Reliance JioPhone killer is here: Airtel launches Android-powered Karbonn A40 Indian with lucrative 4G data bundle

After weeks of speculations, on Wednesday, Airtel in collaboration with Karbonn Mobiles finally announced the launch of the budget smartphone A40 Indian, which will take on its arch-rival Reliance JioPhone.

Unlike the keypad-based Reliance JioPhone, Airtel branded Karbonn A40 Indian offers better user-experience as the latter is a full-screen Android mobile and supports all the apps on Google Play store, including YouTube, Facebook and WhatsApp.

Also read: Reliance JioPhone delivery will complete before Diwali, company reaffirms

Another notable aspect of the new Karbonn A40 Indian is that it comes with dual-SIM slots offering consumers the freedom to choose the network of their choice, whereas the JioPhone users have no other option than Reliance Jio.

As a promotional 'Mera Pehla 4G Smartphone' offer, Karbonn A40 Indian, which costs Rs. 3,499 (MRP), is being offered at an effective price of Rs. 1,499 and will come with lucrative Airtel 4G data bundle and also additional packs with prices starting at just Rs. 169.

How cost structure of Airtel Karbonn A40 Indian pack works?

A prospective consumer has to make a down payment of Rs. 2899 for Karbonn A40 Indian and make 36 continuous monthly recharges of Rs 169 via Airtel while the customer gets a cash refund of Rs 500 after 18 months and another Rs. 1,000 after 36 months, taking the total cash benefit to Rs 1,500.

In case the customer does not wish to opt for Rs 169 bundled plan, she/he has the flexibility of doing recharges of any denomination and validity as per individual requirements. However, to claim the cash refund benefit, recharges worth Rs 3,000 must be done within the first 18 months (to claim the first refund instalment of Rs 500) and another Rs 3,000 over the next 18 months (to claim the second refund instalment of Rs 1,000), the company said. 

With Rs. 169 monthly subscription, the user will be able to enjoy unlimited phone calls and 500MB data per day for the whole month.

Other stipulated features of the 4.0-inch Karbonn A40 Indian include 1.3GHz processor, 1GB RAM, 8GB storage, 1,400mAh battery, a 2MP rear camera and a 0.3MP VGA snapper on the front.

"As the market leader and pioneer of 4G services in India, Airtel's aspiration is to digitally empower every Indian with high speed data access. We are delighted to partner with Karbonn to remove barriers to smartphone adoption and enable millions of Indians to leapfrog to a full touchscreen smartphone experience. We plan to partner with multiple manufacturers to bring affordable smartphone options to the market and build an 'open ecosystem' of low cost devices. This is yet another step in our ongoing journey to deeply understand customers and bring innovation that delights them," Raj Pudipeddi, Director – Consumer Business & CMO, Bharti Airtel, said in a statement. 

With the new partnership, Airtel made a killer deal which we believe will give the new Reliance JioPhone a run for its money.

In a related development, British telecom giant Vodafone and India's Idea, in their bid to consolidate their market share with the advent of Reliance Jio are merging into a single brand and also planning to bring Airtel Karbonn A40 Indian-like budget smartphone to take on the Reliance JioPhone.

Stay tuned. Follow us @IBTimesIN_Tech on Twitter for the latest news on Indian telecom industry.

Key specifications of Airtel Karbonn A40 Indian: