Yesterday, i bought an old Google Nexus S and it’s a phone that runs on Android 4.1.2, it’s probably the last phone update it can get from Google’s Android and once i got my hands on it, i took my USB cable out and downloaded the latest Firefox OS builds you can get from the XDA website and flashed it with Firefox OS.

After a few minutes of patience, i saw the potential of the device. The phone runs Firefox OS 2.2. Since it’s the same version that you can get on a Firefox Flame, it also has the privacy panel app that you can use to locate your device, although i haven’t fully explored it yet. It’s pretty slick, and it always amaze me that this 2010 phone can run the very best of Firefox OS.

You can get a mid-tier phone experience from a low end hardware. In my case, i only bought the phone for less than 70 USD and performance wise, it’s almost the same with the Flame. And it always amaze me that software plays a big role on a smartphone device. Who would have thought that you can make an obsolete phone awesome again with a new Operating System?

The future of Firefox OS is exciting! I’m really hoping that OEMs will manufacture more mid-tier phones that feels like a premium device when you use it. I believe a LOT of people are willing to buy it, specially in today’s market where a LOT of affordable high end Android devices are fighting together to win the low and mid market.

Can Firefox OS change the way we use smartphones? Maybe. But it has already made an impact to thousands of early adopters worldwide and gave breath to devices that has run out of updates.