Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I can confirm for Google Service users that it was super easy and quick to add Google services, Google play, Gmail, Youtube, and other Google features to this phone without rooting. This was actually my biggest concern when buying the unlocked phone. But it was easy, stable and I couldn't find anything missing when I was done. Sadly other things caused me to return the phones. Phone users are primarily Apple iOS and Google Android devices. With a far distant 3rd being Microsoft Windows Phone OS. Being a heavily integrated Google account user even before the iPhone came out, even the iPhone handles my Google needs just fine. So I figured the Fire Phone would as well. Please do not simply mark my review as unhelpful because I gave it 1 star. Let me know in the comments if you have any questions about my needs. If all you need is a phone to check your email, take photos and a few other things; then the cheap promo discount is possibly a great way for you to get high end hardware to do basic things. Financially this phone is a failure. And after trying to love the phone, I can see why. It simply does not compete well with other phones in it's non-promo MSRP price range. But even with the huge discount, I felt like it wasn't as good as our Galaxy S2 and S3 overall. I bought two Fire Phones Unlocked to use with T-Mobile 4G, which works great. One phone was to replace my wife's Samsung Galaxy S2. She likes that phone. But after so many OS upgrades and newer apps, the phone is really slowing down. Time for an upgrade. My phone is the Galaxy S3. Runs fine still, but with the Fire Phone on a steep discount, I thought an upgrade would be nice too. My wife's experience: Current Phone is Galaxy S2 (previous Apple iPhone using Google apps) Primary uses: • Phone and Gmail Contacts • Google Gmail and Calendar • Facebook and facebook messenger • Music on device and several cloud services like Google Play and Amazon Prime • Taking pictures and video • Google Map • Google Docs and Sheets Pretty general uses and she could probably get away with no Google Docs and Sheets. My experience: Current phone is Galaxy S3 (previously Apple iPhone using Google apps) Primary uses: • All Google services and work Exchange with Office 365 • Phone and Gmail Contacts • Google Gmail and Calendar • Google Map, Navigation, Docs and Sheets • Facebook and facebook messenger • Music on device and several cloud services like Google Play and Amazon Prime • Taking pictures and video • Flashlight • Youtube • Teamviewer remote control And much more. I use my phone for home and business. And I use it for just about everything the phone can possibly do. Here are the combined Pros and Cons. I will start with cons. Cons: • Terribly interface. The carousel view is very different than any other phone. Different is fine if it is good. That has been proven for decades. But this view is better on larger screens and in landscape view like the Kindle Fire tablets. And it is better at media consumption. Again, great for the Kindle Fire tablets. Terrible on a phone. And really only works with Amazon Appstore apps. Otherwise Google Play apps show up using low res icons and none of the extension features for Appstore apps. • Poor flash / poor flashlight - Seems like a nitpick. But compared to the S2 and S3, the flash LED is very green toned and not nearly as bright or as wide angle. Poor coverage. For flash photos and a flashlight, it is a huge step down from the much older Galaxy S2 and S3. *Poor camera app - Burst shot is picky and no way to force it. Low light photos are not as good as I expected from marketing. Very few options for taking photos. You basically have HDR on/off and burst. Sunlight shots were fine, as is the case with just about any camera. I didn't think the low light photos were all that impressive compared to the already good cameras on the S2 and S3. • Camera's physical shutter button is on the wrong side for me as a right-handed person. I tend to hold the phone in my right hand. So I rotate my phone counter-clockwise for taking photos. But that puts this button on the bottom of the phone. • Camera lens is too close to the edge. I don't have large hands or fingers. And I don't have issues with my fingers in the lens on other phones. But I have to take special care to hold the phone in an unstable way to take photos clearly. • Dynamic Perspective is a total joke feature. I really tried to like this feature. But when it comes down to it, the phone reacting to the angle of the phone to my face is simply annoying and not useful. I don't want to think about how I am holding the phone in order to see different things and do different things on the phone. So I disabled that. • Edge detection for the touchscreen is poorly done. It is difficult to pull the left panel. Right is too easy to grab and so I pull the right panel often when trying to move the carousel view. Annoying. • Slide up from bottom edge to move "back" in the interface, is an annoying replacement for having a back button on the phone. Pros: • Promo deals for this unlocked phone is the biggest reason I tried this phone as it's a great price for high end processing power. Sadly I would rather pay more and get a phone that works better. • Excellent stereo speakers. Some of the best sounding speakers I have heard on a phone. • Firefly - This is actually a really nice feature and works well. But I wish it wasn't tied to the physical shutter button. • Fast processor. Typical of similar high end hardware. Phone boots very fast. Apps are quick to load and smooth to use. • Screen is clear and color looks good. Typical for this type of phone. But lower res than others in the MSRP range of this phone. Not low resolution though. Plenty of resolution and looks great. Overall, the Fire Phone has great stereo speakers and so watching movies and listening to music is great even without headphones. Other than that, the Fire Phone doesn't excel at much else. Even at the low promo prices without a contract, if you don't need much from a phone; then there are even cheaper options out there that excel at being simple and familiar. Fire OS might be fine for the TV and Kindle readers, but even with adding the Google services to the OS, the interface is still not ideal for a phone. Amazon should focus on their apps and maybe an Android launcher. But they need to use stock Android and work on making the Amazon Prime experience better. How can Amazon make the Amazon Prime experience better? How about devices and apps that actually let you easily find and browse Prime content that you are already paying for! I also have the Fire TV stick. And the apps are no better. But so often is it showing me content that is NOT included with Amazon Prime. They need to add a way to filter and only show Prime content.