Amazon officially unveiled its first smartphone this week, the Fire Phone. The new handset is quite remarkable, and includes plenty of unique features designed to make the most of Amazon’s content ecosystem. Let’s take a closer look.
The first thing you’ll notice about the Fire Phone is its glasses-free 3D display, paired with four front-facing cameras that track your face. As you move the Fire Phone in your hand, the interface shifts and tilts in response. Amazon calls it Dynamic Perspective, and it makes for quite an immersive feeling, as you can look around apps as if they were 3D objects. This allows you to access different information in apps based on how you orient the phone, or look around a level in a videogame. It’s a big step away from traditional 3D displays; instead of appearing to come toward you, the Fire Phone’s display feels deeper.
Another Fire Phone exclusive is Firefly mode, which allows you to scan and identify products and media around you using the phone’s rear camera and microphone. This works for anything with a barcode, book covers, plus audible music, TV or movies. Once identified, the phone will show you how to rent or buy them from Amazon. There’s a dedicated Firefly key on the side of the phone, so making Amazon impulse purchases will be more convenient than ever before.
The Fire Phone backs up its unique features with some solid hardware specifications, around the second tier of flagship phones. You’ll find a Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor, 2 GB of RAM, 32 or 64 GB of internal storage, a 4.7-inch 720p display and a 13 megapixel rear-facing camera.
The phone runs Amazon’s Fire OS, which previously appeared on the firm’s Kindle Fire line of tablets. Fire OS is a forked version of Android, with a new user interface designed around Amazon’s content offerings.
The Amazon Fire Phone is an American exclusive for the time being, where it’ll launch on July 25th. We’ll have a range of Fire Phone accessories for the handset regardless, including Fire Phone cases and other items.
What do you think of the Fire Phone? Would you consider buying one when it comes to the UK? Let us know in the comments below or reach us on Twitter @mobilefun.