Reliance's JioPhone surely heralded the rise of the affordable 4G feature phones and many Indian telecom operators joined hands with handset makers to offer feature phones and even touchscreen smartphones with 4G compatibility for dirt-cheap prices, albeit with terms and conditions.
The latest entrant to join the race is an entry-level 4G-VoLTE smartphone born out of a partnership between Vodafone India and China's Transsion Group-owned Itel Mobile called the Itel A20. The touchscreen handset carries a price tag of Rs 3,690, but Vodafone will offer Rs 2,100 cashback to customers, which will bring the effective price down to Rs 1,590.
The catch here is, customers opting to buy the handset will have to buy the Itel A20 by paying the full amount of Rs 3,690 upfront, and will have to stick to Vodafone's network and the same handset for the next 3 years in order to receive a total cashback of Rs 2,100, which brings the handset's original price of Rs 3,690 down to the effective price of Rs 1,590.
To recall, Vodafone India had recently tied up with Indian handset maker Micromax to offer a similar cashback worth Rs 2,200 on select Micromax Bharat and Canvas series smartphones.
How to get the Itel A20 for an effective price of Rs 1,590
In order to avail the offer, Vodafone customers who want to buy the Itel A20 will need to make monthly recharges of at least Rs 150 for a period of 36 months or 3 years. The recharge can be done either every month or as a one-time recharge.
At the end of 18 months, customers will receive the first cashback of Rs 900, and after another 18 months (totally 36 months) Vodafone will offer the rest Rs 1,200 cashback in their Vodafone M-Pesa wallets.
The cashback amount can be used for recharges, paying bills, money transfer or can also be directed to your bank account. Vodafone says that the bundled offer will be available up to March 31, 2018.
Itel A20 specifications
The Itel A20 runs on Android 7.0 nougat operating system. It sports a 4-inch WVGA (480x800 pixels) touchscreen display. The device powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core processor coupled with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage, which is expandable further up to 32GB via a microSD card.
The Itel A20 features a 2MP rear camera along with an LED flash and a 0.3MP VGA sensor up front.
The 4G VoLTE comes with dual-SIM support and is backed by a 1700mAh battery. It will be offered in three different colours - Dark Blue, Champange Gold and Silver.
"At itel, we are committed to making the 4G smartphone experience accessible to the masses as well as to boost the value proposition offered by all our products. Not only are we enhancing our 4G portfolio to achieve this aim, but are also entering into major strategic tie-ups to deliver greater value in our offerings. Our partnership with Vodafone reiterates this commitment. Its superior network coverage will perfectly complement the feature-intensive A20. We are confident that the partnership will drive 4G adoption across the country by maximizing the overall value for both itel and Vodafone customers," said Gaurav Tikoo, Sr. Vice President, Marketing, Transsion India.
