Giving Firefox OS a second chance

IRL: When I reviewed the original ZTE Open
last year, the Firefox OS experience was -- to put it modestly -- rough
around the edges. The device was stripped down even by the standards of
low-end phones, while the software was missing features other platforms
have had for years. You didn't even get new email notifications, for
crying out loud. Jump ahead a year and it's another story. The Open C
is a much more powerful device, and Firefox OS has received a few vital
upgrades. But does that mean Mozilla's web-based mobile software is
finally ready for prime time? I spent two weeks with the Open C to find
out if it can hold its own against budget rivals -- and to see if I'd be
comfortable using it as my only phone.

Hardware-wise, there's no
question it's a quantum leap over its predecessor. The Open C's
dual-core processor makes a night-and-day difference in how quickly web
pages load, and thus how the entire OS feels -- you're no longer left
twiddling your thumbs. That extends to 3G data, too. It's both faster
(download speeds hovered around 6 Mbps on Telus' network) and far more
stable. The 4-inch, 800 x 480 display is much easier on the eyes than
its smaller, low-resolution ancestor, and even the plastic casing is decidedly nicer to hold. About the only disappointment in the Open C's hardware is the 3-megapixel fixed-focus camera, which remains as consistently terrible as the 2MP shooter on the first Open.

The software is where it gets complicated. There's no doubt the OS has grown
up in the past year. Besides adding those hoped-for email alerts, it now has a lot of features that made a difference in my day-to-day usage: music control from the lock screen, better graphics technology (you can play Cut the Rope!) and a timer in the clock app. I also liked that Firefox can now organize searches into smart collections that keep things focused; if you want to look for sports-focused web apps, you don't have to wade through unrelated services. As a rule, there were
considerably fewer show-stopping "I can't do that" moments than the last
time around, and I was happy to rely on the Open C for basic tasks.


Of course, I still ran into plenty of challenges when trying to accomplish more than the fundamentals. Simply put, the app ecosystem and feature set aren't where they need to be. I still couldn't get mainstays like Instagram, Rdio or Vine, and equivalents to major apps are either tough
to find or not as powerful as the real deal. I found a decent Foursquare
substitute (Around), for instance, but it's not going to rival the
abilities of an official app like Swarm. Big-name social sites like Facebook and Twitter also don't integrate with Firefox OS, so there was no way to check for updates without
launching associated apps. I had little choice but to carry another
smartphone to fill feature gaps, whether they involved tracking Twitter
mentions, obtaining turn-by-turn directions or just playing
sophisticated games.

As such, the Open C can't serve as my only phone, at least not in its current state. It's really a refinement of what I saw in 2013: this is a superb device for its target market of
first-time smartphone users in developing regions, but I'd have a hard time recommending it to American or European friends who have plenty of viable alternatives. When the Lumia 520 (which often sells for $59 or less) and Moto E ($129) have both more sophisticated platforms and occasionally better hardware, ZTE's $100 unlocked phone doesn't seem like such a bargain.
More powerful Firefox phones are coming; the OS either already has or
will soon get support for more advanced cameras, NFC pairing and fast
LTE data. However, Mozilla absolutely has to work overtime on bolstering
software support if it wants to court veterans like me... and, for that
matter, to stop people from flocking to ever-cheaper Android gear.

Firefox OS Smartphones Will Dazzle Feature Phone Users

Mozilla’s Firefox OS is headed to a smartphone near you.

The first two phones running the Firefox OS — the ZTE Open and Alcatel One Touch Fire — were officially announced Monday morning, with the ZTE Open expected to hit store shelves in Spain on Tuesday.

SEE ALSO: Here's How Firefox OS Will Work on Smartphones

“For many customers, this will be the first smartphone they purchase,” Mozilla’s Brendan Eich told press at a small event at Mozilla’s San Francisco office Monday morning.
“We’re pioneering a category,” says Eich, of open web devices. The ZTE Open is in fact the first smartphone available on the market based entirely on open web standards. That means everything on the phone is running in a web browser. While some core apps are stored on the phone and can work offline, the web is the backbone of the phone's every action.
He says that rather than going after smartphone powerhouses like Google and Apple, Mozilla is trying to help convert feature phone users, who still make up a large percentage of the world’s cell phone users.
"We are not aiming high and trying to crash into Fortress Apple, into Fortress Google," says Eich. Mozilla is not going after the type of customers who are obsessed with the screen size and type or processing power of their device. It's targeting customers who just need to communicate with the world around them, and it's giving them a much more feature-rich way to do so.
After Monday’s event, we had the opportunity to spend a few minutes with the Firefox OS running on both the ZTE Open and Alcatel One Touch Fire.
The phones are priced at around $39 (without the need to buy a contract) so, as you might expect, they’re not quite top of the line when it comes to processing speed and power.
We were only able to use the phones for a few minutes, but during that time were able to take photos, browse through the gallery of photos that had already been taken with the devices, and check out some of the games currently available for the Firefox OS.
The phones we were able to get our hands on were getting their data connection from a Mi-Fi rather than from a network carrier, which made what was already going to be a slow experience — due simply to what’s under the hood — a little slower.
Still, we were able to navigate menus with ease –- albeit a little slowly -– as well as launch web pages, and even play a few games. While relatively unimpressive in a world of iPhones and quad-core Android devices, the devices would be a vast improvement to someone who had never had one of those and simply wanted a more feature-rich way to communicate.
The phones will first be available in Spain. However, Eich says that the operating system may be available on smartphones in the United States in the future as well.
Check out a closer look at the ZTE Open and Alcatel One Touch Fire in the gallery above.
What do you think of the Firefox OS? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.