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  • Amazon's Fire Phone is all its own
  • Dynamic Perspective
  • Hey, four-eyes
  • A different mirror
  • Finding the app tray
  • Apps, apps, apps
  • Mayday!
  • On the menu
  • Firefly sanning
  • Smooth as glass
  • Camera
  • Top view
  • Bottom
  • Pocketability
  • Oops
  • One last look
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Inside Amazon's Fire Phone (pictures)

Amazon's Fire Phone is all its own

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.

Photo by: Josh Miller/CNET

Dynamic Perspective

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.

Photo by: Josh Miller/CNET

Hey, four-eyes

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

Photo by: Josh Miller/CNET

A different mirror

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

Photo by: Josh Miller/CNET

Finding the app tray

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

Photo by: Josh Miller/CNET

Apps, apps, 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.

Photo by: Josh Miller/CNET

Mayday!

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

Photo by: Josh Miller/CNET

On the menu

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.

Photo by: Josh Miller/CNET

Firefly sanning

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.

Photo by: Josh Miller/CNET

Smooth as glass

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

Photo by: Josh Miller/CNET

Camera

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

Photo by: Josh Miller/CNET

Top view

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

Photo by: Josh Miller/CNET

Bottom

It takes a standard Micro-USB charger.

Photo by: Josh Miller/CNET

Pocketability

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

Photo by: Josh Miller/CNET

Oops

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

Photo by: Josh Miller/CNET

One last look

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.

Photo by: Josh Miller/CNET

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