I did my best to watch the CNET live feed coverage of today’s Amazon.com Inc. (NasdaqGS: AMZN) Fire Phone launch. I looked at the device with an open mind and have come to some early conclusions.
First the “cool factor.”
Yes, it’s cool. If I wanted a phone to show off to friends and coworkers the novelty of the 3D screen is certainly worth two or three discussions showing off the phone. It is kind of liken when I bought the first iPad as an early adopter. The first time I took it to an airport I had several people come up to me to see it. That lasted for about two days. Then everyone in the world had one. That old iPad sits at the bottom of my home office desk drawer. I should pull it out and charge it again sometime.
The operating system is a blended version of Android. I have only one Kindle Fire. I got the very first Kindle Fire very early. Again – I ordered it almost immediately. I liked the idea of something smaller than the bulky original iPad. I never really liked the operating system on it. I found it to be lacking. This we still use. My wife uses it to read to my sons. While it is a bit bulky, we have never found the urge to replace it. We have since bought the iPad Mini and the latest iPad, but she still uses the original Fire to read from. I think they designed it right for use as a reader. I found it boring as it originally had very few apps, and a lacking app store. I guess that has changed, but I really don’t want to have to use the Amazon App Store exclusively for the Fire Phone.
Starting with a smaller size is probably a mistake. I would never buy a phone the size of an iPhone 5. I long ago left iPhones behind originally due to the tiny screen. I found it annoying.
The price is fair.
Would I buy one?
Not this original version. I just upgraded from the Galaxy S3 to the Galaxy S5 a couple of months ago. Timing is bad. Also, as a Mac user I might have made the switchover to the larger iPhone, but going to Amazon’s eco system is not really that appealing.
I do want to see one in person. I will make final judgement when I walk into an ATT store and try it out. Right now, I would not make the switch.