Develop Bugs

HD 8.9 - Is it worth Rooting & Installing Custom ROM?

I know that question may seem inane at first but the elaboration is, it seems Amazon did some things to make this hard to customize like we love to do and its much riskier than say doing a Galaxy 4 phone. For some of us who just wanna play games on them and the remedial stuff, where we can still get the Google Playstore through secondary channels, why are some of you rooting and messing with it... from what I'v heard, the stock Amazon is pretty "clean" and also having access to their stock software to integrate with your Amazon account to download from their site seems like an advantage. I.e., if you really wanted a PURE Android tab, why not just get like a Lenovo, Acer, Samsung and root that... I am getting the HD 8.9 because its on sale for $180 in hand, and the display seems superior to almost any tab in its price range and class.
Thanks for any illuminating responses.

Having owned one for a year.
No. It gets slower with a custom rom. You're better off getting a Nexus.
I've used it stock, stock+root+Gapps, CM11, LiquidROM, PacmanROM currently.
Now that amazon offers its instant video with the android app, its even better off to go w/ a nexus. You just have to get it to use the Phone version of the app, not the tablet version. (which I did with the current pacman rom.) So, IMO there is no longer any benefit of the HD8.9 over faster/lighter tablets. I am strongly considering putting mine back to stock, and when a trade-in deal comes around trade it in for a Nexus tablet.

ydgmms said:
Having owned one for a year.
No. It gets slower with a custom rom. You're better off getting a Nexus.
I've used it stock, stock+root+Gapps, CM11, LiquidROM, PacmanROM currently.
Now that amazon offers its instant video with the android app, its even better off to go w/ a nexus. You just have to get it to use the Phone version of the app, not the tablet version. (which I did with the current pacman rom.) So, IMO there is no longer any benefit of the HD8.9 over faster/lighter tablets. I am strongly considering putting mine back to stock, and when a trade-in deal comes around trade it in for a Nexus tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply... they used to allow a second hand install of google play but even that doesnt work now and it seems they are forcing a root as the only way to get google play on it, sigh. I guess I will sell the stupid things as used and look for a deal on the nexus or samsung/lenovo/asus.... what a crock. I got it for $180 total which I thought was a decent deal brand new...
What trade in is available for this?

Sometimes stores like Best Buy will accept trade-ins. You'll definately not get the 180$ spent. But it'll ease the purchase price of something else.

ydgmms said:
Sometimes stores like Best Buy will accept trade-ins. You'll definately not get the 180$ spent. But it'll ease the purchase price of something else.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya few months ago I got $100 for an XP laptop a client gave me from like 2002 for trade-in. I thinking I can get more just putting it on ebay for mint condition sale.

Well, if you bought it from Amazon..just return it.
Otherwise, ...good luck.

ydgmms said:
Well, if you bought it from Amazon..just return it.
Otherwise, ...good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Office depot.... :crying:
ebay/CL it is.......

I have the 8.9 rooted and running cm11 with no complaints. I enjoy the freedom of running full Android over the Amazon os. There are really only 2 apps that i havent been able to fully use. One was screen capture software, its always choppy or poor quality. Thats because the hardware isnt enough to run it properly, not an os problem. The other is the new Madden Football game, its very laggy. Again hardware problem, not the os. If the 8.9 is enough for you and Google play is the only thing holding you back, root it and install cm11. Get greenify and it will turn off apps for you keeping it running smooth. There is also an app called lagfix that cleans up the file system. Running lagfix once a month or so seems to keep it clean. In short go for it, if you don't like it flash it back Amazon os and unroot then trade it in.

Shack70 said:
I have the 8.9 rooted and running cm11 with no complaints. I enjoy the freedom of running full Android over the Amazon os. There are really only 2 apps that i havent been able to fully use. One was screen capture software, its always choppy or poor quality. Thats because the hardware isnt enough to run it properly, not an os problem. The other is the new Madden Football game, its very laggy. Again hardware problem, not the os. If the 8.9 is enough for you and Google play is the only thing holding you back, root it and install cm11. Get greenify and it will turn off apps for you keeping it running smooth. There is also an app called lagfix that cleans up the file system. Running lagfix once a month or so seems to keep it clean. In short go for it, if you don't like it flash it back Amazon os and unroot then trade it in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh really? I thought these Kindles were very particular in what they "took." I use CM for my Galaxy S4 and very satisfied with it so I have no problem trying it. I dont play Madden so thats fine (I was a big 2K fan LOL). I am really only looking to play Clash of Clans and some other remedial stuff, nothing too taxing. I guess I'll try that then since I think for the $$$ this screen is boss and the size is just about right too.
One thing, is the screen pretty responsive with CM in it? And is it ok if I ask a followup or two in case something goes out of sorts per your experience?

I play clash on mine all the time. I didn't say it was easy getting CM11 on my Kindle. It's a bit more work that rooting a Samsung phone but there are some good tutorials here on XDA, I used http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2128175. Follow it exactly and you will have no problem. The screen is responsive and works great for everyday use, books, and games like clash. Videos look great too. Feel free to ask me more
Dathaeus said:
Oh really? I thought these Kindles were very particular in what they "took." I use CM for my Galaxy S4 and very satisfied with it so I have no problem trying it. I dont play Madden so thats fine (I was a big 2K fan LOL). I am really only looking to play Clash of Clans and some other remedial stuff, nothing too taxing. I guess I'll try that then since I think for the $$$ this screen is boss and the size is just about right too.
One thing, is the screen pretty responsive with CM in it? And is it ok if I ask a followup or two in case something goes out of sorts per your experience?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I went back to stock because all the custom roms were too slow. Found this on the hdx forum though, pretty much all google apps working without root! Just need one quick adb command and all done... http://forum.xda-developers.com/kindle-fire-hdx/themes-apps/how-to-install-gapps-root-t2954372
Play store wont work, but you can always sideload apps. So far have google+, youtube, maps and newsstand all working without a hitch. Works fine with my chromecast too.

[Q] So who was crazy enough to buy one of these??

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:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
*************************************************************************
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
**************************************************************************************************************
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.
******************************************************************************************
So Amazon finally fixed the registration problem OTA. I can now access my Amazon stuff. Problem solved.

Does the N1 have sleep/wake functionality?

I've just received my new N1 (with Play Store pre-installed!) and have also pre-bought a couple of cases from ebay which both state they are smart cases which have sleep/wake functionality. The problem is that neither cases works having no effect on the tablet at all.
So I'm wondering if the tablet itself actually has this functionality. If it doesn't it will be a real deal breaker for me. I am not going back to endlessly clicking to sleep a tablet, especially the amount of times I use it every day.

I can, in fact, answer my own question here and for anyone else wondering as I've sent out a few emails and have now got the responses.
I can confirm that the N1 DOES NOT have sleep/wake functionality! Astonishing that such a basic rudimentary feature wasn't installed on this tablet. I can also conform that it will not make an audible sound when plugged in to charge to confirm charging is activated/on, you know, like every other contemporary phone or tablet!
If you couple this with the lack SD Card expandability and their idiotic marketing/sales program for this tablet you can only say that Nokia have scored one massive own-goal.
It's so disappointing for a tablet which showed plenty of promise. The only option now looks to wait for Asus Zenpad 8 S with 4gb storage. Now THIS is what Nokia should have been making.

Double tap screen can wakeup.

I believe that it should came native with Android M. So hopefully it will get it.
If you don't mind me asking, where did you buy the n1 that it came with the play store?
Looking for one...
Sent from my z3 compact.

buy from china, it's china version so I do root and install gapps with temporary recovey mode.
Have you rooted your N1?

rubi76 said:
I believe that it should came native with Android M. So hopefully it will get it.
If you don't mind me asking, where did you buy the n1 that it came with the play store?
Looking for one...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bought one of these.... http://www.eglobalcentral.co.uk/nokia-n1-32gb-wifi-silver-en-2.html It comes pre-installed with all standard Google apps inc. Play Store. No need to root etc.
The feature may come native within Android M but if the device doesn't have the requisite hardware (magnet) then surely it just won't work. Such a massive oversight by Nokia.
I must pick up my tablet twenty times a day for both work and social and tbh I'm not going to start endlessly doubling tapping, it's so 2010. I've got used to the 'instant on' experience having owned numerous Samsung phones and tabs and also the MiPad so I'm not going back. I'll wager the Asus ZePad will come with it installed.

GrandMasterPlank said:
Bought one of these.... http://www.eglobalcentral.co.uk/nokia-n1-32gb-wifi-silver-en-2.html It comes pre-installed with all standard Google apps inc. Play Store. No need to root etc.
The feature may come native within Android M but if the device doesn't have the requisite hardware (magnet) then surely it just won't work. Such a massive oversight by Nokia.
I must pick up my tablet twenty times a day for both work and social and tbh I'm not going to start endlessly doubling tapping, it's so 2010. I've got used to the 'instant on' experience having owned numerous Samsung phones and tabs and also the MiPad so I'm not going back. I'll wager the Asus ZePad will come with it installed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This review shows that it has double tap:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTEh-mxOr68
go to about 7:00...

GrandMasterPlank said:
I can, in fact, answer my own question here and for anyone else wondering as I've sent out a few emails and have now got the responses.
I can confirm that the N1 DOES NOT have sleep/wake functionality! Astonishing that such a basic rudimentary feature wasn't installed on this tablet. I can also conform that it will not make an audible sound when plugged in to charge to confirm charging is activated/on, you know, like every other contemporary phone or tablet!
If you couple this with the lack SD Card expandability and their idiotic marketing/sales program for this tablet you can only say that Nokia have scored one massive own-goal.
It's so disappointing for a tablet which showed plenty of promise. The only option now looks to wait for Asus Zenpad 8 S with 4gb storage. Now THIS is what Nokia should have been making.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All you need is a magnet, spare yourself the emails... on the bright side we got a kernel with tap to wake, so im kind of ok with that...

GrandMasterPlank said:
I can, in fact, answer my own question here and for anyone else wondering as I've sent out a few emails and have now got the responses.
I can confirm that the N1 DOES NOT have sleep/wake functionality! Astonishing that such a basic rudimentary feature wasn't installed on this tablet. I can also conform that it will not make an audible sound when plugged in to charge to confirm charging is activated/on, you know, like every other contemporary phone or tablet!
If you couple this with the lack SD Card expandability and their idiotic marketing/sales program for this tablet you can only say that Nokia have scored one massive own-goal.
It's so disappointing for a tablet which showed plenty of promise. The only option now looks to wait for Asus Zenpad 8 S with 4gb storage. Now THIS is what Nokia should have been making.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I purchased the tablet and I confirm it has the double tap functionality.
Amazing tablet by the way!
Sent from my N1 using XDA Free mobile app

Replacement?

After dropping my Nexus 7 the other day, breaking the screen in the process, discovering it would power up just fine but with no touch response and then blatting the thing to death with a large hammer for giggles I now need a new tablet. So, my question is; do I buy another N7, as they're still readily available at a decent price on the high street in the UK, or something else out there that is better? Apart from the pathetically weedy speakers that required ear trumpets to hear, I was pretty happy with the N7. I did hold out a few days for the madebygoogle thing, but the new rumoured small tablet was not proffered unfortunately*, so what next? Price is not an issue. The N7s I can buy new are £99 and £119 for the 16Gb and 32Gb respectively, but if I do go with something different and more expensive my wants would be:
Decent resolution screen 7-10"
Rootable
Loud(er) speakers
Not too heavy
Maybe a chance of some Nougat in the future at some point.
Thoughts, please, thank you...
*at least the prices of the new phones gave me a good laugh to make up for it, though!

Personally, I am very happy with the N7 and wouldn't hesitate to buy another. My entire household uses them too. It's a perfect combination of price, functionality and size. Does everything I need it to, and I do IT for a living.

Well, I bought another one. Having said they were readily available, I've since found out that wasn't quite true. I got the last one in the store and they're no longer on sale where I got it (Argos).
I rooted my last one quite simply back in the day and my PC was running Windows 7, but had hours and hours of frustration trying to do this one on W10, as I couldn't find drivers that would play nicely when debugging was switched on! Got there eventually, though. The old one had been dropped once or twice before its terminal fall and the screen refused to rotate even though the accelerometers were all functioning, so it's good to have one that works readily again.

Nokia 3.1 A and C (from AT&T Prepaid and Cricket) for $89

Seems to be a Walmart Exclusive
https://www.walmart.com/ip/AT-T-PREPAID-Nokia-3-1-A-32GB-Prepaid-Smartphone/726574238
https://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_3_1_a-9736.php
And Cricket
https://www.cricketwireless.com/cell-phones/smartphones/nokia-3-1-C-just-snow-white.html
Looks like a good starter or burner phone. If anybody gets one, discuss here!

I just got one from Target because I still can't afford the phone I want, and my Honor 5x finally died. I got the AT&T version. It cost me $90. It's a turd, but it's a very polished one.
It runs better than I expected, and after spending 20 minutes uninstalling all the boatware and reinstalling my apps, I'm fairly happy with it.
The ability to enable bootloader unlocking is visible, but disabled in the developer settings. I was hoping I would find a workaround here, but I don't think it's possible, which means no root, no TWRP, and no Substratum.
It forces you to use the gesture navigation, but it's the half assed one that retains the back arrow. I'm not thrilled that I can't use the traditional navigation buttons, nor can I move the back arrow to the right side of the screen, where I have become accustomed to having it.
I wish I could disable the carrier label in the status bar.
Hopefully it will get the Android 10 update, but it looks like, even if it does, it's not coming until mid-to-late 2020.
The resolution is pretty terrible, but the screen still looks pretty great in spite of it. Coming from a 1080P screen I can notice the difference, but it is very subtle. Everything looks pretty crisp and clear, and the colors are good.
I've been using it for 2 days now, and I am very impressed with this phone. It isn't capable of taking great picture or higher end gaming, so I still want to get a better phone soon, but I've lived without those options for years already, as the Honor 5x is also a lower end phone, and I paid more than twice as much for it, back when it was released. I'm very happy with what a current sub-$100 phone can do today.
If you don't already have AT&T or Cricket, than you probably don't want one of these unless you want to switch, or you don't currently have a carrier, because they almost definitely are not carrier unlocked. I was already using AT&T Prepaid, so in my emergency I was only considering phones for that service. I'll buy an unlocked phone on eBay at some point in the future. I would definitely recommend this phone, especially if all you use it for us taking, texting, messaging, Facebook, Twitter, etc. It has no problem playing music or video, either.
Update: I'm fairly certain this phone kills SDcards. The one I had been using for years became read-only, but I just figured it was done, because I'd been using it for years. However, I bought a new 256GB card, and the same thing happened within an hour of use. Reformatting fails, as does attempting to repartition the card, using several different utilities. Beware.