Reliance launches Jio Phone at an effective Price of Rs 0 (ZERO)

Reliance Industries Limited chairman Mukesh Ambani, as widely speculated, unveiled Jio feature phone at the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) in Mumbai today.

The ultra-budget feature phone called Jio Phone will hit the market by August 15.

In a bold and unexpected move, RIL announced that the handset’s effective price will be Rs 0.

This is because the company will collect a 100% refundable security deposit of Rs 1,500, which will be refunded after 3 years.

Jio Phone runs on VoLTE network and comes with a host of pre-installed services such as JioTV and JioCinema apps. The device also has its own digital assistant along with the support for voice commands. It also comes with support for 22 Indian languages. Reliance says that users can long press on the ‘5’ key to directly call their near and dear ones. Furthermore, the company will bring NFC feature on Jio-branded phones as well later this year. The feature will arrive as part of a software update.

The device was announced alongside a few low-priced Jio 4G plans at the Reliance Industries AGM. On the Jio Phone, voice calls will always remain free, said Ambani. Users will also get access to unlimited data on the device. These, in addition to Jio apps (Jio Dhan Dhana Dhan plan) will cost users Rs 153 per month.

The phone reportedly comes with a 2.4-inch screen along with 512MB RAM and 4GB of inbuilt storage.

It supports dual-SIM functionality along with microSD card for extra storage space.

The device is also said to feature a 2MP rear camera along with a VGA front-facing camera.

Backed by a 2000mAh battery, the Jio feature phone will also include FM Radio and Bluetooth v4.1 under the connectivity section.

It is said to feature an app store called KaiOS.

Source : Times of India