Amazon Unlocks Fire Phone & Slashes Price

[WT Sharpe]

I cancelled. Even at that ridiculously insane low price, I just couldn't justify to myself and to my budget a device which I didn't need and which, if I used it as a phone, would cost more to maintain than my present phone. Damn you, Reality. Sometimes you're just no fun at all.

[BelleZora]

I ordered the Fire phone on the first day of this thread (Thanks, Tubemonkey!) The great thing is that I've been planning to purchase a new phone and already have a T-Mobile account. Over the last several months I've been patiently waiting for the perfect phone to appear cheaply. And voila!

I love this phone in many ways more than the Samsung Galaxy S2 it replaced or my old iPhone. The Amazon store is sadly lacking many great apps available at Google Play, but I've decided that doesn't matter much to me.

The phone is apparently practically indestructible. Soon after arrival it was accidentally shaken out of the packaging with enough force to hit the hard tile kitchen floor and go skittering across the room. It works perfectly with not a mark on it.

[tubemonkey]

Another price drop - the unlocked 32GB phone is now $229.

[booklover6]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Another price drop - the unlocked 32GB phone is now $229.

At least this time it says "Limited Time Offer." They really should make it a permanent price!

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by booklover6

At least this time it says "Limited Time Offer." They really should make it a permanent price!

They're "negotiating" the permanent price.
$199 unlocked was obviously too low and they moved too fasft so they jack it up 15% to see what happens.

If that is too slow, they'll move to $229; if it is still too fast, they'll move to $249.

Eventually they'll find the highest price it will sell just well enough.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

They're "negotiating" the permanent price.
$199 unlocked was obviously too low and they moved too fasft so they jack it up 15% to see what happens.

If that is too slow, they'll move to $229; if it is still too fast, they'll move to $249.

Eventually they'll find the highest price it will sell just well enough.

$199 was too low for the hardware. Glad they did it; but still, it was a misstep.

Like you said earlier, they could achieve that price point if they stripped out some of the fancier features; ie, all those cameras for Dynamic Perspective.

One other thing. I wish they'd change the OS to 4.5. I hate 3.6; the user interface is horrible.

[Xanthe]

That $199 price got the word-of-mouth kick-started, though. So it achieved its purpose.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

I cancelled. Even at that ridiculously insane low price, I just couldn't justify to myself and to my budget a device which I didn't need and which, if I used it as a phone, would cost more to maintain than my present phone. Damn you, Reality. Sometimes you're just no fun at all.

I came to my senses and cancelled, too - just in time, as it happened. The phone wasn't going to do anything for me gadget-wise that I don't already have covered and I'm better off with my tiny flip phone in terms of the ability to stick it in my pocket.

If my Prime had been expiring in the immediate future I might have made a different call, but I was anticipating renewal by several months. The bottom line is that I'm relieved instead of wistful. My problem is that I don't have gadget-lust, I have bargain-lust, but when the bargain creates the want, it's no bargain.

[booklover6]

I really love the Fire Phone.

[Anthem]

The Fire Phone looks awesome to me at this price. I'm tempted to get one.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by issybird

I came to my senses and cancelled, too - just in time, as it happened. The phone wasn't going to do anything for me gadget-wise that I don't already have covered and I'm better off with my tiny flip phone in terms of the ability to stick it in my pocket.

If my Prime had been expiring in the immediate future I might have made a different call, but I was anticipating renewal by several months. The bottom line is that I'm relieved instead of wistful. My problem is that I don't have gadget-lust, I have bargain-lust, but when the bargain creates the want, it's no bargain.

I'm a bargain hunter, too, and while the price for the Fire Phone itself was and even now is quite tempting, for a Smartphone I haven't found anything to compete with the LG Volt on a Virgin Mobile prepaid account. The phone itself is cheap, runs KitKat, and I pay $35 a month for 300 minutes of talk and have unlimited data & text including 2.5 GB of high speed data (3G/4G). With a $20 microchip added to boost the memory to 40 GB, what can't I do with it? I don't know of any providers that offer that kind of a plan for the Fire Phone. Of course, someone like my wife or son would be running out of minutes halfway through the month, but for people like me who absolutely despise talking on phones it works out well.

Would be nice to have the Fire Phone's awesome camera, though. The Volt's is serviceable, but nothing to write home about.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

I'm a bargain hunter, too, and while the price for the Fire Phone itself was and even now is quite tempting, for a Smartphone I haven't found anything to compete with the LG Volt on a Virgin Mobile prepaid account. The phone itself is cheap, runs KitKat, and I pay $35 a month for 300 minutes of talk and have unlimited data & text including 2.5 GB of high speed data (3G/4G). With a $20 microchip added to boost the memory to 40 GB, what can't I do with it? I don't know of any providers that offer that kind of a plan for the Fire Phone. Of course, someone like my wife or son would be running out of minutes halfway through the month, but for people like me who absolutely despise talking on phones it works out well.

Would be nice to have the Fire Phone's awesome camera, though. The Volt's is serviceable, but nothing to write home about.

I plan to use it with Straight Talk for $45 a month I get unlimited Talk/Text and 3GB of Data. I just got to get my hands on the nano kit. Now I know it will be Thursday I guess I need to order one. The only difference is will use AT&T towers and not Verizon like my current phone which is a CDMA. So hopefully the signal is good here in Raleigh.

[DuckieTigger]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I plan to use it with Straight Talk for $45 a month I get unlimited Talk/Text and 3GB of Data. I just got to get my hands on the nano kit. Now I know it will be Thursday I guess I need to order one. The only difference is will use AT&T towers and not Verizon like my current phone which is a CDMA. So hopefully the signal is good here in Raleigh.

I thought the $45 plan on ST has unlimited data with the first 3GB in high speed? Or is so slow after as to be unsuiteable for even web browsing?

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

I thought the $45 plan on ST has unlimited data with the first 3GB in high speed? Or is so slow after as to be unsuiteable for even web browsing?

No there is no such thing as unlimited data once you reach your limit they just turn it off but they will throttle you way before 3GB and threaten to turn off your data. They have rules. No streaming, No downloading, No network hogging. Straight Talk is known for false advertisements.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

$199 was too low for the hardware.

I don't know about that. What is the cost of the hardware for their $199 phone? I know the labor is probably in the neighborhood of $4 or $5 a unit (if that).