Reliance JioPhone finally released for beta testing

NEW DELHI: Reliance Jio’s Chairman Mukesh Ambani launched the its 4G VoLTE feature phone – JioPhone at the annual general meeting of the company on July 21. At that time, Ambani announced that the beta testing of the phone will begin from August 15.

Your 10-point guide to Reliance’s free JioPhone

Your 10-point guide to Reliance JioPhone

Reliance Jio’s much-speculated feature phone is here! The company’s chairman Mukesh Ambani introduced the phone, called JioPhone, at Reliance Industries 40th AGM (annual general meeting) in Mumbai today. Ambani termed the phone as ‘India ka intelligent smartphone’ and said that it will help in bridging the digital divide in the country. Here’s your ready reckoner on the all-new Reliance JioPhone.

Prebooking starts on August 24

The pre-booking for Reliance Jio’s feature phone starts on August 24. Users will be able to get the phones by September on first-come-first serve basis.

Effective price is Rs 0

The JioPhone is ‘effectively free’ as the chairman Mukesh Ambani called it. However, users will have to make a security deposit of Rs 1500 to take the phone. This security deposit is fully refundable after three years.

Rs 1500 refundable security deposit

Buyers will have to make a security deposit of Rs 1500 for the phone. This security deposit is fully refundable and can be taken back after a period of three years.

You can pre-book the phone on MyJio app

Interested users can book the new JioPhone via the company’s MyJio app. They can also visit a Jio retailer (starting August 24), once the pre-orders of the handset start.

Gives access to Jio apps

Users of JioPhone will get access to all Jio apps like JioTV, JioMovies and more.

JioPhone is ‘made in, by and for India’

At the launch Mukesh Ambani termed the phone as ‘made in, by and for India’. The company is also reported to be in talks with Chinese OEM Foxconn for the manufacturing of these phones.

‘Sachet packs’ available at Rs 23 and Rs 53

The company has also announced ‘sachet packs’ for users who are not willing to go for Rs 153 data plan. These sachet plans start at Rs 23 for two days and Rs 53 for a week.

Daily FUP limit is 500MB

The company’s Rs 153 plan offers unlimited data with a daily FUP limit of 500MB. This means users will effectively get 14GB data per recharge period.

JioPhone allows to mirror content to TV

The company also announced a JioPhone TV cable that will allow users to mirror a user’s JioPhone content on a TV. Users of this will have to take the Rs 309 data plan per month.

NFC support to make payments

The company has promised NFC support in JioPhone in the coming months. This will allow JioPhone users to make payments at a tap from their phone. The users will get the same via a software update. The phone also supports UPI payments.

As promised the company has started beta testing by giving the phone to select users. Reliance Jio employees will be using the device and will report any software and hardware glitches. So, that the company has resolve the issue before the phone reaches to the users in September.

Price and availability
The Reliance JioPhone comes at an “effective” price of Rs 0. The company is though will be taking a refundable security deposit Rs 1500 to avoid potential misuse of the device. The amount will be refunded after a minimum period of three years. The device will go on pre-booking starting August 24 and will be made available on first-come-first-serve basis by September.

How to book
The customers can pre-book the device via various retail stores in the country. Moreover, they can also book the VoLTE feature phone by using the company My Jio app.

Reliance Jio Phone also supports voice commands. It includes support for 22 Indian languages. Furthermore, the company has also promised to add NFC payment support to JioPhone later this year. JioPhone is said to run on KAI OS, which is a forked OS version of the Firefox OS. For now, it doesn’t offer support for WhatsApp.