# Amazon Fire Phone ?



## kahoolawe

Any love for the Fire Phone? I just got mine a couple weeks ago, and I’m in love.
I’m a TMobile customer so I had to wait for the unlocked versions, of course. I wasn’t about to go to AT&T.
And Amazon just had the Fire Phone for $179.00 so I pounced on it.
I love everything about it. I’m so glad I grabbed one.
My wife loves her iPhone but I’m not an Apple fan myself.
So I’ve been going back/forth with Windows phones, and other Android devices. 
I finally found my “iphone” if you will, in the Fire Phone.
Perfect match for me, since I’m already a Paperwhite, Kire HD 8.9 owner.


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## Ann in Arlington

I thought it looked intriguing . . . but it came out too late for me. . . . . I was well past due for a new phone so got a Razr Maxx . . . . probably about 6 months before the Fire phone was released.  I just couldn't wait any more . . . . . and we're with Verizon, so . . . . .


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## booklover888

I've had mine for seven months now, and I am extremely happy. It's certainly the best phone I've ever had. Before this one I was using a Windows phone, and before that, older touch screen Android phones. All of them were no contract phones, as is my Fire phone. I pay $25 a month for my no contract service. (Well sometimes I add $5 for a little bit of data). (I'll never understand why the average person needs 24/7 data on their phones.) The Fire phone is awesome, and the camera on it is fantastic!



kahoolawe said:


> Any love for the Fire Phone? I just got mine a couple weeks ago, and I'm in love.
> I'm a TMobile customer so I had to wait for the unlocked versions, of course. I wasn't about to go to AT&T.
> And Amazon just had the Fire Phone for $179.00 so I pounced on it.
> I love everything about it. I'm so glad I grabbed one.
> My wife loves her iPhone but I'm not an Apple fan myself.
> So I've been going back/forth with Windows phones, and other Android devices.
> I finally found my "iphone" if you will, in the Fire Phone.
> Perfect match for me, since I'm already a Paperwhite, Kire HD 8.9 owner.


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## Ann in Arlington

booklover888 said:


> I'll never understand why the average person needs 24/7 data on their phones.


Well, of course, a lot of folks use their 'phones' for much more than just voice communication.  So I get the desire to be able to go to the web anytime. That said, what boggles my mind is the people who pay for a boatload of data and most months use but a small fraction of it. THOSE folks need to re-evaluate what they're paying for!  OR the ones who bought a contract for the minimum and go over every month because they don't pay attention to what they're really using the phone for. That's just silly. 

We have, between my son and me, 3 GB data a month. It was 2 GB but we were able to increase it to 3 for no charge some months back when they adjusted the plans available. Most months we use near the 2 -- mostly my son, if I'm honest, as his music is in the cloud and when he's driving, of course, he's not in wifi range -- but there are some months we go over that, so it's nice to have the extra just in case. We both set our phones to use WiFi for web stuff if there's a network available, so that helps us avoid going over the limit. And we get a text alert if we're close, with a reminder of when the limit resets.

Of course, there are some months where we use almost none -- yeah, it'd be nice to be able to save that up for later, but, at this time, I'm not willing to switch carriers to be able to do that. It doesn't happen very often anyway. 

I confess I also don't get the attraction of watching movies on such a small screen . . . . but apparently there are people who do that, as well!  And, of course, that's going to eat up a data allowance as well.


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## kahoolawe

I have one GB of data, as does my wife. I seldom get close to hitting it. I don't watch movies on my phone either. I have a giant TV for that. Bam!!!


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## Gertie Kindle

I've had mine for several months and I love it. Mostly. 

I had an IPhone for a while and I can tell you that their calendar is far superior. Maybe I'm missing something here, but I could put several reminders on my IPhone for the same event such as one day before and one hour before. With the Fire phone, I can only put one reminder and then it's not even a sound notification. I don't use the calendar at all. 

I think I need to call Mayday and get the lowdown.


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## SeymourKopath

2 questions about the Fire Phone that I couldn't find answered on the Amazon product page:

1) Is the phone's battery user-servicable (can we easily replace the battery)?
2) Can I add an SD card (or microSD card) for additional storage?


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## Toby

1. Don't know. 2. Nope.
I bit on the no contract Fire Phone a few months ago, when Amazon had the deal a few months ago. I saw the deal on Amazon's site very late at night. It was the $200 for the phone & a year of Prime. I was going to have to pay for Prime at that time in 2 months anyway, so it was like paying $100 for the phone & paying for Prime eRly, but wouldn't start until my year was up anyway. I debated with myself. I wasn't getting it to use as a phone. My main reason was I listen to a lot of Podcasts & my battery on my iPhone 5 is going down, so wanted to make the battery last as long as I could, which I'm still using. I wanted to use the Fire Phone for that & also to see if I liked using an "Android" phone. I do like the Fire Phone, but I like the way the Podcasts show up on my iPhone better, plus some podcasts are not available on my Fire Phone. The bad -  the battery on my Fire phone does not last long whether I am using it or not. I do like that I can listen to my audible books, read my books - scroll or not to scroll up or down,etc. I love the alerts that Amazon sends me when My packages have shipped on the front screen. That's so cool. I never set alerts before & I don't remember setting alerts now, but who knows, maybe I did on this phone. No matter. I would say that it's a fun phone. 
I use T-Moble unlimited service, but lately I've been getting the message saying that I have used up the high speed, so using my iPhone will use a lower speed, so it will be slower. I only read when out using the cell. When I listen to podcasts, it's using my wifi. Never my cell. The podcasts stops if I should lose my wifi signal.


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## Gertie Kindle

The main reason I got the Fire phone is compatible reading/listening apps. Except for the IPhone, I've had very bad experiences trying to read or listen. I had to frequently shut down the phone and repower up to be able to do those two basic functions. Now, with the Fire phone, I don't have any problem reading/listening at all. Love it for that alone.


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## murphybillings

The Amazon Fire Phone was one of the biggest smartphone flops in recent memory but today, if you really want to, you can get an unlocked version of the Fire Phon.The smartphone market is more crowded and competitive than any hardware market that Amazon has entered into before.


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## Ann in Arlington

Actually, as far as I can tell, the main thing they're promoting right now is that it _is_ 'unlocked'. And it's got good reviews. So it's not like the people who got it mostly thought it was a bad device, just that a lot of the tech writers and talking heads didn't think it was super-duper-wonderful-next-best-thing-to-sliced-bread. So it was widely ignored by the public. 

And, yeah, there's a ton more competition! They got into eReaders when the only other option, really, was Sony -- and their product had more features for a better price. People didn't already HAVE eReaders, so there were a TON of prospective customers. And of course, the Zon started as a book store, so they had a lot of customers already who were readers.

With tablets they focused, again, on features, ease of use, and price; so they weren't the first with a breakthrough device, but they were competitive with the things that mattered to people. Because they'd let it be known they were working on a tablet, many of their customers held off going with another type to see what they came up with. So, again, a big customer loyal customer base to sell to. And they absolutely marketed it right!

With the phone, the price wasn't much better than most others available, and the 'special' features weren't, it turns out, things that made people go 'wow', as they'd hoped. And by the time they entered the market, a lot of their captive audience, already _had_ a smartphone, maybe already with another network or OS. Let's face it, iPhone people really really don't want to switch, for the most part.  And, despite what the commercials might have you believe, people really don't jump networks every few months to follow the best deal. Mostly they want to stick with the network they have, just because it's easier; so they won't automatically jump to another just to get a particular phone. (I know a lot of folks on Verizon or other networks who wanted iPhones, but not badly enough to switch networks just to get one -- they waited until they became available on those networks.) So, when the Fire phone first came out but ONLY for ATT -- well, you have just closed the door to a big chunk of that built in customer base.  As I say, I was in the market for a new phone when I first heard rumblings . . . and very interested in an Amazon product as I'd always been completely satisfied with quality and customer service. But . . . I'm with Verizon and had no reason/desire to switch.  Even now the unlocked ones don't work on Verizon or Sprint.


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## cinisajoy

On the data, I have straight talk and my son has straight talk.  
I use mine for looking stuff up.  He uses his for music and who knows what else.  He has a tendency to run out of data.  I tend not too.


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## kahoolawe

Still in love with mine!!! Glad I got it!!!


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## Chad Winters

I bought two for my older parents whose old phones were no longer up to snuff. Got them for $159 each and two years of Prime for me. Most economical present ever and they loved them. And when they can't figure something out they can use Mayday and not call me!!


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## Andra

I bought a Fire phone to play with when they were $159.  The price was too good to pass up because of the year of Prime.  It's more of a small Amazon media consumption device than a phone for me because the SIM for my Nexus 5 is larger and I am not planning to retire my Nexus any time soon.
It has some neat features and I am starting to get used to twisting my wrist to make things happen.  I think it would be less intimidating than a stock Android for someone going to a smart phone for the first time because it's more locked down like an Apple.  If the price drops again, I will probably get one for my mom.


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## booklover888

I bought one at the $159 price, wish I'd bought 2. (Mine was $199!) I love the phone! I am giving the 2nd one to my kid (he's almost 16). If they run the sale that low again, I'll get another (I have more kids LOL)

By the way - FYI - those of you with teens, tell them never ever to use a pattern unlock thing on their phones. (I don't know if the Fire phone has it). My older son did it a year or so ago, now my younger son has done it. Both of them got locked out and required their phones to be factory reset. The younger boy is out of town so hopefully when he gets home I can fix it. So aggravating!  The younger boy is getting the new Fire phone anyway, but still! Argghhh!


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## Ann in Arlington

booklover888 said:


> I bought one at the $159 price, wish I'd bought 2. (Mine was $199!) I love the phone! I am giving the 2nd one to my kid (he's almost 16). If they run the sale that low again, I'll get another (I have more kids LOL)
> 
> By the way - FYI - those of you with teens, tell them never ever to use a pattern unlock thing on their phones. (I don't know if the Fire phone has it). My older son did it a year or so ago, now my younger son has done it. Both of them got locked out and required their phones to be factory reset. The younger boy is out of town so hopefully when he gets home I can fix it. So aggravating! The younger boy is getting the new Fire phone anyway, but still! Argghhh!


I'm not sure why a pattern lock would be any more problematic than any other kind of lock?

It is probably good to have something . . . I mean, a determined person could get in regardless, I expect, but it keeps random 'friends' from doing stupid stuff with your phone. And if it's lost it's probably at least sorta secure until you get a chance to have them brick it.


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## booklover888

When you input the wrong pattern too many times, it then gets messed up. With the current situation, it is asking to log into the Google account, but none of our google account credentials will go in. (I can't remember if that was the exact issue with the other phone or not, but it was caused by the same thing. Different brand of phone, too).


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## Ann in Arlington

booklover888 said:


> When you input the wrong pattern too many times, it then gets messed up. With the current situation, it is asking to log into the Google account, but none of our google account credentials will go in. (I can't remember if that was the exact issue with the other phone or not, but it was caused by the same thing. Different brand of phone, too).


ah! I have a text lock . . . it gives me 10 tries. Not sure what would happen if I couldn't do it by then . . . haven't ever tested it out!


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## Andra

The pattern locks can get weird if anything happens to the screen.  I tried it on my first Android phone and had to turn it off because the one spot in the lower left of the screen didn't register correctly after the phone got older.


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## kahoolawe

I love it. Used my wife's iphone a few times. Yuck. Not for me. Glad I have the Fire phone.


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## Eltanin Publishing

I just bought a refurb 32GB Fire Phone on eBay. I had realized my Prime membership was up for renewal next week, and I thought, "Aren't there some things you can buy that come with a year of Prime?" And so I googled the phone. It's from a 3rd party seller on eBay and is refurb, but said it comes with a year of Prime. It was $120, so basically $20 for the phone. I also got on a chat with Amazon CS and said the phone would probably arrive shortly after my Prime renewed, so could I bump back the renewal date a month, which is worth $8.33, so I got the phone for $11.77. I have AT&T prepaid service, which I believe will work fine on the Fire Phone. On my current phone, I have no data plan, which I plan on sticking with.


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## Eltanin Publishing

Well that didn't work out well... I bought a Fire Phone on eBay that said it came with a year of Prime. This seller's reviews as well as other online comments on blogs and such showed that buyers WERE getting the free year of Prime when they registered the phone to their account. Apparently Amazon stopped giving the year of Prime for these "factory refurbished" phones shortly before my phone arrived. The eBay seller changed the listing to say it didn't come with Prime, but that doesn't help me. I did two different chats with Amazon CS and they wouldn't budge. So now I have to take it up with the eBay seller. I am somewhat sympathetic to him, though, because people WERE getting a year of Prime with those phones, and then suddenly Amazon stops giving it. And I was unlucky to fall in the brief window after Amazon stopped giving Prime, and before the seller realized this and changed his eBay listing.

I really feel this is Amazon's fault. The Fire phone was a flop and they had thousands of unsold units. So they sold them to a third-party seller to offload them, and stopped selling them on Amazon.com. The phones were a good deal when they came with Prime. This eBay seller's merchandise just lost $100 in value per unit - and he's sold thousands of them. I hope for his sake he doesn't have too many more to sell, because he's going to get far less for them.

On the up side, I do like the phone. :/


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## booklover888

Oh, no, that is terrible. I bought one from ebay over the summer with Prime. I think mine was listed as NEW though, not refurb (and it was, in fact, new). If your phone was listed as factory refurb, that could be why they won't give you Prime.


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## Eltanin Publishing

Well mine certainly looks new. It was in Amazon "frustration-free" packaging, a brown box (not the fancier black box I've seen pictures of), with everything a new one comes with. I just had extremely bad luck, because it seems Amazon stopped giving Prime for these phones (this seller has sold thousands of them - he must be the main third-party seller that Amazon dumped it's unsold inventory on) on Sept 30th - the day I bought mine. So the seller didn't know yet, and the listing still said it came with Prime. The company sent out this email. We'll see what happens. I started 3 different chats with Amazon CS and the first two, they just said no - you have to buy from Amazon or AT&T to get the year of Prime (which hadn't been true - plenty of people bought these phones off eBay and got the year). The last chat, though, they immediately said Amazon CS would email me in a day or two with regards to this situation. So we'll see. I do like the phone, though, and don't want to return it.



> Dear Customer
> As of Sep 30th, Amazon has pulled the plugged on Prime on device sold by vendors other than AT&T or Amazon. This promotion is still on the Amazon and AT&T website, and is not limited to any period of time, or to sales done by AT&T or Amazon, however despite our efforts to convey this matter to Amazon, they have been uncooperative. This has really grieved and disappointed us as we have sold thousands of these phones without this problem, and our shoppers have not only saved over 50% compared to what Amazon has tried to sell this device for, but as well have successfully activated prime membership with their devices. Amazon done this with no notice to anyone and sadly this was not foreseeable or expected and is an issue beyond our control.
> We have started a petition to urge Amazon to honor the prime membership promotion. We would greatly appreciate if you would take a moment to review our petition and if you agree with it we'd greatly appreciate if you'd consider signing the petition.
> https://www.change.org/p/amazon-com-amazon-jeff-bezos-stop-amazon-from-refusing-to-provide-prime-service-with-the-fire-phones?recruiter=396123112&utm_source=share_for_starters&utm_medium=copyLink
> 
> We care about our clients and we would like to extend a resolution to help with regards to your order. We are offering the following options to remedy the situation:
> 1. You keep the item and we will offer a 20% discount on your purchase
> 2. You may return the device for a full refund, and we will issue you a prepaid return label to return the device prepaid for a full refund.
> 3. If you opened a request and would like the partial refund please close your return request and email us through eBay. Please be patient with as we work with our shoppers individually to ensure we address all your individual concerns.
> We sincerely hope that you accept our apologies, and we hope that you will allow us an opportunity to attain your satisfaction.
> 
> Edgar
> Customer Support Specialist


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## booklover888

I just looked at the seller's feedback, and of course he has gotten slammed over this. So sad. I am angry Amazon did this with no warning, after dumping the unsold stock on these resellers. They should have been notified. When a company buys 20,000 of an item, they know how to contact them! I hope Amazon will rectify this. Let us know what they say to you.

I guess I should have bought another one....too late now. We have three in the house, and we love them!


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## Eltanin Publishing

CS via chat now quickly says that the Fire Phone CS reps have to handle it and they don't do chat, so they want you to call. When I did, I just got a firm statement that the eBay seller had no right to offer the year of Prime. They claimed only a few people did sneak through and get the year, but the CS rep said those people were contacted and the year was revoked, which isn't true. And it was THOUSANDS of people. I did ask the chat rep if I could get my Prime membership extended, for the hassle, and he said yes and gave me a month, so... maybe I should do that a few more times... I don't know. I do also feel bad for the seller. His whole eBay reputation is now trashed simply because Amazon changed their policy suddenly.


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