Amazon have announced today that the Fire Phone is now available for pre-order in the UK in both 32gb and 64gb variants, but only in black and on O2 Refresh for £0 upfront on the £33 tariff (£38 for the 64gb).
As predicted earlier today they’ve gone with O2 as the only carrier for the launch. It’ll also be 4G ready for when fast mobile broadband comes to your area.
For a limited time (until 31 December 2014), Fire customers will receive a full year of Amazon Prime membership included which is a nice £79 bonus.
Amazon say that the Fire phone will launch with new and enhanced features when it ships in the United Kingdom on Sept. 30, including the latest Firefly capabilities and auto-scroll in the Kindle Reader app. Customers can pre-order at www.o2.co.uk/fire or in O2 stores. Learn more about Fire at www.amazon.co.uk/firephone.
Speaking of the launch, Nina Bibby, Marketing and Consumer Director at O2 said “We’re proud to be partnering with Amazon to bring Fire to the UK. Both O2 and Amazon share a passion for putting customers at the heart of everything we do, whilst driving innovation to deliver outstanding experiences. That is why, through this partnership, we’re so excited that O2 customers will be the first in the UK to get their hands on Fire.”
In reality if you’re not already an O2 customer, this means you’ll either be giving up your Android or iPhone and opting for a new contract (or a second handset) with Amazon and O2. That’s gonna limit their sales for sure and is a shame. Whilst the Fire Phone has received mixed reviews there are plenty of people who might be willing to give it a try, but perhaps are like me and switching from Vodafone to O2 is a step I’m not willing to take.
Full specs for the Fire phone are on the Amazon website.
2 Responses
I’ll probably get one when my contract expires as am on O2 and have no loyalty to any brand other than I wont use Apple
A lot will depend on app availability (the Kindle store has a lot fewer apps than the Apple or Google Stores).