After disrupting Indian telecom market, Jio is set to disrupt Feature phone market with its own ‘Jio Phone‘ The market which is still ignored by competitors. Out of approximately 78+ crore phones, 50 crores are feature phones. Today, Reliance Industries Chairman Mr. Mukesh Ambani announced ‘Jio Feature Phone’ for virtually Rs. 0.
Jio Phone Specs/ Features
Since it is a feature phone, don’t expect to play the high-end games or shoot 4K videos. But hopefully, it will do the basic day to day tasks of an entry level smartphone.
1) Alpha numeric keypad
2) 2.4-inch QVGA display
3) FM radio
4) Torch light
5) 3.5mm Headphone Jack
6) SD card slot
8) Up, Down, Left Right keys for Navigation
9) Phone contact book
10) Call history facility
11) Jio apps like Jio TV, Music, etc.
12) Microphone and speaker
13) Inbuilt Ringtones
14) Voice Command (They tried to integrate Google Now with Nokia 3310 oh! Sorry! Jio Feature Phone 😛 )
15) Digital Payments in one Tap using UPI, Wallets, NFC etc.
Jio Phone Price? What’s the deal here?
Let’s talk about the main thing. कितना पैसा देना पड़ेगा? The cost of this phone is virtually Rs. 0. But you need to pay Rs. 1,500 as a security deposit for 3 years. After 3 years if the condition of the phone remains as it is, then you’ll get your money back. Then, you have an exclusive plan of Rs. 153 with Jio Prime Membership. where you’ll get 500MB/ day FUP (yet to be confirmed). After 500 MB, your speed will get reduced to 128 kbps. As you can see from the features, WiFi hotspot is not mentioned anywhere. Hence, we don’t know whether we are gonna get it or not. Since you’ll be paying minimum Rs. 153/ Month for 36 months, your bare minimum expenses will be Rs. 5508 for 3 years.
There is also separate announcement regarding New cable device with which, we can stream Jio TV app directly on our TV even if it isn’t smart TV. But you need to recharge minimum Rs. 309 for that which will give you 2 to 3 hours of streaming on your data. The testing of Jio Phone will begin on 15’th August and registrations will be open from 24’th August and you’ll get the devices from September. (Official Site)
Who Shouldn’t go for it?
If you are a regular Android user who is familiar with the ecosystem and using tons of apps already and expecting something new then believe me dear, this phone is not for you. Also, you need to have strong indoor Jio Network Coverage to use the phone to its best. If you are only buying for data, then also, don’t because you know just a few minutes of watching HD YouTube can finish your 500MB data easily. Personally, I’m not going for it right now. But if they start giving exclusive offers which are better than regular Jio plans in terms of data, then I’ll definitely think of buying one.
Who Should?
The question is Who Should buy this Jio Phone? If you have an uncle or relative who is already using a feature phone and they are happy with it. But who don’t want to switch to smartphones, then this device is made for them. Last year, my mom gifted my grandfather Android One Phone. But as he was unable to operate that new one, he returned it. But I’ll definitely buy this Jio Phone for him which will serve its purpose. Also, if you want a backup phone, this is the one that you should go for. apart from that, I don’t see any reasons for getting one for youths like us.