New Delhi, August 24: The most awaited 4G-enabled Reliance Jio’s feature phone will hit the stores in September this year. However, the pre-bookings of the JioPhone phone will begin on August 24 at 5 PM. In a bid to woo 50 crore low-income users to his 10-month old Jio is offering services that include life-long free voice calls with cheap data. Anyone wishing to buy the JioPhone, can pre-book the phone using MyJio app or click on the ‘Keep me posted’ option available on the Reliance Jio company’s website jio.com. Apart from the online methods, JioPhone can also be pre-booked offline on a first-come-first-served basis through Jio retailers and multi-brand device retailers including the Reliance Digital stores network. “India Ka Smartphone is finally here! Pre-booking for Jio Phone starts tomorrow August 24 at 5 pm,” an SMS sent to a Jio customer read.
It has to be noted that customers will be able to book Jio Phone for Rs 500 and the balance Rs 1,000 can be paid at the time of delivery in September. The total amount will be refunded after 36 months when the customer returns the phone. In July, Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani announced the launch of a 4G-enabled feature phone priced at effective zero during the Reliance Industries Ltd’s (RIL) 40th annual general meeting (AGM) in Mumbai. Ambani said that the JioPhone is the “most intelligent affordable phone in the whole world and that Jio committed to ending “digital dis-empowerment and unfairness” by providing affordable data and devices. Jio customers have been getting about the JioPhone and how to do the pre-booking.

Here are features of the JioPhone:

  • The 4G VoLTE feature phone has a 2.4-inch QVGA display and an alphanumeric keypad.
  • The feature phone runs KaiOS and comes with 4GB internal memory, 512MB RAM and support for a SD card to expand storage.
  • The phone which comes with a 4G VoLTE connectivity also supports an SOS option that can be activated by long pressing the number five on the keypad. There’s a 2MP camera on the back, along with a VGA front shooter.
  • The JioPhone supports 22 Indian languages and users can give commands to get their work done easily. The phone also a headphone jack, microphone, speaker, and FM Radio feature.
  • Users will only have to use Jio Sim to use this phone. SIM from any other operator other than Jio like Idea, Vodafone, Airtel etc won’t work on the device.
  • The JioPhone can be connected with television sets for watching live TV using the Jio TV app. The phone will also include some of the popular instant messaging and social networking apps.
  • Apart from a good configuration. The JioPhone include support for NFC payments and a separate JioCable accessory.
The Indian Cellular Association, a mobile industry body revealed that the total size of Indian mobile phone market was estimated to be around 280 million units in 2016 and is expected to grow to 320 million by 2018.  Reliance Jio has also announced a weekly plan for Rs 53 and a two-day plan for Rs 23 for unlimited data access. As per data published by TRAI, Reliance Jio has topped the charts as the fastest 4G services provider by registering average download speed of over 18 megabits per second in June. With its disruptive offers, Reliance Retail has a target of making available 50 lakh units of the Jio Phone every week from September.