Reliance Jio and Amazon India on Friday announced that the popular Jio Phone (Review) feature phone, introduced last year as 'India ka Smartphone', will now be available to buy from the e-commerce site. Till date, Jio Phone was only available via Reliance Digital stores, the Reliance Jio website, MyJio app, and at Reliance Jio's retail partner stores. Earlier this week, the Jio Phone also became available for booking via MobiKwik. The phone is now listed to buy on Amazon India, priced at Rs. 1,500 - as before, this amount is being called a security deposit, refundable after three years.
Also as before, to activate the Jio Phone, users will need to visit a Reliance Digital Store or Reliance Jio partner store with the device, its original box, and their Aadhaar number. An Amazon specific launch offer, applicable until February 28, gives Rs. 50 cashback to customers buying the feature phone using Amazon Pay balance. Customers opting for a mobile recharge using Amazon Pay balance will also get flat 50 percent cashback up to Rs. 50.
The Reliance Jio Phone was announced in July last year. Pre-bookings began in August, while bookings started later the same month. The 4G VoLTE-enabled feature phone has a 2.4-inch display, 1.2GHz dual-core processor under the hood, backed by 512MB of RAM. The operating system keeping the handset running is KAI OS, and the device has 4GB of internal storage, with microSD support up to 128GB. You get Wi-Fi support, 2000mAh battery, and NFC for digital payments.
Unique features of Jio Phone include support for 22 Indian languages, Google Assistant support, a proprietary voice assistant to control certain functions, and the option to mirror content playing on the phone to the TV using a proprietary cable. The first Jio-branded phone comes preloaded with apps such as JioCinema, JioMusic, JioTV, and JioXpressNews, along with popular instant messaging and social networking apps. Earlier this week, Reliance Jio also announced the availability of the official Facebook app via the JioAppStore.
The Jio Phone's Rs. 153 plan was recently upgraded to offer 1GB data per day, up from 500MB daily data allocation. A new Rs. 49 plan was also unveiled for buyers of the feature phone to provide 28-day validity, unlimited calls, and 1GB of bundled data.
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