Amazon 'Fire' Review: $649 Device Contains Chips From Qualcomm, Samsung

Jul 25, 2014 06:30 PM EDT | Matt Mercuro

Amazon's new "Fire" smartphone comes available with chips from Samsung Electronics, NXP Semiconductors NV, and Qualcomm, according to repair and teardown specialists iFixit.

The device also contains chips from Skyworks Solutions, and Synaptics, according to iFixit, which has made a name for itself by taking apart iPhone devices and identifying their internal components.

Amazon's smartphone includes four cameras that are capable of tracking a user's head movements to enable special screen effects.

The phone ships this week to customers in the U.S., and is powered by a Qualcomm quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor.

The device puts Amazon right in the middle of a competitive smartphone market largely dominated by Apple and devices on Google's Android software.

Amazon claims its "Firefly" feature that can recognize objects and direct users to the same item on Amazon's online store.

iFixit said on its blog on July 24 that it found a radio frequency, power amplifier, audio and WiFi chips also from U.S. chipmaker Qualcomm.

Other specs includes a 2.1-megapixel front-facing camera and 13-megapixel rear-facing camera.

Samsung's 32 gigabytes of NAND memory chips made for storing pictures, music, and other media were also found in the phone.

The phone has a 4.7-inch LCD display, including 2 gigabytes of DRAM memory from Samsung.

A near field communication chip is also included, which enables features like mobile payments, from NXP, was also found, according to iFixit.

The device employs a touchscreen controller from Synaptics, and communications chip from Skyworks, according to the blog.

The "Fire" can be purchased now for $649 contract-free or $199.99 with a contract with AT&T Inc, which is in the same neighborhood as the latest iPhone devices.

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