phone.
Are you guys speaking from experience? Have you all tried the device and found it to be poorly executed?
I'm really curious. Everything I've read suggests the failure had less to do with the device itself and more with the botched rollout - pricing being way too high and AT&T exclusivity hurting them badly. They essentially used the Apple playbook from 2007 to play a game in a very different, crowded and competitive smart phone landscape of 2014. It obviously failed to deliver the results they wanted, but does it mean the phone itself is deeply flawed?
The phone is for my wife to hold her over until iPhone 6S comes out (her words, exactly). I may try it after she's done. I've read that the recent update was massive and made the device much better to use. Side loading Google services is always easily accomplished - turning it into a solid performer. I'm really curious to see just what this thing is about.
I'm really curious. Everything I've read suggests the failure had less to do with the device itself and more with the botched rollout - pricing being way too high and AT&T exclusivity hurting them badly. They essentially used the Apple playbook from 2007 to play a game in a very different, crowded and competitive smart phone landscape of 2014. It obviously failed to deliver the results they wanted, but does it mean the phone itself is deeply flawed?
The phone is for my wife to hold her over until iPhone 6S comes out (her words, exactly). I may try it after she's done. I've read that the recent update was massive and made the device much better to use. Side loading Google services is always easily accomplished - turning it into a solid performer. I'm really curious to see just what this thing is about.
I've used one but never bought one.
1) you are locked into Amazons ecosystem
2) stock apps are poor including the basics
3) the GUI is abysmal. They prioritised 'hokey gimmick parallax UI' over real end user experience. Menu system is atrocious, navigating and finding your apps requires far more effort than it ever should
4) It's a dead project - meaning software updates haven't been frequent.
Outside of software - the device itself is blocky and generic.
Fine if your picking up the device as a curio now it's being firesale'd - do so just to see for yourself. But do not expect a great experience - expect a confused middling locked down one and you really won't be disappointed - but you likely will still be underwhelmed. It's a failure for many reasons.
Seriously if it's just to tide you over - you'd be better served with a Moto E or Moto G until iPhone 6s comes out and you likely will have less issues reselling the E, G than you would the Fire Phone
I've had a chance to play with the phone. I actually like it. The Amazon ecosystem is something I'm already tied into as a Prime member and I really like that they now included the option to turn off product suggestions, so the entire device does't feel like a one big store front and you still enjoy Prime video, music (ad free) and unlimited cloud storage for media, etc.
The latest OS update is massive and delivers a vastly improved user experience. At the right price, this is a compelling device.
My uncle had one for 2 weeks, because it was free.
He absolutely hated it. When I used it I thought it was pretty dumb.
We're just as invested in the Amazon ecosystem as others (We watch Prime video, my mom streams with Prime music, and buys and reads books with Kindle) and just having the Amazon apps on a different device is more enjoyable than the Fire phone.
The Fire experience should stay on tablets. If Amazon didn't have the phone so locked on a platform designed to be open (you can't download GPS or unlock the boot loader for custom ROMS) it would be worth it, but the AAS is a joke, the interface uncomfortable, and the "features" not worthwhile.
The phone itself, however, is a nice device.
He absolutely hated it. When I used it I thought it was pretty dumb.
We're just as invested in the Amazon ecosystem as others (We watch Prime video, my mom streams with Prime music, and buys and reads books with Kindle) and just having the Amazon apps on a different device is more enjoyable than the Fire phone.
The Fire experience should stay on tablets. If Amazon didn't have the phone so locked on a platform designed to be open (you can't download GPS or unlock the boot loader for custom ROMS) it would be worth it, but the AAS is a joke, the interface uncomfortable, and the "features" not worthwhile.
The phone itself, however, is a nice device.
I have one as a phone just to play around on or in case my BlackBerry dies on me. The prime deal was just too good to pass on for an okay backup phone. You can now put Cyanogenmod 11 on it, so it's turned into a pretty good device.
For anyone that wants one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Amazon-Fire...ime-Warranty/171855373654?hash=item280360e556
I just purchased it...hey, 1 year of prime + $20 phone....why not? I can put CM on it.
I just purchased it...hey, 1 year of prime + $20 phone....why not? I can put CM on it.
It is tempting because I don't have prime at the minute so it does make the phone cheaper than cheap.
i did the same. For $19, why not. (My year of Prime was set to renew in Oct anyway.)