Amazon’s first Fire Phone commercial is focused on free Prime

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Amazon has released its first commercial for the Fire Phone, and it’s focused on the free 12-month Prime subscription that comes bundled with it. There’s also a brief mention of some of the apps that will be available for the device at launch, including Skype, Twitter, and Minecraft.

Usually priced at $99 a year, Amazon Prime provides unlimited access to the retail giant’s Instant Video service and Prime Music, over half a million free eBooks, and free two-day shipping on more than 20 million items sold through Amazon.com. And those who aren’t already signed up get the first year free when they buy a Fire Phone.

This is the selling point Amazon has chosen to focus on with its first Fire Phone commercial, which touts “tons of cool stuff at no extra charge.” “I’ve been on this Earth nine years and I’ve never seen anything like it,” adds the boy in the 30-second spot.

Fire Phone itself is exclusive to AT&T, and costs $199 with a two-year contract, or $649 if you want it unlocked. That’s pretty expensive when you compare it to its competition, which are now offering significantly sharper Quad HD displays, and faster processors.

The Fire Phone does have some nifty 3D effects and a 13-megapixel camera with optical image stabilization, but that’s unlikely to make up for the fact that it doesn’t have access to Google Play and instead uses Amazon’s own Appstore like the Kindle tablet lineup.

That may not be a massive issue for you if you’re a Kindle owner and you’re already part of Amazon’s ecosystem. But if you’re a regular Android user who’s thinking about switching, you’re likely to be hugely disappointed by the lack of apps.