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GET REFUND FROM GOOGLE
Google offering a money back offer for people who bought a 16gb nexus 7 before the recent price drop
http://support.google.com/googleplay/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2667427&topic=2453057&ctx=topic
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app
MrZafonic said:
GET REFUND FROM GOOGLE
Google offering a money back offer for people who bought a 16gb nexus 7 before the recent price drop
http://support.google.com/googleplay/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2667427&topic=2453057&ctx=topic
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app
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Thats great news for folks who bought from googleplay, shame i bought mine in dixons :crying:
True. It doesn't count for those who purchased them in a store. I guess that would be the store's policy at that point. If Google offered it to ALL 16gb users who purchased after the deadline, then they could effectively double up on the rebate: Pricematch in the store AND credit from Google.
WHAT ABOUT THE PEOPLE WHO BOUGHT 8GB VERSIONS? Holy hell, it's like we don't exist. I would like something at least from the fact they don't even sell my device anymore.
AFAinHD said:
WHAT ABOUT THE PEOPLE WHO BOUGHT 8GB VERSIONS? Holy hell, it's like we don't exist. I would like something at least from the fact they don't even sell my device anymore.
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+1. Guess we get the shaft. Screen lift and smallest size.
Not sure if pissed or happy because rare due to size not being made anymore. Lol
now i wished i bought my device from GooglePlay. Damn. Got mine from GameStop with tax for 16Gb was USD272.
It's complete BS! I bought my 8Gb from the Play store, but as soon as I heard of the 32Gb I called for an exchange. They denied that model existed or would ever exist and said the can't exchange something they don't sell. Then they couldn't even return mine since I was a couple days out of their return window. I couldn't see paying the extra $50 for another 8Gb, but 4x as much makes a bit more sense. Either way I'm stuck now.
Too bad I bought mine back in August :/
AFAinHD said:
WHAT ABOUT THE PEOPLE WHO BOUGHT 8GB VERSIONS? Holy hell, it's like we don't exist. I would like something at least from the fact they don't even sell my device anymore.
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+1 I was one of the first adopters of the tab, I bought the 8Gb version. I think Google should exchange mine for a 16Gb version. But, I highly doubt they will do this...
Sent from my Transformer Pad TF700T using xda premium
speedygonzo said:
+1 I was one of the first adopters of the tab, I bought the 8Gb version. I think Google should exchange mine for a 16Gb version. But, I highly doubt they will do this...
Sent from my Transformer Pad TF700T using xda premium
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I love google, but I feel stabbed in the back.
Sent from my LG-C729 using xda app-developers app
Got mine from office max Oct 14th shame :'(
talltexan said:
Got mine from office max Oct 14th shame :'(
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Asus is doing something similar directly on their website for UK customers at least...
If you bought your N7 before Oct 30th, they are offering £25 voucher to spend at the Asus store. You just need to register your N7, and they will send an email asking for proof of purchase. Then you'll get the voucher/coupon code later. You can register N7's bought from any authorised retailer. I got mine from PC World :cyclops:
I pre-ordered my 8GB from Google Play and had it RMA'ed once. I think its unreasonable to expect a company to refund on a fully working product that they barely made any money of in the first place, just because they released an updated version months after release.
I can't help but laugh at the people getting pissy. Am I upset that I paid $200 for an 8GB version and then just around the corner they released the 16GB for that much? Yeah. Am I gonna pout and stomp and whine about it? No. Because that's the price of being an early adopter. Now i'm not the type that can just drop money on a new device. You have no idea how many dice I flipped and coins I rolled trying to decide if I should adopt or not. In the end, I ended up getting it even though financially I shouldn't have. But I did, and I early adopted. You should always expect the worse when you adopt early, and then not complain when you get shafted because...well...that's what happens. It's a tough and unfair game. That's life. Suck it up and deal with it like an adult. I can still turn around and sell my N7 for $200 on Craigslist to some guy who has no idea about all of this and not think twice about it. But, I honestly don't use that much memory and I rarely travel so I have no need to store my music and movies on it. I tether it to my phone and there's all my music from amazon and pandora. I watched a movie on it ONCE while I was waiting for my car to be fixed. But that's it. Sad this happened, but I understand that's how the game works. It's not fair and if I had a Google employee in front of me i'd let him know, but I don't so what's the point in crying about it?
matrix0886 said:
I can't help but laugh at the people getting pissy. Am I upset that I paid $200 for an 8GB version and then just around the corner they released the 16GB for that much? Yeah. Am I gonna pout and stomp and whine about it? No. Because that's the price of being an early adopter. Now i'm not the type that can just drop money on a new device. You have no idea how many dice I flipped and coins I rolled trying to decide if I should adopt or not. In the end, I ended up getting it even though financially I shouldn't have. But I did, and I early adopted. You should always expect the worse when you adopt early, and then not complain when you get shafted because...well...that's what happens. It's a tough and unfair game. That's life. Suck it up and deal with it like an adult. I can still turn around and sell my N7 for $200 on Craigslist to some guy who has no idea about all of this and not think twice about it. But, I honestly don't use that much memory and I rarely travel so I have no need to store my music and movies on it. I tether it to my phone and there's all my music from amazon and pandora. I watched a movie on it ONCE while I was waiting for my car to be fixed. But that's it. Sad this happened, but I understand that's how the game works. It's not fair and if I had a Google employee in front of me i'd let him know, but I don't so what's the point in crying about it?
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I disagree. It's perfectly fair for a company to upgrade its products months after they were released. They have absolutely no obligation to refund anything especially as they already are barely making profit and bundled them with Google play credit.
smt8544 said:
I disagree. It's perfectly fair for a company to upgrade its products months after they were released. They have absolutely no obligation to refund anything especially as they already are barely making profit and bundled them with Google play credit.
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I'm just saying if they are offering people who bought a 16GB version something, why is it that us 8GBer's get left behind like we are nothing? We bought a product that isn't even being sold anymore, I just feel like they could give us something. "A sorry you bought the wrong one" letter at least.
Sent from my LG-C729 using xda app-developers app
doesn't matter to me much.. Plus the one my friend bought me over the summer, was long before they even posted that. So I wouldn't even qualify.
That is a great gesture from google. As said above they did not have to offer anyone nothing. I got lucky with Walmart.. I spent some time in the Walmart store a few summers ago working on there automated doors and door locks.. Got to know many people there.. So I took my 16 gb nexus 7 back 24 days after purchase and the manager get me a refund. I then went to Office depot and bought a 32 version...
Im not exchanging this one. I do not need the 3/4 g version. Im going to get a nexus 4 when they come out. My phone is now 3 years old. So this is good timing. I can tether.
I Wish google would offer everyone some kind of deal . But life is not always fair in our own eyes.
Well I got 50 bux back from Amex. I posted my charge, told them the situation and they understood and processed the credit within the next few days. Score!
I am not saying that I am deserving or it was my right to get any funds back, but I figured I'd pose my case and ask. I felt there was not hurting by asking, the worst scenario would be that they would have said no. But they didn't.
Got mine on 7/12/12.
AFAinHD said:
I love google, but I feel stabbed in the back.
Sent from my LG-C729 using xda app-developers app
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Honestly, I can't see why. If you buy a car, and a new engine comes out replacing yours 2 years later, you wouldn't ask for any compensation or feel stabbed. And we all now that technology is a fast market, where things are constantly changing. I don't feel bad at all for having spent 250€ on my 16GB. And, while I think it's nice that Google offers a refund, I don't think that's neccesary for those who bought the tablet (like me) one month before the 32GB came out. We all knew the possibility of a better model being out later, and we decided to spend our money anyway. We have exactly what we paid for. So what could we possibly complain about?
My phone was delivered at 2pm EST but stayed in the box til 6pm. Mine is the 64GB version .As a life long google apps user, I needed to make sure at least a couple of the apps could be sidelined before I decided to unbox. Initial reports seem to indicate several of the google apps can be sidelined so I unboxed 30 minutes ago and set it on a charger.
I haven't turned it on yet. However, side by side, the screen size seems similar to to my Galaxy S3 I am retiring due to a myriad of hardware issues. The Fire Phone is a tad bit narrower and taller, however, and, although people have complained about the weight, the Fire Phone feels much more solid and comfortable in my hand compared to my S3.
The free year of Amazon Prime, for me, easily makes up for some of the phones expensive price. I just bought some land recently and I have been ordering stuff from Amazon at a rate of at least 6 times/month. Prime will be nice going forward.
I'm going to let it sit on the charger a little while longer and report back again. I'm not holding my breath but hopefully we can get this sucker rooted and a real OS installed one of these days. Until then, I'm going to try and make the best of things. I've had Apple, I've had pure Android, it was time for something different and the free year of Prime was enough of a difference to make me give it a go.
Wow, I am not terribly impressed with the UI and I cannot figure out how to activate my free year of Prime. I am not very pleased thus far. Mayday button also isn't working.
I figured out what happened with Amazon Prime. My mother bought the phone for me as a gift. Despite Amazon's "free Prime FAQ" stating:
I have more than one Amazon account, which one is eligible for one year of Prime?
When registering your device, you will be prompted to enter your Amazon account information. We will apply a full year Prime membership to this account.
How long do I have to activate my year of Prime included with my Fire purchase?
Prime is activated immediately upon registering your Amazon account with your Fire device. This means that the first time you set up and use your Fire, Prime will be activated as a result.
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It turns out they activated her year of Prime on the day the phone was ordered. We just logged onto her account and it says she's been a Prime customer since "July 22nd" the same day we ordered the phone. Crock of crap. I think I will be returning it soon if they don't answer us soon. Mayday still isn't working on ATT's network either.
Wow I didn't think any suckers from XDA will actually buy this phone
Sent from my LG-D851
and to top it off, ATT is as screwed up as Amazon.. both my new Amazon phone and my old S3 both ring when someone calls or sends a text message. How the hell can this be? It's a cluster of epic proportions. I never know which one to answer.
Sent it Back
Received yesterday. First issue was could not get the SIM tray out. Was really stuck. FInally after 15 minutes I was able to get it out. Charged up and signed in or should I say registered the device. Then spent couple of hours downloading apps and using the features of the phone. First of all DP is a gimmick. After seeing it it is not really useful. Maybe some of the gamers will like it. Phone would not always move from one screen to another when I would twist my wrist left or right. It is hit or miss. Screen quality was ok and keyboard worked well. Battery life depletes quickly. Turning of DP and some other features slowed down the battery drain. This phone is HEAVY also. After playing with all its features I decided it was not worth the money or time. Maybe gen 2 will be but this was a real disappointment.
My opinion only.
I think they did an o...k job with the phone. They could of did a little better on pricing and followed the Kindle Fire strategy.
The 3D gets me dizzy after awhile. Bad gimmick.
N1ESE said:
and to top it off, ATT is as screwed up as Amazon.. both my new Amazon phone and my old S3 both ring when someone calls or sends a text message. How the hell can this be? It's a cluster of epic proportions. I never know which one to answer.
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Did you order the phone online?? I'd so.. look in the box and read the directions on stopping this.
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
The phone is slowly growing on me. I just got back from a 600 mile road trip and relied heavily on turn-by-turn dircetions with the Amazon maps app. It did a perfect job at the task and bluetooth connectivity in my truck is perfect. Amazon also fixed my issue with Prime while I was on the road. I'll keep it for now and see how things go.
So..... You still liking the phone? May try it due to the fact I want something different.
Sent from my unknown using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
It is a nice phone, check it earlier at at&t, one thing though is the google play store, I'll wait until root has been achieved, for now on I'll stick with my incoming ONE PLUS ONE?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
After having my Fire phone for almost 3 weeks, I am relatively happy with it.
It is a slim phone, watching video on it is a pleasure, music sounds great. If you are an Amazon Prime member, the xray feature on some TV programs which is linked in with IMDB is just way to cool.. I think this way cooler than "Dynamic Perspective," which may be a feature yet to be exploited by apps and technology which are NOT yet in the Amazon appstore.
Amazon Prime Music is being way undersold by Jeff Bezos in promoting his new phone. Why, I do not know!? From the man who wants to sell you everything, this is a big marketing mistake in the world of iphones, itunes, ipods!!!! And for God's sakes, he owns Audible now, he should make that bargain basement now too, while he is playing Monopoly to gain control of absolutely everything fun.
Granted, my phone is more fun since gaining root, that is one reason I bought it, that and one year of extra Prime, the chance to throwaway a locked Samsung Galaxay S3 with crappy Boost mobile service. I never thought it was that great a phone, anyway.
Unlimited cloud storage of photos.
And by the way, Does anyone listen to all the iPhone fanboys complain about horrible battery life on their latest iteration of the iPhone? I thought Apple took care of that early on? All I'm saying, this is the FIRST Amazon phone. You don't have to be a fan, you can still love whatever iteration of iPhone out there (and still be apron-stringed to i-Tunes) or love your favorite Android...
Yes complaints that Amazon wants to sell you a store and not a phone, I ***** about that every time I buy a new PC with bundled so ftware.
To me, an iPhone is more paralyzing than either a Fire phone or generic android, and a Fire phone, rooted, is the best of android devices, but still some annoying features.
I have to agree with you. I work for o2 and I had the device 4 weeks before the realise date for 3 days.
Have to say I loved it, It just oozes pure quality much like, and I hate to say it... iPhone's except the build quality.
When I was using it all I could think of was "this would be amazing with the full play store on".
Now I can see Root access, it may not be a dream.
I have told a lot of people about this phone, me being very surprised.
A little hard to get your head around the OS butas Dilbert says, Its a store with a built in phone.
From an analytic point of view, Amazon have missed the boat on this.
A good 55% of consumers have brand loyalty, 20% follow them, 10-15% have the same but can not afford to have their 1st choice so opt for the closest and probably oldest. The rest take anything.
Now you might get some Kindle users wanting 1 but most would still rather have the iPhone etc,.....
They should target them 10-15% in price but not at £399.99 ($650). If I lost my phone or didn't have the money to get a new HTC or iPhone, Had £400 in my pocket............ I'd go and buy the Moto G2.
If they're planning on making money from their stores, they should focus on that lower the price and let word of mouth do the talking because they have the hardware to back it up.
Great phone, great first attempt.
The Moto 360 was released in September of 2014. We're in almost June of 2015. Am I too late to buy the Moto 360? What I mean by that is: Should I hold out for v2?
Originally, I was on the pre-order list due to my excitement. But I voluntarily left due to some financial challenges that came my way. Now that I have spending money again I'm exploring the possibility of getting the Moto 360.
I should say that I am by no means a professional developer. But I am a huge wrist watch fan. I own several Nixon, Citizen, Fossil, and a Rolex. Will I get the same wow factor out of this watch when I wear it? Will I find it useful in my every day life? Mainly work and family life.
I've also missed some really good deals, including when Radioshack sold them for $100!
Your opinion on this matter would be most appreciated. Thank you.
I think you should wait but then again the prices have dropped for the current version so it just depends on you ultimately...
If you are low on funds, just get the 360.
If you can afford to pay full price and tax for a new one, it'll be worth waiting until at least Google IO to see what releases. Things have changed now that the potential new 360 might have just passed BT certification.
I got mine a few weeks ago, and it looks and functions very well. Should you wait for the second gen? A wise man might wait for a release date on the second gen, then buy the first gen in time to return it if you really want the second. Reviews might be out by then too, which might help you decide.
Will it wow you? I have never worn a watch for more than two days in my life. Now I never leave home without it. For that reason alone I say it might. If it can turn me into a watch wearer, it's a solid product.
I never try and justify my purchases; if the product blows then it blows. The Moto 360 is good kit. As always, YMMV.
Both. .
At this point its worth waiting, which is what I decided to do.
I like that idea actually. Buy the first gen and try it out, if I don't like it I can return it (within the terms of return) for a refund and put it towards the second gen. Thank you!
erikiksaz said:
If you are low on funds, just get the 360.
If you can afford to pay full price and tax for a new one, it'll be worth waiting until at least Google IO to see what releases. Things have changed now that the potential new 360 might have just passed BT certification.
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Good Idea, wait and see what gets announce at Google IO. Thanks!
TheLastNameR said:
The Moto 360 was released in September of 2014.
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Get the first gen at the best discount you can get it. Value for money is even better for a first gen at $130 or so versus a second gen at $250+. But you may want to wait to see if the 5.1 update with Wi-Fi and always-on screen still allows one full day of battery life (which I kind of doubt). If the new features are almost unusable due to battery drain, you may want to wait for the second gen. If the new update also comes with battery life improvements from Motorola then I suspect the first gen will be again in high demand
Like Steve Jobs once said: "it's the software, stupid !"
I just got one yesterday, with clubcard boost. If you want it now, get it. I don't get this hanging around malarchy, there's always new tech around the corner.
I would check to see if there are any Radio shacks in the second wave of closing - I picked up my 360 for $125, and they just received a few more that day (no idea why a closing store is receiving expensive product, but......). For full price, it was iffy. For close to $100, it was a no brainer...
I would wait for v2. Mine was already two times in repair because of the cracked back so unfortunatley I will have to sell it and wait for new 360.
Cst79 said:
Get the first gen at the best discount you can get it. Value for money is even better for a first gen at $130 or so versus a second gen at $250+. But you may want to wait to see if the 5.1 update with Wi-Fi and always-on screen still allows one full day of battery life (which I kind of doubt). If the new features are almost unusable due to battery drain, you may want to wait for the second gen. If the new update also comes with battery life improvements from Motorola then I suspect the first gen will be again in high demand
Like Steve Jobs once said: "it's the software, stupid !"
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Where did you manage to find it at 130$?
Thanks
I'd wait. I picked mine up a month ago. I love it, wear it everyday, but I wish I would have held off. Watch + screen protector + BB insurance = cost of 2nd gen.. Kinda depends if your budget.
Sent from my HTC6535LVW using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
I grabbed one 4 days ago. You can easily find them at $179 and occasionally at $130. At that reduced price it's ok to grab one now IMO. v2 may or maynot come out soon but this is a capable watch that has shown to hold up well.
If you get it from Amazon you'll have 30 days to decide if it's right for you.
mcampos7 said:
I'd wait. I picked mine up a month ago. I love it, wear it everyday, but I wish I would have held off. Watch + screen protector + BB insurance = cost of 2nd gen.. Kinda depends if your budget.
Sent from my HTC6535LVW using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
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apples to oranges?
cost of v2 + screen protector + BB insurance = way more than what you spent
Kinda curious how you know the cost of v2 anyhow share
Just remember, the v2 will be running the same Android Wear software as the current Moto360. I'm sure the new device will be faster, have a better screen, and a better battery life. But I doubt it'll change your life any more than the current 360 would. I got a great deal on mine at roughly $100, and for that it's great. For $100 it's worth it to me just to be able to stream music to my BT headphones when I'm jogging. But otherwise I consider Android Wear a little awkward. The Google Now notifications are pretty poorly managed, "tilt to wake" doesn't work well enough, the whole user experience of Android Wear is poor, and I'm constantly nervous about using features that will drain the battery. If I bought this thing at full price then I'd be disappointed with it, but at $100 it's a fun toy. I believe it's still the best looking smart watch on the market, so I enjoy wearing it.
I wanted to buy even with the imminent v2. The $150 price at Best Buy helped me make my decision as was the ability to get it with the Cognac strap.
wait google io
Moto 360... $135.00!!
Best Buy has $100 off Moto 360 making the leather strap version $149.99 and the steel one $199.99. Add to this the USPS "movers" coupon (free at the post office with no registration required!) and you can pick up the leather for $135 or the steel for $180!
That would be me!! lol. Amazon made me an offer I couldn't refuse -$159- I got the free year of prime- I paid for it last year by accident and ended up getting a lot of use out of it, so this made it easy. And the phone was $60 (after putting $99 towards prime), and I opened an amazon CC which gave me $40 in an instant credit- so this phone was $20 in the end!! plus taxes of course.
Before I pulled the trigger I looked to XDA to see where development was for this phone- and it looks like it is picking up and starting to move- so I will be getting this new fire phone tomorrow!!! I have to confess I have been using an iphone 5s (JB of course!) for the last year and a half and have been missing the challenge of rooting, romming, and making the best out of the hardware that is lacking due to poor software.
My plan is to put on the latest update and add google play market- leave it unrooted for now and see how it goes. But I am keeping my eye on beta CM11 and seeing how far it goes with CM 13 possibly in the future!!
@ggow- you seem to be very ambitious with this phone!!!! You are doing some great work and I am following your development closely :good::highfive:. I have never used safestrap before, but I may just have to give it a whirl. You make it very tempting
Why was I interested in this Fire Phone??? I bought a kindle 7 hdx last year and hacked that to run google market and it turned out to be a pretty great tablet that I also got a great deal on. It has the fire OS running along side google market with a great launcher running to swap back and forth. So kindle, instant videos, amazon music, and all the google apps too. It's specs were very close to the ipad mini and was a third of the cost. I gave it to my daughter to use in NYC running on att and she has had no complaints with how I modded it. And she is not very techy! :silly:
I am getting a little bored with my 5s and wanted a bigger screen- I passed on the 6+ since we are no longer getting subsidies and $850 for a phone seems ridiculous!! I don't know if 0.7 inches will make much of a difference, but for $20, I just had to find out
I have a Fire Stick TV also and I want to see how they work together. Very excited to receive this phone tomorrow.
Even after all the horrible reviews I read and watched on you tube!! Hopefully these modifications developed here will make it great!
Geez!!!! 75 views and no comments? Come on people- loosen up and let me know if you love your fire phone or hate it or Hate me cause I got it so cheap:silly: Please share your experiences with your Fire Phone. By now it's a year old, but still looks like a great phone for $60. I am basically a really cheap bargain hunter and wait for things to go on sale. This was really a good one.
Share what you did to make it a great phone! Would love to benefit from your experiences.:highfive: Do you love the Fire OS? Do you love the Market? Or CM11? Please share And I thank you in advance:good:
Great phone for the money. If throw yourself into the Amazon ecosystem the fire OS works quite well but I think only Jeff Bezos has done that so far. I'm using it with a custom launcher at the moment but when cm11 is final I might adopt it.
sashusmom said:
Geez!!!! 75 views and no comments? Come on people- loosen up and let me know if you love your fire phone or hate it or Hate me cause I got it so cheap:silly: Please share your experiences with your Fire Phone. By now it's a year old, but still looks like a great phone for $60. I am basically a really cheap bargain hunter and wait for things to go on sale. This was really a good one.
Share what you did to make it a great phone! Would love to benefit from your experiences.:highfive: Do you love the Fire OS? Do you love the Market? Or CM11? Please share And I thank you in advance:good:
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Since you asked:
The hardware is incredible for the price. The antutu benchmark puts it slightly faster than a galaxy s5. However, the bells and whistles (extra cameras, 3D, etc) are irrelevant at best. -- The os is terrible. It works well enough but is far behind other smart phones' os. Also, Amazon's wish to completely control your "experience" gets in the way of good hardware. If you root and then add gapps and the google now launcher, the phone is better to use, but still feels wrong, especially when certain apps can only be added through amazon's app store. -- Finally, I'm still irked by the locked bootloader. It was at this stage I put it in the drawer to use as an emergency backup - or maybe a "mini-gamer" for kids.
Then came ggow and his work to bring CM11 to the phone. Thanks to him, I now use it as my daily driver. I have added Xposed Framework with a few modules, all my favorite apps, and the phone is great! The only annoyance is that there are very infrequent random google play services stops which quickly correct themselves leaving a msg that needs to be swiped away. This is no big deal and ggow might have this fixed by the time you read this. Ggow also mentioned bypassing lollipop (CM12) and looking to "M" for his next major upgrade. How this will happen with a locked bootloader I don't know, but all praise to the person who brought my firephone backed to life.
Enjoy your firephone.
I bought the Fire Phone 6 months ago (I think, don't remember), when it was $189 (and a year of Prime). Having a phone with those specs at $90 was a great deal and hard to refuse. Bought it, got it, and the first day of using it I was amused with how different it was from stock Android. I had a Nexus 5, which got stolen, and I wandered with a low-end phone until I bought the Fire Phone. The Fire Phone couldn't be more different from the Nexus 5, software-wise. I saw the lock screen, toyed with it and thought: "Wow, it moves depending on where I look it from, nice!" (my first lock screen was the one with the time made from the stars and the moon with below it) but also "Did Amazon really need 4 cameras just for that? It might drain my battery" and "Which real-world use could I give to this feature?"
Yes, it was nice to see how things moved thanks to the Dynamic Perspective feature, at least at first; then, like all novelties, my attention to it faded and eventually I disabled it. Having my battery drained wasn't worth for a feature I wasn't paying attention to and which the only real-world use I could think of was showing it to some friend to surprise them a for a little time. And because this phone doesn't have a removable battery, I couldn't afford to lose it for some gimmicky feature.
Then I saw the Carousel, which is the home screen where the most recent apps are shown, with the notifications below it. They were affected by the Dynamic Perspective too. I hated that dotted pattern they used for the Carousel, and then I tried to change it for, say, whatever picture this phone could've come with.
I went to Settings, and was surprised to see, first, that that annoying dotted pattern was there too, and then that there wasn't a way to change the wallpaper. I thought "Come on, it's 2015, every OS in the friggin' world has a way to change the wallpaper. It's the most basic form of customization. Even Apple (which I don't hate), with all that walled garden feeling, allows you to change the wallpaper." But Amazon's FireOS didn't (I haven't ever seen a Kindle Fire tablet). My phone shipped with version 3.6.8, and we had to wait until May to see such a basic feature with the upgrade to 4.6.1. I got annoyed by that, but there was nothing I could to about it.
I checked the pre-loaded games, which make heavy use of the same Dynamic Perspective. I half-liked the Planet Blocks game and played it for a while. After that, I forgot I had it and remained hidden.
Then I went to the Appstore to see what was new. I knew the Appstore didn't have any Google app, and understood it. Amazon had an equivalent to every Google app and, even though I didn't like how they looked, they got the job done, and that was what mattered. Downloading and installing was what I was used to, and updating was a breeze.
But I guess I missed some apps that weren't on the Appstore and was lazy to not sideload all of them. I needed to see good ol' Google on this phone, so I went to XDA and checked if there was a way to sideload Google Play Services. After all, underneath all the Amazon skin and no traces of Google, FireOS was Android at the heart (3.6.8 was based on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, which was pretty outdated even then). There was a way to install Google Play Services, and there was a way to root the phone too, but only if you were brave (and foolish) enough to downgrade to 3.5.1 (it was a bad idea, because if you did that, there would be problems with the Amazon account registration and also some nasty overheating issue). So, I stayed with just installing Google Play Services. It went smoothly and finally got Google. With the Play Store I'd be able to download and install SwiftKey and maybe Google Now Launcher or Nova Launcher.
I got no luck with SwiftKey. It installed, but then you couldn't use it unless you activated it via ADB. After that, got SwiftKey. And about launchers, they worked, except for widgets (which weren't supported in FireOS) and the wallpaper (there was a way to change the wallpaper in Nova; you could choose the image, but it never worked; you had to like the black background because it was the only option). I checked other launchers, some supported widgets (not all widgets, but some) and some found a way to change the wallpaper. I stuck with Buzz Launcher, which made the phone look and work most similar to Android.
I hoped Amazon would sometime hear what users here at XDA (and everywhere else) had to say. The Fire Phone was a great piece of hardware, but its software was a bummer. People were trying to google it but all you could do was sideload Google Play Services. The bootloader was locked (and still is), and the Towelroot method for rooting didn't work for 3.6.8, so downgrading was the next stage for googling up the device. I remember seeing some guys here at XDA offering some money to the first person to unlock the bootloader, and some people sending a letter to Jeff Bezos himself to unlock it and then also a Change.org petition, taking the example of the HP TouchPad tablet (it saw new life after HP unlocked its bootloader, after which people flashed Android instead of the built-in webOS, becoming the second-most selling tablet of 2011). It never happened.
Then it was the question if the phone would ever receive a FireOS 4 update (based on Android 4.4 KitKat), given its lackluster sales. It finally happened on May, and came with very necessary changes to help customize the phone.
This new version would eventually be rooted via Kingroot, which is a very shady-looking app for rooting. It worked, and then there was a way to change it for SuperSU, a more reliable root app. With all the long wait, knowing a developer found a way to flash a ROM even with the locked bootloader was a relief. I flashed it as fast as I could. Now I'm using Cyanogenmod 11 and it's great (no trace of Amazon). It's still beta (the developer uploaded the first build just 4 days ago), but it works pretty well right now, and it'll only get better.
Now we can use a phone that has a great price and good specs with a great OS to match. To the people out there wondering if the phone is worth the price (right now it went back to $449 and comes with a year of Amazon Prime, with $99 alone, so the phone's real price is $350), no, it's not, you could get a OnePlus One at that price (which comes with Cyanogen OS), or a Moto X, or a Xiaomi Mi4, or many other great phones below $350 (and then if, and only if, you want Amazon Prime you can subscribe). When it gets a big discount, which happens from time to time (last one was this week and the price went down to $159), it gets more attractive (especially if you were going to subscribe to Amazon Prime). The phone has many gimmicky features which are really useless, uses an OS that is difficult to adapt to, and is overpriced most of the time (no wonder Amazon failed to sell it at launch at $199 with AT&T contact, or later at $649 unlocked, or now at $449), but may be a great deal when bought at discount (this week the real price of the phone was $60, and at that price you cannot get any smartphone off-contract) and if you're willing to tinker with the phone and flash a ROM (Cyanogenmod 11 is the only one right now, but might be more in the future), it makes a pretty good phone.
A quad-core Snapdragon 800 CPU, with Adreno 330 GPU and 2GB of RAM, a 13MP rear camera and 2.1MP front camera, 1080p recording, 32GB of built-in storage and now the ability to flash Cyanogenmod 11 for just $60? I'd buy it.
Wow!! Great responses guys. I thank you for taking the time to offer your opinions and I really look forward to receiving my Fire phone
Got my Fire phone!!
I really like the screen- overall size of the phone is not really bigger than my 5s but the screen real estate is a little bigger. It's not so lite that you will drop it or so thin you will drop it either. When I use my 5s bare, I have a hard time hanging onto it. It's in a wallet case that I can get a good grab onto. I like a little heft to it and it does feel good in your hand.
I have the incipio folio case on this fire phone that I got for $10 from ATT online store. That was a really good deal. Also did a screen saver just because I like them and the protection from minute scratches they provide.
So, on my Amazon account it was registered to me and the free prime was added on. When I went to set up the phone it requires you to register again to your account and I got all errors that it couldn't be done at this time, blah blah blah. I researched it and apparently this was a big problem at launch too.
So I updated it to the latest of 4.6.1 (820) and tried again, same deal. It just wouldn't register. So I de-registered it on my computer, and tried again on the phone, no go. You can't use the phone without it being asso. with an amazon acct- no apps at all are usable, even the preinstalled ones. So I chatted online, they couldn't help me and wanted to have their Fire Team support call me back- but I couldn't at that time so I will deal with it tomorrow. I'll have to search this forum and see if there's any info about it.
In the meantime I got the google apps working so now I at least have a pretty good list of apps, but no amazon services working yet. I still have to add a sim card and check the basic call functions- since it is a phone.
The benefit of picking up a phone that is a year old is you guys have already tackled the tough parts of rooting, modding, roms, etc. I checked out this forum before purchasing and was pleasantly surprised that you just made the break through just this week for CM. I may have to check that out! I have the att Mega and that poor orphan phone is so crippled most guys just walked away. I Love it for it's 6 inch screen size. The iphone 6+ was in my thoughts but can't justify that price tag. My mega was a penny when we still did subsidies.
I thank you all for your perseverance and hard work and your stick-to-it-ive-ness:good: This could actually be a decent phone with all the modifications. I am hoping I can leave it as is and swap between the Fire OS and the Nova launcher. Hopefully I'll get it registered correctly tomorrow. It's nice getting back into android after apple. I like them both- but I do get bored.
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So even though it is 3 am here, I just got off the phone with fire phone support and I was told it was a system wide outage and there are many people having this problem. They will get back to me!! I won't hold my breath here
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Talked again to amazon and I am "on the list" to have this registration fubar sorted out. She took additional info- my mac address on the phone specifically, and supposedly this will be fixed OTA magically. We'll see.
I do have a working sim in and phone calls work fine. I have issue with the tinny sounding speakers that are suppose to be stereo- Sounds terrible- especially with music clips ringtones. Pandora sounds bad too. I did read the reviews about the sound and it appears to be true.
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So Amazon finally fixed the registration problem OTA. I can now access my Amazon stuff. Problem solved.