Kindle Fire Phone - Hands On Review

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by booklover6

Monkey, does your Rev case have a lot of rainbow?

Not much; and only noticeable when held at certain angles.

[Barbara1955]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

One problem I keep having when switching between my Fire Phone and my HD6, is the power button. They're located on different sides (phone= left / HD6= right) and I end up pushing the headphone jack and it doesn't turn off.

At least your not running into things & people LOL A few months ago I purchased a Go-Go Mobility Scooter To go forward you close your right hand on the lever... For the past 15 yrs I had a Rascal to go forward on I use my Left hand! In switching back & forth I have crashed into store carts almost hit people & hit displays! Crazy thing is Pride ..where I go the Go Go says I Void my warranty if I switch it! Go figure

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by booklover6

I've had mine on the kindle rapid charger. No problem.

Monkey, does your Rev case have a lot of rainbow?

What kind of a rainbow? On the screen?

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Blossom

What kind of a rainbow? On the screen?

On the screen protector.

[booklover6]

I have a huge rainbow splotch. I probably need to take it apart and try to put it on better.

[Blossom]

Contact Poetic I hear they have good support. I sure hope mine doesn't have that issue.

[Blossom]

Okay one HUGE con is the carousel does not just hold 30 Items like the Kindle Fires but every book I own is showing. All 12,000 of the No way to mass delete either.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Blossom

Okay one HUGE con is the carousel does not just hold 30 Items like the Kindle Fires but every book I own is showing. All 12,000 of the No way to mass delete either.

Push the favorites to the top and the carousel disappears. Now you don't have to deal with it.

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Push the favorites to the top and the carousel disappears. Now you don't have to deal with it.

Where is that on the Fire Phone? is there a way to reset the carousel?

Okay Dereigster and register seems to reset the Carousel. I just wished there was a way to limit like on the Kindle Fire.

I hope this works but I blocked books and they disappeared off the carousel. Unblock and they are still gone! Here's hoping they don't come back.

[Blossom]

Okay here are my impressions of the Fire Phone. It's a very nice Phablet. display is very nice. Text rendering is just as good as the Nexus 7 not as good as the Kindle Fire 6. It's a fast little thing. No freezes or slow ups. The tilt navigation will take some getting use to. I love the camera. I didn't get it for the Camera but the Camera is amazing! I must have snapped a dozen shots tonight. Love it has flash and a ton of settings. I have wanted a phone that lets me take a pic with a side button. This one does.

It's nice to hold and does not feel awkward. The voice recognition is pretty amazing. The speakers are crud. It's okay for voice but it sounds very muffled with music or sounds that are complex. The headphones that come with it are probably the best quality pair of ear buds I have own. The bass quality just blew me away. They are better than my Skull Candy. Not a fan of putting magnets in my ears though and they do get a little too warm.

This phablet makes a good media player and will easily replace my Samsung Galaxy Players. Prime Music is one of the features I got this for so happy to finally be able to enjoy it on the same account at my Amazon Music. It will also make a nice eReader something I didn't buy it for but the size is perfect for on the go. Moon+ and Mantano work great on it but you have to once again sideload them.

My biggest problem is the Carousel. This is a phone not a Kindle Fire. I don't need every book I own to be accessible, it feels like a huge step back to Kindle Fire 2011 days and I can only imagine how much battery is eaten loading all 12,000 books on there. My solution right now is Parental controls I have books block the only problem is that it blocks Audible too. I have to unblock to use it but until Amazon fixes this to show last 30 like the Kindle Fires do it's going to have to be this way.

There is no Favorites just a way to pin items in front of everything else.

Also if you like me and wondering where the heck the app drawer is which took me 30 minutes to find and I almost used MayDay to have them help but I would not let this phone beat me I figure it out you hold down the Home button to access the app drawer.

The home recommendations had to go and the first thing I did was turn on Parental controls so I don't accident buy something as the back button or should I say back swipe could do just that if not careful.

Now I can't say about the phone features yet. My Nano card isn't here yet so I will add part two when I can get the phone part all set up and try it out. I can tell I am going to miss my widgets alot.

Just to add I do like the keyboard and Silk seems to behave unlike the KFs where is just freezes.

[tomsem]

The navigation/map app is inferior. It doesn't seem to cache much, so offline use is not very useful. I had it route a 60 mile trip while I still had wifi, and it started by wanting me to turn left instead of right out of the driveway, and that would have had me practically circle the block when going the right direction in the first place would have avoided that. Then it was unable to figure out that I'd rejoined the rest of the route, without an internet connection. Then I turned it on after I arrived at our destination (again with no internet connection), and it only had a few surrounding blocks in the cache. Pretty weak.

But even Apple had some issues when they dumped Google Maps on iOS. Hopefully now that Amazon has actually sold a few Fire Phones, they'll get the feedback they need to improve it.

I have yet to hook up the phone part, was not planning to get a data plan but given the navigation issue that might have to change. As mediocre as it might be, it is better than getting altogether lost just because there's no internet connection.

Yes, it is funny that after using Fire tablets I expected Home==Favorites instead of being like every other Android smartphone, having an 'app drawer' etc.

Has everybody played with the reading app scrolling mode? What do you think?

[Blossom]

I believe the maps are by Bing but don't quote me on that. It could be by Mapquest which is an app I have on Kindle Fire that works great. I haven't installed it on Fire Phone but Google maps if I could get it work I am use to.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I believe the maps are by Bing but don't quote me on that. It could be by Mapquest which is an app I have on Kindle Fire that works great. I haven't installed it on Fire Phone but Google maps if I could get it work I am use to.

Amazon bought a mapping company a couple of years ago or more. I assume that's the technology they are using. Bing doesn't do all that 3D stuff for example. But I guess it is possible they are using Bing for routing and their own tech for the rest. In any case it needs improvement (well that's a given for any map app).

Thanks for the Mapquest tip. Maybe that would do better for offline.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Blossom

Where is that on the Fire Phone?

Originally Posted by Blossom

There is no Favorites just a way to pin items in front of everything else.

Also if you like me and wondering where the heck the app drawer is which took me 30 minutes to find and I almost used MayDay to have them help but I would not let this phone beat me I figure it out you hold down the Home button to access the app drawer.

Apps are handled differently for Fire tablets and the Fire Phone.

For Fire tablets, the app drawer is called "favorites". For the phone, it's called "app grid view".

Folders (collections) are created the same way in both. Just hover one app over another.

For tablets, you can load the same app in multiple folders. You can't do that for the phone.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Blossom

is there a way to reset the carousel?

Originally Posted by Blossom

My biggest problem is the Carousel. This is a phone not a Kindle Fire. I don't need every book I own to be accessible, it feels like a huge step back to Kindle Fire 2011 days and I can only imagine how much battery is eaten loading all 12,000 books on there. My solution right now is Parental controls I have books block the only problem is that it blocks Audible too. I have to unblock to use it but until Amazon fixes this to show last 30 like the Kindle Fires do it's going to have to be this way.

To "get rid of" the carousel, toggle the app grid view with the home button. The carousel is now out of sight and you no longer have to deal with it. Problem solved.

Now leave it that way. Whenever you turn the phone on/off or hit the home button from another screen, you're always returned to the app grid view.