Inside Amazon's Fire Phone (pictures)

Built on heavily customized Android code, there's nothing quite like the Amazon Fire Phone. Sporting a smaller version of the Fire OS seen on tablets, the Fire Phone also has some features built just for the handset.

The 3D-like effects you see on the lock screen, in maps, and elsewhere throughout the OS are called Dynamic Perspective, and they're meant to lend visual allure as well as functionality to the way you use your phone.

Four tracking cameras on the phone's face measure the distance and angle of your head to make Dynamic Perspective work.

A carousel of widgets serves as your home screens, populating the area below with useful items like past URLs and gallery photos.

Slide the static icons up and down to shift from the carousel to your list of apps.

While we're on the topic, Amazon's own app store is where you'll find compatible titles. There are no official Google apps at launch, which may be strange for Android users and hurt Amazon's sales, though there are still plenty of other popular programs.

The notifications pull down is home to Mayday, a screen sharing app where you can get live customer service help.

Most screens have two menus. The left-hand slide-out menu mostly gives you navigation waypoints, while the context menu on the right often houses things like your history, or song lyrics.

A scanning app built into the camera button on the side of the phone is an accurate shopping assistant -- but Firefly, as it's known, also recognizes email addresses, phone numbers, music, movies, and TV shows.

A glass backing helps make the Fire Phone look fancy, though it will collect your fingerprints.

The 13-megapixel camera on the back is thin on settings, but took some nice shots.

The headset jack and power/lock key make their home on the Fire Phone's top edge.

It takes a standard Micro-USB charger.

The handset's relatively tall, narrow dimensions and optional navigational gestures make it pretty easy to use one-handed.

I noticed this tiny dent in the top corner of the phone. Like all handset, it isn't indestructible.

Amazon's Dynamic Perspective gives the phone a really rich, immersive lock screen and distinct personality. The phone has some flaws you'll want to know about, so skip over to our full Amazon Fire Phone review for all the pros and cons.