Recently unveiled smart feature-phone Reliance JioPhone has received an overwhelming response in India. The JioPhone pre-order service officially went live on August 24, but it got closed within a day, as the requests surpassed the stock availability.
Now, it has come to light that the pre-order requests reportedly breached a record 6 million. Even the Expression Of Interest (EOI) registration on the official site has crossed well over 10 million.
When will Reliance JioPhone shipments begin?
The company is planning to commence Reliance JioPhone shipments within three weeks, most likely on September 21, which happens to fall on the first day of Navaratri, an auspicious nine-day festival in India, Financial Express reported citing authorised Reliance JioPhone sellers.
So far, Reliance Jio has not made any officially comments on the availability of the device. But, it has plans to sell 100 million units in the first year and another 100 million in the following year. It has confirmed to reopen the JioPhone pre-order service in a few days. Stay tuned.
Why people are going gaga over Reliance JioPhone?
Reliance JioPhone might look like an ordinary keypad feature-phone, but its capabilities will leave many in awe.
The new JioPhone is the first feature-phone to support 4G-VoLTE (Voice-over-LTE) thus guaranteeing superior connectivity with high quality voice-call and guess what? It can take voice-commands to perform tasks. No other rival has this capability.
It also comes with special TV cable (have to bought separately) that can mirror media content (such as JioCinema, JioMusic, JioTV, and JioXpressNews and more) on any television sets like LED/LCD/ non-smart TVs) including the outdated CRT monitors.
Furthermore, it can support 22 regional dialects, a panic button (to trigger SOS for support) and NFC (Near Field Communication) support for cash-less payment, as well.
[Note: NFC feature for contact-less payment will be activated with software update later in the year]
As far as the hardware is concerned, Reliance JioPhone sports a 2.4-inch QVGA display with physical keypad, 1.2GHz dual-core processor (Qualcomm/Spreadtrum), 4GB inbuilt storage (expandable up to 128GB), 512MB of RAM, KAI OS, a 2000mAh battery, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, torch light and a FM radio receiver.
Another advantage of owning the JioPhone is its price-tag and the affordable tariff plan it entails. The feature phone, which comes with a single-SIM (compatible with Reliance Jio only) can be purchased off-the-shelf with a refundable (after 36 months) payment of Rs 1,500. The company is also offering exclusive tariffs, which include unlimited voice calls, SMS, data and access to MyJio apps.
With the base plan (Rs.153), users get free data with 500MB daily cap and the higher tariff comes with 1GB data per day cap for 28 days. The Rs 309 plan users can take advantage of JioPhone TV cable to mirror content on any television and enjoy the entertainment content on the go.
Taken aback by the surge in JioPhone demand rivals Airtel and Vodafone, Idea too are planning to launch their own cheap smartphone with special tariffs as early as the Diwali festival.
Also read- Reliance JioFiber vs BSNL: State-run telecom major launches 1,000 mbps broadband internet service
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