New entrant to the telecom sector Reliance Jio, now entered the feature phone market with its very first VoLTE feature phone. The phone was dubbed as “India ka smartphone” by chairman Mukesh Ambani at the 40th AGM meet today.
The feature phone was anticipated by industry experts months ago and now it is official. Consequently, the ‘Made in India’ phone comes with a 2.4-inch QVGA screen in a candy bar form factor, an alphanumeric keypad, micro SD card, FM Radio with 22 Indian languages and a 4-way navigation key. All of which have been a staple of the feature phones of old.
Interestingly, the phone is not present under the “Lyf” logo that sells Jio smartphones. Also, the physical design of the phone is nothing like the rumors depicted it to be. The handset also gives a miss to the camera which was seen in leaks.
Now for the extra features, that the phone brings in feature of the small device which is its voice-activated assistant. Users will be able to accept & reject calls, open apps and browse the web simply via voice. This has been unheard of in the world of feature phones.
The handset also comes with a torchlight, a headphone jack, and a very compact design. Reliance Jio has preloaded it with its native apps like Jio Music, Jio Cinema and Jio TV that will allow users to watch shows or movies on the 2.4-inch screen. Moreover, the company also plans to enable debit/credit card payments on the phone once a software update is on its way.
The JioPhone in reality is free but comes with a refundable price tag of Rs. 1,500 that will be returned after 3 years. The JioPhone can be pre-booked starting August 24 and shipping will start in September on first-come-first serve basis.
