When Reliance announced the JioPhone that came with an effective price tag of Rs. 0 everyone was excited. The terms and conditions were not known at that time, but still the Reliance JioPhone is a good bet (if you are not using too many Jio SIM’s) once you understand how the scheme works.
Here is the Reliance JioPhone review that will give you a better idea. The Reliance JioPhone is a simple feature phone that comes packed with almost all of the Jio features that you get on a smartphone. This handset comes with alphanumeric keypad and houses a 2000 mAh battery.
Build and finishing is good considering the price, it’s using a non-touch screen display and overall performance was satisfactory. The best part is you can watch movies / live TV’s, music etc on this feature phone. Reliance JioPhone supports 4G with VoLTE and that is required to work with Jio.
Reliance JioPhone features and specifications
Inside the box (unboxing the JioPhone) : Handset, 2000 mAh battery, nano SIM inside the phone and travel charger
Screen : 2.4 inches TFT, QVGA resolution, this is non-touch screen not that good but good enough for the price
RAM : 512MB
ROM : 4GB
Micro SD : 128GB
SIM Type : Single (nano) SIM + micro SD card slot
OS : KiaOS
Rear camera : 2MP
Front camera : VGA
Other features : Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and NFC
Battery : 2000 mAh (removable)
The process and JioPhone Terms
Once I got the SMS that I can collect the JioPhone from nearest Jio Store. I visited the store, do note you will need your Aadhaar card and carry the phone, the number that you used to book the JioPhone cause the store personal will punch in your number that you used to book the JioPhone and immediately you will get a SMS with OTP code you will need to provide the OTP code to the personal.
I paid Rs. 1,153 – Rs. 1000 for the handset and Rs. 153 for the plan. There is a nano SIM inside the handset and it will be activated with 153 plan.
The terms and conditions is that you need to recharge this new SIM that you get inside the JioPhone every month with Rs. 153 plan, you get free voice calls, and 500MB 4G data per day after that 128kbps speed until the next day cycle.
The Rs. 1,500 you spent on the handset is refundable provided you surrender the phone after 3 years. There is also news that Reliance may stop manufacturing this JioPhone and might come up with a smartphone.
Performance
This handset is running KiaOS, performance is good. You can watch live TV, screen quality is not that great but this is what you get on a feature phone. The cameras on the handset is no good. You can make video calls too. Battery life is good, depends how you are using it.
It takes up to 3 hours to charge the handset and on a full charge you get around 1 to 2 days of battery life (based on your usage), as a back up phone hardly used it will last for 3 to 4 days.
Do note
You can use any Jio SIM on that handset, it will work but you need to recharge the new SIM with Rs. 153 plan every month, even if you are already using a Jio SIM.
The handset is locked, you can only use it with Jio SIM – any Jio SIM will do.
There is no Wi-Fi Hotspot option, you can use JioStore to download apps.
WhatsApp missing and no option to install Whatsapp.
Verdict
This is a good phone but then you get a SIM with the handset that you need to keep recharging every month. The Reliance JioPhone is like a phone on rent, you just pay the plan charges and after 3 years return the phone in working conditions and get the Rs. 1,500 refund back.
JioPhone is a good backup option and many users that I met at the Jio Store bought it for the same very purpose.