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Reports of alarmingly low sales for the Amazon Fire Phone weren’t all that surprising, though Amazon has never been interested in entertaining those reports. Whether that’s due to a policy to not comment on speculation or them being embarrassed about the phone’s performance is up in the air, but the company seems to have conceded defeat with their latest move: putting the Fire Phone up for $200 unlocked.
We’re not sure if this is a permanent price tag or just a promotion for the holidays, but it’s telling either way. It’s not often you see a phone going for $450 less than its off-contract price mere months after availability, even if it is for a big holiday sales promotion or some other special occasion.
When rumors of Amazon’s first phone were still just rumors it was exciting to think about what one of the world’s largest online retailers could offer. After all, their Amazon Kindle Fire line isn’t half bad for the price, and the world is always looking for unique and new options. But once the phone launched we saw the device for what it really is — an overwhelmingly shallow phone with underwhelming gimmicks. It was overpriced, to boot, coming in at $650 unlocked (or $200 on-contract with AT&T).
To be fair, this is still a very good deal if you consider everything it comes with. The biggest takeaway is the fact that Amazon is still giving away a full year of Amazon Prime with the purchase of the phone. A year’s subscription of Prime normally costs $100, so that effectively gives you a $100 phone. With a 2.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 chipset, a 4.7-inch HD display, a 13 megapixel camera and 32GB of internal storage we’d say that’s plenty of high-powered silicon for your dollars.
Despite all that goodness, though, not everyone feels the Fire Phone is up to scratch. Our Amazon Fire Phone review discusses many of the reasons why this device doesn’t charm the pants off of anyone like most Amazon products seem to, so be sure to take a look at that if you’re wondering what it has to offer.
Still, for $200 it could be a very decent smartphone for you or a loved one if you’re in dire need of an upgrade, though we would be just as quick to opt for an unlocked Moto G 2014. Here’s the phone on Amazon’s website if you’re interested.
When it gets down to $25 it might be interesting to be able to firefly tv shows and use it as a backup remote control lol.
Not really. Too ugly. And as for fireflying, you can do that from the Amazon app on your nice phone.
So there’s no way to get stock on this thing right?
Bah calm down, they also discounted other things. It is called a sale, you know with the whole Black Friday deals week, this is hardly a surprise. This still makes for a worthwhile option as if you already have Amazon Prime it comes with a full year so the phone is effectively $100.
LOL. Have you followed anything about the Fire Phone in the last month? The phone is a poorly conceived, poorly executed flop.
Black Friday is the culmination and result of everything that is wrong with corporations and America in regards to economics. Trampling other people and sometimes assaulting or killing people over products that are on sale is beyond sad and terrible.
They’re own statements close to a month ago confirmed failure to sell units.
The price is even more shocking considering that it includes a year of Prime, a $99 value. I’ve never been impressed with the idea of bundling that though. For people who already pay for Prime it’s very “meh”. Presumably they would extend the existing subscription by a year, but still, why complicate the transaction like that?
Maybe if it were the bootloader that was unlocked…
My son wanted this phone until he found out there’s no Google Play store. If they opened it to the Play store they would rid themselves of these things right quick.
To get the Google Play store they have to put all of Google’s other apps on it. If they do that, it’s not really an Amazon phone any more.
This is a good deal, but at $150 or $175 this would be a GREAT deal! Seeing that it comes with a year subscription to Prime
If I hadn’t bought my Moto 360 I’d get it, but I need compatibility. Maybe I’ll pick it up for my sister, at $100, why not.
But will it root?
No, it’ll break.
Is there anyway to get Google Play and put this on a Go plan?
Or I could just get the Amazon app on my phone and have like the same thing w/better specs + g apps